Chapter 207: Just Strike at the Source

Tang Guochang sensed that something was amiss.

Cha Jiham had said that the special envoy sent by President Douglas was Director Griffin.

However, among the people waiting for him, there was no one who looked remotely like Director Griffin.

Moreover, the very presence of three complete strangers seemed extremely suspicious.

‘What in the world is Department Head Cha thinking?’

As he muttered to himself, the driver gently applied the brakes and brought the car to a stop.

Cha Jiham, who had been waiting outside, approached, opened the door, and greeted him.

“Vice Chairman Tang, welcome.”

“Department Head Cha, explain what’s going on here.”

I immediately grasped the implication behind Tang Guochang’s question.

He was suspicious because complete strangers had come out to greet him.

“The Director of the National Intelligence Service, the Director of the CIA, and the Director of the FBI have come here to meet you, Vice Chairman Tang.”

“Why have they come to see me?”

“To support you. Incidentally, all three of them are wearing special disguise masks in case of unforeseen circumstances.”

“Ah, now I understand. Still, which one of them is Director Griffin?”

“This is Director Griffin.”

“Pleased to meet you. I am in charge of the People’s Liberation Army...”

Tang Guochang exchanged greetings in turn with Director Griffin, NIS Director Om Giyeon, and Director Nevers, after which they moved into the living room.

“Director Griffin, did you encounter any problems entering our country?”

“Because of the state of emergency in the Dalian area, it took quite a while to get through immigration.”

“You know why the alert was declared, don’t you, Director Griffin?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Who do you think was behind the destruction of the naval base?”

Director Griffin regarded this as a crucial moment.

How events unfolded from here could depend on his answer.

“We believe it was the work of a country with strained relations with China.”

“But the United States is also one of the countries with strained relations with us, isn’t it?”

“President Douglas’s approval rating is currently at its peak. What reason would we have to deliberately increase tensions with China?”

“That’s true... Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

Director Griffin hated saying something he himself didn’t believe, but there was no other way if they wanted to deceive Tang Guochang.

“I hope you find the culprits and take revenge as soon as possible.”

“Of course we will.”

Tang Guochang clenched his fists, displaying his firm determination.

Meanwhile, NIS Director Om Giyeon sensed the oppressive atmosphere and decided to change the subject.

“Vice Chairman Tang, have you heard about the major fire in Dandong?”

“I have, but...”

Tang Guochang deliberately left the sentence unfinished.

Om Giyeon, who had survived countless trials in the ruthless world of intelligence, immediately understood what he was doing.

“The first warehouse to catch fire was one rented by Golden Trading.”

“You mean the company owned by Vice Chairman Chen Zhihui?”

“Exactly. Golden Trading was responsible for procuring and supplying goods needed by North Korea.”

“There are plenty of companies in Dandong that trade with the North.”

Tang Guochang replied indifferently.

However, NIS Director Om Giyeon wasn’t worried in the slightest, confident that he could change Tang Guochang’s mind.

“Do you happen to know Pak Jongchon, First Deputy Director of the Central Committee Department of North Korea’s Military Revolutionary Party?”

“I met him when Kim Jonghun visited our country.”

“It’s good that you know him. He oversees North Korea’s ICBM development.”

“So what?”

“There were ICBMs stolen from the Chinese military inside Golden Trading’s warehouse...”

“What did you say?!”

Tang Guochang interrupted Om Giyeon, genuinely shocked.

As though understanding how he felt, the NIS Director paused to give him time to collect his thoughts.

After a while, Tang Guochang spoke again, apologizing.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you, Director Om. I was simply too shocked.”

“I completely understand how you feel, Vice Chairman Tang.”

“How did you obtain such highly classified information?”

The FBI agents had not seen any ICBMs when they infiltrated Golden Trading’s warehouse.

Despite that, Om Giyeon could state it with confidence because the captured First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon had personally testified to it.

Naturally, they couldn’t reveal that Pak Jongchon had been captured, so they had prepared a different explanation.

“North Korea was obtaining the components necessary to manufacture TELs through Golden Trading. We decided to destroy those components to disrupt TEL production. During preliminary reconnaissance, our people infiltrated the warehouse and discovered the ICBMs.”

“No way. That can’t be true!”

NIS Director Om Giyeon needed to turn Tang Guochang’s doubts into certainty.

“You can check how many DF-31As (ICBMs with a range of 13,000 kilometers) are currently at the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force base in Shenyang. Then you’ll understand.”

“So it’s true?”

“Check the facts yourself.”

“Wait a moment.”

Tang Guochang immediately made a brief phone call and hung up.

The moment he lowered the phone from his ear, NIS Director Om Giyeon continued.

“May I continue?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“We set timers on the explosives with the intention of destroying only the TEL components. However, a much more powerful explosion occurred, and the flames spread to the neighboring warehouses.”

“You’re saying the explosion became so powerful because the warhead on a DF-31A detonated?”

“There’s no other possible explanation.”

“All right. I understand.”

“After the fire was extinguished, it was determined that thirty warehouses had burned down completely and fifteen others had suffered partial damage.”

“I understand what happened with Golden Trading, but who is going to compensate the other warehouses for their losses?”

Tang Guochang’s question clearly implied that the South Korean government should compensate them.

“Golden Trading has issued a statement to the press saying that it is prepared to pay compensation.”

“Why would those bastards agree to pay up so easily?”

“We believe they have something to hide.”

“You mean... because of the DF-31A stolen from the Shenyang base?”

Bzzz—

At that moment, the phone in Tang Guochang’s hand buzzed with a vibration.

After looking at the screen, he realized it was an extremely important call and took the phone into the study.

Not wanting to waste any time, I quickly turned to NIS Director Om Giyeon.

“Was there really a DF-31A stored in Golden Trading’s warehouse?”

“Yes. First Deputy Director Pak Jongchon, who was captured by FBI agents, personally told us.”

However, I didn’t get the chance to continue my conversation with Om Giyeon. An enraged shout suddenly erupted from Tang Guochang’s study.

A short while later, he emerged breathing heavily, his face crimson with fury.

After sitting down on the sofa, he exchanged a few brief words in Chinese with Director Pan Kai.

Pan Kai immediately jumped to his feet, took some ice-cold water from the refrigerator, and handed it to him.

Tang Guochang drained the glass in one gulp, slammed it down on the table, and spoke.

“Director Om, I apologize for doubting you.”

“It’s all right. You can consider this the lesser of two evils.”

“The lesser of two evils?”

“The DF-31A was destroyed before it could reach North Korea.”

“That’s true... Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

“There’s a saying: ‘Better late than never.’”

There was an unmistakable implication in NIS Director Om Giyeon’s advice that China needed to impose stricter controls over its ICBMs.

“I’ll keep your advice in mind, Director Om.”

“Now, you should speak with Director Griffin.”

Om Giyeon stepped back, yielding the floor to Griffin.

“Vice Chairman Tang, do you know about the incident in Fengcheng?”

“You mean the incident where Ukrainian Military Intelligence destroyed the kamikaze drone factory?”

In reality, the kamikaze drone factory had been destroyed by NIS agents and Delta Force operators.

However, to boost Ukrainian morale, the operation had been credited to Ukrainian Military Intelligence.

Director Griffin had no choice but to continue maintaining that story in order to preserve their cover.

“Exactly. And now the situation is taking an unpleasant turn.”

“What do you mean?”

“Minister of State Security Peng Yuxiang has threatened Ukraine with severe retaliation.”

Tang Guochang tilted his head in confusion.

Whatever the reason, agents of Ukrainian Military Intelligence had destroyed a kamikaze drone factory on Chinese soil.

That gave China a legitimate reason to retaliate.

Therefore, Minister Peng Yuxiang’s warning seemed perfectly natural to him.

Director Griffin, however, apparently saw things differently.

“Do you believe Minister Peng Yuxiang’s warning was a mistake?”

“Our country believes it was.”

“Explain why.”

“China’s military assistance to Russia is an open secret. Ukrainian Military Intelligence destroyed the kamikaze drone factory solely as a warning to China.”

“Well... When you put it that way, I can’t really argue.”

Tang Guochang’s voice finally returned to normal.

Everything up to this point had merely been the appetizer.

Now came the main course.

“Minister Peng Yuxiang has already begun taking action to destroy key military bases inside Ukraine.”

“If I were in his position, I would do the same.”

“Vlad Volasky, Director of Ukrainian Military Intelligence, issued a warning: if the Ministry of State Security takes active measures, China will face horrifying consequences. He also stated that he intends to release information about the incident at the Dalian naval base to the media.”

Tang Guochang realized that things were bad.

Information about the destruction of the naval base was under strict censorship and known only to a small circle of people.

If Ukrainian Military Intelligence leaked that information to the press, China would become the laughingstock of the entire world.

And a humiliated Chairman Xi Jinping certainly wouldn’t pat him on the head for it.

At that point, he could forget about any coup. He would simply be thrown out of office.

“Director Griffin, how do we solve this problem?”

“The best option is to prevent Minister Peng Yuxiang from taking active measures.”

“He’s acting on the Chairman’s direct orders, so he won’t cancel anything.”

“Can’t you persuade him otherwise, Vice Chairman Tang?”

“In our country, no one dares disobey an order from the Chairman.”

“I see... Department Head Cha, do you have any original ideas?”

At that moment, everyone’s eyes turned toward me.

After briefly considering my answer, I addressed Director Griffin.

“The surest method would be to prevent Ministry of State Security operatives from entering Ukrainian territory. However, given the enormous area involved, that would be practically impossible.”

“You make it sound as though you have a Plan B. Am I right?”

Just in case, I needed to lay the groundwork first.

“I do, but the chances of success aren’t particularly high.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“We only need to strike at the source.”

“The source... Are you suggesting that we eliminate Minister Peng Yuxiang?”

Director Griffin hadn’t become the head of the CIA for nothing.

I had barely uttered the word ‘source,’ and he had already realized that I was talking about eliminating Minister Peng Yuxiang.

“Assassinating Minister Peng could cause too much of an uproar, so it would be better to make it look like a disappearance.”

“You mean kidnap him?”

“Exactly, Director Griffin.”

“Suppose we kidnap him. Do you really think Chairman Xi Jinping will rescind the order?”

“He won’t rescind it. But implementation of the plan will have to be postponed because every available resource will be diverted to searching for the missing minister.”

“Hmm. There’s some truth to that. So who is supposed to kidnap him?”

I deliberately shifted my gaze toward Tang Guochang.

As though reading my thoughts, he answered without hesitation.

“You want me to handle it?”

“That would be the cleanest option.”

“Fine. Let’s do it.”

Tang Guochang replied in a firm and decisive voice.