As the eavesdropping scandal raged on, Castle seemed unaffected, leisurely working in his estate's lab on a project involving smart glasses. The recent short-selling of stocks from major phone manufacturers had earned him a massive profit, and after closing those positions, he reinvested heavily in shares of the renowned tech giant's stock while it was still low. His current focus on developing smart glasses was a strategic move; once the scandal subsided and the company's stock rebounded, he planned to propose a trade that might earn him even more shares.
Thanks to his memories of a previous life, Castle knew just how high the tech giant's stock would eventually soar. It was practically free money.
Meanwhile, Snowden, the hero who had set all this in motion, had taken refuge in Russia. This meant that, even if the CIA wanted to silence him, they couldn't act openly on Russian soil. Unlike the days of Frank Moses, when a few bold agents could storm the enemy capital, the current CIA lacked such audacious agents.
Speaking of Frank, he had found himself embroiled in trouble after the Bailey incident. Luckily, Castle's father, Sean, had quickly whisked Frank, Marvin, and Frank's girlfriend Sarah off to North Africa before things got out of hand. It was said they were now enjoying themselves so much that they had no intention of returning. Even Victoria, the ex-MI6 agent, had joined their escapade. The CIA had indeed reached out to Frank and Marvin, offering to clear their records if they'd eliminate Snowden. But Frank refused, too wise to trust an agency known for its double-crosses.
Despite the chaos, the CIA couldn't rule out Castle's involvement. When they identified Snowden as the leaker and reviewed the classified documents he'd exposed, they noticed he'd communicated with a mysterious email account before leaving for Hong Kong. But the email was deactivated the moment Snowden left U.S. soil, and their servers had no trace of any communications. This only deepened their suspicion that Castle might possess an AI.
Yet, with the entire agency in crisis, the CIA had no manpower or resources left to investigate Castle further. Even Nameless, the agent responsible for black ops, was now compromised. Their surveillance had been so brazen it included not only private citizens but heads of government throughout Europe. With the world now condemning them, the CIA could do nothing but bear the consequences.
The current President, with only a few months left in his term, found himself furious and helpless. Just as he'd planned for a smooth, dignified exit from the White House, this scandal had blown up. To make matters worse, evidence revealed that the CIA's backdoors in phone chips implicated America's top smartphone company. The scandal tanked the company's stock, sending its furious CEO into a public vow to cut all ties with the CIA.
The President had even been forced to accept the CIA director's resignation, though everyone knew it was due to pressure from stockholders outraged over their losses. To many, the CIA director's failure wasn't in the surveillance itself, but in letting it leak and drag down valuable companies. These stockholders didn't care about spying as long as their investments were protected.
Castle, the mastermind behind this chain of events, was almost surprised at the scandal's intensity. His carefully curated evidence had made this exposé even more damning than in his previous life. Jarvis had discreetly supplied Snowden with incriminating data, leaving the U.S. government with no plausible deniability.
Amidst all this chaos, Castle was content in his lab, undisturbed and working on his smart glasses. Using his memories, he had successfully recreated a sleek, high-tech pair of glasses like those designed by Tony Stark in the Marvel universe. During this period, he had also ordered six communication satellites from Hughes Aerospace. By early next year, at least three of them would be in orbit, enabling him and his friends to communicate securely.
Castle had also arranged for the CEO of the smartphone company to visit his estate for a private demonstration of his "inventions"—a smartwatch and smart glasses. Thanks to his recent windfall, Castle and Gianna had each acquired about one percent of the company's shares. They'd capitalized on the scandal by buying shares at rock-bottom prices, becoming two of the biggest beneficiaries of the incident. Given his prior knowledge and the CIA's suspicions, Castle kept his actions discreet, careful to avoid leaving any incriminating trail.
With time, as investors' confidence returned, the tech stock recovered, doubling Castle's and Gianna's investments. Even Neal, who Castle had tipped off, made a hefty profit. And Castle's loyal follower, the "little chubby" as he was fondly known, had also cashed in by sticking close to Castle's investment strategies.
Only Castle knew how far the stock would rise, granting him a unique serenity as he lived free from CIA interference. This peace was a rare luxury.
However, things were far less peaceful for Dominic. Recently released by the New York police thanks to the testimony of Hobbs from the Diplomatic Security Service, Dominic and his crew were finally able to return to Los Angeles, having narrowly escaped prosecution after their showdown in Central Park with Deckard Shaw. On their journey west, they even declined Nameless's attempts to recruit them once again.
But Dominic's respite was short-lived. Soon after their return to Los Angeles, Hobbs, recently discharged from the hospital, called in a favor. He asked Dominic's team to get back on the road to help investigate a high-stakes case that had hit an impasse.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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