Chapter 2697 - 2671: God or Demon

Baskov looked at Yarebin, resolutely saying, "Of course, there won’t be any problem. I will definitely try my best, I promise!"

Yarebin sighed and said, "Baskov, do you want to know why I chose Ram as the successor?"

Baskov resolutely said, "There’s no need for a reason, Captain, you don’t need a reason to choose anyone! I have no doubts and no intention to probe. I’m sincere when I say this, Captain."

Yarebin smiled and said, "A tool cannot have thoughts, but the master of a tool must have thoughts. Ram is a person with ability, strength, and influence, but he is someone who is kind-hearted yet extremely determined. Once he sets his mind on something, he will see it through to the end, even if he understands it’s not beneficial for himself, and he cherishes his tools greatly, willing to risk everything for them."

Baskov nodded and smiled.

Yarebin looked at Baskov with interest and said, "Speaking of which, have you thought of someone? Someone very similar to Ram?"

Baskov hesitated, then he hesitantly pointed at his own nose.

Yarebin nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, he is very much like you."

Baskov’s breathing became rapid, yet Yarebin remained calm and spoke slowly, "Baskov, you were the first in Black Demon history to disobey my orders, not because of your betrayal, but because of that time with a child. Ram was the second, also for a child."

Baskov widened his eyes and looked at Gao Yang, while Yarebin spoke sternly, "You refused to kill a child in swaddling clothes. I should have killed you on the spot if you weren’t the best Black Demon, or if I didn’t think you were too young, still redeemable, I would have. But indeed, you never made the same mistake again, I thought you had changed, until your final choice to betray."

Baskov couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Yarebin’s expression softened, and he spoke with a sense of regret, "As I said earlier, a tool cannot have thoughts, but the master of a tool must. Your identity is different now, Baskov. You’ve transformed from a tool to one who uses the tool, so I can no longer say your choice is wrong. You have the right to choose any course of action you believe is correct, for you are the user of the tool."

Baskov nodded.

Yarebin laughed and said, "Not long ago, Hammer had a mishap on his own mission, and I ordered to abandon him. When a tool is damaged, it must be abandoned."

Baskov nervously asked, "What happened to Hammer? Is he dead?"

Yarebin pointed to Gao Yang and said, "He was stubborn, initiating a meaningless action, and as a result, he actually saved Hammer."

Baskov let out a long sigh and then looked at Gao Yang, nodding.

Yarebin smiled and said, "Now you know why I chose him?"

Baskov whispered, "Because he will treat the tools better, or perhaps he won’t see Black Demon as just tools."

Yarebin whispered, "Correct."

Baskov let out a long breath, looked at Gao Yang and said, "You’re good, really, you’re good."

Yarebin said quietly, "Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why I would hand Black Demon over to him? I could never find the answer until today, when I saw you again, I realized maybe it’s because he is very much like you—kind-hearted like you, stubborn like you, foolish like you."

Baskov was on the verge of tears, looking at Yarebin, his eyes truly reddened.

Yarebin patted Baskov’s shoulder and said, "You were once the deputy captain of Black Demon, I personally trained you and promoted you. I hated you, but you..."

Sighing deeply, Yarebin shook his head, his face full of sorrow and said, "Let the past be past, the times have changed, everything is different. If it were before, I would never have handed Black Demon to someone like you, never! But now, Black Demons have aged, having been tools all their lives, handing them to someone like you might actually be a good choice, who knows, let’s give it a try..."

Baskov spoke in a deep voice, "Captain... I..."

Baskov choked up, said no more, coughed to clear his throat, and spoke again, "Captain..., I... I’m sorry!"

Baskov cleared his throat but still choked up, Yarebin waved his hand and said, "Don’t say anything more, Baskov, you betrayed the Soviet Union; nothing I say can possibly make me hand over the Black Demon to you. Others wouldn’t agree either; they hate you, especially since you’re now a senior official in the Russian Federal Security Service. There’s no point in discussing meaningless things; it all depends on the Ram now. I hope he won’t let me down."

After speaking, Yarebin chuckled self-deprecatingly and said regretfully to Gao Yang, "The captain of the Black Demon knows nothing about intelligence work. Isn’t this ironic?"

Baskov said excitedly, "Captain, I believe in the Ram; he can definitely lead the Black Demon well, absolutely can!"

Yarebin shook his head, waved his hand, and said to Baskov, "I’ve said enough today, and I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I might start understanding you now, but it doesn’t mean I don’t hate you or won’t dislike you. This is the last time we will meet. It’s over, farewell, Baskov."

Baskov trembled all over, tears streaming down his face. He took a step back and saluted Yarebin with his right hand, about to say something. But Yarebin sternly said, "No apologies! You did what you did, when have the Black Demon needed to apologize? No matter who, no apologies!"

Baskov tremblingly said, "Farewell, Captain!"

Yarebin slowly saluted with a solemn face, saying, "Farewell, Black Demon!"

Baskov suddenly dropped his right arm, then swiftly turned away, but did not leave. First, he looked at Gao Yang with a determined expression and nodded. Then he looked at Glewatov beside him and said solemnly, "Come with me! We have something to discuss!"

Glewatov snorted discontentedly, but after hesitating for a moment, he followed Baskov. Needless to say, Glewatov would discuss in detail with Baskov how to proceed.

After both left, Gao Yang couldn’t help but sigh softly. At this time, Yarebin suddenly whispered, "Okay, don’t believe a word of what I just said to him."

"Uh, what?"

Gao Yang looked at Yarebin very surprised, while Yarebin said expressionlessly, "Traitors! Always traitors! If traitors can be forgiven, what in this world is unforgivable?"

Gao Yang said somewhat helplessly, "But you just said, said, no, what do you mean exactly?"

Yarebin whispered, "To make up for the mistake you just made."

"The mistake I made?"

Yarebin looked at Gao Yang, pointed at his chest, and said softly, "With someone who values interest, you have to talk interest with them; with someone who values emotion, you have to talk emotion with them. You had a mistaken start with Baskov, which would make him feel a strong aversion towards you. To make up for your mistake, I just had to talk emotion with him. Otherwise, do you think I would be interested in talking so much to him?"

Gao Yang was completely shocked, so shocked that he couldn’t utter a single word.

Yarebin said seriously, "If you want to analyze Baskov, you can’t help but start from his character. Since he chose betrayal, then you must not show any mercy. But Baskov indeed has strong emotions. He betrayed the Soviet Union and the Black Demon but didn’t go to extremes. This is his biggest mistake, and also proof that his feelings overpowered his rationality."

Gao Yang was stunned, while Yarebin showed an expression of ’hate iron for not becoming steel,’ sighed, and said, "Baskov said something true: the Black Demon isn’t like other units. Even though he said he felt towards the Black Demon like a soldier towards an old unit, over the years, Baskov has always felt guilty for his betrayal. He still wants the Black Demon’s forgiveness, and even wants my approval of his actions. From an interest perspective, he has no reason to help you. But in Italy and in Yemen, he did help you. What does this mean? He acted on his emotions, not interests."

Gao Yang nodded subconsciously and said, "I was wrong to talk interest right away with him."

Yarebin whispered, "Extremely wrong. This might cause him to dislike you to the extreme, and doubt his past actions. He might help you this time, but in the future, he won’t again; absolutely impossible! Baskov’s tragedy is that he is part of a completely unemotional force in the world, yet has emotions he shouldn’t have. Extreme rationality clashes with extreme emotions, creating his twisted emotional world. Perhaps he would be rational handling other matters, but when it touches the Black Demon, he becomes extremely emotional. His passionate emotion, therefore, leads to using simple methods to deal with him."

Gao Yang nodded, and Yarebin continued, "If a person full of emotion dislikes you, no matter how much you talk interest, he won’t care and would still dislike you. Talking interest makes him feel his past actions are worthless. So what I just said makes him willing to do anything to help you, Gao. It’s so easy to deal with an emotional person, use him as a warning."

Gao Yang foolishly said, "I understand."

Yarebin said regretfully, "I should have told you in advance, unfortunately, I didn’t, leading my plan to a considerable deviation, having to say a bunch of nonsense to turn the situation around. But it’s also good, with the words just now, you’ll have his absolute support in the future, now Baskov is willing to risk his life to help you, absolutely."

Gao Yang continued to look bewildered and said, "Why?"

Yarebin patted Gao Yang’s shoulder and smiled, "Fool, because he sees you as his replacement! Don’t you understand? Seeing you is like seeing himself; Baskov already sees you as the shadow he left among the Black Demon. Even if just to prove giving the Black Demon to him was right, he will do everything he can to support you. Because the Black Demon can’t be given to him, but now it’s given to you, now do you understand?"