Toru left Mar-a-Lago.
Although he had saved the former president's life during this operation, the former president and his team could not trust him completely after a single meeting. Trust had to be built gradually through shared interests and a growing understanding of one another.
Toru was not bothered by this.
He had never expected a few words to make the former president admire him so much that he would immediately want Toru as his right-hand man.
After all, there was only so much to go around. The more people who joined the group, the smaller everyone's share of the benefits became.
Toru had helped him at a critical moment and had already obtained what he needed. He had also accomplished the purpose of his visit.
First, he had paved the way for Burns.
By having Burns pledge loyalty to the former president, Burns would gain an opportunity for advancement. Toru could then manipulate him from behind the scenes and gradually take control of the CIA.
Second, Toru had already made the former president deeply distrust the CIA.
Once the former president returned to office, he would inevitably order a purge of the agency.
This was not only because of what he had promised Burns and Toru, but also because he could never tolerate an intelligence agency outside his control operating so openly beneath him.
Under American law, the CIA answered directly to the president. It should have been the department the president trusted most, yet it had now become the one the former president distrusted most.
The Secret Service would also inevitably face a purge, but that had nothing to do with Toru.
He had no need for the Secret Service.
Third, Toru had come here to find himself a powerful backer.
The person he intended to kill was the director of the CIA.
No matter what reason Toru had for killing Spencer, once he did it, he would be openly humiliating the United States and the world's largest intelligence agency.
The CIA would pursue him relentlessly.
Precisely because Toru was a former CIA operative, he understood very well that directly opposing the world's most formidable intelligence agency meant opposing the entire power of the United States.
Many of his future activities would be restricted, and he would be hunted without end.
Even his blood relatives could become targets of CIA assassination operations.
Burns alone could not erase that threat. The CIA's influence extended too far.
The only person capable of helping Toru suppress the consequences was the incoming president.
Toru had spoken to the former president about the matter.
The former president had not given him a direct answer, but Toru understood that he had agreed.
A decision like that would never be spoken aloud.
You had to understand it without being told.
"With this, my plans in America are complete. Now I only need to wait. I need to wait for the current president to leave office and for the former president to return."
"Once he takes office and purges the CIA, that will be the perfect opportunity to place my people inside. Then I can combine the CIA's resources with the Black Organization's power and slowly move toward controlling the world."
As Toru walked away from Mar-a-Lago, his eyes flickered while countless thoughts passed through his mind.
The former president was nearly eighty years old and did not have many years left.
Combined with the American political system, unless he followed Germany's example, his power would gradually fade with time.
The President of the United States was not Toru's true opponent.
His real targets were the shadow governments, financial elites, and entrenched establishment networks that had long influenced the country from behind the scenes.
Only by removing them and taking their power could Toru become the world's true uncrowned ruler.
It was interesting and highly challenging.
But without any challenge, the game of life would become far too boring.
As he walked, a beautiful blonde woman happened to pass by.
Toru nodded to her.
She looked at him in surprise before returning the gesture curiously.
This was the former president's daughter, Tiffany.
Her life had not exactly been happy, but she had remained patient and eventually surpassed her sister at a crucial moment.
The former president's internationally famous eldest daughter had betrayed him during his greatest crisis, siding with her husband and abandoning her father.
His second daughter, however, had continued supporting him, taken her sister's place, and become the former president's new family representative.
The most important thing in life was not effort, but choice.
Choose wrongly, and a lifetime of effort could become meaningless.
The seating arrangement at the former president's victory celebration made everything obvious.
The eldest daughter had already been pushed to the margins, while the younger daughter occupied a central position.
Although she was no longer young and her appearance had clearly received some cosmetic help, she was still genuinely beautiful.
He temporarily pushed his thoughts aside and left Mar-a-Lago.
Inside the estate, after Toru departed, the world's richest man, who had remained quiet throughout the meeting, finally spoke.
"That young man intends to kill Spencer."
The South African-born billionaire frowned, clearly displeased with Toru's choice.
He was a businessman and a technology executive.
He preferred operating within established rules, and what he feared most was someone like Toru, who disregarded laws and institutions and resolved conflicts through direct violence.
That lay beyond his control.
Once events became uncontrollable, they also created a direct threat to his own life.
The former president shrugged in his usual manner.
"Elon, that's how the CIA operates. The agency will use any method necessary. They would say they're acting in America's interests too."
From the former president's words, the world's richest man immediately understood his position.
The former president approved of Toru's methods and supported him.
After considering it more carefully, the billionaire understood why.
Politics followed its own rules.
Even if the former president knew that Spencer had tried to kill him and had directly arranged an assassination attempt, he could not publicly accuse Spencer without causing the conflict to escalate even further.
But the former president was notoriously vindictive.
You tried to kill me. Do you really expect me to let that go?
So when Toru indirectly stated that he intended to deliver a fatal blow to Spencer, the former president silently approved.
He had also implied that he would help suppress the aftermath so that the Democratic Party would not dare pursue the matter further.
That was simply the former president's nature.
He never forgot a grievance.
Political maturity had forced him to restrain himself, but if someone else was willing to carry out his revenge, he naturally would not sacrifice that opportunity for the sake of some so-called greater good.
The world's richest man sighed.
It was precisely because the former president's choices were so unpredictable that people found him difficult to understand and even more difficult to oppose.
Since the former president wanted Spencer dead, the billionaire no longer dared to comment.
"Elon, about the Department of Government Efficiency you proposed, we can discuss it now."
The two began exchanging views on policy.
The world's richest man left shortly afterward, still looking worried.
During this period, he had remained constantly beside the former president, almost like an attendant.
Elon Musk did not like politics.
In the past, he had tried to remain neutral and donated to both parties.
He understood very well that once he became directly involved in politics and chose a side, he was placing himself in danger.
But he had been left with no choice.
The Democratic Party had pushed him too far, so he could only enter the game personally and see whether he could still defy the odds.
Judging from the current situation, his gamble had paid off.
At the most important crossroads in his life, unlike the foolish eldest daughter, Ivanka, he had chosen the correct path.
After the billionaire left, the former president thought for a moment and made a friendly phone call.
"Burns, it's me. Donald."
Not long afterward, a confidential file was delivered to him.
The former president opened it.
Inside was all the personal information on Adam, or rather, Fujiwara Toru.
As he read through Toru's history with the CIA, the former president stared at the documents in utter disbelief.
He had begun carrying out missions for the CIA at fourteen, dismantled South American drug cartels almost single-handedly, and quietly resolved numerous regional crises around the world.
If the former president had not known that Burns would never dare lie to him, he might have thought he was reading the script for the next James Bond film.
His admiration for Toru immediately rose.
This was a capable young man with enormous potential.
He had to recruit him and make him part of the MAGA movement.
This was the kind of ability the former president believed young Americans should have possessed during the country's golden age, not the weakness he saw in the current generation.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)