Chapter 497 - 443: Press Conference

Two days later, the routine press conference by the United States Department of Defense was held as scheduled.

Colonel Lai De had arrived at his office early that morning and, after his secretary brought in coffee, he picked up the speech he had prepared for the day and read it through. Then he took out some documents he had prepared the night before from his briefcase, beginning his third review to ensure some of the information was firmly etched in his mind.

The recent hot topics were all related to Afghanistan and Illiguo, and he had done plenty of homework on both fronts.

Especially since there were scandals of civilian casualties caused by the US Army in Illiguo and Afghanistan. Although such news greatly damaged the image of the US Army, this wasn't the first time Lai De had dealt with such situations.

After the news broke, the bigwigs at the DoD had already ordered the forces stationed in both areas to immediately dispatch coordinators to contact local temporary government officials and work together to carry out the aftermath.

The aftermath work was very simple, one word—money.

Money talks.

Especially for a country like the United States, which controls the printing of US Dollars, it was practically no issue at all.

Now on the Afghan and Illiguo battlefields, the US Army and CIA, among other units, were taking entire crates of US Dollars there, using money to settle whenever issues arose.

Moreover, human lives were cheap in war-torn areas; tens of thousands of dollars easily settled several lives, no trouble whatsoever.

He picked up the aftermath reports sent by the forces in Afghanistan and Illiguo, carefully read them once more, and after memorizing the content, he revealed a confident smile and picked up the coffee cup on his desk.

"Lanni,"

he called his secretary.

"Where's the list of journalists for today's news conference? I don't see it."

The plump secretary Lanni said, "It's on your desk, didn't you see it?"

"No... did you put it on my desk?"

Colonel Lai De had already received the list yesterday, but it was not accurate, as the final list that came in this morning was the definitive one. Some journalists might need to be replaced or not come due to last-minute emergencies; this would be reconfirmed this morning.

Twisting her basketball-like rounded hips, Lanni walked up to the colonel's desk, glanced over the desk surface, and then moved Colonel Lai De's briefcase aside.

Sure enough, a list had been under the briefcase.

"Oh, God!"

Colonel Lai De patted his forehead, made an apologetic expression, and apologized to Lanni, "Look at me, my head's all over the place, I didn't even see it right in front of me."

"No problem, I'll head out now, Colonel," Lanni said, unbothered, and after receiving Colonel Lai De's consent, she turned and left.

Colonel Lai De picked up the list and slowly read down the names.

Suddenly, one name caught his attention.

"Thomas Feller? Damn... how did he get here?"

Lai De thought for a moment, then picked up the phone and called Lanni again.

"Lanni, why is Feller on the list?"

Lanni pushed her glasses up on her nose, leaned in to look at the list, and then explained, "This morning, they suddenly called from his end, saying they needed to change who was coming, and the name they reported was Feller."

"But he's the editor!"

Colonel Lai De was somewhat agitated.

He did not want to deal with Feller.

The man was too sharp-tongued.

Having had dealings with him before, he had been tripped up by Feller's tricky questions.

"Have you ever seen an editor come in to act as a questioning journalist?"

After saying this, he quickly flipped through another document, asking at the same time, "What's his question content for today?"

Lanni reminded him, "Colonel, that outline of questions isn't very useful, you know that."

Still, Lai De found the outline of questions.

After a glance, he noticed Feller's questions were nothing new, concerning some news from the Afghan battlefield.

But Lanni's reminder was not without reason.

Although most journalists attending the press conference would submit a rough outline of their questions, often some didn't play by the rules. They would break out of the pre-established framework and ask some unexpected questions.

These kinds of journalists were the most annoying, but they couldn't be publicly kicked out.

When such questions arose, it severely tested the spokesperson's ability to respond on the spot.

"You can go out," he said.

Colonel Lai De was somewhat uneasy; he always felt that this Feller was going to cause trouble.

In fact, an hour later, Colonel Lai De had his worries confirmed.

During the Q&A session of the press conference, he had been carefully guarding against Feller.

The latter had been stooped over his notebook, scribbling and sketching, until halfway through the Q&A session when he suddenly raised his hand.

Colonel Lai De deliberately ignored him, choosing another journalist to ask a question.

A minute later, after the questioning was finished, Feller raised his hand again.

Colonel Lai De continued to feign blindness, selecting another journalist.

Then, Feller raised his hand again...

Lai De ignored him...

And then he raised his hand once more.

By the time two-thirds of the question period had passed, the number of hands raised had gradually dwindled.

This time, Thom suddenly raised his voice, "Colonel Lai De, I've raised my hand six times, how many more times do you want me to raise it? I haven't gotten to ask a single question today."

All the journalists in the room turned their gaze toward Thom.

Everyone was aware of Thom's reputation.

A veteran in the field.

And he was known for his biting questions.

Many of the journalists, with the anticipation of watching a spectacle, waited with gleeful smiles to enjoy the show.

Some reporters who had their hands raised even voluntarily lowered them and then said to Thom, "Thom, you go first."

Such deference made it impossible for Colonel Lai De, who stood on the stage, to pretend not to see. With so many cameras and video cameras capturing the scene, and Thom being the only one left with his hand up, not answering could result in not knowing how the television shows and newspapers would write about him tonight.

"Alright..."

He picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table and took a sip to relieve his dry throat.

"Thom, go ahead and ask your question."

Thom's smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, looking smug as he asked, "Colonel, recent news suggests that our military and the Colombian Military are planning to launch a joint operation aimed at the ELN within Colombian borders, is that correct?"

Colonel Lai De breathed a sigh of relief.

The question wasn't too difficult.

"Uh... We have been cooperating with the Colombian side for the past two years with the aim of helping them eliminate the drug trafficking groups within their country. Regarding this matter, I believe we have already communicated related information at our press conference a year ago..."

"No, no, no, Colonel, you're mistaken," Thom interrupted Colonel Lai De.

Colonel Lai De, taken aback, said, "I'm not mistaken."

Thom insisted, "No, you are mistaken. To my knowledge, the ELN militants do not traffic drugs; they are merely left-wing militants. You just mentioned cooperation with the Colombian side is for fighting drug crimes, but since the ELN do not traffic drugs, does this count as intervening in another country's NZ?"

Cold sweat broke out on Colonel Lai De's forehead, and he cursed internally, FUCK! I knew this bastard wouldn't have anything good to ask, indeed setting a trap waiting for me!

But outwardly, he maintained a smile and said, "What I said was that our cooperation with the Colombian Army is directed at combating drugs. As for combating the ELN, I have yet to receive any related information about that matter."

Thom unapologetically pressed, "So you mean to say that the DOD has no such plan at all?"

Colonel Lai De was sweating from his back now.

This was a question that could cost him!

Indeed a question that could cost him!

Diverting the topic and beating around the bush were both useless now.

Thom was very experienced, firmly biting down on the key issue that the ELN were not drug traffickers, pursuing an answer about whether the operation exists or not.

Actually, Colonel Lai De was aware of the operation.

But it was a secret, not publicly disclosed, and had been kept confidential.

Dammit!

How did Thom find out?

"Thom, I don't know where you got this information from. Sometimes you should really consider the reliability of your sources."

Colonel Lai De decided to probe, shifting from defense to offense, attempting to coax Thom to reveal his source.

The source was crucial.

It involved the issue of a mole.

The same was a death trap for Thom.

The press conference venue suddenly fell silent.

Because Thom's question was too intriguing.

Everyone really wanted to know the answer, each person guessing in their hearts, whether there really was such an operation? Where did Thom get his information from?

At that moment, Colonel Lai De seemed to have gained the upper hand.

He felt quite pleased with himself, just waiting to see how Thom would respond.

Daring to reveal his source or not.

Thom stared unblinkingly at Colonel Lai De on the stage.

Colonel Lai De, with his hands propped against the table, body slightly leaning forward, also stared down at Thom.

His posture was slightly aggressive, a stance that indicated he had the advantage.

After nearly twenty seconds of silence, Thom suddenly closed his small notebook, put away his pen, and then casually said, "I heard it on the internet, you know, in some military chat rooms... "

"Hehehe!"

In the conference hall, soft laughter arose.

Everyone suddenly became more cheerful, and the previously somewhat tense atmosphere relaxed.

Colonel Lai De on the stage showed a victor's smile, "Thom, I did not expect such a professional journalist as yourself would rely on information from online chat rooms to come to such a formal occasion and question me. I'm sorry, I really cannot provide you with any answers."

He looked around at everyone in the conference room.

"That will be all for today's press conference, have a great weekend everyone, and we'll meet again next week."

With that said, he picked up his documents, turned, and walked away with determined steps, as if unconnected to anyone present.