Chapter 589 Crisis Transformation
When Luke returned to the Dutton Ranch, he found Old John first.
Although Old John is a homebody, he still cares a lot about this matter.
I contact Lilith almost every day to see if there is any progress on Bourne's side.
According to the latest intelligence sent back by Bourne, the Church of Eden has almost taken control of a large area of Hope Town.
Three large nuclear-proof shelters were dug using the original mine.
Moreover, they also use a plant to extract a liquid that has a strong hallucinogenic effect.
Lilith has obtained the sample and analyzed the main components.
This stuff does contain federally banned chemicals in it.
It’s just that this thing is less addictive, but has a strong hallucinogenic effect.
Now, the evidence that originally defined this group of cultists as drug dealers has been confirmed.
Old John wanted to eradicate this cancer as soon as possible, but was stopped by Luke.
"Lilith, dispatch the latest survey drone to scan the area in detail."
Then he told Old John about his concerns.
Bourne would not act without a purpose; an agent's intuition is often based on experience.
Joseph Seed, the leader of Eden's Gate, would not predict the end of the world for no reason.
Excluding natural disasters, the only man-made factors that could lead to the end of the world are viruses and nuclear wars.
With the current technological level of the Eden Cult, the virus could be easily eliminated.
Then all that's left is nuclear war.
How to cause a nuclear war?
This question made Luke think for a long time.
Either Joseph buried a nuclear bomb in another country or he buried a nuclear bomb on American soil.
So, Luke asked Lilith to send out the latest survey drone to scan Hope Town and its surroundings.
Even if a nuclear bomb is concealed in an underground bunker, it can still be traced with the latest survey equipment.
Luke and Old John were waiting for the results of the drone survey at the ranch's temporary command center.
Sure enough, as Luke expected, there was a hidden underground facility in the valley north of Hope Town, bordering Canada.
There, a radioactive signal source was detected.
The good news is that there is no one guarding the place, and the entrance is hidden, as if it has merged with the mountain.
Now that we have Joseph's trump card, we just need to wait for an opportunity to wipe out the Eden Cult in one fell swoop.
Joseph and his three siblings control three areas of Hope Town respectively.
So, either defeat them one by one at the same time, or wait until they gather together and catch them all in one fell swoop.
Luke believed that there must be Edenists among the National Guard and other places.
Once a large-scale war is launched, the news will inevitably leak out.
Therefore, we must set up a plan to ensure that there will be no mistakes.
Joseph and his three siblings usually stay in their own territories and it is difficult for them to get together.
Finally Luke decided to alert the enemy.
Have the state court prosecute Joseph and issue a warrant for his arrest.
The National Guard conducts an exercise.
First, find the Edenists in the government.
Once these two organizations start moving, they will definitely be connected with the Church of Eden.
Lilith has fully controlled the electromagnetic wave signals around Hope Town.
As long as there are communication signals entering or leaving this area, they will be monitored by Lilith.
Although these guys used a very backward method to manage their believers, they could never have imagined this kind of high-tech dimensionality reduction attack.
As long as the source of the signal can be located, it will be possible to find out who contacted the Church of Eden after the incident.
Inside state government agencies, inside the National Guard, everything is under surveillance.
Old John hurried to find the governor and the commander of the National Guard.
This is not only a crisis, but also an opportunity.
Luke has a history of turning crises into opportunities.
This time is no exception.
If the Church of Eden is labeled as drug dealers and a nuclear bomb is eventually found, Montana can initiate a resolution internally to expand law enforcement and the National Guard.
Thereby obtaining more funds.
In this way, the law enforcement power in Old John's hands will be even stronger.
The governor and the commander of the National Guard will benefit.
In the past, there was no legitimate reason, even if Old John controlled the Montana Legislature, he could not expand law enforcement forces for no reason.
But now, it’s different with an excuse.
What will happen if drug dealers of such a large scale appear and have nuclear bombs in their hands?
Law enforcement must be expanded.
Aside from the state police, the largest law enforcement force in Montana is the livestock police.
Anything related to animal husbandry can be attributed to the law enforcement scope of animal husbandry police.
Therefore, the armed forces in Old John's hands are still very powerful.
Everyone can frame someone else. Even if that guy really didn't steal the cow, he will make you steal the cow.
What's more, the cows on Old John's ranch are worth a fortune, and the highest-grade beef in the world comes from the Dutton Ranch.
Even the seeds from the breeding cattle on the ranch are of extremely high value.
The key is that the thing is easy to carry, and a livestock policeman can easily take it out of his pocket...
As long as it involves animal husbandry, no matter whose case it is, it will be under the jurisdiction of the animal husbandry police.
Even the local sheriff has no right to interfere and withhold the case.
Old John has been doing this since his grandfather's generation.
As for Old John, because of the Qin family, Old John's Dutton family gained greater power in Montana.
So, the ultimate beneficiaries of this incident are Old John, the governor and the National Guard.
The governor is an old classmate of Old John, and the commander of the National Guard was also promoted by Old John, with the help of the Qin family.
All the benefits go into their own pockets.
The only unlucky one is the Eden Cult.
That night, while Old John and the governor were plotting, Luke flew to the valley on the border of Hope Town.
Joseph thought that as long as the nuclear bomb was hidden, there would be no risk of exposure as long as no one was guarding it.
But he never imagined that there is such a thing as high technology.
Although this secret facility has many mechanisms and measures to prevent accidental intrusion, these things are too old.
It was easy for Luke to crack it.
When I saw the nuclear bomb, I was surprised to find that it came from the Hryvnia family. (Hryvnia is the currency of a certain country. To prevent being blocked, it is used to refer to a certain country. Please search on Baidu if you need it.)
After taking away the core device inside and leaving an empty shell here, and restoring all the mechanisms, Luke left.
The next day, at noon, a warrant for Joseph Seed's arrest was issued in the Montana federal court.
The marshals rushed to Hope with an arrest warrant.
The court sent four bailiffs, namely Johnny Blaze, Heather Sawyer, Eric Brooks, and Nisha Normark.
A configuration of two men and two women, and a helicopter.
Joseph had received the news long ago and was staying in Eden Church in Hope Town.
Many believers also appeared around the church.
Johnny and others, wearing marshal uniforms, got off the helicopter and walked towards the church.
At the same time, Old John mobilized the livestock police and began arresting those who tipped off Joseph in the government and the National Guard.
Under Lilith's surveillance, more than 20 people tipped off Joseph.
But Luke believed that there must be Edenists lurking deep inside.
The livestock police under Old John openly arrested the followers of the Church of Eden.
In secret, the old cowboy and a group of people are still waiting.
Those hidden believers will definitely contact Joseph again when they see those who have been arrested.
Sure enough, Lilith detected several more signals later.
However, these people did not know how they were exposed, nor did they know that all the warning signals they sent out were intercepted by Lilith.
None of those warning messages reached Joseph and his men.
Now that the people on the periphery have been dealt with, it's Joseph's turn.
The believers around the church looked at Johnny and others with ill intentions.
Some people even blatantly took out their weapons and just looked at Johnny and the others.
Joseph walked out of the church and looked at Johnny and others with a calm expression.
He was mumbling something about God not giving up on him...
Johnny took out the arrest warrant issued by the state court and gave the famous Miranda warning.
"You have the right to remain silent..."
This is the first time that Johnny and his team have gone through such a complete law enforcement procedure...
Joseph remained calm, smiled and held out his hands.
The believers around him were already showing signs of wanting to take action.
But Joseph still persuaded the believers around him.
After all, he was the leader of the Eden Cult, and his words calmed the restless believers a lot.
Johnny handcuffed Joseph, and he and Eric held one of his arms each and walked towards the helicopter.
However, just as they were about to board the helicopter, the believers rioted.
They all grabbed the helicopter door.
Johnny and his companions did not insist on taking Joseph away, but asked the pilot to give up taking off.
Then, Johnny looked at Joseph and said:
"Do you know what the consequences of your actions will be?"
Joseph smiled and answered Johnny:
“God is watching us…”
Johnny smiled as well.
"No, God will only approve of what I do."
Then Johnny winked at Eric, and Eric and his men drew their weapons.
And they fired warning shots and went through the law enforcement process.
However, this did not stop the believers, but instead the believers in the distance took up weapons.
The first shot was not fired at Johnny and his companions, but at the propeller of the plane.
But they were the ones who fired the first shot.
Amid Joseph's surprised expression, Eric and his men began to fight back.
Johnny pulled Joseph to act as a shield.
Just as more believers began to attack Eric and others, several missiles fell from the sky.
It accurately hit the armed believers who were using nearby buildings as cover.
Johnny and the others abandoned the helicopter and took Joseph with them, fighting and retreating, back to the church.
More and more believers began to flock to the church, and the gunfire became more and more frequent.
Joseph is still trying to persuade Johnny, who is guarding him.
"Give up, it's not too late, God will forgive your sins..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Johnny blocked his mouth with a rag picked up from the church.
"I've seen God, too. He didn't say he's seen you."
Johnny then transformed into Ghost Rider to Joseph's surprised expression.
"You should be the one who repents. If someone hadn't wanted to keep you alive, you would have gone to hell long ago."
Joseph had his mouth gagged and stared at Johnny who had transformed with wide eyes.
More gunshots followed.
The National Guard began its attack.
The believers of Eden's Gate are just a mob.
Although this group of people had no systematic combat experience, they relied on their familiarity with the terrain and their fearlessness of death to cause considerable losses to the National Guard.
The National Guard attacked Hope Town in two directions.
The Dutch Valley and Hemburn River were areas controlled by Joseph's brother John Seed and sister Faith Seed respectively.
These two people have no military organizational ability.
Although the National Guard suffered losses, it was only a matter of time before they captured these two areas.
But the real threat and the one with fighting power is the controller of Whitetail Mountain, Joseph's other brother Jacob Hinds.
This guy has been a soldier and has organizational skills.
However, he is now in a difficult situation.
Luke sent Frank's elite team here.
First, it can tie down the most elite armed forces of the Eden Cult.
The second is to block the Edenists' escape route to the north.
The route to Idaho in the western mountains was guarded by David and his men.
Being surrounded on three sides with one missing, it seemed like there was a way out, but in fact it was blocked by Luke.
What we want is to catch all these people in one fell swoop.
Frank's team fought head-on this time.
Even the elite troops trained by Jacob Hinds could not match the firepower advantage of air-to-ground integrated combat.
Not only are there drones in the air, but there are also National Guard fighter jets providing support.
Lilith has taken full control of the combat command center and is issuing orders to each combat unit in an orderly manner.
The commander of the National Guard was right next to Lilith, looking at her in silence.
The command center has more than 30 large screens, which display the real-time situation in each combat area.
Lilith commands the combat units in each area according to various situations.
The commander of the National Guard became more and more frightened.
Who the hell is this person who can give precise command to every combat company?
It also enables full control of real-time battlefield information and the ability to modify combat plans based on actual conditions.
It can also make accurate predictions and commands based on battlefield information obtained by reconnaissance aircraft.
Seeing his surprised look, Luke smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Relax, man."
Then he handed him a cigar.
The commander took a puff of his cigar and said to Luke:
"You FBI still has a lot of talented people."
Luke smiled faintly.
"She's just my secretary. We can have as many people like her as we want."
The commander was silent for a long time, then asked Luke:
"Can that..."
Before he could finish, Luke refused.
"Sorry, no, we can't do that. We are special talents. The treatment in your National Guard is too bad. People won't go there."
The commander was silent again.
I feel like a poor guy... I'm so angry...
The battle lasted for three days, and all that remained was the finishing touches.
Because of Lilith and the state government's control, no information about the battle in Hope Town leaked out.
Joseph still kept smiling as Luke stood in front of him.
The rag in his mouth had been taken out long ago.
Now, Luke and Joseph were the only ones in the church.
Joseph wanted to persuade Luke to stop, but Luke stopped laughing after hearing what he said.
"We have already dismantled the nuclear bomb and cut off the line you set. You have no backup plan."
Joseph's expression gradually became ferocious, and he wanted to struggle with religious terms, but then he was stunned.
White wings of light appeared behind Luke.
When Joseph opened his mouth in surprise, Luke reached out and poured him a bottle of truth serum produced by the wizarding world.
"Tell me about your believers hiding in other places and the nuclear bomb..."
