The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Upon returning to Los Angeles, Hawke immediately convened a meeting with Campos, Henderson, Edward, Caroline, Roger Keane, Pierce Madden, and others, demanding that his forces be mobilized as soon as possible to conduct a more detailed investigation into the conflict between Tom Emer and the Walker family.

People who have done too many bad things are bound to suspect that others will do the same to them.

As a tech upstart, Hawke is also associated with the Ferguson family, a traditional white American family. He has been stirring up trouble in the shadows for years, so it's not surprising that someone is keeping an eye on him.

Similarly, Hawke had always been prepared for this.

Media and public opinion, social movements, collusion between politicians and businessmen, vast wealth, armed forces, and so on—these are all forces that Hawke can easily mobilize.

Once the initial feedback was received, everyone gathered again on the top floor of the Coast Building.

Outside the meeting room, Raul, Guti, and Morientes stood guard at the door.

Edward activated the signal jammer.

When the thick curtains are drawn, even infrared thermal imaging becomes ineffective.

Hawke sat at the head of the long conference table, looking around at his trusted subordinates: "Tell me what you know."

Andrei, who came all the way from Africa, said first: "We have sent a large number of people to Iraq. The reliable information we have received shows that several oil fields jointly controlled by the Walker and Cheney families have been shut down by the Iraqi authorities and the US military under the pretext of counter-terrorism. The Marine Corps also had a gun battle with terrorists in three of the oil fields, killing more than 20 people on the spot. There was also a huge explosion in the West Qurna oil field area, and two drilling wells were severely damaged in the explosion."

Hawke nodded slightly and asked, "Where are the captured terrorists being held?"

“Some of them were sent to Guantanamo Bay.” Andrei has been building up intelligence channels in the Middle East for years, not only infiltrating various armed groups with his best personnel, but also making a name for himself in the intelligence market: “Some Americans were released after being detained in Baghdad for a period of time.”

Henderson added, "Our information from the military indicates that the Marine Corps is carrying out a special counterterrorism mission directly assigned by the White House. This unit underwent reorganization and special training shortly after Tom Emmer took office and was only deployed to Iraq in the latter half of last year."

West Coast Company has extensive cooperation with the Pentagon and its sources are reliable. He continued, "The so-called terrorists transferred from Baghdad to Guantanamo Bay are also transported by Marine Corps transport planes and then held in solitary confinement."

Hawke instructed, "Find out information about Guantanamo Bay."

Henderson immediately replied, "Yes."

Hawke's gaze shifted to Caroline.

The woman with honey-blonde hair tied in a high ponytail said, "We've been using Twitter's core algorithms and AI models to monitor the relevant individuals' Twitter accounts and emails, but we haven't found anything unusual."

She looked at Henderson: "Is the West Coast responsible for the communications satellite information?"

The Starlink project has launched more than 50 satellites into space, and some of these communication satellites and communication channels have been leased to third parties.

Henderson said, "No anomalies were found in any of the satellite communications."

Caroline turned to Hawke: "Information sources indicate that the conflict between the two companies is very likely real."

Edward then said, “I contacted Peterson Consulting. Elizabeth Carter secretly learned about George Walker’s second term campaign. He did promise Tom Emerson to be Secretary of State. After Rice took the position, Claire told her confidants at the Clean Water Foundation that Tom Emerson was extremely dissatisfied in private.”

Hawke nodded slightly and asked Pierce Madden, "How is the African water conservation program going?"

Pierce understood what he meant and said, "Currently, Claire's foundation has partnered with us and is already promoting the UN Environment Programme and AU program in Sudan and Uganda. Other areas will have to wait."

After listening, Hawke thought for a moment and said to Edward, "Contact Elizabeth. She and Claire are old acquaintances. Ask her to strengthen her connection with Claire, and it would be best if she could open a breach within the Clean Water Foundation."

Edward replied, "Understood."

Hawke then instructed Pierce: "In the plans for Africa, we cannot allow Claire to have the opportunity to get off the bus, at least not for the next three years."

Pierce said with a laugh, "Our First Lady is now only focused on making money."

Caroline chimed in, "I'm not afraid of her being greedy for money, I'm afraid she has no weaknesses."

Hawke turned his gaze to Campos: "Claire and Tom Emer's biggest problem is that illegitimate child."

Campos said, "Since Tom Emmer's illegitimate child was revealed, Samantha and her son have never left our sight."

There are some things that only he and Hawke know. For example, the nanny that Samantha and her son have hired over the past two years, who is also the person they trust the most, is actually an informant planted by the Butterfly Company long ago.

Campos added, "Someone is targeting Samantha and her child. From what our people have observed, there are at least two groups of people."

Edward continued, "Besides the Walker family, are there any others?"

“In the eyes of the Democratic Party, Tom Emmer is the number one competitor in the next general election.” Caroline analyzed simply: “The illegitimate child incident back then was portrayed by us as a smear against Hillary in the media and public opinion. But in the eyes of the higher-ups, it is obvious what really happened. The Democratic Party’s competitors will definitely seize on this point and focus on attacking Tom Emmer’s weak points.”

Pierce said, "Claire will be under the most pressure once the illegitimate child is confirmed."

During the last election, Claire repeatedly stated publicly that she trusted Tom Emmer and never believed in the so-called illegitimate child.

Hawke reminded Campos, "Send more men over there, keep a close eye on them, and don't let anyone disappear."

Campos chose his trusted men: "I will send Garcia with men."

Roger Keane said, "Information from banks and foundations indicates that several accounts associated with the Walker and Cheney families have been temporarily frozen. If the Walker family does not cut back on spending, it may face a financial crisis in the future."

Hawke considered all the information and concluded that the battle between the Walker family and Tom Emer was very unlikely to be a trap.

He looked around at his close associates and subordinates and said, "Get ready, next year we and Brian may be directly involved in the election."

With so much covert investigation going on, everyone already had their suspicions, so this wasn't unexpected.

Caroline was very confident, saying, "Twitter and LinkedIn are the largest and second largest social media platforms in the United States, with nearly 2 million registered users and more than 1.4 million active users. They can deliver information to users quickly and accurately, and their efficiency in promoting and mobilizing public opinion is ten times that of traditional newspapers and television stations."

Pierce continued, "At the foundation level, we fund and influence numerous social groups and organizations across the United States through various means. If we want to mobilize, we can immediately launch large-scale rallies and marches in major states across the country."

He paused slightly, then added, "It could even completely disrupt the social situation across the United States."

Hawke had no doubt about this.

The meeting ended, and everyone left one after another.

Andrei stayed behind and reported on the situation in Iraq to Hawke alone.

He said, "A total of 11 of us have infiltrated armed groups in the border region between Iraq and Syria, including three from the newly formed Al-Aqsa militia in Julani."

Hawke asked, "The financier behind this hasn't been found yet?" "It's confirmed that the financier is from the United States," Andrei said in a low voice, "but we don't yet know exactly which party it's from."

Hawke frowned slightly: "Could it be either the Walker family or Tom Emmanuel?"

Iraq is one of the main battlefields on both sides and also where the Walker family's oil interests lie. Some inconvenient things are left to the local armed forces to do, so that they won't be implicated afterward.

Andrei spoke based on the information he had: "There are currently no leads pointing to either of those two families."

Hawke could easily deduce that anyone in the US capable of doing something like this must be involved in politics, and when it comes to political matters, the targets are nothing more than Capitol Hill and the White House.

This thought flashed through his mind, and suddenly everything became clear.

It's just the two major parties, the Donald and the Elephant; only a handful of people are planning to participate in the general election.

The dark-skinned Guan Hai, the perpetually sleepy Joseph, and the stock market guru Dong, whom even God admires.

Hawke put those thoughts aside for the moment and asked, "How's things going on in Jhulani?"

Andrei's expression was a little strange: "After receiving funding, the Aksa militia is recruiting soldiers, purchasing equipment, and conducting basic military training. However, after faking his death to escape, Julani did not want the news to leak out, so he impersonated Walid as the leader of the Aksa militia."

Hawke was also surprised and said, "That's good. If his true identity is exposed, he could be attacked by the US military at any time."

Regardless, Jullani is recognized by the United States as the mastermind behind the murder of the former First Lady.

Andrei put it more bluntly: "If he is no longer of any use to us, we can report him to the US military at any time."

Hawke changed the subject and asked, "How are our people?"

“Of the three people in the Aksa militia, one is doing quite well,” Andrei said quickly. “We have all of Jhulani’s strengths and weaknesses in our hands. With a targeted strategy, it will be easy for him to climb up.”

He gave a simple example: "Jurani is good at inciting people and has strong organizational and coordination skills, but he is not good at military training and commanding operations. His understanding of modern warfare is still stuck decades ago, especially in terms of drones and air strikes, where he is seriously behind the times."

In fact, war can lead to rapid progress. Before long, these militia groups in the Middle East will be using drones extensively for suicide attacks.

Civilian drones are still very easy to buy.

West Coast brand drones are now being exported on a large scale, but no one can say anything about the sales of civilian products.

Moreover, it has the backing of the U.S. Washington authorities.

Hawke returned to his office, called Brian, and asked, "Is everything confirmed here? There shouldn't be any problems."

“Same here. The Ferguson family’s covert investigation shows it’s not a trap.” Brian had returned to the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, pacing back and forth in his office with his phone in hand: “The family is keen to push this step forward.”

Hawke said, "Given what we've done, we can't let the Donalds come to power anytime soon."

If the Democrats turn around and settle scores, they will also be in trouble.

Simply pushing the Federal Trade Commission to break up Twitter on monopoly grounds is a major headache.

Once a business grows large, it is never able to escape politics.

Collusion between government and business is inevitable.

Hawke had just ended his call with Brian when he received a call from Paul Ferguson himself.

The other party invited him to Ferguson Estate in Woodland Hill that evening to discuss related matters.

With their interests intertwined, Hawke readily agreed.

When he got off work, Erica picked him up from the company in her Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

Hawke got into the passenger seat, and the car headed straight for Woodland Hill.

Erica said, "I suddenly felt some pressure."

Hawke remained calm and said, "We have been preparing since Brian was elected mayor of Covina. Although Brian is younger, the Ferguson family is more powerful than the Laugh Tale family was back then."

Zipperton grew up in a broken home and was not from a political family, making him far less influential than established Californian families like the Fergusons.

Erica smiled and said, "I have a lot of confidence in you and Grandpa, but not in Brian."

Hawke considered it very seriously for a moment and said, "Brian is the leader of the Cult of the Damned. We can help him hold a ceremony to curse his rival."

This seemingly unreliable suggestion is quite popular in America.

During the election, the media exposed several similar cases of Hillary Clinton's alleged involvement with Satanic cults in "soul cooking."

Erica completely agreed: "That's a great idea, I'll suggest it to Grandpa."

She gently patted the steering wheel with her left hand: "Brian will like it too."

Religious rituals are an essential part of both life and politics in the West.

Hawke recalled how, a few years ago, whenever he and Erica went on vacation, they would always encounter various unexpected events, and without exception, they were teased by Brian before these events occurred.

To be precise, it wasn't a clause, it was clearly a curse.

In recent years, Hawke and Erica have been going on vacation to places like their own farm.

These places are completely safe and under control, and Brian's curse has no longer taken effect.

When the car arrived at Ferguson Estate, Hawke and Erica got out and saw Brian and Jennifer.

The first two looked at the latter two, exchanged a glance, and simultaneously revealed strange smiles.

Brian came over and asked, "What kind of bad idea are you up to?"

Hawke's smile vanished, replaced by an unusually serious expression. "We've come up with a foolproof plan: you unleash a super curse to bring unexpected misfortune upon our opponents." (End of Chapter)