This was precisely why Lockheed Martin (LM) had been so quick to respond when Castle came knocking.
This discovery opened a door for LM and a host of other arms companies eager to get close to Castle, the new-generation weapons designer who had invented countless groundbreaking technologies in the past year.
It all boiled down to one insight: Castle was more emotional than rational.
This emotional tendency was why Castle had been so upset when Northrop Grumman, his long-time partner, sided with the Japanese over a major military procurement deal, acting as a mediator between him and the Japanese agents who had offended him. As a result, Castle's once-close relationship with Northrop Grumman had taken a significant hit.
What Lockheed saw as a flaw—a lack of rationality—became the perfect opening for them to sow discord.
By analyzing Castle's behavior since his sudden emergence as a weapons designer a year and a half ago, one conclusion stood out clearly: despite his success, Castle was still using a very civilian mindset to navigate his new identity and status. He hadn't yet adapted to his elevated position or shifted to the mentality of a true capitalist.
This wasn't particularly surprising. Castle's rise had been extraordinarily rapid, leaving him no time to adjust his mindset to match his newfound status. He was still using his old ways of thinking to address and resolve problems.
Had Castle come from an old-money family and received an elite education from a young age, he would never have allowed his partnership with Northrop Grumman to sour over the Japanese issue.
After all, in the U.S., the belief that "money trumps all" is practically gospel.
Yet Castle, upset by Northrop Grumman's decision to secure a lucrative Japanese order by acting as a buffer for the Japanese, decisively distanced himself from the company despite their close partnership.
This revealed to insiders that Castle was still operating on a basic "an eye for an eye" mentality rather than adopting the pragmatism of a seasoned capitalist. For a true capitalist, shaking hands with adversaries for the sake of substantial profits is par for the course.
But Castle's unyielding mindset was undoubtedly bad news for Northrop Grumman.
For other companies, however—particularly Lockheed Martin, which had yet to benefit from a partnership with Castle—this was a golden opportunity.
What did this mean?
It was self-evident.
Northrop Grumman, perhaps due to its pride as a massive defense contractor or its slow response time, failed to react after Castle rejected their attempts to mediate. They made no efforts to mend fences, whether by reaching out to Castle, their largest private shareholder, or by showing any sign of goodwill.
In contrast, Lockheed Martin, which had been closely monitoring Castle, saw things differently. They understood that Northrop Grumman believed their decision to prioritize the Japanese deal was correct, but they hadn't anticipated Castle's outright rejection.
This caused friction within Northrop Grumman's board of directors, with some members expressing dissatisfaction with how the situation was handled.
Moreover, with Northrop Grumman currently flooded with orders, they assumed Castle's streak of breakthroughs would eventually run out. They believed he couldn't possibly sustain the momentum of producing cutting-edge technology and decided to take a "cooling-off" approach, letting time smooth over their disagreements.
But they miscalculated.
What they didn't anticipate was that Castle, far from running out of ideas, was already deep into the development of a visual stealth technology that would shock the world.
This misstep gave Lockheed Martin the perfect opening to approach Castle.
Still, LM wasn't content to rely solely on this opportunity. To ensure success, their senior executives tried to widen the rift between Castle and Northrop Grumman by setting traps to further strain their relationship.
Fortunately, Castle wasn't naïve. He quickly saw through LM's schemes during a phone call with one of their senior executives.
Though Castle didn't mind their cunning, he knew this wasn't the right time to sever ties with Northrop Grumman completely. Despite the friction over the Japanese incident, Northrop Grumman had been instrumental in his rise. There was no need to burn bridges unnecessarily.
After all, Castle was still Northrop Grumman's largest private shareholder. By developing groundbreaking visual stealth technology and flirting with Lockheed Martin, he merely aimed to remind Northrop's board that he was their golden goose, not the Japanese.
After firmly rejecting LM's latest overture, Castle hung up and redirected his attention to a matter that had been brewing for days—an incident sparked by the troublemakers from the Blade Fist organization.
Over the past few days, the situation had not calmed down; instead, it had escalated, thanks to the involvement of an increasing number of "white liberal" fools obsessed with political correctness.
What baffled Castle even more was that what had started as a form of entertainment for Black protestors had now attracted a surprising number of "white hypocrites." These so-called allies were waving flags and shouting slogans for the Black protestors—seriously?
What a joke!
These white troublemakers, descendants of slave traders and slave owners, were now standing up for the same people their ancestors exploited? And on top of that, they were criticizing the NYPD while dragging Castle—a completely innocent drone designer—into the mess?
What the hell?
Castle's drones were faultless. The drones had been sold to the NYPD by Northrop Grumman. So why weren't these cowardly protestors picketing outside Northrop Grumman's offices?
It was simple: they knew better than to mess with a powerful corporation that might respond with deadly force. They'd seen what happened in Detroit when corporations cracked down on dissent. Did they think Northrop Grumman wouldn't do the same?
These idiots knew full well that the NYPD wouldn't escalate the conflict, so they targeted them instead. But did they really think they could drag Castle into their nonsense?
Castle, now thoroughly annoyed, instructed Jarvis to investigate the communication records and emails of the incident's key agitators. He discovered that the Blade Fist group was working with Amir Barkawi, a globally wanted terrorist, to distract Castle and prevent him from uncovering their plans to stage a major attack in D.C. next month.
But these fools had miscalculated by antagonizing Castle.
Castle decided to retaliate against these slogan-shouting idiots.
The NYPD, bogged down by political constraints, couldn't act. Even Beckett, known for her patience, had been venting her frustrations to Castle after work. The situation had spiraled out of control, shifting from debates about whether the NYPD should use missile-equipped drones for patrols to outright attacks on Castle for designing such drones and pushing for their deployment.
Castle recognized this as a deliberate effort by the Blade Fist group to muddy the waters. When their initial efforts to implicate Castle had failed, they had roped in the white liberals to amplify the chaos, hoping to drag him into the spotlight and distract him from their real plans.
But Castle had no intention of indulging these idiots.
While the NYPD was restrained by political correctness and unable to act, Castle was under no such constraints. He had even suggested to Beckett that the NYPD investigate the so-called Blade Fist leaders.
Even Deputy Commissioner Montgomery, a Black man himself, was thoroughly disgusted by these so-called activists.
However, Beckett explained that while the NYPD had the capability to act, doing so would be politically risky. Any action could be misinterpreted as persecution of the Blade Fist activists, fueling further outrage. For now, the NYPD had to ensure the agitators' safety rather than crack down on them.
But Castle faced no such limitations.
Compared to the numerous Blade Fist agitators, Castle was just one man. In the public eye, he was the underdog, which gave him more leeway to respond to these provocations.
Castle knew exactly what these so-called activists were about. While the public might be fooled by their theatrics, he wasn't.
Now, Castle's goal was clear: to strip away the façade of these so-called freedom fighters and expose their true nature to the world.
(End of Chapter)
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