Chapter 1845 - 1391: Duke Is Dead

Song Heping's unexpected words made Blake feel a chill.

Looking at the earnest expression on the mercenary leader across from him, he suddenly realized that this guy would really do it.

Just now, Joseph and the others used torture on him, but it was nothing.

After all, resistance training isn't for nothing.

Death?

Not afraid!

Pain?

Can endure!

But dying like an abandoned wild dog in the desert, or being shot by "one's own" and cleared away like trash.

That won't do!

Blake's breathing became heavy, sweat dripped down his brow.

His face, usually full of arrogance, now seemed struck by a hard punch, muscles uncontrollably twitching.

"Desert..." he murmured, his voice dry like sandpaper scratching: "I can't...can't die like that."

Song Heping sat across from him, hands folded across his chest.

He didn't rush, nor did he show any smugness of a victor.

On the contrary, his eyes remained calm like water, as if he had foreseen this outcome.

This wasn't an exaggeration, hardly a threat.

He was merely presenting the realistic consequences for the former "Witness" department operative before him to consider.

This calmness, instead, made Blake even more uneasy.

This person wasn't interrogating with emotion but with something deeper.

"Tell me about the 'Witness'," Song Heping asked coldly, "How was it born."

"Actually, it was earlier than you imagined..." Blake swallowed saliva, his throat rolling.

"2004."

He started narrating, his voice finding a bit of rhythm.

"After the Abu Ghraib event erupted, there was a secret meeting within the Pentagon. Back then, the Assistant Deputy Minister of Defense, now the White House National Security Advisor Craig Hendricks, proposed an idea..."

Outside the interrogation room, Milosh observed everything through a one-way glass.

This Eastern European mercenary Deputy Commander couldn't help but clench his fists.

Though he couldn't hear the conversation inside, Blake's change in body language said it all.

The mental defenses of this tough guy were collapsing.

"They said they needed a force completely unbound by the Geneva Conventions."

Blake continued, his eyes losing focus, as if falling into memories.

"A department capable of operating in gray areas, leaving no official record. This was the prototype of the 'Witness' department."

"Why call it 'Witness'?" Song Heping asked.

Blake's lips formed a bitter smile: "Because our task is to 'witness' the threats that need to be eliminated and ensure they disappear. We witness, we execute, we clean up. No records, no witnesses."

He paused, seemingly weighing something, then continued: "Initially, it was just a small-scale task force dealing with some sensitive prisoners. But the scale later expanded. In 2006, as Illiguo's situation deteriorated, the 'Sowers' plan was put on the agenda."

Song Heping's eyebrows slightly raised.

"Sowers plan?"

"A plan aimed at planting long-term informants in various Illiguo factions, a plan to overthrow foreign regimes through various black ops methods."

Blake explained: "Those planted weren't ordinary informants, but high-level assets capable of penetrating the organization's core, even guiding its development direction. Misu was the most successful 'sowing' in the Siria 1515 Armed Group."

"Until he decided to defect," Song Heping said.

"He disappeared for over two years; the department had already listed him as missing." Blake nodded: "But three months ago, he started sending messages through secret channels, threatening to expose the entire 'Sowers' plan, to reveal our actions in Siria including chemical weapon attacks framing the Hafez regime, and conducting new biological and chemical experiments. If he really did that, it would cause an international scandal, unacceptable for the White House, and more importantly, it involved the current Donkey Party candidate, the former Secretary of State..."

"So who ordered his elimination?"

Blake took a deep breath, hesitated for a few seconds as if making a firm decision, then said slowly: "Aside from the people you know, there's another one..."

"Who?" Song Heping frowned.

"The President..." Blake uttered the word, and a drop of sweat again slid down his forehead.

His words sent a shiver down the spine of everyone present—that was the name from the top of Washington's power structure, including the current Deputy National Security Advisor, senior Ministry of Defense officials, and a heavyweight Senate member often appearing on news broadcasts.

These weren't the most shocking.

The most shocking was the President, Obama.

"In this assassination plan, what role does Hillary play?" Song Heping asked.

"Actually, she was only a coordinator, of course, also a stakeholder." Blake said, "They bypassed the formal decision-making process, directly deciding Misu's fate in a Friday night security meeting."

"And mine?" Song Heping pressed.

Blake's eyes flickered.

"You were an accident. Originally, the elimination list only included Misu and his direct contacts. But you appeared at the wrong time in the wrong place and exhibited...disturbing capabilities. Especially after Lemont submitted a report, the evaluation concluded that you posed a potential risk."