However, Richard Castle, who handles killing but not burying, had no idea that by directly commanding Jarvis to hack into the database of Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office and extracting the full list of personnel stationed in Hawaii, he had set off a chain reaction. He handed over all the information, except for the leader Ichio Nakajima, to Major Steve McCret to earn accolades, unwittingly throwing the U.S. State Department, which was on Christmas vacation, and Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary into a frenzy due to the incident's fallout.
It's worth noting that Castle held back by not exposing the Japanese operatives stationed on U.S. mainland soil. Even so, just the revelation of the network in Hawaii had already plunged the Internal Affairs department and its superiors into chaos.
Hawaii had now practically turned into a playground for U.S. law enforcement. With detailed intelligence in hand, officers could simply follow the instructions to apprehend deeply hidden spies and operatives. It was practically a celebration for them.
The involvement of the FBI further accelerated the arrests of these covert agents. Although Internal Affairs quickly issued emergency orders for these agents to evacuate, most had been in deep cover for years and could not immediately abandon their posts and escape. As a result, many were caught red-handed by federal agents just as they finished packing and were about to flee.
This wasn't just a small incident where people were apprehended and that was the end of it. Thankfully, it was Christmas, and Governor Jamison didn't plan to escalate matters immediately. Since the entire list of covert operatives stationed in Hawaii, except for Ichio Nakajima, was in the hands of Hawaii's task force under her command, there was no need for her to rush. The Governor chose to enjoy her holiday instead, leaving the U.S. State Department and Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office—and their Chief Cabinet Secretary—panicking over the incident and its repercussions.
The timing could not have been worse. The U.S. Congress had just approved the sale of a large batch of military equipment, including F-35 fighter jets, to Japan. Such a scandal breaking out at this critical moment could directly influence public sentiment in the U.S. Even though Congress had approved the arms export contract, public outcry could prompt politicians to take measures that could jeopardize the deal to protect their voter base.
The scandal was simply too egregious. After all, since the end of World War II, Japan had stationed numerous intelligence operatives and covert agents in Hawaii alone. Who would believe these individuals weren't stationed there with malicious intent?
As a result, while the U.S. State Department had become aware of the incident—especially since the FBI's involvement made it impossible to keep things under wraps—they hadn't received a formal report from Hawaii yet. Under the U.S. federal system, state governors wield significant authority within their own territories. Since Hawaii had not yet reported the incident, the State Department officials saw no need to interrupt their Christmas vacations.
Thus, the only ones truly panicking at this moment were members of Japan's government cabinet who had learned of the disaster.
The Japanese Prime Minister, who had high hopes for the arms deal, flew into a rage upon receiving the Chief Cabinet Secretary's report. "You're all supposed to be professional intelligence operatives! How could you act so recklessly?"
"Who gave you idiots such audacity? You dared to impersonate kidnappers and abduct someone's daughter? And did you even do any research beforehand? That writer you targeted had recently dealt with another case where intelligence agents had impersonated kidnappers to abduct his daughter. That operation was carried out by the CIA, an organization far more powerful than your Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. What was the result? Three CIA agents were shot dead on the spot by the writer's bodyguards, and two others were captured alive. The incident led to the resignation of the CIA's acting director!"
"Goddammit! That glaring lesson was right there for everyone to see, yet you idiots didn't pay any attention to it? You didn't even report your plan to your superiors? Instead, Ichio Nakajima went ahead and executed this idiotic scheme on his own? And what were the consequences?"
"The consequences are that, even though you successfully kidnapped the writer's daughter, she was rescued within hours. On top of that, you enraged this writer, who reportedly wields significant influence in the U.S. He didn't hold back—he used his own IP address to hack into the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office's classified database and extracted the identities of all Japanese operatives stationed in Hawaii and across the U.S.!"
Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister almost blacked out.
If that writer were to hand over these materials to the FBI, Japan's decades-long effort to establish a covert intelligence network in the U.S. would be obliterated. This could very well be the greatest crisis Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office has faced since its inception.
But what could they do? Both the Prime Minister and the Chief Cabinet Secretary knew that the man responsible for this crisis had already handed over the situation to Hawaii's law enforcement and was now enjoying Christmas vacation with his family on a beach. He couldn't care less about the losses Japan would suffer, nor did he care about the operatives who had been exposed due to his retaliation.
The Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary were infuriated at the thought that Japan's intelligence network, painstakingly built over 70 years since World War II, had been annihilated due to the whims of a privileged individual. Both of them wanted nothing more than to execute Watanabe Taro, the instigator of this disaster.
"Dammit! If you don't have the skills, don't take on tasks beyond your abilities. Just look at the massive losses your greed has caused our country!"
Adding fuel to the fire, the Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary also received a video of Ichio Nakajima being thrown from a helicopter into a volcanic crater. The video made it clear that the New York-based writer was not a lenient person but a ruthless and vengeful individual. The fact that only Nakajima appeared in the video further demonstrated the writer's meticulous nature. He was brazenly declaring that he had eliminated Japan's lead operative in Hawaii, yet there wasn't a shred of evidence implicating him. What could Japan possibly say or do in response?
Watching this video, both the Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary were boiling with rage. But what options did they have? The writer had substantial influence in the U.S., and it was Japan that had provoked him first. Retaliation was only to be expected.
The pressing question now was whether this enraged writer had handed over the stolen intelligence to the U.S. government. Had he exposed only the network in Hawaii, or had he revealed the identities of operatives stationed across the mainland U.S. as well?
The Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary were despondent. Reports from their channels confirmed that operatives on Hawaii's core islands, including Oahu, had been completely dismantled by Hawaii's task force and the FBI. Similar operations were underway on Maui and the Big Island, leaving Japan's intelligence network in ruins.
What terrified them most, however, was the possibility that Castle might return to New York and deliver the mainland operatives' list to the U.S. government. The consequences of such an action would be catastrophic for Japan, a country still hosting U.S. troops on its soil.
Resigned to their fate, the Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary could only hope to contact Castle as soon as possible to ascertain whether he intended to pursue this matter further. While they would have loved to dispatch assassins to eliminate him, their immediate priority was damage control—confirming whether the writer planned to hand over the rest of the intelligence.
As for Watanabe Taro, the instigator of this calamity? They decided to leave him to his fate in the U.S.
(End of Chapter)
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