In Illiguo, Simon received the notice that Director Kelly wanted to connect with him via video call on a secure line.

After the security department handled it, a link prompt soon popped up on his computer.

"Sir, what do you need from me?"

He could hardly hide his shock.

Although he was not Kelly's subordinate but was instead a station chief of one of the Middle East division's branches under the Intelligence Department,

for a person like Kelly to contact him directly indicated that the matter was extremely urgent and the level of secrecy extremely high.

"Simon, there's a person I want to ask you about."

"Who?"

"A China Person, Chinese name—Song Heping."

As this name entered Simon's ears, it was like a thunderbolt.

His complexion changed slightly, and his muscles stiffened a bit.

"What's wrong? You seem surprised."

Even though it was a video call, Kelly acutely noticed Simon's unnatural reaction.

"Yes."

Simon, after all, was a station chief. Though he was shocked and it showed, he quickly recovered.

"I've dealt with him before, have detained him, and had some conflicts with him."

He distanced himself relationally.

Regardless, that was the safest approach.

"I have some knowledge of these matters, which is why I've come to you."

Kelly got straight to the point, "I want to know if he has been in Illiguo recently."

"Not here," Simon stated frankly, "He appears to be in South America, Venezuela."

Kelly asked further, "What kind of relation does this person have with the U.S. Military in Illiguo?"

"Not clear," Simon said, "But their company has taken on transportation contracts for the U.S. Military stationed in Illiguo, and those who can get this kind of contract are deeply connected with the military. I don't think I need to elaborate on that."

Kelly nodded thoughtfully, "He seems to have helped the military with arms trading business? In a report you submitted before, there was mention of a misunderstanding with his company over this, and that he was detained because of it?"

Simon felt a little nervous inside.

He least wanted to mention the SA-9 missile trade in Africa.

Because of this incident, he's been at Song Heping's mercy to this day, not daring to provoke the man again.

"Correct, there was such an incident, but then General Peter came personally to explain it was a military action. As for the purpose and involving military secrets, I have no authority to inquire."

"That's quite interesting."

Kelly smiled, "There is information indicating that he purchased two SU-24 fighter bombers in Illiguo in the name of military processing, correct?"

"That did happen, and without military approval, he wouldn't have been able to buy such aircraft," Simon replied, relieved that Kelly did not continue to talk about the African arms deal.

Aside from that incident, he could chat pleasantly about anything else.

Kelly asked further, "Just the aircraft without any armaments?"

Simon furrowed his brows, "Sir, why do you ask?"

Kelly explained, "A few days ago, an unexpected development occurred in 'Operation Viper,' a joint initiative between the White House and the Colombian government. The entire command structure of the AUC militants we were working with was wiped out. The information from the site suggests they suffered a high-yield bomb attack. Our technicians analyzed that based on the aircraft of Soviet make only able to use Soviet munitions, they must have used at least large FAB aerial bombs or ODAB thermo-baric bombs to achieve such a lethal effect. That's why I'm asking you, since you're more familiar with the current situation in Illiguo, did Sadam's forces ever procure large FAB aerial bombs or ODAB thermo-baric bombs?"

"We have FAB models, but only 500-kilogram class. We did not import ODAB thermo-baric bombs, as the Soviet back then strictly controlled these types of major weapons, second only to 'mushroom' weapons and China arms, and fundamentally did not sell them abroad."

Simon gave a definitive negative answer.

"Currently, although Sadam's stockpile weapons are all being processed, as far as I know, these large-yield bombs are being disposed of through destruction, not sold to others."

Simon's certainty plunged Kelly deeper into suspicion.

If the "Musician" defense couldn't purchase ODAB thermo-baric bombs, then what kind of bomb caused such terrifying damage?

Could it possibly be a high-yield FAB bomb?

But Illiguo only had 500-kilogram yield FAB aerial bombs, which weren't nearly enough to cause such extensive damage.

For a moment, Kelly even thought her suspicions were mistaken.

A private military company, how could they possibly get their hands on Russian ODAB thermo-baric bombs?

"SIR? What do you want to investigate?"

Seeing that Kelly was silent, Simon pressed on, "Do you suspect that Song Heping bombed the AUC with thermo-baric bombs?"

"I've had that thought."

Kelly said, "I even sent people to scout near his school in southern Venezuela, but there was an accident, and they all died."

Simon immediately thought of the recent news, where Venezuela's officials announced the killing of three CIA agents who had infiltrated their territory.

That news was still very hot.

The president of Venezuela, who already disliked Americans, seized on this incident to make a big fuss, sparking heated debates worldwide.

Even Simon, who was far away in Illiguo, had seen that news.

"Simon, I have a task for you, to thoroughly check Illiguo's stock for ODAB thermo-baric bombs or high-yield FAB aerial bombs."

"There's no need to check," Simon said. "Because the first thing we did when we arrived here was to inspect the weapons storage, and I'm clear on all the stored weapons. Unless they're in an arms depot we haven't found, which is also unlikely because none of the former military officials who defected to us mentioned such bombs, these data are absolutely accurate, just like we didn't find the major weapons we needed in Illiguo."

Kelly fell silent.

The information provided by Simon was obviously true.

In that case, where did Song Heping find the ODAB thermo-baric bombs?

Could she really have guessed wrong?

But her intuition told her that there was definitely something off with Song Heping.

So...

Did they really need to resort to strong-arm tactics?

For the Secret Action Department, many things could be resolved with "secret operations" in the end.

However, such measures carried higher risks.

Once exposed, she would have to face the consequences.

Simon seemed to perceive Kelly's hesitation, and a thought struck him.

His own leverage was in the hands of Song Heping.

The most permanent solution was to make him die!

With his death, the secret would be known to no one forever.

"SIR."

Simon feigned helplessness, "It's not that I don't want to help. Originally, I could wait for him to return to Illiguo and then secretly capture and interrogate him for the answers we want, but that's not feasible at the moment because he still has some influence in Illiguo. That man is extremely close to the military. Last time with the Africa arms deal, I got chewed out by General Peter because I didn't grasp the situation. I think capturing him secretly in another place might still be somewhat effective."

Kelly sneered, "He frequents only three places—his homeland, Illiguo, Venezuela. If you're saying we can't capture him in Illiguo, then where do you think I should grab him? His homeland or Venezuela?"

Simon had already heard Kelly's determination.

It was said that the Secret Action Department's silver-haired witch was a ruthlessly decisive and tough operator. If she decided to capture someone, she would definitely do it.

Moreover, she could mobilize the CIA's strongest "Watcher" action squad. Once these people were in motion, Mr. Song would definitely have no escape.

"SIR, I'm just reminding you that the military folks have a good relationship with him. You could coordinate with people at the Pentagon, but I guess there's a good chance the news will leak. However, if it's a secret capture without the military's knowledge, it's probably still possible to succeed."

"Okay, I'll consider it."

Kelly quickly ended the call.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com