Chapter 1415: Chapter 678: So Many Have Fallen!
“General, I…” Smiley opened his mouth, trying to explain.
“Shut up.” Victor pointed at the scattered crystal fragnts on the ground, “Pick them up.”
Smiley did not dare to hesitate for a mont and imdiately crouched down, using his bare hands to pick up those sharp fragnts.
Bennett and Przybylski exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other’s eyes; the boss was truly angry this ti.
Victor stood up, walked around the desk, and stepped in front of Smiley, looking down at him as he awkwardly cleaned up the ss.
“That fool Hudson and his twenty-so equally brainless companions, their bodies probably aren’t even cold yet.”
“With their stupidity and blood, they handed Little Bush the quickest tool to stabilize the dostic situation. Now, the pressure from the north has suddenly lessened. Tell , who’s next?”
“Do you have no information at all?!!”
Smiley’s fingers were cut by the fragnts, blood oozing out, but he dared not stop.
“Where are our people?” Victor looked at Bennett, “You want money, I give you money; you want people, I give you people. How co? Are you all ready to enjoy it now?!”
“I think you all fucking forgot what the front line feels like!”
Bennett imdiately stepped forward, speaking quickly but clearly: “Yes, boss. According to our latest intelligence, Little Bush’s thods are extrely harsh this ti, with a very significant deterrent effect. The military forces that were originally wavering quickly shifted towards the governnt; the rebellion in Tacoma City has been pacified, most of the soldiers involved in the coup have been disard and detained, and Little Bush is establishing his own authority!”
Bennett’s tone was heavy, “It’s expected that diplomatic and public opinion pressure will co first. We cannot rule out more direct intervention thods later. Europe has also seen the commotion, and they want to use this opportunity to elevate themselves.”
Victor turned his gaze to Augustine Przybylski.
Finally, Victor’s gaze fell back on Smiley, who had just finished cleaning up the fragnts and still had bloodstains on his hands.
“At a ti like this, you’re seventeen minutes late.”
“Give a convincing reason, or you’ll roll to the front line to replace Ethan.”
Smiley stood up, ignoring the blood on his hands, and pulled out a sowhat crumpled note from his underwear pocket, handing it over with both hands, his voice dry with tension:
“Boss, this is the reason for my delay. It’s a crucial piece of information, smuggled out at great risk by a dark line we’ve buried within Credit Suisse.”
Victor’s fingers pinched the crumpled note, the writing on the paper was scrawled as if written with the left hand, and the ink still had so smudged wetness, clearly transmitted in great haste.
But when he finished reading the content word by word, his originally sinister expression darkened to the point where it could drip water.
“The United States hopes the United Kingdom and other countries will help him deal with the dostic rebels? There are British people around Bramo Ramsfield?”
Victor held the note up to Smiley’s face. The latter wanted to explain, his lips moved, but was interrupted by Victor’s following action. The paper, carrying the ‘crucial intelligence,’ was suddenly torn into four pieces, forcefully thrown at Smiley’s face.
“Is this it?”
“Smiley, I put you in charge of intelligence coordination to keep an eye on the claws of those European and Arican wolves, and you give this?”
“No one knows better than I do who’s around Bramo Ramsfield. Whether there are spies there, do you think I don’t know?”
He turned and paced a few steps.
“There are British people around Bramo, and you think I don’t know?”
Victor suddenly stopped, looked back at Smiley, eyes nearly dripping with sarcasm, “Last year, when the British BAE Systems Company signed an arms contract with the United States Departnt of Defense, Carter’s office gained a ‘policy advisor.’ That guy’s grandfather is a retired Major General of the Royal Navy, and that guy followed Carter to Bramo’s side. Do I need you to tell such things?”
“I didn’t bring you here to hear you report these insignificant pieces of intelligence!”
Victor banged the wooden tabletop, producing a dull thump, “What I want to know is why William Hudson would be stupid enough to believe Little Bush’s bullshit about peace talks!”
His gaze swept across the faces of Bennett, Przybylski, and Smiley one by one, “Soone capable of leading an army to capture Tacoma City, daring to openly challenge the U.S. Governnt, wouldn’t know that a coup is a dead end with no turning back? He had territory, had soldiers, even if he didn’t clash head-on with Little Bush, he could retreat to Tacoma and stand against the governnt, holding out for half a month! But he just had to venture alone to The Pentagon, bringing a bunch of equally foolish officers. This isn’t stupidity; this is abnormal!”
Bennett’s Adam’s apple moved, stepping forward trying to explain: “Boss, we have investigated Hudson’s background. He cos from a military family in Texas, his personality has always been impulsive, and…”
“And what?”
Victor interrupted him, his fingers heavily tapped the desk, “And he’s too stupid to even understand the need for bargaining chips in negotiations? Or too stupid to think Little Bush would sit down with him over coffee to discuss terms?”
Przybylski pushed up the glasses on his nose, his voice suppressed to a low, “We suspect Hudson might have an informant from the U.S. Governnt around him, or… he received so kind of guarantee that led him to mistakenly believe the peace talks were genuinely sincere. After all, Little Bush set up such a ticulous trap this ti, even Hudson’s guards were controlled in advance, obviously having prepared a net.”
“Suspect?”
Victor tugged at his collar, repressing the fury in his chest, “What I want isn’t suspicion! It’s evidence! Evidence that clearly explains why he would step into the trap!”
He suddenly turned to Jeff Bennett, who instinctively shrank his head back, but still stiffened his neck.
“You’re responsible for external intelligence, you should be most aware of the movents of the US Military! After Hudson’s coup, did he have any private contact with The Pentagon? Was there any third-party force conveying ssages to him? Have you investigated?”
Jeff Bennett’s face turned red, “We… we have checked Hudson’s communication records, but after his coup, he cut off most of the public communications, using encrypted channels, which our people have not fully deciphered, and Little Bush’s action was too swift. By the ti we reacted, Hudson had already…”
“Already beco the corpse hanging at The Pentagon’s door, is that it?”
Victor took over his words, “I give you money, give you manpower, to let you watch every move of the United States, and the result? A coup leader who could influence the entire North Arican situation, dead without clear reason, and you can’t even investigate why he died!”
He suddenly raised his hand, pointing at the office door, his voice abruptly rising, “Get out! Get out right now!”
The three of Bennett, Przybylski, and Smiley froze, none of them daring to move.
“I will say it again, get out!”
“I’ll give you three days! In three days, I want to know if there is indeed an informant around Hudson, and what thod Little Bush used to deceive him into peace talks.”
“If after three days, all you give is ‘suspicion,’ ‘maybe,’ ‘still investigating,’ then don’t co back, head directly to the front line.”
“Yes! We will go right now!”
The three ran out sowhat embarrassed, standing at the door, looking at each other, but none knew what to say.
They could only sigh with headaches.
Victor was still angry in the office.
“Damn it! I never dread you would fall so far, becoming pampered one by one. Don’t forget how difficult it was when we fought our way out with just a knife and a gun!”
He picked up the wine on the table, drank it in one gulp, and spilled half of it outside, staining his suit. He threw the cup on the ground, cursing loudly.
“Fuck your mother!”
“Each one of them just won’t let rest easy!”
…
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