For the next several days, it was as if the police had completely forgotten that they had arrested Nick Kunan right in front of everyone. They didn't bother him again. After being bailed out by his lawyer from the 12th Precinct, Nick Kunan's first move was to report his recent arrest for smuggling detergent powder to the man behind him, Vulcan Simmons.
Upon hearing the news, Vulcan Simmons immediately used his connections within the police force, including some corrupt officers, to find out why the 12th Precinct had targeted Nick Kunan. It turned out that they had captured Johnny Wang, who had been smuggling detergent powder from Hong Kong on behalf of Nick Kunan. After granting Johnny immunity and placing him in the witness protection program, this loose-lipped kid had revealed Nick Kunan's involvement. Apart from that, there didn't seem to be anything else unusual.
In fact, from the start of the case, Castle had already hinted to Beckett during the interrogation of Johnny Wang that there was an informant within the police force. Now, the information Vulcan Simmons received was all part of a carefully crafted plan by Beckett and Castle to mislead Nick Kunan and, by extension, Vulcan Simmons, who was directly responsible for raising black money for Senator William Bracken.
Of course, both Vulcan Simmons and Nick Kunan had learned that the female detective who arrested Nick was the daughter of the lawyer Nick had personally killed ten years ago. This revelation surprised them, but they didn't take it too seriously. After all, it had been a decade, and Nick Kunan didn't believe he had been exposed. Otherwise, how could he have been so easily bailed out that day?
This misperception was exactly what Beckett and Castle wanted to exploit. They needed to lull these guys into a false sense of security, making them more vulnerable to Beckett's planned takedown.
It was now the end of the month, and early next month, Montgomery would officially be promoted to the NYPD headquarters, with Beckett succeeding him as captain of the 12th Precinct. This was already set in stone. To secure Beckett's promotion, Castle not only enlisted the help of his friend, the mayor, but also shamelessly discussed the matter with the NYPD Commissioner. His actions piqued the mayor's curiosity, but Castle candidly admitted that he was pursuing this beautiful detective and helping her career was just part of that pursuit. The mayor and commissioner could understand that.
Castle and Beckett were now just waiting for Beckett to officially become the captain, at which point no one could obstruct her investigation into Nick Kunan and Vulcan Simmons. This would naturally lead to the eventual downfall of Senator William Bracken, who thought he had hidden himself well.
In preparation, Beckett had temporarily handed over all her cases and spent her days shadowing Montgomery, listening to his final teachings before she took over as captain. Her two trusted detectives, Esposito and Kevin, had been sent to the NYPD headquarters for promotional exams. Once Beckett became captain, her current position as head of the Homicide and Robbery Unit would be vacant, and the replacement would be either Esposito or Kevin. To ensure a smooth promotion, Castle once again pulled strings to get them into the headquarters for training and exams.
Meanwhile, Castle had been given free rein by Beckett. Despite their relationship, Beckett, being highly career-focused, had no intention of abandoning her work. Moreover, her quest for justice for her mother's murder was still unresolved, leaving her little interest in spending idle time with Castle.
With the first "Nikki Heat" novel becoming a bestseller and even reaching the New York Times Best Seller list, Castle's agent, Paula, and his publisher, Gina, had been pressuring him to write the second book. However, Castle, busy with his own schemes, had been stalling. This time, he found a perfect excuse—he explained to his agent and publisher that Beckett was about to be promoted to captain of the 12th Precinct and swore that he would finish the second novel once she officially took office. This bought him some time from their relentless pressure.
So what had Castle been up to these past few days? Naturally, he had been watching Vincent Adler's live-action submarine salvage operation at Gianna's large estate!
To say the least, Vincent Adler, who had swindled a whopping $10 billion from Wall Street, was truly impressive. After his first attempt to salvage the submarine failed due to the explosives densely packed on board, the billionaire, with plenty of money to spare, came up with a brilliant idea. The submarine, sitting at a depth of 50-60 meters on the Atlantic Ocean floor, needed to be carefully salvaged due to the military-grade explosives. So, what did he do? He bought a large number of self-inflating flotation bags, similar in principle to self-inflating life jackets but much larger.
Vincent had the sunken submarine surrounded with these flotation bags, hundreds of which had enough buoyancy to counterbalance the weight of the water in the submarine's ballast tanks. With the help of carefully operated lifting equipment, Vincent Adler successfully raised the submarine from the ocean floor just a few days after the initial failed attempt.
This entire operation was watched closely by Castle and his team through their "Peeping Tom" drones, and even though they were on opposing sides, Castle couldn't help but admire the old man's ingenuity.
Gianna, now heavily pregnant, greatly admired Vincent Adler. Although she was plotting against him with her friend Castle, it didn't stop her from appreciating his genius. After all, Vincent's past exploits were nothing short of extraordinary. Wall Street is filled with cunning minds constantly devising ways to swindle the world, yet Vincent had managed to outsmart these Wall Street elites, a feat worthy of admiration.
Gianna, who hadn't yet won over John Wick, had spent her days scheming against family rivals and enemies. Naturally, she felt a kinship with a mastermind like Vincent. However, in real life, she had fallen madly in love with John Wick, a man of few words who preferred action over talk, a surprising turn of events!
The five of them, sitting in the small house Gianna had designated for the now brotherly little fatty, watched the footage from the drones while discussing Vincent's next move. The most crucial topic was how Castle would retrieve the contents of the submarine without setting off the explosives once Vincent secretly transported it to a warehouse near the New York harbor.
But Castle remained tight-lipped about his plan. No matter how much Gianna or Mozzie asked about his method, he refused to reveal anything.
Of course, Gianna, Mozzie, and Neal trusted Castle's plan. They also understood that Castle must have his secrets, so after a failed attempt to pry the information from him, they stopped pressing and left the task to him.
Castle, on the other hand, was struggling to keep his mouth shut. How could he possibly explain to Mozzie, Gianna, or the others that he had a personal space of 1,000 cubic meters at his disposal? Such a fantastical claim would be impossible for them to believe! He could only maintain an air of mystery and keep the secret to himself. After all, he had been granted the full skill set of the CIA's most legendary operative, Jason Bourne, by the system, making it a piece of cake to infiltrate Vincent's warehouse undetected.
Castle was also certain that after placing the submarine in the warehouse, Vincent would employ a loose exterior guard with tight interior security. Knowing that the submarine was filled with valuable art looted by Nazi soldiers during World War II, and that it was rigged with powerful explosives by the original crew, Vincent would not let his men stand too close to the submarine. At most, he would tighten the security around the warehouse's perimeter, but he would never have someone constantly guarding the submarine itself.
This gave Castle ample opportunity to sneak in, carefully defuse some of the explosives, and then use his personal space to empty the submarine completely!
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