Chapter 417: Sniper Operation

"When I saw the replay of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center on TV, I couldn't believe it. By the time the second plane hit, I was shaking with fear. I was terrified the disaster would endanger my family, so I advised my family and friends to stay indoors for a whole week, right up until the Federal Government lifted the terrorist attack alert."

Facing the microphones and camera lenses, Duke looked heavy-hearted and grief-stricken. When a reporter asked about the passenger plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, he added, "There is no doubt that the passengers on that flight are heroes. They saved the world, preventing another unimaginable terrorist event from taking place."

Finally, Duke said, "God bless America."

Aside from making his stance clear, Duke also donated five million dollars. Donating was an art form in itself, especially when political events were involved. You couldn't just casually throw out tens or hundreds of millions of dollars and expect the American public to hail you as a hero.

Anyone trying to steal the spotlight at a time like this was an absolute idiot acting completely irrationally.

This was the Hollywood Bowl. Los Angeles and New York were holding simultaneous memorial services, and Hollywood's celebrities and socialites were naturally the center of attention. Right next to Duke, Harrison Ford was also being interviewed.

"The world is changing, and our behavior should change as well."

The actor behind Dr. Indiana Jones had always been politically active, and he was also a representative figure of Hollywood's Great Americanism.

However, the world truly was changing, and Hollywood was changing with it.

Hollywood movies had an eternal, unchanging theme—the little guy saving the world. Or, to put it another way, individual heroism.

The September 11 Attacks had a massive impact on the political and economic lives of Americans, and the entertainment industry naturally couldn't avoid the fallout. In Hollywood, which held the leading position in world cinema and entertainment, individual heroism would become even more prevalent. The public needed heroes more than at any other time in history, even if they were only fictional ones.

Superheroes would be more popular than ever before.

Another change would be the entertainment market's preference for everything "Made in America."

It was common knowledge that the North American film and television market was practically insular; North American audiences had never cared much for foreign productions. Following this event, the market would become even more closed off. It would be significantly harder for foreign imports to achieve success, and the choices of both producers and consumers in the entertainment world would lean heavily toward the "Made in America" brand.

In the past, some European films that were massive hits worldwide had received the cold shoulder in North America, and moving forward, this situation would only become more severe.

Of course, this wouldn't have much of an impact on Duke. He was a Hollywood director whose career was firmly rooted in North America. Combined with his hazy memories of his past life, he definitely wouldn't be stupid enough to shoot or participate in European films.

Setting everything else aside, even British black comedies had a tremendously difficult time finding success in North America. Even the two masterpieces that Guy Ritchie had built his fame on received a mediocre response in the North American market.

The exclusionary nature of the North American film and television market wasn't just talk. After the September 11 Attacks, the situation would only worsen.

Hollywood was already changing. From here on out, an industry that was already thoroughly politicized would see politics seep into every single corner, and even a director like Duke wouldn't be able to escape it.

Right after sending Ivanka Trump back to the Wharton School of Business, Duke received a notice—a piece of news that left him quite dumbfounded.

"A special operations task force composed of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the White House Staff Department called to request a meeting here at the estate. They want to seek your opinion on certain events."

Hearing Tina Fey rushing into the garden to deliver the message, Duke's eyelid twitched. "Seek my opinion?"

"Yes," Tina Fey said, sitting down in the wicker chair opposite Duke. "They were very sincere and sounded quite urgent. If you agree, they hope to come over this afternoon."

Duke couldn't help but scratch his head. 'What do these guys want with me?'

However, from what Tina Fey conveyed, they clearly needed something from him.

This was a good thing, wasn't it?

"Tell them yes!"

Just past noon, several black cars drove into Duke Manor. A special five-man squad walked into the Eye-Shaped Villa, and Emma the housekeeper led them into the reception room where Duke was waiting. But what Duke hadn't expected was that there was actually an acquaintance of his among them.

"Hi, Duke. It's been a few years." A tough-looking middle-aged man walked over and shook his hand. "You've already become the top director in Hollywood."

"Hi, Lenho..."

Duke looked at him. The man had clearly shed his military uniform and was no longer the Lieutenant Colonel Lenho of the Department of Defense from years past.

This was the liaison officer from the Pentagon back when Duke was shooting The Rock and Independence Day. He had even made a cameo in the films at the time, so the two could be considered acquaintances.

"I work at the White House now," Lenho said briefly. "I currently serve as a defense advisor in the White House Staff Department."

Duke immediately understood; this guy was now working for Bush Jr.

Lenho then introduced the other four men to Duke. Two were from the Central Intelligence Agency, and two were from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All were experts in crisis prevention.

The men sat down, and Tina Fey poured coffee for them. Before Duke could ask, Lenho stated the purpose of their visit directly.

"Our intelligence and related departments lack imagination when confronting terrorist threats, which is one of the major reasons why the hijackers' plot succeeded and the attack ultimately happened."

He wasn't joking at all; his tone was extremely serious. "To make up for this lack of imagination, we decided to consult Hollywood."

The expert from the Central Intelligence Agency, LaBeouf, picked up where Lenho left off, saying, "Yes, we never even imagined that terrorists would use this method to carry out an attack."

Lenho continued, "Duke, we've worked together. When it comes to destroying a building, a city, or even the whole world, you are the professional... Oh, sorry, I mean in terms of movies. So, we came here specifically to hear some of your thoughts."

"My thoughts?" Duke didn't quite understand.

"It's like this," Lenho explained. "What we mean is, you can come up with an imaginary scenario, just treating it like scriptwriting, and then we'll discuss it together to help the intelligence departments avoid such predictable mindsets in the future."

Duke generally understood what he meant. Hollywood directors were the group of people on this planet most adept at destroying New York, Washington, and even all of America. In fact, many terrorist attacks actually borrowed from the methods shown in Hollywood films...

Compared to Hollywood directors, terrorist organizations and the like were extremely weak.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Lenho, you should know that I don't understand how the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Central Intelligence Agency operate at all. Most of my past works were just fantasy."

"That doesn't matter," the CIA expert replied. "Director Rosenberg, we just want to know how you would imagine creating chaos that could cause panic across all of North America... Alien invasions excluded, of course."

Duke nodded and rested his chin on his hand in thought. The others stayed perfectly silent so as not to interrupt his train of thought.

It took a full twenty minutes before Duke finally spoke slowly, "I have an initial idea, but the likelihood of its implementation and the rationality of how our side responds can only be judged by you yourselves."

The experts immediately looked interested. The expert named LaBeouf said, "This is purely an exploratory discussion. What we need are wild, unconstrained ideas."

"North Korea has always had a poor relationship with us, and their leader rallies his people using anti-American slogans."

Since they were on the topic, Duke didn't hold back. At this stage in his career, building connections in political circles was highly necessary, and this was a great opportunity. "I'll make a bold assumption: someone from a secret organization in North Korea infiltrates South Korea and becomes the security advisor to a high-ranking South Korean official. When this official is invited to visit the White House..."

"Assassinate the president?" Lenho asked.

LaBeouf looked at him with a hint of disdain. Even a pig would know that assassinating the president in this country was basically useless.

"No..." Duke wagged his finger. "What if the security advisor replaced everyone around the South Korean official with his own people?"

Lenho understood. "You mean they take control of the White House? That's impossible. Even if the person is the President or Prime Minister of South Korea, there wouldn't be that many people in their entourage."

"South Korea is a country with immense national pride," Duke said. "Korean Americans or North Korean defectors in North America would definitely gather near the White House to welcome them..."

Duke raised a hand, cutting off what Lenho was about to say. "According to public media reports, the Air Force scrambled jets to intercept the planes heading for the World Trade Center, but missed them for various reasons. It's not impossible for such a mistake to happen again. What if the attackers took control of a plane and launched an attack on the White House at an ultra-low altitude? The plane wouldn't need heavy firepower. They would only need the people outside the White House to launch an assault and draw out the security detail, allowing the plane to strafe them from the air. That would be enough..."

This was, of course, the most idealized kind of airstrike. Everyone knew how difficult it was to breach Washington's air defense line, but there was always a slight possibility of such a thing happening.

"With the White House under attack, the president would definitely take the VIP guests into a relatively sealed bunker. Caught completely off guard, if the attackers struck from the inside, it's highly likely the president would be taken hostage."

LaBeouf nodded. "There is indeed such a possibility."

"And the objective?" Lenho asked.

"Our nuclear facilities, of course." Duke began to let his imagination run wild. "Let's assume our Nuclear Bombs have a self-destruct sequence after activation. If the attackers armed the Nuclear Bombs and then initiated the self-destruct sequence right before launch..."

When he reached this point, the expressions on the faces of Lenho, LaBeouf, and the others all changed. If the attackers really succeeded, America would very likely cease to exist.

The two sides discussed scenarios in the reception room for an entire afternoon. Duke proposed numerous methods to destroy or occupy the White House. Though they were all a bit too idealized, they weren't entirely impossible to carry out.

"Thank you, Director Rosenberg."

As they were leaving, the expert named LaBeouf shook Duke's hand firmly and said, "We've benefited immensely from this. If we get the chance, we'll definitely come back to seek your guidance again."

"You're welcome anytime."

Duke also took down their contact information. He wasn't one to turn down mutually beneficial arrangements either.