Chapter 379: Budapest
"That heavyset CIA operative is really something else! My god, I've never seen an agent take down an opponent and then puke all over them! Arthur, what's going on with the CIA's intelligence?"
This was the seventh day of Ron and Arthur's European vacation. After taking down the arsonist on the first day, the case had hit a standstill again. However, they hadn't been idle. They went on a shopping spree in Paris, and Ron's new purchases were enough for him to impress five more ladies.
Then, after a fiasco in Rome's most luxurious casino, the heavyset CIA operative actually became best friends with Rayna, the target who had been drugged!
Rayna even invited her to ride on her private jet to Budapest. Yes, after stops in Paris and Rome, they miraculously ended up in Hungary, the very place where Ron had visited the CIA during the operative's mission.
Well, Ron's prediction came true; they really were going to have a ten-day European tour.
"Footage of CIA operatives appearing on the streets of Paris and detonating a bomb in a public place is enough to keep the PR departments of any terrorist organization busy for a while. But that heavyset woman is quite capable; she managed to become friends with the target. The latest intel from the CIA was that they flew to Budapest together on a private jet last night and made the deal with the buyer at the Four Seasons Hotel."
"So we're late?" Ron's smile froze on his face.
"No, of course not. This is actually the most interesting part. Their operation failed."
Even Arthur's Jason Statham face couldn't help but show a hint of schadenfreude when talking about the CIA's embarrassing incident. "Remember the gunshots we heard in Rome? That was friendly fire. Agent Fine isn't dead. He already turned traitor and is with that bombshell named Rayna, and he even took out several CIA agents supporting the analyst.
Now they're in a panic, calling in other operatives from nearby to provide backup. Their people told me not to make any moves before reinforcements arrive, or they won't be responsible for any consequences."
"Arthur, I have to remind you again, even what you see with your own eyes can be deceiving, let alone intelligence from the CIA?"
Ron felt this wasn't as simple as it seemed. "Think about it, if you were working in the CIA, an agency that leaks like a sieve, what would you do in this situation?"
"I'd probably try to find a way to go dark, then work behind the scenes, and then..." Arthur suddenly realized halfway through his sentence: "Boss, I understand what you mean. What do we do now?"
"Since the CIA would rather send operatives from other locations than ask us for help, so..." Ron trailed off.
"So?"
"So, as long as we wrap this up before their backup operatives arrive, we can make the CIA look incompetent." A mischievous glint appeared in Ron's eyes.
Just think about it, the CIA's reinforcements haven't even arrived yet, and the IRS, with just two people, retrieves the nuclear device and resolves the whole incident. How embarrassing would that be for the CIA? At least they could mock the CIA alongside the FBI for a whole year.
Of course, before that, everyone's main target of ridicule had always been the FBI.
"Boss, your idea is definitely sound, but the problem is, where are we going to get equipment? We didn't even bring guns to get through airport security, and we're driving a rental car."
Arthur's concerns were valid. Unlike the CIA, an intelligence organization with support stations all over the world, the IRS's main area of operation was within the United States, and it had no overseas infrastructure. And Ron and Arthur had already surrendered their weapons at the TSA checkpoint.
Of course, Ron also had his own system storage, but he had no intention of letting anyone know about it. Besides, he had an even cooler gadget.
"That's a good question. Let's stop at the clearing up ahead and I'll show you our new toy. I think you'll love it."
Ron pointed to the road ahead. Rayna's car had located a villa by a lake in the countryside, a rather isolated spot. They hadn't encountered any other vehicles along the way.
"A clearing?" Arthur asked, puzzled.
"Yes, this clearing. Now let me introduce you to our IRS's new equipment, the Justice Warrior system, jointly developed by Caltech and SpaceX. As long as you install this app on your phone, you can receive equipment support anytime, anywhere, as long as you're still on Earth."
After the car stopped, Ron opened the door and got out. He went to a spot on the grass far from the car, opened the Justice Warrior app on his phone, pressed the microphone, and shouted, "Freedom Eagle!"
After shouting, Ron quickly ran back and struck a dramatic pose. One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
Ron was tired of posing, but Arthur still couldn't see their equipment. "Boss, our equipment..."
Arthur was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly gaped in surprise. He saw a diamond-shaped metal container dragging a parachute and falling rapidly from the sky. When it was almost to the ground, the force of the fall had completely dissipated, and the metal container directly cut the parachute cords, landing on the grass.
Ron went to open the container. Inside, AR-15s, Glocks, and all kinds of grenades and ammunition filled the entire box, each separated by foam dividers. There was even a Mk 153 SMAW rocket launcher that Ron loved, disassembled into components!
"Holy shit!" Arthur rarely showed such surprise, but today he couldn't help but be astonished. "Boss, where did all this come from?"
"It's the equipment support system I was talking about, of course," Ron grinned smugly, pulling two pistols from the container and holstering them. "Didn't you guys keep asking me why the budget was burning through so quickly? This is the result.
This is a global equipment support container launched into space on a Falcon rocket disguised as a Starlink satellite. When not in use, it sits in low Earth orbit like a satellite. As long as you unlock it with your voiceprint and send out your GPS coordinates, the container in space will be deployed to the designated location in no more than five minutes.
And the outer shell of this container is coated with stealth coating, so no radar can detect its existence. The only problem is that it's ridiculously expensive."
It's an open secret that Starlink satellites carry other payloads into space. In fact, despite Musk's enthusiastic public statements and his image as a space entrepreneur,
Ron, who had close contact with him, knew all too well that SpaceX was nothing more than a front put forward by defense contractors, using civilian cover for military purposes. Just think about how audacious a plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into space truly was.
To put it bluntly, it was simply a scheme to surround the Earth with a dense network of "assets" to monopolize space development rights. Sooner or later, someone would take action against them, but until then, Ron could exploit it to his advantage.
After all, his cooperation agreement with Musk only involved a small initial deposit; the total cost would only be paid after the project was fully operational. By then, this thing would probably have been mostly shut down by Congress or whoever, wouldn't it?
Everything's gone, so why bother paying? All things considered, Ron's Justice Warrior system is practically free.
"How about it? Is this equipment enough? If not, I can call down another one."
"That's enough, absolutely enough! Enough to take down even a small military compound!" Arthur exclaimed, overjoyed.
The lakeside villa where the transaction was taking place was a three-story building. The courtyard and balconies on each floor were heavily guarded by armed terrorists, making it virtually impregnable. For ordinary operatives, let alone infiltrating, even getting close would result in being shot to pieces. But for Ron, the number of hostiles was simply a matter of how many rockets to use.
"Boss, let me confirm with you one last time. Aren't we worried that using this thing directly might detonate the nuke inside?" Arthur took a deep breath.
"Don't worry," Ron patted his shoulder reassuringly. "You said it yourself, it's a tactical nuke. Terrorists may be crazy, but they're not stupid. They'll definitely hide it in the safest place. Besides, if you've taken any physics classes, you'll know that nukes generally don't detonate from external impact; at worst, they just leak."
"Understood." Arthur nodded, finally deciding to press the launch button. The reassembled launcher immediately shot out projectiles, hurtling towards the villa.
"Holy shit!" The terrorist, seeing the dense incoming fire, barely had time to curse before being engulfed by the explosions.
The deafening explosions echoed throughout the villa. In less than a minute, twelve rockets had transformed the once magnificent European-style exterior into something resembling a bombed-out Afghan compound.
As soon as the explosions subsided, before the surviving terrorists could even recover, they saw a car with a machine gun mounted outside the sunroof, spitting fire, charging towards them.
"Brrrrrrt..." Arthur's machine gun instantly cut down a group of the remaining terrorists. Just as the remaining terrorists found cover and were preparing to return fire when the car stopped, the car didn't stop at all. Like a cavalry charge, it circled the villa's yard.
One by one, it bypassed obstacles such as planters and columns, taking out the terrorists hiding behind them one by one.
"Wow! That was incredible!" Arthur felt every pore of his body filled with the thrill of overwhelming firepower, and couldn't help but shout, "Boss, how did you come up with that?"
"If you play PUBG, you'll love this kind of combat."
"PUBG? What's that?"
"A game that a Korean company I recently acquired is currently developing. If you're interested, I can send you a beta version."
The car circled the yard three times, the terrorists outside the house were eliminated by the two men, and Ron opened the car door and said casually. Inside the villa, the terrorists, who thought they had been surrounded by an entire convoy, huddled together in the basement, filled with terror.
Beside them lay a pile of corpses.
They certainly hadn't been killed by Ron's rockets, but had just killed each other in their own infighting, including even the body of Agent Fine.
It has to be said that Rayna, who possessed nuclear weapons, was nothing like her father; she had no potential to become a crime boss and was completely manipulated by her broker.
The broker not only killed her henchmen and stole the nuke, but also conveniently killed the buyer who came to purchase it, a classic case of double-crossing. He seized both the nuclear device and the buyer's large briefcase full of diamonds.
"Bang! Bang!" Two sudden gunshots rang out. Ron and Arthur simultaneously emerged from behind the corridor, each firing a shot, taking down the broker's two remaining henchmen.
"WOWWOWWOW" Ron strolled in with a mocking tone: "Isn't this the beautiful Miss Rayna? Judging by this scene, I bet you've been double-crossed by some shady dealer, haven't you? Trust me, you're an American citizen. Wherever you go, you have the powerful United States backing you up... as long as you pay enough taxes"
"So, the question is, Miss Rayna, it seems you haven't paid taxes on this arms deal you're about to make?"
"I'm not in the United States right now, I'm not subject to American law!" Rayna, with a sudden surge of courage, shouted at Ron.
"Really? Although US tax law stipulates that citizens must pay taxes on their worldwide income, I'll make an exception for you today and pretend I didn't see anything, okay?" Ron's words almost made Arthur's jaw drop. When did his boss, who was so money-hungry that he would even collect estate tax from the Grim Reaper himself, change his ways?
Had he heard correctly? Ron actually said he would make an exception? Could there be anything crazier in the world? No! Absolutely not!
"Good to know!" Rayna never expected that her casual remark would have such power. She arrogantly raised her chin, picked up the cases containing the nuke and diamonds, and was about to leave.
But Ron kicked the still-stunned broker: "What are you still looking at? Don't you want what she has?"
"I do... but..." The broker nodded blankly, looking at Ron and Arthur with a conflicted expression. If he weren't outgunned by these two, and if all his men weren't dead, he would have already taken it himself.
SLAP!
Ron slapped the broker across the face: "But what? If you want it, why don't you just take it? Dude, please, you're the bad guy! Robbery! Do I have to teach you that?"
The broker's eyes lit up, he shoved Rayna aside, snatched back the two cases, and Rayna pointed at him with a trembling hand: "I'm an American citizen, please help me!"
"Sorry, as I said before, only those who have paid enough taxes are American citizens," Ron sneered, "and you, because you didn't pay your taxes on time, your citizenship has expired. I'll only work for you after you pay your taxes. As for now..."
Ron suddenly raised his gun and fired at the broker who was sneaking towards the door, and the broker fell to the ground.
"I never said I couldn't rob non-taxpaying citizens~"
(End of Chapter)
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