Chapter 452: The Beginning of the Confrontation (Part 2)

"What do you mean?"

"This dream."

Merkel looked around. This was a clean and tidy doctor's office. The reason why it was a doctor's office was not only because Schiller in front of him was wearing a white coat, but also because of the many medical records placed next to Schiller, the anatomical diagrams hanging on the wall, and a treatment bed next to the room.

This place was really very real, exactly the same as the offices used by most doctors that Merkel had seen. The images and texts on the anatomical diagrams were clearly visible, and the metal reflections of the treatment bed legs reflected the color of the floor tiles. All the details here were real and impeccable, and it didn't look like a dream at all.

Just now, Merkel witnessed the absurd scene in the banquet hall, and saw the terrifying black tide and dazzling light. Merkel was a firm materialist. His common sense told him that such a thing would not happen in reality, so there might only be one dream.

The only question is, how did Schiller create such a real but absurd dream, and how did he pull people into this dream?

Merkel felt that figuring out this problem now was much more important than his original mission goal, because as far as he knew, human beings' research on brain consciousness and dreams was still superficial, and this would be a very important intelligence.

"Haven't you experienced it?"

"Are you referring to the bottle of wine?"

Schiller nodded, and then continued: "Of course, the problem is still here."

He pointed to his head, and then said to Merkel: "You should understand that consciousness and dreams are the products of the human brain. You must have a smart enough brain to have enough capacity to run a huge and real dream."

"... Brain development?" Merkel obviously thought of something.

"It seems that you are not just a low-level agent who unilaterally provides intelligence to the Soviet Union. You should also know some intelligence from the Soviet Union."

Merkel immediately shut up, and at the same time, he was a little annoyed in his heart, as if he was being tricked by Schiller.

Schiller shook his head and said, "You don't have to be nervous. I know better than you how far this topic has been studied and how far it can be studied in the future."

"...What level?"

"No progress at all."

Merkel moved his lips, as if he wanted to refute, but he was worried that he would leak more information, so he said to Schiller, "You don't seem to have answered my question."

"I answered, the answer is the bottle of wine plus my brain, nothing else."

"I know you are thinking about how to take away the bottle of wine, or how to take away my brain..."

"But I advise you not to do that. Any of these two things being studied alone may become a disaster."

"We are not afraid of any disaster."

Schiller opened his mouth and found that he really had no way to answer Merkel's answer, so he could only say:

"Now it's my turn to ask the second question. What is your mission goal?"

Merkel frowned, as if he didn't expect Schiller to be so straightforward. He thought that the two would have to test each other for at least two more rounds.

But this made him feel more at ease. It seemed that his previous feeling that Schiller's personality had changed was just his illusion.

"I'm tracking down an agent."

"Who is he?"

"This is our internal matter."

"Why are you tracking him down?"

"Because he has been out of contact for a long time."

Schiller turned the pen in his hand, looked at Merkel and said, "What you said is the truth, but only part of the truth."

"You want to find the person who may have taken away the Philby List, right?"

Merkel's eyes shrank suddenly, he frowned deeply, trying to stay calm. He wanted to deny it, but his reason told him that since Schiller had said the name "Philby List", it proved that he knew a lot.

"Unparalleled Immortal"

"How did you know this name?"

"Is this your next question?"

"...Yes."

"Right now, my body is in the mayor's mansion of the metropolis. An accident just happened here. I won't say what it is, but in short, a group of agents blocked this place."

"Just now, the leader among them announced something in the banquet hall. He claimed that among the participants of the banquet, there was a Soviet spy who took the Philby list, and the agents would not let us leave until the spy was found."

Merkel's face suddenly sank. He could hardly control his facial expression, and his inner anxiety was written on his face.

"Who is he? Where is he now?"

"I don't know." After Schiller gave his answer, Merkel still stared at him. Schiller tapped the table with the tip of his pen and said, "How can I know something that even CIA agents are not sure about?"

"Okay, I'll ask one last question and answer your doubts for the last time, and then I'll put your consciousness back into your body."

Schiller looked into Merkel's eyes and asked:

"Why is the Philby List so important?"

Merkel pursed her lips. He hesitated whether to tell Schiller about this issue. If he was really an enemy, after understanding the importance of the list, he might help CIA agents kill the Soviet Union who had the list. agent.

He recalled some details of his interactions with Schiller in his mind. He had to admit that Schiller was a very strange person. He was very different from ordinary Americans, and even different from British and even Europeans. He just He is not a normal person, and his thinking is incomprehensible to normal people.

When facing such a person, it is difficult for you to judge his ideology, or even what he believes in.

In the past, Merkel would have felt that her work was unfavorable and that she had not collected enough intelligence. But now, she has given him a trace of self-deception. Perhaps Schiller will not completely fall to the CIA, and perhaps there is still a hint of struggle. Help possible.

Finally, he spoke:

"Perhaps you should have heard on the radio that on the eve of Philby's departure from the United Kingdom, that is, between 1962 and 1963, he had been subject to many investigations. It was an extremely dangerous period, even though Philby had lived in Even in a high position, there is no guarantee of escape. "

"Philby was once an important staff member of the fifth section of British MI6 and the head of the ninth section of the Soviet intelligence work. I think you should also know what this means."

"The ninth section is responsible for intelligence work on the Soviet Union, and their section chief is one of ours."

"During this career, Philby obtained a large amount of intelligence. At the same time, he was also responsible for tracking down Soviet spies that may be buried in several other countries. Using his position, he protected many of our comrades and ensured their The work can be carried out smoothly.”

"At the same time, he also knew that many countries had secret agents and spies buried in the Soviet Union. If you have ever understood espionage work, you should know that sending spies is mutual. There is no such thing as what Western countries say. Only the Soviet Union is doing espionage work."

"Coming to Philby's position, the information he had was very terrifying, and the most important information was the identity of Soviet spies and spies from other countries."

"When faced with an important investigation, Philby was not sure he could return to the Soviet Union safely. Even so, he hoped that the information he had could be passed back to the Soviet Union."

"But at that time, his every move was closely monitored. The person responsible for investigating him wanted to find evidence of his guilt from his behavior. Philby knew that he could not contact Moscow directly. He A more tactful approach has to be taken.”

“So, there was the Philby List.”

Merkel sighed, put his hands on the table, clasped them together, and said: "That contains records of all Soviet spies and spies from other countries that Philby can obtain." Identity information.”

"I think you should know how important this is."

"That's why the CIA wants to get this list, because it probably also contains the list of spies they have planted. Even though it has been decades, as long as the identities of some people can be confirmed, they can Follow the clues.”

"All intelligence agencies think so. They don't want any of their opponents or even teammates to get this list. This may cause a devastating blow to their intelligence network in a certain region."

"What is the more tactful way you said to transfer this list?"

Having said this, Merkel no longer needed to be secretive. He said: "The oldest method is to find someone you trust, hand it over to him, and then let that person take it back to Moscow."

"But it didn't work out in the end."

"No, it actually succeeded. In other words, although the plan did not succeed, Philby got rid of the investigation and successfully returned to Moscow. All the information was in his mind."

"So, the Soviet Union already has the information?"

Merkel sighed and said: "Because of this, other countries want to find this list even more, because they are already in a weak position. In the years from Philby's return to Moscow until his death, Western countries continued to improve their intelligence capabilities." It can be said that I have suffered repeated defeats at work, which is also due to Philby’s influence.”

"They want to make a comeback based on this list?"

Merkel shook her head and said: "Actually, it's not the case. They just need something to communicate with."

He stretched out a hand, gestured, and said: "The information in Kim Philby's mind should be very different from what is recorded on Philby's list."

"As long as they can get Philby's list and prove that the information on it is very detailed and can cause great damage, then they can blame the failure of intelligence work over the years on Philby and the failure to try Philby. On the person who compares.”

Schiller immediately understood that what Merkel actually meant was that the reason why these people were so desperate to find this list was to show that their opponents were too strong, not that they themselves were too weak.

As long as they find this list and record very detailed spy information, they can argue that we are playing a bright card and how can we defeat the opponent. In this way, the failure of intelligence work over the years can be A write-off.

"But why this time?" Schiller asked again.

Merkel shook his head, indicating that he didn't know, but Schiller could understand. If the CIA wants to pass the buck, does it have to choose the right time? Or rather, passing the buck is their main business.

"Okay, you can ask me one last question, and then you can end this dream."

Merkel was silent for a long time. Just when Schiller wanted to remind him, he looked into Schiller's eyes and said in a hoarse voice:

"Have you read The Communist Manifesto?"

Schiller was silent for a long time, then he stood up, walked to the window, looked at the empty scenery outside the window, and whispered:

"Do you know? The CIA agent is outside my door. I just need to wake up immediately and tell him that if you ask me this question, you won't be able to survive this winter."

"I know..."

Schiller looked back and saw that there was a light in Merkel's eyes, brighter than the sun that had descended on the top of the tower before.

"But I don't care."