Events unfolded exactly as Castle had anticipated. From the start, Castle's decision to enlist Bob to eliminate Nameless wasn't just about retaliation—it was a calculated move to give the CIA deputy director an escape route. Castle had no intention of taking on the powerful Roxette organization within the CIA all by himself.
Taking them down would be Benjamin Arthur's job after his inauguration. Castle's bold actions today were merely a message to this overconfident organization: Don't mess with me, or I'll shatter your teeth.
Castle had no interest in cleaning up the internal rot of the CIA for the USA. If not for his system's task and the organization's provocation, Castle would have preferred to avoid confrontation altogether. However, with valuable assets in his possession and the arrogance of Roxette forcing the issue, the events of the day became inevitable.
Even so, Castle wasn't about to charge into battle head-on. That's why he had Mozzie deliver the Roxette dossier to Benjamin Arthur at Peanut Stew. It's also why he instructed Big Ivan to leave two of the would-be kidnappers alive during the ambush and pushed Senator Rutledge to question the CIA's actions on Capitol Hill. And of course, it's why he handed Ethan and his team over to the NYPD rather than dealing with them himself.
For Castle, the priority was clear: demonstrate that he wasn't to be trifled with, without shouldering the burden of resolving America's intelligence agency woes. Benjamin, with the authority granted by the Constitution and his administrative powers, could handle that once in office. Castle would wait for confirmation of his system task's completion before deciding whether to pursue the Roxette members further.
Why should he exhaust himself battling Roxette when he wasn't on the federal payroll? A clandestine organization like Roxette, exposed to the light of day, was already scrambling. Why dirty his hands further?
Nameless's death was a carefully calculated move. It not only served as a warning to the deputy director but also gave him a convenient scapegoat, ensuring Castle didn't provoke Roxette into reckless retaliation. After all, with Benjamin still waiting to take office and the current president nearing the end of his term, this wasn't the right time to blow the Roxette issue wide open.
---
The current president, with just two months left in office, was already livid about the day's events. Throughout his tenure, the CIA had embarrassed him repeatedly. First, an operative's defection nearly wiped out an entire European division. Then, the massive global surveillance scandal sullied his administration's reputation worldwide. Now, just as the furor had died down, news broke of CIA agents masquerading as kidnappers in New York, only to be outsmarted by a novelist and his bodyguards.
Worse still, the so-called "elite" team sent to infiltrate Castle's estate during the staged kidnapping was caught before even setting foot on the property and handed over to the NYPD.
When the president learned of this, he was nearly apoplectic. This is supposed to be the world's premier intelligence agency? Amateur doesn't even begin to describe it.
Thankfully, Castle didn't escalate matters further. After delivering a humiliating slap to the CIA's face, he passed the captured agents over to the police. The president, desperate to minimize the damage, promptly had the agents—both the would-be kidnappers and Ethan's team—transferred out of NYPD custody. The immediate priority now was silencing the media frenzy.
---
Alexis, kept home by her father's insistence, only learned the full story from the news. Realizing the CIA had planned to kidnap her to blackmail her father, she was both shocked and furious. Just as she was heading downstairs, her grandfather Sean called from North Africa.
After calming down Sean's fiery outrage, Alexis joined her father, who was on a call with her grandmother Martha. Beckett stood nearby, watching the scene with amusement.
Alexis mentioned her grandfather's call and his promise to call Castle shortly, before taking her four overfed Caucasian Shepherd dogs out to play on the lawn.
Castle, ever the chaos-stirrer, paid no mind to the storm he'd unleashed. After enduring a scolding from his mother, he finally took Sean's call. Their conversation was brief. Once Sean understood that Castle had anticipated this attack and had a thorough counter-strategy in place, he simply offered a terse warning: "A centipede won't keel over even when cut in half." Then he hung up.
Sean was no longer worried about his son. Over the past year, Castle had matured at an astonishing rate. Though his foundation remained somewhat shaky, Castle was now a key figure courted by three major defense contractors. Sean knew that today's events would only make these companies more protective of Castle.
Indeed, both Northrop Grumman and GE General Dynamics were enraged by the CIA's actions. These companies were deep in negotiations with the military to upgrade the B-2 stealth bomber, a contract worth tens of billions of dollars. Castle was central to these plans, having developed critical technology for the upgrades, including Northrop's flight control systems and GE's engine enhancements.
The CIA's reckless attempt to abduct his daughter was tantamount to spitting in the faces of these industry giants.
---
Northrop, the primary contractor for the B-2 project, was especially incensed. Castle wasn't just a key figure in their bomber program—he was also their largest private shareholder. Furthermore, they had plans to enlist Castle's expertise for their secretive Super Tomcat project. To them, the CIA's actions were an unforgivable insult.
Thus, while Castle believed he had offloaded his troubles onto Benjamin and Senator Rutledge, two even larger entities had taken up his cause: Northrop Grumman and GE General Dynamics.
---
Meanwhile, the embattled deputy director barely had time to breathe after convincing the outgoing president to accept Nameless as the scapegoat. Just as he thought he'd dodged a bullet, he received devastating news.
Northrop and GE, furious at the CIA for jeopardizing their billion-dollar contracts and their star contributor, were now mobilizing their considerable influence to retaliate.
For the deputy director, the nightmare wasn't over—it was only beginning.
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I Am Zeus, KING OF GODS (Chapter 120)
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 391)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 471)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 677)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 1059)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1418)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1422)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1452)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1504)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld!(Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 703)
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