Chapter 649: President
A message was spreading across the internet quickly. It was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, and it caused a stir among the Mei nation news stations. The content of the message read: On the 6th of July, the White House will experience a destructive explosion. If you cherish your life, do not remain there on that day!
The White House was where the Mei nation president lived, and also where his office was situated. Many Mei nationals recognized it as a symbol of their sovereignty, and though they joked about many things, they would never joke about bombing the White House. The founder of Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, had once tried to blow up the White House back in the day, and even he failed to pull it off. And now, someone else was threatening to plant a bomb in the White House again. Was it possible that another terrorist attack was about to occur?
“Some people have nothing better to do—this is nothing more than a prank. To think that they’d have the nerve to post something like this. Are they not afraid of the FBI?”
“Let’s see if the FBI will take this seriously. But there does not seem to be any unrest going on at the moment, so the FBI will most probably ignore this. They are undoubtedly busy investigating the death of Professor Adrian, Was.h.i.+ngton University’s professor.”
“Which piece of sh*t sent this message? Are they trying to meet their Maker?”
“Five more days. I am looking forward to finding out if this is real. If a bomb goes off in the White House, then this is going to be quite interesting, haha, haha…”
“I think this is just a prank, but it’s bordering on terrorism and has crossed the line. I think the federal government should take it seriously. Drag this person out from the virtual realm and punish him!”
The American netizens had varying opinions regarding this matter. Most of them thought the perpetrator was just a keyboard warrior with nothing better to do and was doing this for the thrill. Many wondered what would happen on the 6th of July, which was just five days away. For others, life was a little uneventful, and despite the threat to the Mei nation, the bomb threat only added some excitement to their lives.
[White House]
The White House complex was constructed in a neo-cla.s.sical style of light-colored sandstone buildings, comprising the main building, the East, and the West wing. There was a Mei nation flag right at the top of the main building, fluttering in the wind.
In the grand presidential office, President Bama was beaming as he spoke on the phone with a leader from another country. An aide entered and waited respectfully by his side. The aide did not utter a single thing so as not to disturb the president’s phone call.
President Bama was initially having a cheerful conversation when his expression suddenly became stern, and he asked, “Abdullah, I heard Saudi Arabia is secretly developing nuclear weapons, is that the case?”
When the King of Saudi Arabia heard those words, he was so shaken that he almost wet his pants. The two past wars that the Mei nation launched in the region was due to the development of weapons of ma.s.s destruction. It was nothing more than an excuse, as no nuclear weapons at all. No weapons of ma.s.s destruction were ever found, despite their troops searching the entire land.
“Mr. Bama, that’s not true at all. Saudi Arabia’s main focus is exporting oil, nothing more. There’s no reason for us to develop those weapons of ma.s.s destruction at all,” Abdullah gabbled.
“Calm down, calm down, haha… I was just joking, that’s all.”
The somber look on President Bama’s face vanished as quickly as it appeared. He laughed and said, “You should know that I just received the n.o.ble Peace Prize, so maintaining world peace is at the top of my agenda. I have to prevent the world from going into another war. Terrifying things such as nuclear weapons that can destroy our entire Earth is something we must get rid of, no matter what.”
Abdullah couldn’t help seeing the irony in what the president had just said, and thought, since you know that nuclear weapons can destroy Earth, then why doesn’t the Mei nation destroy its nuclear weapons?
The king nodded his head in agreement as he spoke over the phone. “Yes, undoubtedly, Mr. Bama is doing his best to maintain world peace. Given this, I promise that the price of our oil exports to the Mei nation will be reduced to a lower tier.”
After hearing that, the smile on the president’s face looked even brighter than before. He thought, hmm, the man is on the right track.
“Haha, haha… sure, I had a really good chat with you. I’ll call you again when I have the time.”
“Alright.”
The moment King Abdullah put down the phone, his face darkened, and he lost control of his emotions. He spat on the floor and scowled, “Bandit, robber!”
Sitting in the White House, President Bama was elated. He thought hard, wondering who else he could intimidate and squeeze for preferred terms that would benefit his country. His aide quickly seized the opportunity to speak.
“Mr. President, all you had to do was open your mouth, and you’ve already saved trillions of dollars for our country. It’s Mei nation’s honor to have a president like you,” his aide gushed.
President Bama laughed and said, “I’ve always hated bootlickers, but I’m very pleased with what you just said since you know the right way to bootlick. That’s why you’re my aide, and not anyone else’s.”
Saving an enormous sum of money for the country over a brief conversation was incredible, and this achievement made him feel pretty complacent. Many people doubted him in the past, even saying he was the one who had planned and initiated the two wars. Yet, the n.o.bel Peace Prize had been awarded to him. Even in the face of these doubts, he had no qualms accepting the prize without a hint of guilt.
President Bama picked up his teacup and took a sip. “Right, are you looking for me, what’s the matter?” he asked.
His aide smiled and reported, “Well, this is what’s going on, Mr. Bama. A message was posted on the internet yesterday, saying that on the 6th, which is four days from now, the White House will be blown-up.”
Hmm?
There was a slight pause as the president drank his tea, then he gestured with his hand and said, “Continue.”
“The FBI has deployed their best programming experts to trace the IP address of the one who posted it, but they just can’t seem to figure out who is behind it. The other party’s programming skills are far superior to ours,” the aide said.
After hearing that, President Bama furrowed his eyebrows and remarked, “They can’t trace it?”
Of course, he knew that the people at the FBI were among the best, but if even they couldn’t trace the IP address, then the threat would have to be taken seriously. And, this meant that the warning they received about the bomb threat was in all likelihood, not just a hoax.
The aide nodded his head and said, “Yes, the FBI suspects that it could be the super hacker ‘Mie,’ who destroyed us in the cyberwar we organized last year. Both use the same technique in setting up their firewalls.”
“Continue,” President Bama said, looking somewhat forlorn.
“On the night of 30th, a biochemistry professor at Was.h.i.+ngton University, Adrian, was killed in his residence. On the 1st of this month, this message of the White House bombing was then posted on the internet. The FBI thinks that these two cases are related to one another. They suspect that it’s the Thousand-Faced Killer, Xiao Han, who has been wreaking havoc in the Ri nation recently.
“What you’re saying is that this Thousand-Faced Killer, Xiao Han, is the same person as the super hacker, Mie?” President Bama said.
The secretary nodded his head and replied, “Yes.”
“How is that possible? There’s no way the Hua Nation can produce an expert of such ability. From what I see, they should be protecting him. Why would they let him operate by himself? Are they not afraid that they’d end up losing a genius that only appears once every hundred years?” President Bama stood up, walked back and forth, and couldn’t seem to put a finger on it.