Ultimate Firepower

Chapter 681 Breaking the Sky

Gao Yi was simply going to die, but Panetta was going to go mad.

How could the president have been assassinated out of nowhere?
It's one thing to be assassinated, but how could it possibly be Gao Yi?

As one bad news after another came in, Panetta felt like the sky was falling and he was going to go completely insane.

"What did you say? Say it again?"

"The Secret Service has just sent a report that the President was attacked while meeting with the gardener. The gardener killed two of the President's bodyguards and then seriously wounded the President. The President is currently in critical condition, with what appears to be a comminuted fracture of the skull on the side of his head. He has been taken to the hospital..."

"Wait, serious injury? Traumatic brain injury?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't done by the gardener, absolutely not!"

Panetta could even believe that Gao Yi had committed the assassination, but he absolutely did not believe that Gao Yi could survive after he had taken action, especially not after Gao Yi had used a hammer.

Hammering is the gardener's signature technique.

It's not necessarily a good thing for an assassin to have a signature weapon and a distinctive method, because if the characteristics are too obvious, it's easy for someone to recognize who did it at a glance, and it's also too easy to imitate.

However, if the gardener uses a hammer but fails to kill the target, then there is definitely a problem.

To reiterate, Panetta may doubt Gao Yi's motives, but he will never doubt Gao Yi's abilities.

"The gardener is dead?"

So in just a moment, Panetta made the judgment that this was a setup, that he had been used, and that Gao Yi could only die.

"According to the Secret Service, the Gardener fled after assassinating the president, and the Secret Service was unable to stop him, allowing him to escape."

Panetta's eyes lit up instantly, and then he said urgently, "The president was assassinated, the gardener escaped, and the president's two bodyguards are dead, is that right?"

"Yes, the Secret Service is now requesting the assistance of the FBI and the NYPD to completely cordon off the area and immediately launch a manhunt."

The Secret Service is an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, but the Department of Homeland Security is not solely responsible for the president's security, or at least not entirely responsible for it.

Presidential security is a very large system, with many units and agencies checking and balancing each other, which the Department of Homeland Security cannot decide on its own.

But Panetta is a very important member of the president's faction, and his judgments and decisions can greatly influence the president's faction.

Of course, there is also competition within the factions, and it is no less intense than external competition.

However, when faced with attacks from external enemies, everyone is still able to unite.

If it really was Gao Yi who did it, then Panetta will definitely be in trouble. He will certainly lose his position as Secretary of Homeland Security, which he has only been in office for a few days, and there is absolutely no possibility of him having a decent ending.

But if Panetta can unite his internal forces to fight back, he still has a fighting chance.

Panetta pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "I understand. First, notify the Secret Service and have them replace the president with a new recruit who just joined this year. Replace him right now and get the president to the nearest hospital in New York for treatment. Do not allow the president's medical team to get involved. If the Secret Service chief refuses to carry out the order, then he is the one who assassinated the president. Say it exactly as he said it."

The assistant was puzzled, but he chose to carry out the order.

As his assistant left the office, Panetta grabbed the phone, dialed a number, and waited for the other party to answer before immediately saying, "The President has been assassinated. The Gardener was injured while protecting the President and escaped, but he has already contacted me. The President's two bodyguards have been bribed and betrayed by the enemy. They attempted to assassinate him and tried to frame the Gardener. Sir, this is not an assassination, this is an armed rebellion!"

Panetta didn't know the truth, but he said it anyway.

"you sure?"

“Of course I’m certain the Gardener is still alive. He told me himself that if he were the one who assassinated the president, he should have fled instead of reporting to me. Sir, we are facing an attack, we are facing a purge. Now everyone around the president is unreliable. I have ordered all new people to protect the president, but we need reliable people to protect the president immediately. I’m going to the hospital right now to personally take care of the president. I will personally coordinate all the personnel. The president is still alive, but none of us can be sure if he will wake up. So I hope you can help me withstand the pressure, at least don’t let anyone replace me now. If the president dies, then we are finished, completely finished.”

“I know I will help you withstand the pressure, but if… if Mr. President really… do you understand what I mean?”

"Understood. If the president dies, we must immediately compromise in exchange for the right to leave safely. That was done by the gardener. I will arrest the gardener in exchange for our safety."

"You've already taken control of the gardener?" "Yes, the gardener is in my hands."

"But the news I heard is that the gardener is dead. He was shot in the heart. How could he still be alive, hmm?"

Panetta felt a little flustered for a moment.

Gao Yi was certainly not in Panetta's hands, and Panetta had not received any news from Gao Yi, so Panetta had no idea that Gao Yi had been shot in the heart.

"Rumors, fake news! If the gardener is dead, then what about the people I have? My men have already gone to pick up the gardener and are protecting him, but I will not reveal the gardener's whereabouts to anyone at this moment, sir. There is a traitor among us."

"Okay, I believe you. Your most important task is to protect the president. If the president can wake up, that would be best, otherwise... you know."

The phone hangs up.

Panetta held the phone, wanting to call a few more people, but the news he had just heard made him lose interest in contacting his companions.

After hanging up the landline, Panetta picked up her cell phone and called Gao Yi.

The call couldn't get through; the phone was switched off.

Panetta was panicking, and Gao Yi's failure to answer the phone made him even more anxious.

Panetta remained convinced that his judgment was correct, believing that Gao Yi would never attempt to assassinate the president.

After thinking for a moment, Panetta called Joelson.

"The president has been assassinated. The evidence currently points to the gardener. Contact the gardener and his men immediately, find the gardener, and report back to me as soon as you have any information."

"What? Yes, I'll contact them right away, sir," Johnson exclaimed in surprise. "Was it really the gardener who did it?"

"No."

Panetta didn't know, but his attitude was extremely firm.

"The gardener has escaped. Contact his people and protect him. Do it right away. I have too many things to deal with. That's all."

Panetta hung up the phone, then dialed a number on the landline. Once the call connected, he whispered, "Get me some reliable people to meet me in New York right away."

After hanging up, Panetta dialed another number and said in a deep voice, "Arrange a helicopter to go to New York. Depart immediately."

At that moment, the assistant knocked on the door. After Panetta let the assistant in, the assistant immediately informed him of some bad news.

"Sir, the Secret Service released information about the president's assassination attempt without authorization, and also released the suspect's appearance and surveillance footage."

Panetta wasn't particularly surprised, because this was something that was bound to happen. He didn't even get angry, because anger wouldn't solve anything.

Since the enemy has launched an attack, they will naturally make sure to carry out all the necessary follow-up actions.

Panetta sighed and said, "The person who released the information is the mole. Arrest him first, no matter what the reason is. Release a statement saying that he was the one who assassinated the president. Make this a big deal. Contact the media. You will receive a detailed press release later. Have the media release it as quickly as possible."

"Yes."

Panetta said quietly, "If we're going to do this, let's do it on a big scale. If we're going to do it on a big scale, let's just have a civil war!"

The assistant was startled and said, "Civil war? I'm sorry, I'll take care of it right away."

The current situation is very passive. If we want to turn the situation around, we have to go all out and make it so that even the enemy can't control it.

Panetta didn't want to do this, nor would he dare to, but now, in order to protect himself and avoid becoming a scapegoat, he had no choice but to push things too far within the bounds of his authority.

No one should try to cover it up, and no one should try to unilaterally spread information that is favorable to themselves. If we can't cover it up, then no one should try to cover it up. If we've already broken the lid, then let's just break the sky.

(End of this chapter)