What Do My Aliases Have to Do With Me

This is certain.

If this news were to break, it would be bizarre if the White House, as Langley’s top boss, didn’t go crazy.

Training assassins.

Children.

Looking at these two separately, there wouldn’t be any problem, but put together, it’s a huge issue.

It’s the same old story.

It’s true that the federal government is hypocritical, but the premise of their hypocrisy is that bad things happen in the dark. Once brought into the light, it becomes a complete disaster, especially when it involves orphans being raised as assassins.

Rachel chuckled excitedly, shaking her head, "Sorry, I got a little carried away, but you know, this is just too exciting."

Bonnie said, "So, we need to confirm as much as possible and maintain an objective stance."

Rachel raised her hands in agreement.

Bonnie asked, "Do you know what you need to do to complete this report?"

"Of course."

Rachel nodded, glancing at Lake on the big screen. "I’ll go verify with Lake Edwin, then I’ll call the White House, and after that, I’ll go find this Van Doren."

The legal advisor looked at Rachel, "Quick question, why not go to them right away?"

Bonnie chimed in to help Rachel, "I already told you the answer to that. If we go to them beforehand, it gives Langley a chance to block our report. Believe me, they’ll stop us at all costs."

The legal advisor cleared his throat, "From a legal standpoint, this report is airtight. All the wording complies with regulations, and there’s no libel."

Rachel said, "Facts are the most important thing, aren’t they?"

The legal advisor was silent for a moment, then said, "That’s from a legal perspective, but once this report comes out, they’ll definitely want to know your source. Have you spoken to your informant?"

After a pause.

The legal advisor spread his hands, "Give me a name, or his job description."

Rachel opened her mouth.

Initially.

Rachel wanted to refuse to reveal her source. After all, if a reporter can’t keep the identity of their whistleblower a secret, who would continue to leak information to that reporter?

Especially here in Washington.

Washington, where one misstep can bury you directly with a scandal.

However…

Rachel thought about their meeting in the park, about what Lake had said last. She shrugged. "An anonymous phone call. I met him on a bench by the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. He called himself Professor X."

The legal counsel looked at Bonnie, "The Reflecting Pool, meeting at a place like that, very interesting."

Bonnie chuckled and looked at Rachel, "So, you don’t know your actual source?"

Rachel took out the slip of paper with Lake’s private number. "Right, but he gave me the number of the person in charge of that operation. The Deputy Director of Operations for the Department of Homeland Security in New York. I called yesterday and confirmed this information, and he agreed to meet me tomorrow morning."

"Deputy Director of Operations for the New York State Department of Homeland Security?"

"Yes."

A reporter at the meeting projected the retrieved information about Lake onto the large screen. "Lake Edwin, thirty-one years old this year, joined the army at sixteen, participated in several overseas operations, Desert Storm… served as Operations Chief, Major rank, received the Soldier’s Medal, Silver Star, Defense Medal… Jesus Christ, and three Purple Hearts, my god… then studied at Yale’s Art Department. After graduation, he joined the NYPD. After the Department of Homeland Security was established this year, he became the Deputy Director of Operations for the New York State Department of Homeland Security."

Everyone was astonished by the resume that couldn’t even fit on a single page.

Yes.

Lake’s rank had also been upgraded.

After all, Lake had never left the army. His transfer to the Department of Homeland Security was handled through operations. Coupled with Lake’s cracking of the Russian spy case and General Ross’s intervention, he was promoted.

Of course.

He wasn’t receiving any salary from the military. Even with connections, it wasn’t easy to collect two salaries.

Bonnie looked at Rachel, "Are you sure you contacted this person?"

Rachel looked at the displayed photo of Lake, hesitating slightly. "I… think so. He said he was Lake Edwin."

Bonnie, beside her, also said to the legal counsel, "Rachel told me about this yesterday and preliminary confirmed the information with two other people. We also have this genuine transfer order, and I know the names of those two people. I think it’s very good. And Rachel is meeting with this Deputy Director of the New York State Department of Homeland Security with a brilliant resume tomorrow. That’s enough for the report."

The legal counsel shook his head with a hint of pessimism. "I’m saying, maybe you think it’s fine, but Washington won’t. The law is very dark."

Rachel frowned. "Excuse me?"

The legal counsel said, "Suspected of leaking the secret identity of a Langley operative is illegal for a Washington official. And this transfer order isn’t something just anyone can get."

Rachel looked confused. "I’m not an official."

The others in the office also began to agree with Rachel.

The legal counsel shook his head helplessly. "Alright, as long as you think it’s okay."

Bonnie nodded and looked at Rachel, "To be safe, this report will be published tomorrow. You need to verify it with this Lake Edwin this afternoon."

Rachel frowned. "But I scheduled the meeting for tomorrow morning."

Bonnie said, "This is risky. We have to make sure it’s true."

Rachel was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I’ll try."

Bonnie looked at another name on the report, the one who picked up the suspect Van Doren, and said, "Do you know this Van Doren?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes, I was planning to go see her later. You won’t believe it, our kids go to the same elementary school."

As she finished speaking.

The legal advisor and Bonnie looked up in shock.

Bonnie said, "Alright, you can go see Van Doren first. Are you confident about talking to her?"

Rachel nodded. "Completely confident."

Professor X had not only given her the transfer order, but also Lake Edwin’s private number. Naturally, Rachel felt that if he said Van Doren was Erica, the parent of her child’s classmate, then Rachel was fully confident in confirming it.

That afternoon, the school had an open sports class.

Rachel planned to go find her directly later.

However, the conversation that afternoon did not go smoothly.

But with the keen intuition of a journalist, even though Erica kept denying she was Agent Langley Van Doren, Rachel became even more convinced that this person was Agent Langley.

Jesus Christ.

A parent in my son’s class is a female agent, and she’s from Langley.

The next day.

Early in the morning.

The moment The Sun hit the newsstands, a storm erupted.

Thaddeus Ross looked at the glaring headline on the newspaper in his hand and put it down. "Lake!"

Betty, who was beside him, asked, "What’s wrong?"

Karen, who was in the kitchen, also curiously walked out and looked at her husband, who had suddenly raised his voice.

Lake came down from upstairs. After arranging to meet Rachel Armstrong in an hour, he hung up the phone and looked at Ross. "What’s wrong?"

Thaddeus turned the newspaper in his hand towards Lake.

[Exposing the Truth at Great Risk: Langley’s Orphan Killer Training Base Overseas.]

This headline…

It’s not eye-catching enough.

Lake looked at the report. Although the headline was mediocre, the content was explosive. It basically conveyed everything Lake wanted to say.

Since you people at Langley are willing to take the blame for S.H.I.E.L.D., then go ahead and take it.

I warned you not to regret it. I hope you truly don’t.

Ross frowned. "Did you do this?"

Lake blinked. "Do what?"

Ross pointed to the photocopy of the transfer order that was published along with the report.

Lake chuckled. "How could I? I’ve been with Karen from morning till night these past few days."

As a Federal Prosecutor, Karen knew the seriousness of the matter and looked at Lake. "It really wasn’t you who leaked it?"

Leaking the identity of Agent Langley was a federal crime.

Lake said, "I received a call from this reporter yesterday. I was curious too. She just called again a moment ago."

Karen frowned. "Called you? A woman? Is she pretty?"

Lake’s lips twitched. "She’s married, her child can already play soccer. Yesterday she asked me if something like this happened. I told her the case wasn’t mine anymore, and then it was in the papers today."

Karen hadn’t been this anxious even when he came back heartbroken a few years ago.

It was as if since the beginning of this year, she couldn’t go three sentences without asking if he’d found a girlfriend. If it weren’t for the special circumstances of their children in Europe, Lake would have brought them back to meet their grandmother long ago.

He wasn’t Cao Mengde; at the very least, married women were not within his consideration.

Thaddeus looked at Lake thoughtfully. "Are you sure no evidence will be found that implicates you?"

Lake shrugged. "I didn’t leak it, so what do I have to be afraid of? I was just accepting an interview."

It was the clone, Professor X, who went and leaked it.

What does it have to do with me, Lake, when the clone did it?

An hour later.

Dawson’s Terrace Park in Arlington County.

Lake got out of the car.

From a car not far away, the door opened, and the female reporter Rachel Armstrong walked over, extending her hand to Lake. "Hello, I’m Rachel. I’m the one who spoke with you on the phone."

Lake shook hands with Rachel and shook his head. "I just said the case wasn’t mine anymore, and you wrote it as if you verified it with me. That’s… not right."

Rachel said, "Isn’t that the truth?"

Lake chuckled but didn’t answer. Instead, he invited Rachel, "Want to take a walk in the park?"

After speaking.

Lake didn’t wait for Rachel’s reply and walked directly into the park.

Rachel followed him.

The two walked along the park path, and from a distance, they looked like they were on a date.

But.

Lake glanced at Rachel, and after sensing the two gazes behind them, he said, "I can’t give you any information, because you’re a reporter, you pursue the truth. But I’m different. Do you know what I pursue?"

Rachel frowned. "What?"

Lake smiled slightly. "Above truth, sometimes national security is greater than truth."

Rachel: "…"

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