Spark

"It's all chaos."

In the corner office, Bob sighed and said solemnly.

"Although Texas has always been unstable, attacks on the state government are indeed extremely rare."

"Even if there was any in the past, it was a small-scale, small-scale individual act."

"And this time, it was clearly organized and planned."

"There must be someone behind them commanding and planning, and even the equipment should come from a professional defense company. Have you found the source of their weapons?"

"No, they should all come from the black market. At least the HK416 and SCAR rifles they used are not guns registered here."

The assistant on the side responded immediately. In fact, in this short period of 20 hours, he was also very worried about this matter.

A new North American league is annoying enough, but now Texas is coming too?

And in a more intense, violent way?

What vigilantes and Batman League they are, they are just a group of retired thugs whose lives are unsatisfactory.

——

However, it is precisely because of their status that the pressure faced by the military is unprecedentedly high.

Not only was one media outlet questioning the military on TV, "These are the soldiers you have trained," but more than a group of people took to the streets to demonstrate against the "military's irresponsible disarmament behavior."

The assistant found these criticisms absurd.

The soldiers we train?

The soldiers we train have no problem in the army. They are the best warriors and the most loyal patriots. They fight everywhere for the benefit of this country and have never disappointed.

As for why we are joking about disarmament, how can we blame the military for such a thing?

You go to the White House! Go find the president!

The economic situation has deteriorated to this point. Is it possible without disarmament?

If you are really determined to maintain huge military expenditures, are you going to stand up again and say that we are "militant" and "disregarding the lives of ordinary people"?

Thinking of this, the assistant couldn't help but sigh.

He looked at Bob and continued to answer:

"This incident has a strong sense of conspiracy. The general view of those involved in the investigation is that the attackers did not really want to 'capture' City Hall, they just wanted to enter the city hall."

"There is no doubt that this is just a deterrent, or just a symbolic action."

"But judging from the confessions of the arrested people, they don't have this kind of 'organizational purpose' that requires symbolic meaning."

"In other words, their actions are not isolated, but are coordinated with other organizations. To be honest, this situation is much more difficult than we expected."

"It's really tricky."

Bob nodded slightly and then asked:

"Are they associated with that organization?"

"It's unclear. The only two members who are confirmed to belong to Sombra are still at Dongda, and we have no information about them."

"But personally, I think there must be some connection between the two."

"Otherwise, the actions of this so-called Veterans Alliance and their sponsors behind the scenes are completely unexplainable. It cannot be said that they really want to share the worries of the Federation, right?"

"Who knows? Maybe there are such idealists out there."

Bob said noncommittally.

"Of course there will be, but their 'idealistic' direction cannot be the same as ours."

The assistant shrugged in frustration and said nothing more.

Bob, on the other hand, lit a cigarette and looked out the window calmly.

Under the smoke, his face was hidden in the half-dark light. This scene should have been the most popular subject for portrait photographers, because it perfectly shows the perseverance of a warrior and the wisdom of a decision-maker. .

——

However, the assistant saw something completely different.

All he saw was the decadence, decline and powerlessness of an old man.

My own commander is really old.

I heard that people age very quickly after losing their beliefs and goals. Is this the case for him?

Probably so - after all, the so-called "globalization" goal pursued by his generation of soldiers is already certain to be impossible to achieve.

China has taken the place of the United States and will soon become the global military hegemon - in a way that no one expected.

The development of military equipment and military power is of course on the one hand, but on the other hand, they actually ended the war in a non-violent way, turning the military reserves of many big countries into a joke.

"We must deal with that so-called shadow organization."

Bob said after finishing a cigarette.

"So far, all their actions have been directed at us. Their motive is obvious, which is to completely destroy this country and destroy our rule."

"This must not happen - countless people will die as a result."

"We need more radical action, we need to go beyond the rules."

Cross the rules.

These two words made the assistant's heart tremble, and he asked tentatively:

"What does it mean?"

"That's literally what it means - if you're asking what strategy we're going to use, I can tell you we're going to use every strategy we can."

"We're going to catch them, question them, and ultimately destroy them."

“If our movement is limited, then we address the limitation; if our identity prevents us from movement, then we change our identity.”

"Now, when I say this, can you understand?"

"Understood."

The assistant nodded slowly and said no more.

At this moment, the uneasiness in his heart had reached its peak.

He could clearly feel that everything he cherished and that was engraved in the bones of this country had all disappeared.

There are no more rules, no more reverence, no more freedom.

This is done just to protect the positions of those decision-makers and their illusory so-called "rule".

Is it really worth it?

He turned and walked out of Bob's office and out of the corner tower.

It was already time to get off work, but until he got into his car, he still hadn't recovered from the feeling of loss.

At this moment, someone knocked on his car window.

It was a familiar face - the face of a man he had interacted with countless times but now had basically lost contact with.

This man once served as the commander in Iraq and is now a special adviser to the president.

At this moment, his face was full of smiles.

"Hi, long time no see."

"Want to chat?"

Meanwhile, Chengdu.

The surveillance activity against Lin Chen has been going on for nearly a week, but there has been little progress.

He is still doing his job conscientiously every day, and has never made any leaks or attempts to leak secrets. He is so stable that even Li Xiang once thought that Lin Chen was just using himself as some people judged. Identity "fishing".

This also fits his character and the way he does things.

He is a person who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, isn't he?

Deceived a group of people, defrauded the trust of Organization No. 003, and then arranged them all to join, and finally led to the real mastermind behind the scenes.

To be fair, this development direction will not surprise those who monitor him.

However, in intelligence work, any "guessing" is not advisable, and all judgments require evidence.

But fortunately, the opportunity to obtain evidence is already before everyone.

"Is Liu Xiao ready? Today's conversation is very important. He must start to lead the topic to Organization 003 to attract Lin Chen's attention."

"Check the preset lines again. Lin Chen is a very smart person, we can't let him see any flaws."

In the command room, Li Xiang asked.

"It's ready, we've checked it, all evidence chains are complete, all wording is reasonable and within the scope of what Liu Xiao should know."

The staff on the side replied.

"The focus is not on the content, but on Liu Xiao's performance - he must be natural enough and confident enough to make Lin Chen believe that he has really changed his mind and is not deliberately provoking the topic."

"It's really terrible. It's so difficult to lie to your own people."

Li Xiang sighed. He really didn't have much confidence in this operation.

After all, human nature is something difficult to speculate on, and if you can't accurately grasp Lin Chen's subtle changes in "human nature", you won't be able to gain his trust.

If it doesn't work, just implement the final plan and arrest him directly for interrogation.

As long as he didn't really rebel, theoretically speaking, he should be able to explain quickly.

At this time, judging from the surveillance screen, Liu Xiao had entered Lin Chen's residence.

Considering the issue of concealment, this surveillance did not use any eavesdropping equipment that could send electromagnetic signals. The movement of the two people inside could only be determined through a remotely installed high-power thermal imaging camera.

Li Xiang could clearly see the two of them sitting on the sofa, their movements relaxed, as if it was just an ordinary meeting of old friends.

And half an hour later, Lin Chen sat up straight.

Immediately afterwards, Liu Xiao stood up.

He waved his arms and seemed a little excited.

This is the most critical moment. Whether we can stabilize this important clue of Lin Chen depends on now.

In the villa, Liu Xiao was venting his dissatisfaction to Lin Chen.

His movements were large, but his voice was very low.

".So I really don't understand what this organization is trying to do. All actions are beneficial to us, but we really have no contact with them."

"Lin Chen, let's not discuss mutually confidential information, let's discuss things that are public."

"You said, assassinate Musk, blow up the Falcon 9, attack Las Laqueira - plus the Texas government incident that just happened, which may be related to them."

"Is there anything that is beneficial to those Western capital and underground forces?"

"Stop talking about me, no one who knows the inside story can figure it out."

"Where do their funds come from, where do their resources come from, and what are their motives? It's completely a mystery."

"It would be great if we could figure out their capital flow path, but the quantum protocol's replacement of the SWIFT protocol has not yet been completed, and we can't find many things."

"Really, sometimes I really want to give up."

"Look, we arrested two people, right? But what's the use of arresting them? We can't ask anything!"

Having said this, Liu Xiao sat down again.

He leaned back on the sofa and muttered helplessly:

"If it weren't for the request of my superiors, I really would have just let them do it."

"That's definitely not possible."

Lin Chen interrupted Liu Xiao and comforted him with a smile on his face:

"You are also talking angrily now. Have you been under too much pressure at work recently?"

"Right now they are targeting the United States, but how do we know that one day they won't turn against us?"

"If you don't cooperate with us, this is the greatest instability."

"So, you should check them. The process may be difficult, but there is always a chance."

"I know, I'm just whining."

Liu Xiao nodded, and then asked casually:

"Aren't you tired recently? You seem to be in good spirits."

"I?"

Lin Chen pointed to the dark circles under his eyes and replied:

"Do you think I'm tired? I'm not the same as you."

"Then you are definitely not as strong as us - as you know, the latest news is that the other party may come after Starfire. Our independent intelligence department has few manpower and high risks. Forget it, let's not talk about this."

Liu Xiao waved his hand and decisively ended the potentially confidential topic.

But just these words made Lin Chen's mood fluctuate.

"Isn't Starfire's confidentiality level still going to be lowered?"

"It can't be brought down. The scope of influence is too wide. It will probably take more than ten or twenty years to decrypt it."

"It's hard for me to comment, because I'm too peripheral and have no access to real work at all. I'm just like a handyman, so I don't know if it's necessary to do this."

"Since the superior has made the decision, it must be necessary. Just do your own thing well."

Lin Chen poured another glass of water into Liu Xiao's tea cup and said intentionally or unintentionally:

"It's good for you as you are now. You don't need to think about too many things. You can just wait until retirement."

"The key point is that I don't want to live like this - I wouldn't have transferred here if I had known."

"What you said means that others can't adjust it if they want to. Okay, let's not talk about this - let's talk about things in Texas."

Liu Xiao's heart beat a little faster, and he keenly felt that the conversation finally began to change.

But he still didn't show any abnormality and just said casually:

"There's nothing interesting to talk about. The whole story is quite boring. What about vigilantes and Batman League? It's just like acting in a movie."

"If it weren't for the element of retired veterans, I guess many people wouldn't even bother to pay attention."

"really."

Lin Chen nodded and continued:

"But don't tell me, what they do is really a bit idealistic."

Hearing this word, Liu Xiao's tense mood finally relaxed.

He knew that the fish was already hooked.