Chapter 1828 - 1384: "Witness" Division_2

He began to smile bitterly.

Song Heping finally spoke up, "You're telling me all this now, for what reason, General?"

Duke did not answer immediately.

He sat in the chair, leaning slightly forward, hands crossed on his knees, as if making a difficult decision.

The room fell silent again, the air becoming heavier and tenser, like a bowstring pulled to its limit.

"Because I'm the one who gave you the USB drive." Duke said.

The words exploded in the darkness, like a second bomb.

Song Heping's body instantly tensed, his right hand subconsciously moved towards the grip of his gun at his waist.

But he quickly forced himself to relax and stay still.

Duke noticed this small action but did not react, just continued to look at him, his gaze frank.

"Three months ago."

Duke began to narrate.

"The White House, through the National Security Council, issued a directive for the Joint Special Operations Command to work with the CIA to carry out the capture operation of Misu. The directive was of the highest priority, coming directly from the President's National Security Advisor. The reason was simple: Misu was a former CIA asset who possessed sensitive chemical weapon technology and might now be serving extremist organizations. He must be captured or killed before causing greater harm."

"But you felt something was off." Song Heping said.

"I felt it was very off." Duke nodded, "First, Misu has been missing for almost three years. If he indeed served extremist organizations, given his capabilities, this span would be enough for him to orchestrate several large-scale chemical weapon attacks. Yet, there's no evidence to show he was involved in any attack. Second, the specifications for the capture operation were abnormally high, not a typical joint operation, but one directly ordered by the White House, led by the CIA, while the Delta Force was merely an execution tool. Third, when I asked to see Misu's complete dossier, the CIA provided only a heavily redacted version, citing 'sensitive sources and methods'."

Duke paused, as if organizing his thoughts:

"I'm a soldier, Song. I've spent thirty-four years in the military, from West Point Military Academy to the Rangers, then Delta, and finally to the Joint Special Operations Command. I've seen too many dirty things, too many truths being concealed. When an operation has abnormally high specifications, when intelligence is deliberately withheld, when everyone rushes you to act without asking too many questions, it usually means the operation itself has issues."

"So you started your own investigation secretly." Song Heping said.

"Using my connections in military intelligence." Duke admitted, "I found a few old contacts, some in the Defense Intelligence Agency, some in the National Security Agency, and some retired but still having connections. I asked them to help me check the complete dossiers on Misu and the 'Seeder' Project. The process was challenging; many documents were either encrypted or destroyed, but I managed to piece together some fragments."

Duke took something out of the pocket on his chest.

It wasn't a USB drive, but a folded piece of paper.

He stood up, placed the paper on the table, then returned to his seat.

"Take a look. This is part of the organizational chart of the 'Seeder' Project and the personnel list of the 'Witness' department."

Song Heping didn't immediately pick up the paper.

He looked at Duke and asked, "Why choose me? Why not give the data to the media? To Congress? To watchdog agencies?"

"Because none of those will work."

Duke's response was curt and cold, "The media may be suppressed, Congress may be bought, watchdog agencies may be infiltrated. Moreover, if I publicly release this information, I'll be the next target. The CIA has a thousand ways to make a disobedient general 'accidentally die'—sudden cardiac arrest, car accident, training incident, or even being 'friendly fire' in a war zone. I know their methods too well."

"So you need an outsider." Song Heping understood, "A PMC, a pawn you can deny. If I uncover the truth, you can claim it's my unauthorized operation; if I die, it's just a mercenary leader perishing in a mission, not causing any political stir."

Duke did not deny it, "This is the safest way, safe for both of us. Of course, the risk is greater for you. But I know your abilities, you know how to protect yourself. Also…"

He paused, "I believe you have your own principles. I've seen your dossier, know you served in the Special Forces at East University. You, like me, are a soldier."

Song Heping walked to the table, picked up the paper, and unfolded it.

In the dim light, he could barely make out the contents:

"Seeder" Project

Initiation Date: June 2013

Supervising Unit: CIA Special Operations Department

Surface Purpose: Recruit Middle Eastern scientists to infiltrate extremist organizations and monitor chemical weapon proliferation

Actual Purpose: (Information missing)

Special Department: The Witness

Direct Command: White House National Security Advisor

Composition of Members: 4 CIA operatives, 2 Ministry of Defense representatives, 1 State Department representative

Operation Mode: Not through conventional intelligence channels, direct reporting to the White House

Dissolution Date: March 2016 (Official reason: project restructuring; actual reason: project dissolved to avoid risk after Misu's defection)

Below is a partially redacted list, but a few names are still visible:

Vincent: Former CIA Director.

Raymond: CIA operative, site coordination officer

(Redacted): White House National Security Advisor

(Redacted): Ministry of Defense representative

(Redacted): State Department representative