Jimmy: "James was set up for assassination by CIA operatives, it's definitely related to your situation, isn't it?"

Tom nodded: "I conducted an investigation after I returned. The direct participants in the assassination have been identified; I took care of them, but the mastermind has yet to be confirmed. I only know it must be someone high up orchestrating it. Perhaps several operations aroused suspicion, prompting them to secretly mobilize a part of their team to target the people around me.

I've already made arrangements for my family to find refuge. They are in a safe place now, but James was still discovered by them. He held a public office, and I was negligent before, failing to warn him in time, which unfortunately made him a target."

Luckily, they dealt with it privately, and I even suspect that the claim signaling Watson as the instigator in the last operation was a smokescreen they released. I did some probing at the Anti-Terrorism Bureau, and what they are involved in doesn't track with my past actions at all. If they wanted to target James, they truly lacked a valid reason. I suspect someone is using Watson's name for their own agenda, and it's certain that someone high-ranking knows Watson's project is well-suited for creating a smokescreen."

Jimmy: "So you're saying, Watson might not be part of this conspiracy line? Someone deliberately released this clue to pit you against Watson and then have you eradicate each other? They believe in Watson's capabilities that much?"

Tom nodded: "It's just a possibility; I haven't ruled him out completely yet. This matter requires further investigation at the headquarters, but irrespective of whether Watson is a suspect, he is extremely dangerous. Same as always, you absolutely cannot appear in his field of vision. Stay away from the Anti-Terrorism Bureau and the training center."

Jimmy: "I understand."

After having two drinks, Tom put down his glass, "You don't need to contact me for a while; I'm planning to head back to Langley to carry out some investigations there. I'm not sure how long it will take, so wait for me to get in touch with you."

After saying this, Tom left with his suitcase. Jimmy watched as the disguised Tom left with a heavy heart. In the three years since his arrival, it seemed he had inadvertently become involved in a massive conspiracy.

Although Tom hadn't explicitly stated it, Jimmy connected the dots from various hints given by Tom, and if strung together, the underlying matters seemed overly conspiratorial.

First was Tom's own experience. It was an open secret that the CIA had secret channels for trafficking people and drugs from abroad to the United States. There was nothing much to say about that. Though Tom didn't mention it, he was certainly a senior agent in the CIA; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to modify Jimmy's files so thoroughly, and he had mentioned that he was responsible for operations in the direction of Mexico. Even such a high-ranking agent could be killed off at will, suggesting intense internal strife within the CIA.

Then there was the case of the Vice President's attack in Little Rock, which Jimmy had been involved in the preliminary route investigation. It was painstakingly detailed, yet from the roadside ambush to the remote-controlled bombs, to a suicide bomber already in place at the destination, all pointed to the attackers' exceptional intelligence capabilities. However, the final bomb was remarkably weak, so weak that the Special Service Bureau immediately suspected something fishy. It took Jimmy half a year to receive his commendation, evidently indicating the Special Service Bureau spent that time investigating.

Following that was the surge of 9/11, when the government quickly released intelligence and commenced retaliatory actions swiftly. Setting aside that the aircraft were destroyed with no bodies to identify, relying solely on passenger and crew information from the flights, they pinpointed nearly 20 suspects in a very short time, finding the ultimate targets. With such intelligence capabilities, how could they have missed warnings of hijackings?

For a plan that involved coordinating hijackings and crashing into buildings, clearly, there was substantial inside assistance in the United States, helping to conceal identities, prepare materials, and align their investigations and plans. Taking off from three different airports in the United States, hijacking four airplanes simultaneously was not something Middle Easterners could manage on their own.

Taking Tom's words into account, the role of the CIA in this matter became rather thought-provoking.

Of course, all these were Jimmy's own conjectures. Being conspiracy theories, they lacked solid evidence. If these conjectures were valid, then the CIA alone couldn't have pulled these off; other departments and even government high-ups must have been involved directly.

Based on speculation, the actions of the U.S. government in the period following became quite intriguing. First was the "Patriot Act," which authorized federal agencies to search private phone, internet, medical, financial records, etc., in the name of preventing terrorism, further reducing restrictions on intelligence agencies.

Next, they justified their expansion of global intervention forces. Using 9/11 as the reason, they naturally launched an officially sanctioned war by deploying troops to Afghanistan and were not hindered by domestic anti-war forces. Instead, they received overwhelming support from the majority of the populace.

Lastly, the military-industrial complex could overtly grab massive military contracts. For capitalists, with such reasons, staging an attack on their own soil may also seem acceptable considering they have no grudge with money.

Jimmy poured himself another drink, decided to rest well and stop thinking about it. Such matters, there's no point in overthinking; without evidence, it's all in vain. For Tom, it is about revenge—after all, someone tried to kill him, and he had to strike back. For Jimmy, sorry, these issues don't concern him. His only connection with the CIA was that tragic stumbling block plan, a project destined to be shut down, and what he needed to avoid was being marked as a cleanup target by the CIA when the project ended—it wouldn't be fun to have people hunting him down.

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