Chapter 1020: Shiller in 1991 (Part 2) _1

Shiller furrowed his brows as he looked at running and then collapsed Andro, then he surveyed the room full of agents. He coughed twice and said, "I don't understand the purpose of this drama, but you're barking up the wrong tree. Even if you take me back to Moscow, you won't get what you want."

"You've lost your memory, haven't you?" A man approached him, placing a gun beside Shiller, and said, "You don't remember anything now, especially the details of your work in the KGB, and the fact that you once served as the director of KGB Eleventh Bureau."

Shiller furrowed his brow, turning his head to look at him. The man saluted him and then said," Deputy Director of the KGB Eleventh Bureau, Petrov, salutes you."

Just as Shiller was about to speak, Petrov pulled out a badge from his coat pocket and handed it to Shiller, "I gather, you should be familiar with this badge."

Shiller looked at the badge held gently between his fingers. He was startled, eagerly taking the badge from Petrov's hands, as he was indeed acquainted with the badge. It was the one he had found in the Philby List file folder.

Shiller was quite familiar with this badge as he had used it several times to fulfill his tasks. Eventually, through Kira, a KGB agent embedded in the Metropolitan CIA station, the badge was successfully returned to Moscow.

Shiller's intention was simple. He used this badge merely as an expedient solution, but the badge was not his own. Even though Philby had died, this badge should still be returned to where it rightfully belonged.

However, the next moment Petrov said, "You once instructed us that once the Red Flag badge you received returned to Moscow, we should find you and return it to you again, and that it would clear all your doubts."

Shiller's pupils constricted in surprise, he turned to Petrov, asking, "The Red Flag badge... that I had received?"

"You probably don't remember anything, but that doesn't matter. Before you left, you had instructed us that you might suffer amnesia and forget every detail. But only you can comprehend the information carried by this badge. When the time comes, you will know everything."

Shiller squinted his eyes, shifting his gaze back to the badge. All of a sudden, he froze there shocked as if he had remembered something. Then he said to Petrov, "Since you claim to be my subordinate, bring me a phone now."

Petrov signaled the agents by the door without saying a word. Within two minutes, a phone was delivered to Shiller. Shiller picked it up and dialed a familiar number, then said,

"Hello, Alfred? I know. You transported the Philby List, and I was the contact person dispatched by Moscow to take over the Philby List. Now, I have a question for you, whose Red Flag badge was sent along with the Philby List?"

Upon hearing Shiller's words, Alfred on the other end of the line immediately understood that Shiller can be in some sort of special state wanting to verify some information. He immediately replied, "Professor Shearer, has your paper not been published yet?"

"Yes, Alfred, but it won't be long now. Maybe next week, you will find my work in the journal. At that time, I would appreciate your feedback."

Realizing the call hadn't ended, Alfred recalled Shiller's question, furrowed and then said, "Red Flag badge? What Red Flag badge? The only thing I transported was the Philby List..."

"Didn't Philby put his Red Flag medal in the list?" Shiller refuted.

Alfred took a deep breath, recounting the state of affairs at the time, then said with surprise, "Comrade Philby was indeed awarded the Red Flag medal after returning to Moscow and providing such a list. How could he have the Red Flag medal before returning to the Soviet Union?"

"Moreover, even if he had defended someone else's Red Flag medal, he would not have had the opportunity to put it on the list. The situation was critical at the time. If he were to put other things inside, he would certainly have to deceive more eyes."

"And for such an important list, he wouldn't put anything in it that implies its importance. This is a basic quality of an intelligence officer. So, the list is just a list, just a few pieces of paper, with no medal."

Shiller hung up the phone, letting out a sigh. He indeed should blame himself for this. At the time, he found the medal in Philby's list file, causing him to assume that it must be Philby's medal.

However, the timeline did indeed raise some issues, and the cause and effect were wrong too. It was only because Philby escaped successfully and revealed the list in his head that he could get the Red Flag medal. Therefore, there was no way for him to receive the medal awarded by the Soviets before he returned to the Soviet Union.

At the same time, Shiller had never participated in real espionage work, so he did not react. Philby would never put anything in it that's related to the Soviet Union when transporting such an important list.

At that time, Philby wrote the list because he didn't know if he could escape. Although he eventually did escape and successfully transported the list, this made the handwritten Philby list less valuable.

Being at a point where he didn't know if he could escape or not, the importance of the list goes without saying. As a legendary agent, capable of playing around with all the British intelligence agencies, Philby could not possibly make such a rookie mistake.

Which meant, this medal was indeed not Philby's. So was it the original Shearer's?

Shiller gently stroked the surface of the badge. It was indeed an early Red Flag badge. This meant that the original Shearer must have achieved the same as Philby to receive this medal. So, what exactly did he do?

At that moment, Petrov saluted once more, "Director, I believe, you probably need some time alone with this badge. We'll be waiting downstairs."

After he said these words, the agents efficiently evacuated the room, leaving Shiller alone. After a moment, Shiller finally came out of his reverie. What did it mean to have a good talk with the badge?

Suddenly, Shiller looked up, eyes wide with realization, because he remembered that the Red Flag medal in his hands was quite similar to the key that Superego had used to open that heavily chained door.

Shiller took the elevator down into the abyss, found the Superego, and said, "Give me some of the power you've acquired from the system, I need to verify something."

The Superego seemed to know what Shiller had planned and immediately bestowed some of the system's power upon him.

After Shiller returned to reality again, a glimmer of light emitted from his fingertips. When he traced his fingers over the Red Flag Medal once more, he discovered the badge lighting up faintly. The very next second, Shiller was submerged into a dreamlike state.

Faint wisps of dust brushed past the lens of an old camera, one photograph after another was printed and fell onto the table, within each scene was the figure of a busy man.

In an office where a red flag was hung up on the wall, in a production workshop filled with slogans, inside a grand assembly hall, everywhere was a stern-faced man.

He was dressed in various outfits; sometimes a political worker's shirt, sometimes the trench coat commonly worn by agents, sometimes a gallant military uniform, but these figures all had the same face - Shiller's.

However, due to differences in facial expression and musculature, he didn't look entirely like the present Shiller. More importantly, these scenes were veiled by a layer of dust from the passage of time, rendering everything blurry.

At this point, a voice resounded in Shiller's ears:

"You must be very curious, about who I am, what I have done, why you are here, but do not rush, I will tell you everything, comrade."

"I am Shiller, or rather, I am called Shiller. But I was not originally Shiller. Before I was reborn, I was not Shiller."

"I am a Soviet citizen, of Russian descent, a common Bolshevik officer."

"Yes, I am a reborn being. When I died and was revived again, I realized, that I had returned to my childhood."

"Time had reversed, everything was yet to happen. This is a precious opportunity for anyone, and it was the same for me."

Shiller noticed that this voice was always filled with a stern and aloof tone unique to soldiers, completely unlike his own voice.

"As a result, I decided to do something to change the foreseeable future. I presume, you must have received my gift. It was the gift I left for you, for this world..."

"You must be very curious about how all this happened. Well, it all started in the winter of 1991."

As the deep voice reverberated, the old projector began to play once more.

The snow, fluffy as goose feathers, gently drifted from the sky. Upon landing on the birch tree branches, even a sparrow was not startled. Through yellowing window panes, a red flag could be seen hanging on a white wall.

Beneath the red flag was a radio antenna. From the radio, along with the static sound "zizz", a voice was broadcasted:

"The Supreme Soviet of the USSR has confirmed that with the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the USSR, as a national and international law entity, will cease to exist..."

"Click", a hand pressed down on the radio button.

Looking up along the sleeve, the neat military uniform was adorned with many shining badges. When the finger pressed the radio button again, the channel switched, and the pleasant music of "Farewell to Mrs. Slav" came from the radio.

A hand bearing a gun callus stroked the gun body; the crisp sound of loading the Makarov pistol was drowned in the beat of the music.

When the muzzle rested on the lower jaw, the sparrow remained motionless on the tree branch.

"Bang!"

In the silence of the room, the echo of a gunshot rang out. Outside the window, as the little bird flew up, the compacted snow on the branch showered down.

In the winter of 1991, the red flag flying above the Kremlin said its goodbye to the world with a kiss of snow.

As the sparrow landed on the clean ground, a child full of hopes, an unwavering warrior, fell amidst the falling snow in Minsk.

The land, stained with fresh blood, was the same red as the flag fluttering over Petrograd in 1917.