Long-term salvation

"The state-owned printing plant in northern Kyiv recently laid off workers, saying they're waiting to reopen after the acquisition is complete. However, recently, people have seen a lot of military vehicles and trucks moving around there, with lights on at night, and some Middle Eastern faces. I can't confirm the authenticity of this last rumor, as it's a rumor heard by residents near the printing plant. But combined with the intelligence from the deceased agent Perseus, we can basically confirm that the Ibris organization's temporary base is at the printing plant."

Although a huge printing factory could provide cover for covert activities, it was too narrow for arms transactions, unless the group was trading light weapons... But Rhodes didn't think such a small thing was worth the two parties' efforts.

"Sounds like a trap," Rhode said tiredly, pressing his brow with his hand. "I've already fallen into one today, and I really don't want to fall into a second one."

"But according to Perseus agents, the Ukrainian president recently gained a close special advisor, who also gained the power to mobilize some units under the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). This is likely due to the unexpectedly high level of revenue generated over the past few months. Currently, we only know this person is an arms dealer, but he's secretive and prefers to remotely control SBU personnel, so even within the agency, few know his name."

There was also some apology in Nikki's voice. She paused for a few seconds, organizing her words before speaking:

"Actually, after purging some former KGB members, the Security Service has massively recruited personnel from the military loyal to Kyiv. They're currently in a chaotic period of reorganization. It'll probably be some time before we know the identity of that person... As for the government, the Ukrainian president won't necessarily announce the identity of the special adviser."

Ah, this... okay, anyway, the intelligence gathered from all parties is roughly consistent. It's good enough to be able to confirm the accuracy of the intelligence. The timeliness cannot be guaranteed at all times.

Leaning sideways on the bed, Rhode looked up at the dim chandelier in the room, his mind filled with doubts:

"But then again, shouldn't the head of Ukraine's SSB at this time be Yevgeny Marchuk? Could he allow this arms dealer to take control of some of the SSB's power? Kravchuk doesn't seem to trust his director that much."

"We don't know that. There may be other external political forces involved."

It's not surprising that there are changes from the official timeline, but the problem is that this so-called special adviser to the president is obviously connected with the Ibris organization.

From this perspective, will the Ukrainian president be influenced by the otherworld? If so, what role will this country play in the future war in the otherworld?

There was so much information and possibilities that it made Rhode irritated.

"Damn Map Brain, damn Ye Jiugui, and those two idiots who signed the separation agreement! They were so quick to sign the agreement and grab the food, but why didn't they think about how much trouble it would cause in the future..."

"commander?"

"...No, nothing." Rhodes exhaled slowly, clearing his mind of distractions. After thinking for a moment, he said to Nikki, "We're going to the printing factory tonight. You wait outside and assist me in evacuating. Before the operation begins, I'll leave an AH-6F attack helicopter with you. I'll then notify the Perseus agents and have them meet me in the north."

"understand!"

After closing the communication, Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as he turned his head, he saw that Bai Zi had opened his eyes, and his figure was clearly reflected in his heterochromatic pupils.

Bending down and kissing her lips softly, Rhode said with a smile:

"I thought you'd sleep through the night."

"If that happens, I won't be able to see Sensei when I open my eyes." The wolf girl turned over and put her arm around Rhodes' waist. She closed her eyes and said slowly, "I will go with Sensei tonight. I can distinguish those auras of death."

"No," Rhode said unhappily. He reached out and flicked the girl's forehead a few times, flinging the little she-wolf into the warm bed. Then he slowly warned her, "You're in really bad shape. I didn't expect you to be so exhausted just bringing me out... If I had known earlier, I should have used [Power] to cut you open directly."

"Every penny saved is a penny earned, Sensei. That's your greatest strength."

There was a soft light flashing in the wolf girl's eyes. The soft light in the hotel room shone on her profile, emitting a faint halo full of maternal nature.

"That time in Paris, we were all worried."

"...My greatest strength is you," Rhodes said gently, his fingers stroking the girl's cheek. "Go to sleep, and leave the rest to the 'adult'."

"Ah."

After turning off the lights in the room, Rhodes, with a gloomy expression, took out the [Shiting Box] to read the information on it, and quickly left the hotel.

At this moment, dusk spread across the sky of Kiev like molten lead. Some street lights were on, but some were not. This was a good cover for those who were keen on walking in the dim light. Sitting on the shaky bus, Rod's eyes swept across the shop fronts on the street. The Western European TV in the window was playing an advertisement for the start of sales of [Anshining] in Ukraine.

Looking at the actors in the commercial who looked serious, Rhodes had a sense of foreboding, but he couldn't tell whether this foreboding came from the distant past, the present, or the even more distant future.

hope everything is fine.

Rhodes got off the bus at the stop, glanced at the place name sign at the intersection, and then walked into the narrow alley.

This street is not very long, but the Khrushchev buildings on both sides have faded from the grayness of the day and are painted into an ambiguous amber by the setting sun. The honeycomb-shaped balcony railings cast spider-web-like shadows, barely blocking the faces of the three men squatting against the wall and smoking.

Ignoring the pretty figure that quietly appeared behind him, Rhodes walked up to the three men, took out his Red Apple cigarette box and started smoking.

"...Boss, stop giving out cigarettes," a young man said with a sad face, "Your cigarettes are really hard to smoke."

"Oh, I'm so cold I'm starting to talk nonsense. Take more. It won't be so hard to smoke after a few more times."

Perseus's agents: "..."

After reluctantly accepting the cigarette, the oldest agent looked around, exchanged glances with Nikki, who had just quietly appeared, and confirmed that it was safe. Then, he lowered his voice and said to Rhode:

"Boss, after evaluation, we believe that it is impossible to quickly rebuild the intelligence network in Kyiv, or even in northern and western Ukraine. It will take several years of effort."

"Is the loss so severe?" Rhodes frowned slightly. "I didn't expect the death of an agent to result in such a loss."

"This place was never our home base, but the KGB's. But after the disintegration, we lost a lot of personnel here, and many were withdrawn to Russia."

Another agent spoke up, holding a cigarette in his mouth, refusing to put it down even when it was almost finished...obviously trying to reject Rhodes' "kindness" in another way.

"Finally, regarding the printing factory, we're certain that the Ukrainian National Security Service will conduct a secret transaction at the factory. The details are unknown, and the time is expected to be 10 pm."

The young agent reached into his pocket and pulled out a factory floor plan. He handed it to Rhodes, who pointed at a few crosses on it.

"The cross marks indicate the warehouse entrances and exits. This map was drawn by the workers five years ago when the factory was first built for their convenience. It can only be used as a rough reference."

Rhode nodded and accepted it. After a few seconds of silence, he said:

"It's decided. Don't worry about the Ukraine issue for now. The Perseus Organization will just maintain basic operations here, with the primary goal of recruiting former Soviet soldiers, scientists, and scholars who are unwilling to join the Ukrainian army. At the same time, they will track the outflow of weapons and equipment, and do some other miscellaneous work—"

I have a feeling that in the next few years, Ukraine will strike hard at Russia and our kind of intelligence officers, so let's finish our mission first and give the Russian Federal Security Service a headache! Just don't complain to me in the future."

Having said that, Rhode sighed helplessly, thinking of the tortured Agent Perseus. He looked at the several Agent Perseus in front of him and said seriously and earnestly:

"It's not easy to train an agent with ideals and determination. We can't waste our time fighting against the state apparatus; that's pointless. The first priority is to protect myself. Everyone, I'm not omniscient and omnipotent. I must rely on my limbs and eyes."

In the slowly rising smoke, the agents looked at each other, then smiled and nodded in response:

"Understood. We will inform the 'passenger ship'. He will be the only one operating in Kiev and along the Dnieper River at that time, maintaining the most basic surveillance."

"That's good."

Rod stretched and looked up at the dim Kyiv sky:

"You guys go contact the commander of the 24th Motorized Infantry Regiment of the Internal Guard, and I'll go greet those guys tonight and see if I can find any valuable intelligence."

Chapter 310 Metal Gear Solid (9/20)

Night falls and a light snowflake begins to fall.

Rhodes reached out to adjust his camouflage mask to prevent any loopholes in the camouflage system that blended in with the surrounding environment. He could fully imagine the chill of the snow beneath him, but fortunately, the thermal insulation and heat isolation effects of his stealth suit were very good, enough to deceive the thermal imagers and night vision goggles of the former Soviet era... if these printing factory guards had such things.

The factories that had stopped production were blurred into gray silhouettes by the snow, and only the printing factory was brightly lit.

The factory is surrounded by three six-story buildings in the shape of a gate. Only scattered windows emit a turbid yellow light - the light from the incandescent lamps is enough to meet the needs of temporary residents, and those who come here temporarily will not care about this little thing.

The searchlight mounted on the building on the right flashed by, and Rhodes took advantage of the momentary darkness to leap up quickly and throw himself into the shadow of the wall in front of him. He quickly stood up and pressed against the wall, avoiding the searchlight again.

After silently estimating the time, Rhodes bent down and walked along the shadow of the wall in a half-crouching position.

Rhodes could hear the crunching sound of the snow as his footsteps pressed against it, but the whistling wind completely masked the sound. As he passed the first-floor window, he smelled the stench of cheap tobacco. The Ukrainian guards inside were complaining in Russian about the lack of heating:

"Damn Middle Eastern people, are they as insensitive to the cold as corpses in the morgue?!"

Hearing the faint sound of conversation inside, Rhodes paused and then continued forward.

The wind and snow were getting stronger, which was a good thing for Rhode. He rushed forward two steps, grabbed the drainpipe, and leaped up. He reached out and grabbed the sill of the third-floor window. Then, with his arms, he pressed his body horizontally against the wall like a flag, avoiding the patrol passing below. Feeling the protests from his abdominal and arm muscles, Rhode relaxed slightly and spread his legs. He pushed against the raised upper edge of the second-floor window and carefully peered into the house.

It was pitch black inside, and the night vision screen of the All-Seeing Eye showed no one, except for some old manual printing presses neatly placed there.

He extended his finger, and a flash of golden flames appeared, melting the window into a round hole large enough for Rhodes to put his palm in. He pulled out the bolt, pushed the window open, climbed in, and then closed it again.

Walking slowly forward, Rhodes opened the door, letting the dim light from the corridor outside into the house... Very good, there was no sound of enemies passing by, and no flashlights from patrols swept across.

Taking out an M9 pistol equipped with a silencer, Rhodes took out a VSS silent sniper rifle and put it on his back. Then he slowly walked out of the dark room, bent down and walked quickly along the side of the corridor.

When he was about to reach the stairs, Rhodes stopped and listened quietly to the sounds around him:

There were no large patrols, but there were a considerable number of guards. According to conversations heard, they could move around freely but were forbidden to approach certain areas.

After taking out the map and glancing at it a few times, memorizing those areas in his mind, Rhodes exhaled slowly and continued to move forward along the corridor. But soon, two footsteps were heard from the corner of the stairs, along with the light of a flashlight.

Two men... Ukrainian Security Service soldiers, armed and nonchalant... because of the cold.

Wait, there are footsteps behind us!

After quickly reviewing the information in his mind, Rhode frowned. He pushed open the door of an empty room next to him and hid inside. Within seconds, he could hear the guards complaining to each other in the corridor:

"We have to check every room? We just checked it twenty minutes ago!"

"Because 'this is a classified operation and must be handled with caution', didn't you hear what that scoundrel said?"

"Keep your voice down! That's the President's special advisor's son." Someone immediately patted the helmet of the person who had spoken out of turn, making a dull thud. "The advisor himself might not care, but that guy will definitely make things difficult for you... Do you want to 'disappear' one day?"

"Tsk, I get it... It's really unusual for an arms dealer to even be able to get into this business."

"Although snitching isn't popular these days, if you keep talking, I wouldn't mind exchanging you for some US dollars with Advisor Zakhaev."

"Oh, I know, I know. I'll shut up."

"Give me a cigarette and I'll let you go."

"Here you are, here you are. It is my greatest misfortune to be in the same company with you."

Hearing the guards' conversation and that all-too-familiar name, Rhodes' heart skipped a beat:

Arms dealers, Zakhaev, deals in northern Ukraine... Wait, isn't that Price's job? Can I call him now?

More importantly, the identity of the special adviser to the current Ukrainian president is about to be revealed. Imran Zakhaev, the terrorist leader who was able to launch intercontinental missiles and provoke a civil war in Russia in the original game, now not only has greater power, but is also in cahoots with extremist organizations related to the other world!

Does he still insist on the idea of ​​"reviving the Soviet Union" in this timeline? Or, in this time when Sablin is still alive and has become the leader of the party, which Soviet Union does he want to revive?

Currently, Zakhaev is just a special advisor to the president. Will he become the president of Ukraine in the future? Or more likely, the leader of the Ukrainian military junta? In the original game, Zakhaev's Russian Ultranationalists organization was even able to engage in a civil war with the government forces in 2011!

Now if we add Ukraine as a support, what will the war become?

"Well, if I had known earlier, I should have blown this place up."

Rhode pressed his temple with his hand, then lowered it, letting the murderous intent in his heart rise.

"Now is the perfect time to kill both groups of people at once—a terrorist fight and the sudden death of the President's special advisor. How pleasant it sounds."

A few minutes later, when the guards who were checking the room pushed open the door, they saw only a slightly open window that made a strange creaking sound in the cold wind.

The howling snow and wind blew past Rod's back, forcing him to walk sideways along the outer wall of the printing factory - this was not a fun experience, but thanks to the sturdy factory buildings built during the Soviet era, he was able to successfully reach the window on the other wall and get into that room, and then repeat the "corridor-room-exterior wall or steel beam" process.

Finally, he climbed to the top floor of the main printing building from the outside, avoiding the soldiers operating the searchlight in another building, pushed aside the snow and gently hammered in the steel nails.

Activating the camouflage system again, Rhodes made the stealth suit blend into the surrounding environment, then slowly descended along the rope and came to the window of the conference room where the meeting was taking place.

At this moment, the increasingly bitter cold wind was carrying snow particles and constantly whipping the outer wall of the building, making it sound like sandpaper rubbing against metal. Rhode could only try to get as close to the window as possible to listen carefully to the conversation inside.

"Transaction...conducted..."

"The earlier weapons have arrived... We are still trading in gold as before."

From the vague sound of conversation, there were at least six people in the room, presumably the two main characters and two bodyguards each.

Rhodes thought, his fingers resting on the revolver holster at his waist.

"...Very good. We can choose to conduct the transaction in Pripyat. I have already bribed the key person at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. He will help us get the spent fuel rods from the nuclear power plant and provide cover for the transaction."

Imran Zakhaev's voice came. Although he couldn't see his face, Rhodes could fully imagine the hideous smile on his face:

"Of course, there are also... three independently targetable reentry vehicles from the same R-36M intercontinental ballistic missile. According to the agreement, you are responsible for the transportation of these items."

Nuclear warhead?!

"The Ibris Organization will not cause trouble to its allies, and you'd better be cautious."

The strange voice was low and hoarse, as if it was the last sound squeezed out of the throat of a living person before he died completely.

The voice paused for a few seconds, as if the owner was listening to a subordinate's report, before continuing:

"The expression on your face tells me you don't believe this. This is just advice. However, our deal will end once we obtain the nuclear warheads. At that point, even if we become enemies, it won't matter."

"I don't have the habit of attacking someone I've already concluded a deal with," Imran Zakhaev said slowly, then laughed heartily. "What's more, you've helped me gain the trust of the Ukrainian president, which is a great thing. Perhaps I can make further progress in this country. Russia can't lose Ukraine, just like the West can't lose Jerusalem."

"...Then I can only wish you a successful completion of 'Great Russia'."

The sound of a chair moving was heard immediately afterwards. Rhodes guessed that it was Zakhaev wanting to stand up and speak. In fact, it was indeed the case:

"Of course, I also want to thank you for introducing me to those 'friends' in the Western world. I was wondering why some Soviet troops in Afghanistan who ventured deep into the broken mountains often encountered strange problems. It seems that they helped you, and you helped them in return."

The tone had changed, Rhodes thought.

He was not very clear about Zakhaev's personality, experiences, and thoughts in this world, and could only infer them from the fragmented memories that emerged in his mind:

This terrorist leader is still bitter about the Soviet Union's defeat in Afghanistan... It's quite remarkable that these two groups could come together. But, according to Zakhaev's "introduction," does he intend to collaborate with certain individuals in NATO/the United States?

Rhodes considered this possibility. Both parties extended their hands to shake hands while hiding daggers behind their backs, ready to strike at any moment after achieving their goals. It was a classic scene, but it was indeed a decision that two arrogant forces would make.

However, the two terrorist leaders present today do not have to see that day come.