Through intelligence-sharing, the three conspiring nations had come to a realization—sending spies to New York to infiltrate Castle's estate and steal his technology had proven to be nearly impossible.
After carefully assessing their intelligence networks in New York and comparing their forces to the sheer power Castle wielded—including his ties to the city's most powerful law enforcement body, the NYPD—they unanimously agreed on a different approach. Rather than attempting another infiltration, they would instead devise a way to lure Castle out of New York, or better yet, out of the United States entirely, where they could then ambush and abduct him with their elite forces.
The key to this plan, of course, was getting the reclusive Castle to leave his heavily fortified home.
The problem? Intelligence indicated that Castle had recently welcomed a new son into his family and was now fully immersed in his role as a devoted stay-at-home dad. Getting him to leave New York—let alone the U.S.—was not going to be easy.
Ironically, orchestrating the actual kidnapping outside the U.S. was the easiest part of their plan. Even though Castle had a team of highly trained bodyguards—former Russian MVD Spetsnaz operatives—the conspirators saw no cause for concern. After all, they were acting on behalf of three nations. How could Castle's private security possibly pose a threat to them?
What these three nations failed to realize was that their entire conspiracy was being broadcast live to Castle himself. With this level of forewarning, was there even a chance their plan could succeed?
Truth be told, an operation of this scale—targeting a private individual using state-level resources—was almost trivial in its execution. Even though Castle had worked his way into the upper echelons of the world's only superpower, he still wasn't under constant military protection.
And Japan, a master of subterfuge, alongside India—an eager disciple of the former British Empire—had indeed devised a plan that, from an objective standpoint, had a high probability of success.
Many people underestimate India, often ridiculing its frequent blunders on the world stage. But post-World War II, it remains the only country to have successfully annexed a neighboring state—Sikkim. This stands as a unique example in modern history.
Despite its often laughable missteps, India—shaped by decades of British colonial rule and artificially unified by British hands—possesses a formidable intelligence network and a devious strategic mind that, in some ways, is not far behind its former colonial master, the now-fading British Empire.
As for Turkey? It didn't need to do much thinking. Its role was to continue fighting off NATO-backed forces while keeping the U.S. and Britain occupied. By absorbing global attention, Turkey would ensure that Castle's kidnapping could proceed without interference.
The actual abduction would be carried out by a joint task force composed of operatives from all three nations.
Each country would contribute personnel to this team, not out of trust, but out of necessity. No one wanted to risk one of the other nations securing Castle for themselves and refusing to share his knowledge.
This wasn't a matter of trust—it was a matter of not being stupid enough to believe the others would keep their word.
Thus, by forming a multinational task force, they ensured shared rewards in success and shared consequences in failure.
Castle, having listened to the entire strategy meeting in real-time, did not take the situation lightly.
After all, no one can be on guard forever. It was impossible to live in constant fear of an attack.
Castle had never expected his technological advancements to attract such intense greed and actual threats to his life. Although the conspirators aimed to lure him outside of New York, who was to say that if their plan failed, they wouldn't simply attack his estate instead?
The more Castle thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't afford to ignore this threat any longer. He had a son now. He had something to protect.
This was no longer just about himself—it was about securing his family's safety.
It was time to take this seriously.
Castle needed to mobilize every resource at his disposal. Not only his own security personnel but also the U.S. government itself. Additionally, he had to alert his business partners and corporate allies.
Aside from aerospace firms like Northrop Grumman, Castle decided to contact a far more powerful ally—the DuPont family.
Most people had no idea just how influential DuPont was. Unlike newer defense giants like Lockheed Martin or Northrop, which had complex shareholder structures, DuPont had grown alongside the United States itself.
Since the 1800s, DuPont had been supplying weaponry to the U.S. military. More importantly, they had established their own private security and defense company as far back as the 1980s—an operation that, though rarely publicized, was highly capable.
If Castle needed real muscle, DuPont was the trump card.
Having made up his mind, Castle immediately contacted Moz, forwarding him the recorded conversation from the intelligence summit and laying out his plan.
This was not an ordinary situation. This time, Castle was up against not just one nation, but three. There was no way he could handle this alone.
Moz, upon listening to the recording, was utterly speechless.
"Goddamn it, Japan! You sneaky little bastards!"
Had he let his guard down for just a few days while coordinating White House affairs related to Turkey, and this was what Japan did?
The U.S. had deliberately turned a blind eye to Japan's aid to Turkey, allowing Turkey to bleed a little more. Yet, in the meantime, Japan had the audacity to go after Castle?
Unacceptable.
This time, they wouldn't be allowed to simply retreat. They needed to be struck hard.
Moz immediately brought the matter to Benjamin, laying out his plan.
Benjamin frowned.
"You're saying you don't want to shut this down quietly? You want to use it to launch a counterattack against those three nations?"
Benjamin knew about the close friendship between Moz and Castle, but even so, Moz's suggestion was unexpected. He was proposing that Castle fake an attack, drawing the conspirators into a trap—then leveraging the incident for political gain.
Moz explained further.
Castle wasn't just reaching out to the government—he was also alerting his allies in the defense sector.
He was mobilizing the corporations that had benefited from his technologies.
Think about it—DuPont, Lockheed, Northrop, and others, all brought together because of Castle.
And if Benjamin himself took the lead in responding to the threat? The political benefits would be enormous.
Some might argue that Moz was using Castle as a pawn for Benjamin's gain. But in reality, Moz was protecting Castle.
This situation wasn't like previous incidents where merely foiling an operation would solve the problem.
If this first attempt failed, what was to stop those three nations from trying again?
What if, in frustration, they abandoned subtlety and sent operatives directly to New York?
Castle would be in even greater danger.
Instead, why not lure them into the open, destroy their task force, and then use the U.S. government's diplomatic weight to launch an international backlash?
If they could capture live operatives, they could publicly expose the conspiracy.
Then, with Castle positioned as the victim, the U.S. government could take the lead in retaliating against the three nations.
This would shift the focus away from Castle personally and onto the larger geopolitical conflict.
With the U.S. officially standing behind him, those three nations—already dealing with their own crises—would have far bigger problems to worry about.
Benjamin listened carefully.
Then, he smiled.
"Moz, I like the way you think."
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