Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 331 Revenge is never delayed.
When Lin Ran met Lyndon Johnson at the Cape Calanaville launch site, he finally understood what Jenny meant by saying that she had never seen Johnson look so haggard.

Lyndon Johnson's victory in the party primary and his nomination as the Democratic Party's 1968 presidential candidate was a victory in itself, and it also boosted the morale of his supporters.

Logically, I should be happy.

But Lin Ran couldn't see even a trace of joy on Lyndon Johnson's face, only endless exhaustion and confusion.

Yes, it was bewilderment, an emotion almost never seen on the faces of veteran politicians.

Who is Lyndon Johnson? He has represented Texas in Congress for over 20 years and served as the Democratic Party Whip since 51, holding the position for ten years. He is an extremely senior politician.

The treatment Johnson received also demonstrates his toughness and ruthless methods.

When he first became president, he had almost universal support in the country.

Compared to Lyndon Johnson, Fred was a complete greenhorn, and Lin Ran had never imagined seeing such emotions on his face.

"Good evening, Mr. President," Lin Ran greeted Lyndon Johnson as he disembarked from Air Force One.

The other party came to Cape Calanavila to witness the launch of the Burning One rocket, which was planned to send two GPS nuclear-powered satellites to an altitude of 2 kilometers to further improve the GPS network. The Star Wars program is gradually becoming a reality.

These two satellites carry an automatic explosion module and a communication module from the 2020 timeline, forming the cornerstone of Starlink.

After shaking hands with Lin Ran, Lyndon Johnson said, "Good evening, Professor."

As the two walked side by side toward the presidential lounge, Lyndon Johnson brought up the assassination attempt: "Professor, according to the Atlanta Commission of Investigation, the assassination was an individual's doing."

Lyndon Johnson paused for a moment and then said, "Of course, I know you don't believe this result, because I don't believe it either."

In-depth investigations revealed that the assassin was Sergei Viktorovich Petrov, a Russian translator at the United Nations, who single-handedly orchestrated the assassination.

Lin Ran turned to look at Lyndon Johnson, a playful expression on his face: "A Russian translator? Looks like he was sent by the Soviet Union?"

Lyndon Johnson nodded and said, "It's highly likely, but the Soviet Union is adamant about not admitting that they sent the assassins."

They say it was a spontaneous act by the assassin.

In response to your accusations, the Kremlin, in a press conference, also claimed that it was a spontaneous act and that they had found no evidence.

At present, the White House and the Kremlin can only engage in verbal sparring. The White House still needs the Kremlin to restrain North Vietnam, but we are planning to take some countermeasures in the diplomatic and economic fields.

Lin Ran didn't dwell on this, because he knew that the Soviet Union would eventually disintegrate. In this timeline, that day might come sooner or later, but it was inevitable.

Lin Ran then asked, "Interesting. How did a Russian translator manage to infiltrate the security team?"

Lyndon Johnson said quietly, "That's the interesting part. According to the investigation, the BI played a role in it, but the FBI official who handled the case committed suicide, and Edgar Hoover also submitted his resignation to the White House."

We strongly suspect that Edgar Hoover was involved in this matter.

"Professor, this is terrible, this is absolutely terrible. Edgar Hoover colluding with the Kremlin... I can't sleep at night just thinking about it."

Lin Ran finally understood where the other person's haggardness and confusion came from.

It wasn't just the internal party split and Robert Kennedy's defection that were understandable; the more important factor was Edgar Hoover's defection. As a strong advocate of McCarthyism in the 50s, he was extremely anti-Government, and subjected people to various forms of surveillance and suppression.

If you showed any signs of communism, Hoover would monitor you or even take you away for investigation. The infamous COINTELPRO was created by him. Such a person was actually connected to the Soviet Union and was able to cooperate with the Kremlin to assassinate high-ranking White House officials.

This is somewhat contrary to Lyndon Johnson's understanding.

Lin Ran said softly, "Mr. President, nothing is impossible in this world. Maybe we're both connected to the G network."

Lyndon Johnson, who had been on edge the whole time, finally relaxed in the face of this "joke." "Professor, haha, your joke isn't funny at all."

"If we both have G-level access, then this country is doomed."

Lin Ran remained noncommittal, then asked, "So, Mr. President, what are your plans to do about Hoover?"

After a moment of silence, Lyndon Johnson said, "If I had another four years, I would definitely launch an investigation into Edgar Hoover, no matter how many secrets he knew about Washington politicians, I would investigate to the end!"

But if I fail to win this election, I'm not sure Nixon would dare to do that. After all, Edgar Hoover is too formidable; he possesses far too many secrets, especially if he has connections with the Kremlin. His intelligence likely far exceeds our expectations.

Lin Ran immediately understood that such a shocking scandal could not be exposed now. America's 1968 was a turbulent year, filled with far too many failures and scandals.

The assassinations never stopped, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Lin Ran to Robert Kennedy. They were reduced to Muggles by the North Vietnamese spring offensive and had to cease fire. The only bright spot was that the Star Wars program was progressing much faster than expected, and the footage of reusable rockets proved America's strength.

But if Edgar Hoover has any connection to the Kremlin, even if it's just a working relationship, it would destroy the White House's credibility in the eyes of the public.

The odds of winning are 10% now, but if another scandal of Hoover's caliber were to be exposed, the odds would drop to 0%.

Even if Edgar Hoover wasn't appointed by Johnson, who had been appointed FBI Director as early as 1924.

Unfortunately, the problems erupted during your term.

Moreover, if Edgar Hoover chooses to go all out and expose all the inside stories he knows, the situation will completely spiral out of control.

The Kremlin's choice to assassinate a scientist is a major blunder; Washington's dirty laundry has been laid bare for the public, which will only lead to an even bigger scandal.

Lyndon Johnson said that if elected, he would launch an investigation into Edgar Hoover during his final four-year term because he would not be under pressure to run for re-election and could therefore remain impartial.

But is it really possible?
Lin Ran was skeptical of this.

If they couldn't even handle the case of Kennedy's death, then the case of Edgar Hoover will probably be no less difficult than Kennedy's death.

Lyndon Johnson said, "Professor, I need your support. Only with your support can Edgar Hoover possibly be brought to trial."

Nixon couldn't do that.

Lin Ran said with a wry smile, "Mr. President, my decision not to take a stand on the presidential election is already the greatest support I can give you."

Just imagine what would have happened if I had publicly supported Nixon? I met Nixon back in 1962, the year he lost the California gubernatorial election, and it was I who gave him advice when he wanted to retire from politics and become a lawyer.

You know about this too.

Even before this year's election, he approached me seeking my support, but I never agreed.

Even now at this point in time.

If I were to declare my support for Nixon, his chances of winning would be 99%, Mr. President. That's quite a show of loyalty, isn't it?
If I support you this year, then I will have to choose someone to support in the presidential election four years later.

After a brief pause, Lin Ran's voice rang in Lyndon Johnson's ear: "As long as you place a bet, you're bound to lose someday."

Lyndon Johnson asked, "Professor, didn't you say you would never fail?"

Lin Ran laughed and said, "That's right, so I don't place any bets. If I don't place any bets, I won't lose."

He then added, "And another thing is that I can wait. As long as I am in Washington, Edgar Hoover will be brought to trial sooner or later."

Lyndon Johnson immediately understood: Lin Ran had been in Washington all along, and his influence and power would only continue to grow. The other party was only 30 years old and could work in Washington for at least 30 years.

If you get tired of being the NASA director, you can become a congressman; if you get tired of being a congressman, you can become a minister. No matter who is president, they won't mind giving Lin Ran a position; it's determined by ability.

And what about Hoover? Having lost his position as FBI director, Hoover's power will only shrink, and continue to shrink.

Sooner or later, there will be a reckoning.

The night at Cape Calanavila launch center fell silent. Lin Ran looked at the Burning One rocket in the distance and thought, "Why wait until that day? A gentleman takes revenge right now."

At 1125 NW 16th Street, Washington, D.C., after Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order appointing Lin Ran as NASA Administrator in January 1964, Lin Ran's first action was not to work at NASA, but to make a phone call to Dobrynin under the guise of "V".

From then on, the Kremlin put Edgar Hoover on a leash.

Late that night, there was a knock on the door, bang bang bang~ bang bang bang~

As the Soviet embassy, ​​even the dogs here were brought from Moscow, as were the guards.

Sakharov's eyelids were drooping in the guardhouse, even though, according to regulations, he was to stay until 6 a.m. the next morning to wait for another guard to relieve him.

But when there's nothing to do, even if you doze off, Dobrynin won't say anything, so it's become a habit for everyone on night duty to take a nap on their desks after 2 a.m.

With only ten minutes left until 2 o'clock, Sakharov had already fallen asleep.

The knocking broke the silence of the night and shattered Sakharov's sleepiness.

Who would come here so late?
Sakharov was filled with questions. He was startled when he opened the door, because the person who came was dressed in a black robe and wearing a V mask. "I am V. I want to see Ambassador Dobrynin. You just need to tell him that I was the one who made the call on January 16, 1964."

Sakharov murmured in surprise, "V?"

This is indeed V's mask. The doorman usually spends most of his time reading newspapers, and he has seen this mask in newspapers more than once.

The protagonist of conspiracy theories, V is dragged out by tabloids whenever they have no other material to write about, and all sorts of stories are fabricated about him. In the newspapers, V is portrayed as someone like 007, capable of flying and disappearing at will.

Of course, whether V is a positive or negative character depends on the tabloids' stance. Conservatives portrayed V as a carefully trained assassin by Soviet Russia, while newspapers supporting civil rights depicted him as a chivalrous hero who righted wrongs.

Regardless of his image, Sakharov scoffed at the claim that V was a carefully trained assassin by the Soviet Union.

If V is really connected to the Soviet Union, how come he has never met him?
I finally met him.

A moment later, Sakharov realized that Nima V's fluent Russian was even more standard than his own, a native Muscovite. He thought to himself, "The big shots in the Kremlin are really good at lying; they can lie without batting an eye."

V is clearly one of our own, yet he insists on denying it in public interviews.

This led him to suspect that the professor's assassination was indeed orchestrated by the Kremlin, since the Kremlin certainly had the motive and the capability.

It wasn't until V tapped on the table that Sakharov snapped out of his thoughts: "Sir, I'll go and inform Dobrynin right away."

Yuri was jolted awake by a phone call: "Counselor Yuri, a gentleman who identifies himself as V is waiting at the door. He says he wants to see Ambassador Dobrynin, and adds that he made the call on January 16, 1964." In 1964, Yuri was a first secretary; now he's a counselor. Sakharov certainly can't contact Dobrynin directly; he has to go through Dobrynin indirectly.

Yuri woke up instantly. As his position rose, he knew that Dobrynin was connected to V, but he didn't know whether V was a Kremlin member or any other specific information.

He quickly replied, "Have them wait at the door for a moment, I'll go and inform Ambassador Dobrynin right away."

With such accurate information, the other party, even if not V, must be some kind of sensitive person.

In the embassy's basement, Lin Ran met Dobrynin.

The other person, with a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of vodka in his hand, apologized, saying, "V, this is our first meeting. I'm sorry that an old man needs to sober up quickly in this way so that I can continue our conversation."

Without asking or questioning, just a date and the feeling after meeting him were enough for Dobrynin to confirm that the other person was V.

Feelings are a strange thing. As an ambassador, Dobrynin had met countless people, from Moscow to Washington to New York. What kind of people hadn't he seen? (He served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1957.)
He could sense the aura of someone in a superior position emanating from the other person; this aura was so obvious that countless guesses flashed through his mind.

"Robert Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, General LeMay, Nelson Rockefeller."

In his mind, people of similar height and weight to the other person flashed by like silhouettes.

Of course, Dobrynin could never have imagined Randolph Lynn, because the morning newspapers had just reported that President Lyndon Johnson would be traveling to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch the Burning 1 rocket launch the following morning with the professor.

He also criticized Lyndon Johnson for making a desperate attempt to remind the public of his achievements in the aerospace field.

The professor is in Florida, how could he possibly come all the way to Washington?

He took another deep breath of the mingled aroma of vodka and cigars in the air, and asked, "Mr. V, what brings you here?"

Controlling his voice is an essential skill for Lin Ran. Ever since he became known as V, his voice has always been different from his real voice: "I need two handguns, Edgar Hoover's exact location, and a car."

Dobrynin's eyes narrowed: "You're going to kill Hoover?"

Lin Ran nodded and said, "That's right, now is the perfect time to kill someone."

Dobrynin scrutinized the uninvited guest wearing a mask, his mind racing with countless thoughts. The Kremlin hadn't yet squeezed every last drop of value out of Edgar Hoover; how could they possibly allow you to kill Edgar Hoover like this?

Whether V could actually achieve this was something Dobrynin hadn't considered.

Because he won't allow it if there's even a possibility of it being done.

"Feel sorry."

Before he could even finish his apology, Lin Ran interrupted him, "Dobrynin, if you don't give it to me, then I'll just have to clean out all the Soviet Russians in this embassy first."

He pulled a pistol from his black robe and pointed it at Dobrynin.

Lin Ran had made up his mind early on that if he couldn't get rid of Edgar Hoover, he would clear out the Soviet embassy with one click, which would be a way of getting his money back from the Kremlin.

This was an unexpected development for Dobrynin. "Are you crazy? This could cause a major war between the two countries, or even a nuclear war."

A soft laugh came from behind the mask: "I don't care. A great battle is great. I really want to see that."

Dobrynin, now it's your turn to make a choice. Five seconds.

“五
four

three"

The gun was always pointed at Dobrynin.

Dobrynin then noticed that the other person was wearing black gloves, making it impossible to detect any flaws.

“3201 M Street NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C.” Dobrynin rattled off an address quickly.

He continued, "The gun and car keys are in the safe on your right behind you. The car is in the parking lot, and the license plate number is ******."

He then threw the key at V.

Lin Ran took the key and chuckled, "Deal, Mr. Dobrynin. You know, if you had given a fake address, I believe there would have been one more assassination this year."

Lin Ran turned and walked toward the safe. Dobrynin tried to pull out a pistol from his jacket pocket, but Lin Ran turned around and shot the Maklov pistol, which was equipped with a PB silencer, out of his hand. It was fast and accurate, without the slightest hesitation.

The bullet struck the pistol, numbing Dobrynin's entire arm.

“Mr. Dobrynin, it seems you’re not being very honest.”

This shot completely calmed Dobrynin down. He didn't say anything because he knew his life was in someone else's hands.

Lin Ran took a pistol from the safe, then picked up Dobrynin's pistol from the ground, and said as he left, "We'll settle this score sooner or later."

Dobrynin thought the other party was referring to his own rash actions, but little did he know that Lin Ran was referring to the Kremlin's order to have a Russian translator assassinate him.

Lin Ran left the basement, and Dobrynin followed closely behind, watching him leave the embassy gate without ordering the entire embassy security personnel to stop him.

Because this isn't Moscow, he wouldn't dare cause such a scene in the middle of the night.

Lin Ran didn't drive; he simply disappeared into the night.

Dobrynin rushed upstairs to call Edgar Hoover and warn him to be careful.

He still couldn't accept Edgar Hoover's death.

Little did they know that Lin Ranren had already arrived in the alleys near Hoover's residence.

He moved with the agility of a cheetah, leaping and bounding with every step.

The accommodation was a two-story red brick building, surrounded by neatly trimmed lawns and iron fences.

Security was tight around them because, although Hoover wasn't the director, his boyfriend, Clyde Thorson, had become the director.

Security personnel, police dogs, and patrolling guards are all available.

What year is this? A year of assassinations. Hoover had quite a few enemies.

He scaled the fence with fluid movements, but the hounds had already spotted him.

A gunshot rang out, the dog fell down, and as the security personnel prepared to draw their guns, Lin Ran also drew his gun and fell down as well.

Inside the window, Hoover was sitting in his study, wearing an old robe. Documents and whiskey bottles were scattered on the table. The silencer couldn't completely extinguish the gunshot; the gunshot and the phone rang simultaneously.

The phone kept ringing, and the gunfire never stopped.

The security measures woven here by FBI employees are as fragile as paper in the face of superhumans.

Hoover looked up abruptly, his eyes wide as saucers. A man dressed in a black robe and wearing a V-mask had already appeared at the door of the room.

By the time he realized what was happening, all the security personnel in the building had been cleared out.

“V? Get out!” Hoover roared, reaching for the pistol in the drawer, but it was too late.

Lin Ran first struck Hoover's hand, rendering him unable to hold a gun.

Lin Ran is now very familiar with the process.

Hoover's face flushed red, and he gasped for breath: "You're insane! I'm an FBI legend! You'll regret this!"

He was filled with a mix of fear, anger, and regret.

Hoover once thought himself invincible, but at this moment he felt the fragility of power.

Lin Ran laughed and said, "To avenge President Kennedy."

He pointed the gun at Hoover's forehead and pulled the trigger.

With a muffled thud, the silencer swallowed the echo.

Hoover's body went limp to the ground, his eyes still open, filled with utter shock.

Lin Ran wrote on the wall in blood: For JFK.

For John F. Kennedy.

Then write a big V at the bottom.

"President Kennedy, I don't owe you anything," Lin Ran thought to himself.

If Kennedy hadn't offended so many people, and everyone wanted him dead, Lin Ran really wouldn't have minded protecting him.

But with so many enemies, it's impossible to keep up even if you work yourself to death.

They can't just abandon NASA to become Kennedy's bodyguard.

This execution of the ringleader can be seen as revenge for Kennedy.

Lin Ran believed that he had repaid the debt of gratitude for Hoover's promotion by shooting him down and by rolling over to save Robert Kennedy from being killed.

He then left the villa, where the room was littered with corpses, and the bell was still ringing incessantly.

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(End of this chapter)