But so what?
Whether Japan loses people or how many die in this disaster, what does that have to do with Richard Castle?
As someone whose soul once belonged to a Chinese citizen in his past life, Castle couldn't help but feel that the more Japanese who died, the happier he would be. After all, anyone who had visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial would likely agree with the sentiment: "The only good Japanese soldier is a dead one."
Initially, Castle hadn't even remembered this massive earthquake that, in his previous life, had brought him and many of his friends so much joy upon hearing the news. It wasn't until he pieced together that Japan's intelligence agency, working with the Loxat organization and Amir Barkawi, had secretly funded and provided resources for the plan. Meanwhile, Loxat had offered logistical support, including helping Barkawi's team bring an unmarked AC-130 gunship into the no-fly zone over Washington, DC, and delaying the fighter jets stationed at Andrews Air Force Base from intercepting it.
Faced with the complexity of this scheme, Castle found himself debating whether to warn Benjamin Arthur about the impending attack or instead quietly use his ability to enter the White House at will to extract Benjamin's wife and kids beforehand, leaving the president with nothing to hold him back as he and Michael Banning faced the crisis head-on.
As Castle wrestled with the decision, he suddenly remembered that it was currently February 2001. If things followed the timeline from his previous life, wasn't March 2011 when the catastrophic earthquake and nuclear disaster struck Japan?
The more he thought about it, the more convinced Castle became that his memory was correct. A quick search confirmed that the South Korean prime minister's meeting with Benjamin Arthur was scheduled just days before the earthquake. With this realization, a plan began to take shape in Castle's mind.
He decided against warning Benjamin about the attack in advance. Instead, he would quietly ensure the safety of Benjamin's wife and kids by inviting them to his New York estate for a few days—no need for him to personally visit the danger zone of Washington. Once Michael Banning heroically thwarted the assault on the White House, Castle would claim he had only managed to uncover the truth after the event, leveraging all his intelligence resources to expose that the attack had been orchestrated by Japan's government, its intelligence agency, members of Loxat, and Amir Barkawi.
This approach would achieve two goals: first, "accidentally" saving Benjamin's family from danger, earning Castle a huge favor from the president; second, providing Benjamin with crucial information about the attack's masterminds just when he was seething with rage and ready for revenge.
Castle couldn't help but marvel at his own genius. His seemingly effortless maneuvering left no trace of involvement and was nothing short of brilliant.
After aligning plans with his old friend, Castle reached out to Big Ivan, who was already stationed with two teams—ten men in total, all former Russian Interior Ministry special forces—outside a Watanabe Corporation safe house in the Red Hook district of Brooklyn. Inside the safe house, three clueless assassins, completely unaware that they had been exposed, were plotting their reconnaissance mission on Castle's Long Island estate as a prelude to their assassination attempt.
Castle's plan was to have Big Ivan deliberately provoke the assassins, initiating a high-pressure yet non-lethal pursuit to force them to call for reinforcements. This would set the stage for Castle's strategy of "encircle and hit reinforcements."
The three assassins had flown in directly from Japan. However, perhaps due to their lack of experience operating abroad, they had already exposed their true intentions through careless behavior upon arrival in New York. Worse still, they had run into a homeless man who understood Japanese, inadvertently blowing their cover before they could even begin Watanabe's assassination plan.
Now, the three men, serving as Castle's "bait," were under constant surveillance. All their conversations and plans were being relayed in real time to Big Ivan and his team via Jarvis, who had hacked their electronic devices using the "Eye of God" software.
The leader of the three assassins was actually one of Watanabe Corporation's own bodyguards. However, this individual and his two teammates had no experience with overseas operations. Back in Japan, they had grown accustomed to being untouchable in their small, insular environment. In fact, Japan's peculiar legal system, which allows certain criminal organizations to operate openly, had only reinforced their arrogance.
As a result, these so-called assassins exhibited zero situational awareness and failed to monitor their surroundings—a lack of professionalism that left Big Ivan puzzled. Were these men fearless due to their skill, or were they just plain incompetent?
After listening to the trio's conversations, captured through their hacked devices, Big Ivan finally had his answer: they were complete idiots.
It turned out that Japan's intelligence agency, preoccupied with its covert sponsorship of Amir Barkawi's grand plans, had decided not to assist Watanabe Corporation's current leader—an aging patriarch mourning the loss of his son and nephew. Frustrated by his government's indifference, the elder Watanabe had taken matters into his own hands.
Direct retaliation against the United States was, of course, out of the question. Even as a subsidiary of the Fuji Group, Watanabe Corporation lacked the resources to challenge America directly. Instead, the elder Watanabe decided to target Castle, the man he held responsible for his family's deaths, with an inexplicable sense of confidence.
Where this confidence came from, no one could say. Still, the elder Watanabe believed he could send a team to New York to exact revenge while his government and intelligence agencies stayed silent.
However, Watanabe Corporation, despite being a defense contractor specializing in aerospace technology, was not equipped for such operations. The assassin team he assembled consisted of one of his trusted bodyguards—allegedly skilled in Japan—leading two recruits borrowed from yakuza organizations like the Yamaguchi-gumi.
The result? An amateurish assassination squad utterly lacking in professionalism. These individuals, accustomed to bullying others in their insular world, had no survival instincts or tactical awareness.
When Big Ivan realized that his opponents were just a bodyguard and two incompetent henchmen, he was dumbfounded. He had prepared two teams of seasoned veterans, all former Russian Interior Ministry special forces, expecting a confrontation with professional assassins. Now, faced with these laughably unqualified opponents, Big Ivan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Castle and John were equally taken aback upon learning the truth about the so-called assassins. The revelation that their "killers" were merely an overconfident bodyguard and two yakuza thugs left them both speechless.
For Castle, it felt like going from playing in high-stakes professional tournaments to suddenly being handed a beginner-level quest in a noob village. John, a former world-class assassin, couldn't help but feel a profound sense of absurdity.
Were these guys really here to carry out an assassination, or was their plan to make Castle laugh to death? Was this their assassination strategy—comedy as a weapon?
(End of Chapter)
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