At the same time.
Thousands of miles away in Langley, Virginia, USA, inside the CIA Headquarters.
The atmosphere in Director Vincent's office had plummeted to freezing point.
A piece of classified intelligence that had just been delivered lay sprawled on his desk, its contents causing veins to throb on his forehead.
Bam!
Vincent slammed a fist into the expensive mahogany desk, causing the coffee cup to jump up.
"Abu You! That damned turncoat! And that haunting Song Heping! He actually dared! He really dared to receive the entire armed faction from Abu You!"
He paced back and forth in the office like a caged beast, his face ashen, his breathing heavy.
Simon and several Intelligence Chiefs stood aside with varied expressions, some fearful, some expressionless.
The depths of Simon's eyes concealed a trace of an almost imperceptible schadenfreude.
"Four thousand! A whole four thousand experienced veterans! With all their equipment, defected to someone we have listed as a global fugitive KB Member! This is an utter disgrace! CIA's biggest failure this year!"
Vincent roared, his voice hoarse with anger.
"Where is our intelligence network? Where are our action plans? Why was there not the slightest warning beforehand? Why did things escalate to this point?!"
He suddenly turned to Simon: "Simon! Didn't you say you had control of the intel channels in Northern Illiguo? This is the result of your control?!"
Simon chuckled inwardly but displayed a heavy and helpless expression: "Director, we've done our best. But Song Heping is extremely cunning, acting unpredictably. Moreover, the direct trigger for this incident was that puzzlingly online intelligence pointing to Abu You secretly meeting with him… I suspect this itself is a trap."
"A trap?" Vincent squinted.
"Yes."
Simon cautiously continued, "The timing was too coincidental, appearing just as we tried to pressure the KPG Committee to deal with Abu You. Moreover, it spread rapidly, with highly provocative content, directly leading the hardliners inside KPG to take extreme measures, rendering Abu You desperate, pushing him to Song Heping. I suspect… there's something wrong with the source of this intelligence, perhaps someone deliberately leaked it to 1515's Buckdadi to achieve the purpose of killing with a borrowed knife."
Vincent wasn't foolish; he too had thought of this possibility and even suspected whether someone internally was undermining him.
But at this moment, the massive sense of failure and pressure from all sides prevented him from calmly contemplating, needing an outlet and a scapegoat.
"What's the use of saying this now?!"
Vincent irritably waved his hand, "The result is Abu You defected, strengthening Song Heping, our influence in Northern Illiguo has plummeted, and the situation is a complete mess! The military guys will surely exploit this! The White House and Congress… damn it!"
"Director, I think the most important thing now is to resolve the internal conflicts within the Kurd Armed. If the KPG Armed Alliance falls apart, our years of efforts and investments there will be for nothing..."
Simon feigned consolation, "As long as this issue is resolved, I believe the Abu You incident is just a small interlude and won't shake the foundation of global counterterrorism actions."
"Hmm… makes sense, Simon, you personally arrange this task, go to Northern Illiguo, stabilize the situation in Elbil, tell those armed faction leaders, if anyone dares to leave the KPG Alliance, they are the enemy of the United States!"
Vincent's earlier anger seemed somewhat quelled, finally taking remedial actions and orders.
But soon, dark clouds drifted over his mind again.
"I'm worried about the White House now..."
His gaze shifted to the window, releasing a long sigh.
The saying goes, misfortune comes alone.
Vincent's premonition quickly became reality.
Three days later in the morning, Washington D.C., White House.
In a tense meeting room, Vincent sat on one side of a long table, opposite the President's National Security Advisor and several senior aides.
These politicians who might usually exercise some civility now wore expressions akin to a chilling frost.
"Director Vincent."
National Security Advisor Gordon—an intense-eyed, stern-faced middle-aged man—spoke first, his voice calm yet assertively pressuring.
"Please explain why our efforts in Illiguo, especially in the northwest region against the 1515 Armed, have been so slow, even regressing? The military report indicates a severe lack of timely, accurate ground intelligence support, directly resulting in ineffective airstrike operations and even civilian casualties."
Another aide added, "More crucially, our long relied upon ground ally, Kurd Armed, is now engulfed in severe internal strife and division. The most powerful Abu You faction fully defected, aligning with… aligned with that KB Member Song Heping who we've deemed? This is a diplomatic and strategic disaster! It greatly weakens our ability to curb 1515 and Iran's influence locally!"
Vincent took a deep breath, striving to stay composed, beginning his long-prepared defense.
"Gentlemen, the situation in Illiguo is very complex. 1515 Armed is extremely crafty, constantly altering strategies, leading our airstrike effectiveness to diminish… And that Song Heping, this dangerous man, he is the root of all this chaos…"