Chapter 281 - 262 Political Accident

A few days later.

"Yes, you just need to admit you’re from the CIA, and then clarify your mission objectives,"

"What about Frank..."

"Everyone has to make concessions, he’ll keep these matters to himself, and you, you’re just an agent who bungled the job. The CIA does indeed make such mistakes sometimes."

At the entrance of the building, Rollins, with his one eye, frowned after hearing all this: "What about my political career..."

"Hey, Rollins." The portly congressman patted him on the back, "It’s over—it’s all over, you get it?

But at least you won’t be going to prison, and who knows, maybe you can make a comeback. Cheer up, after such a big incident, you’re still able to walk around outside, isn’t that good enough?"

Rollins, looking dazed, walked in escorted by guards.

Frank, meanwhile, sat in his wheelchair not far away, staring intently at that guy.

"...Are you sure you want me to do this? My family and I..."

Lille adjusted his clothes behind him:

"Don’t worry, why kill someone to keep a secret? The purpose of silencing someone is to take the secrets to the grave, but once a secret is revealed... what’s the point of silencing them?

It only makes the truth all the more credible."

Frank looked at Lille: "Just like that?"

"Of course it’s not that simple, but we’re already at this point. Do you still want to go back to being their dog?"

Lille greeted the nearby governor with a nod, then said to Frank, "Don’t you think your skills would be better used protecting your own family?

Or do you plan to cower and retire? I wouldn’t mind that either."

Frank laughed upon hearing this: "So you come out ahead on both sides."

Lille just shrugged, but he didn’t feel like he would come out ahead on both sides.

If Frank decided to cower, he would definitely lose out, at least a little.

All parties involved began to enter the venue in turn.

Everyone thought they had reached a temporary compromise and got what they wanted.

Everyone thought things would develop as they had planned.

...

The issues were dealt with one by one.

A special hearing was held in Washington.

In the giant, circular conference hall, the big screen showed a speech given in front of the Osborne building in New York.

There were no doubts here until the labeled mafia van appeared.

The rampant mob made some older folks recall several economic crashes from the last century when gangs could control an entire city.

But things were different now, the gangs were just hired muscle.

No gang could afford such terrifying transhuman technology. If they could, wouldn’t they have entered the financial market to play the capital game?

Up to this point, the video was still clear, and one could observe from the ctOS where these vehicles came from.

As the NYPD Chief, Chief George Stacy was, of course, present at the hearing—

This was a hearing nominally for members of Congress, but in reality, it was meant for society as a whole.

Starting with this attack, the series of incredible events that followed meant this hearing would essentially be addressing the world.

George began to testify about the gangs that appeared and the corresponding clean-up.

"...NYPD has cleared out the hideouts of these criminals, but these organized criminals are obviously well-trained, and we are unable to find more witnesses or leads."

On the panel, a congressman furrowed his brows and raised his hand to signal a question: "You’re saying an orderly trained gang left no clues for the police."

"Yes." George nodded affirmatively without any change of expression, "They’re very professional, considering the personnel involved in this event, I think it’s not unimaginable."

Why say that?

Because Xin’an Security caught a CIA agent.

This Xin’an Security is the renamed title for the Heart Demon Gang gone legitimate.

Martin stood up and nodded slightly, then looked towards the defendants: there sat the CEO of Cyber Technology, Harren Reich, along with the former CIA agent William Rollins.

Two sleazy suited men; Harren hung his head, terrified to the extreme, while Rollins still maintained his composure—

But if one were observant, they could read the anxiety in his eyes.

This was a hearing that should not have taken place, there were too many people who should not be interrogated in such circumstances.

The opposition was crazy.

But on second thought, wasn’t their over-the-top behavior just as mad in the eyes of the other side?

Luckily, he knew he was leaving, even if his political career took a hit...

At least he wouldn’t be purged.

Another congressman spoke up: "There are reports claiming you thought he was a CIA agent, but there’s no such person in the CIA database."

George spread his hands: "You see, this is why we say they’re professionals, but luckily, we have intelligence from other sources to corroborate..."

"Ahem." Another congressman interrupted, "Chief Stacy, before you continue, I would like to remind you that this hearing is very important, and you must ensure that every word you speak is true and appropriate."

George looked at the congressman, not fully understanding the intricacies—

Communication between the NYPD and city administration was politics, and so was communication with Congress, but they were worlds apart.

So he followed Lille’s advice: tell the whole truth.

However, just as he was about to continue explaining, Rollins spoke up.

"...Yes, I am a CIA agent, and I hired Cyber Technology to clean up the traitors over there.

We joined several intelligence agencies to discover Custer’s illegal operations abroad, and his involvement in New York City’s active gang activities.

On the day of Governor Newsom’s speech, he attempted to hire a gang to assassinate the governor, commissioned by foreign powers."

The audience was in an uproar, the story sounded absolutely preposterous, but it completely matched their imagination about intelligence agencies:

After all, isn’t that exactly how subversive movements are? Unbelievably incredible?

Of course, it’s not possible for everyone to believe it.

A congressman asked with a frown, "Are you saying that Captain Custer was commissioned by foreign forces to carry out an assassination... With all due respect, this is just too..."

"But this is the intelligence we have."

Rollins insisted adamantly.

Following the script given to him by superiors, this would ultimately be regarded as a mistake on his part.

Frank would argue strenuously, and then he would "surprisingly" discover his error, ending the matter in confusion during the process of evidence and testimony comparison.

In the end, the assassination attempt on the governor would also be considered the work of foreign forces—

On the other hand, what reason would the governor and the opposition party have to believe it was aimed at him?

None at all.

With political matters, there is no need to make everything clear, it’s only necessary to consider interests, and the exchange of interests had already been completed; they were just putting on a play.

A play for the general public.

He looked toward Frank, now it was his turn.

The congressmen also looked toward Frank, and another inquiring congressman spoke up: "This matter seems to involve intelligence secrets... but considering the magnitude of the incident, I guess the people of Mei Country need to know the truth.

So Captain Custer, what do you have to say about Colonel Rollins’s accusations?"

Frank sat in a wheelchair, in poor condition.

That day, he had recklessly taken down a large number of gunmen, with bullets hitting his chest, spine, and back. Overall, although not life-threatening, the aftereffects were quite severe.

His rage was evident, dressed in a military uniform adorned with various medals.

Frank said nothing, unpinning these medals from himself.

This action started murmurs among those present.

Another corpulent congressman suddenly said, "Captain Custer, you are a soldier of Mei Country, and the nation is grateful for your contributions, but remember your identity.

Now tell us, what is the truth? We won’t wrong a good person, but we won’t let a bad person go, either. You only need to tell the truth."

Frank lifted his head, his eyes cold as he stared at the congressman, staring him down:

He grabbed four Purple Heart medals with purple ribbons: "These are Purple Hearts; for these four medals, I’ve been shot 7 times, nearly smothered in a vehicle flipped by a landmine."

Then he showed three medals with intertwined blue, white, and red ribbons in the shape of a gold pentagon: "These are Silver Star Medals, and to earn these honors, I’ve killed over 100 fully armed soldiers on the battlefield."

"...This is the Navy Cross Medal; for it, I moved back and forth between water and land, engaging in combat for over 30 days and nearly dying in the water afterward."

"This is the Medal of Honor; without fire support, I alone rescued 46 captured comrades and 4 pilots."

"All of these awards can be verified, and if you follow the news, you might even have seen me shaking hands with the President — not the current one."

Everyone waited for him to finish, only the sound of pages turning remained.

As the corpulent congressman had stated, Frank was a soldier.

And not just any soldier, but one with distinguished service, an identity that deserved respect, especially in such an occasion.

"My life has been in the service of the Mei Country military, I’ve questioned my actions, but in the end, I chose to obey because I am a soldier."

Frank laid down all the medals, pointing at Rollins: "And my last mission was to carry out kidnappings against civilians in Afghanistan, on his orders, I even killed a local policeman, just 26, a civilian."

The room fell silent; even the turning of pages stopped.

Frank spoke so fast, so directly...

But the content was nothing less than a nuclear bomb!

Rollins’s face turned ashen: This guy’s gone mad!

He had killed some local police and civilians, but Frank was involved in those incidents as well!

And this was not what they had agreed upon!

After a moment of silence, the room exploded into chaos.

The person in charge of broadcasting turned pale, but quickly, he received a message: keep broadcasting.

What else could he do?

He was just playing the footage.

He had no idea that those who should be giving him orders were all in their offices, red-faced and bellowing: Turn it off!!!

Inside Bloom Company, Skye was struggling, her face red, against media companies from all over the world—

This big news was almost bursting the internet!

She was essentially hacking into the entire world, managing the information flow orderly!

Of course, she wasn’t the only one in control.

Lille sat in his seat, expressionless, sweeping through an internet devoid of Zola, ensuring the images were fully disseminated to the outside.

He sensed a network entity that could barely contend with him, but unfortunately, that entity was also watching the show.

Lille slightly turned his head and saw another often newsworthy guy looking back at him from the opposite stand.

Tony Stark.

Lille turned back to face the congressmen, officials, and military officers in the seats, and they also looked back at him.

So, what are you going to do?

Lille shifted his posture, crossing his legs.