Feeling a bit bored in the passenger seat, Castle launched into another round of conversation:
"You might not realize this, but since World War II, a massive number of people from this country have immigrated to the U.S.. And strangely, they are extremely united as a group. Dragging them into this right now would be a terrible idea."
"You probably don't know this either," he continued. "After one of their own became the CEO of the world's most valuable software company, their national pride skyrocketed. These days, a huge chunk of Silicon Valley is filled with people from this country."
"To avoid triggering a backlash from them, and to ensure that we can properly deal with Turkey, Moz even called me personally to explain the government's approach to this matter."
"That's why, after discussing with Gianna, I deliberately dragged the three defense contractors, the military, and those two politicians into this treasure hunt. This way, not only do I get my revenge, but I also have a powerful coalition to shield me from the inevitable retaliation from India when they find out what happened."
John shook his head as he kept his hands on the steering wheel.
"Damn, Rick. This is so petty… hurting them without gaining anything for yourself?"
Castle smirked.
"They shouldn't have gone after my technology in the first place."
Then, looking out the window, he casually started sharing some of India's bizarre facts with the others in the car.
"Would you believe that this country doesn't even have a unified language? Their ethnic and economic divisions are so insane that their military doesn't even use standardized weapons—everything is imported from foreign countries."
"As a prime example," he continued, "just take a look at their ongoing fighter jet deal with France. They've been negotiating for Rafale jets since 2009."
"Back then, they wanted to buy over 100 aircraft at a price of 80 million euros per jet. But when it came time to sign the contract, they pulled some stupid stunt, and the deal fell apart."
"Now they're back at the table, and France has upped the price to 100 million euros per jet."
"But let me tell you something," Castle added with a smirk.
"This won't be the final price."
John, while unfamiliar with fighter jet pricing, had met many defense contractors recently. He knew that even the F-22 Raptor, considered the world's best 4th-generation fighter, had a U.S. procurement cost of just over 100 million dollars per unit.
No way in hell should a Rafale cost more than an F-22.
He raised an eyebrow.
"How do you know all this?"
"And why are you so sure India's fighter jet deal is going to play out like this?"
"Oh wait," John suddenly realized. "You hacked their classified database using Jarvis, didn't you?"
Castle laughed to himself.
Would he ever tell John that this was actually a "legendary meme" from his past life?
That in reality, India ended up paying 2.5 billion euros per jet, meaning 36 Rafales cost them a total of 7.87 billion euros?
Even the notoriously wasteful Gulf nations had never been this bad.
But instead of revealing that, Castle just shrugged.
"Yeah, I had Jarvis pull some intel on them. This particular deal was hilarious, so I remembered it."
John gave him a puzzled look.
"What do you mean hilarious? What exactly did you see?"
Castle took a sip of water, then chuckled.
"Well, here's the funniest part.
Not only are they demanding 28 single-seat Rafales and 8 twin-seat Rafales be produced in France, but they also want France to allow them to assemble the rest in their own Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) factories."
John burst into laughter.
"Holy shit. They seriously think they can assemble fighter jets?"
Castle grinned.
"Yep. I mean, come on. Even the UAE and Saudi Arabia—who actually have money—don't dare touch their jets once they're delivered.
Yet these clowns—whose state-run aerospace company is infamous for producing 'widowmakers'—want to build their own?"
John shook his head.
"If France agrees to this, this is gonna be a spectacular disaster."
Castle chuckled.
"They won't agree. France is dumb sometimes, but they would never let India ruin their national pride like this. Just wait. You'll see."
John nodded slowly.
"So this is one of the reasons the U.S. government doesn't want to drag India into this scandal?"
"Exactly. Right now, India is in the middle of finalizing this deal with France.
If the U.S. makes a big issue out of India's involvement in my kidnapping attempt, it might push India closer to Turkey—and worse, France might take India's side in the UN."
John raised an eyebrow.
"But isn't the real goal here to start a war with Turkey?"
Castle sighed.
"Yes, that's Moz's real job—laying the groundwork for military intervention."
"But according to what he told me, the U.S. isn't just planning a war. They want to completely break Turkey apart."
John's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"Wait… what do you mean break Turkey apart?"
Castle exhaled.
"Apparently, the U.S. plans to formally support the Kurdish militants in establishing an independent state.
For decades, the Kurds have been slaughtered and oppressed by Turkey.
Now that the U.S. is stepping in, they're planning to rip a piece of Turkey's territory away and hand it to the Kurds.
If this happens, there will never be peace in that region again."
John shuddered.
"Jesus, Rick. Do you realize how many people are going to die if this happens?"
Castle sighed.
"I know. But this is geopolitics, John.
Moz told me the same thing—and I felt the exact same way you do now.
But let's be real here…
Who's really to blame?
Turkey has been at war with the Kurds for decades.
Turkey's own actions gave the U.S. this opportunity.
And Turkey's own government was stupid enough to send agents after me—giving the U.S. and the defense industry the perfect excuse."
John shook his head.
"Damn. This is some next-level evil shit."
Castle leaned back in his seat.
"Welcome to the real world, John."
"Governments don't care about morality."
"They only care about winning."
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.