Reborn as Richard Castle in Criminal Minds

In this short time, Castle, sometimes astute and sometimes clumsy, managed to figure out the general reason why these mysterious people would want to kidnap the chubby guy. Clearly, these people were likely from a domestic company that designs and manufactures drones. Most probably, they were one of the two companies currently supplying drones to the US military: either Northrop Grumman (Cat Company) or General Atomics. Only these two companies could react so quickly and have an interest in the flight control system of the two drones Castle had designed and built. Castle didn't believe it was a foreign power or some shady organization looking for them, as they wouldn't have such a swift response time.

Regardless of which domestic company it was, their direct kidnapping of the innocent chubby guy had completely angered Castle.

He didn't plan to reveal his identity as the designer and manufacturer of the two drones to the person now standing at the chubby guy's doorstep, dressed in black urban special operations gear. Instead, he intended to take them down and then interrogate them to uncover their origins. This would prevent them from thinking they could freely decide others' fates in the USA.

With this in mind, Castle put back the two Glock 17s he had taken out from his personal space and retrieved the tranquilizer gun he had only used once before, during the raid on Adam. Since the chubby guy had clearly been taken by this currently unidentified group, Castle thought it unwise to kill the four men outside the chubby guy's house.

The leader from General Atomics saw Castle cautiously park his car about a hundred meters from the chubby guy's house. Castle, holding two strange-looking pistols (tranquilizer guns), walked straight towards him, shouting loudly, "Friend, I don't know your background, but why did you kidnap my friend Harry?"

The leader instinctively aimed his MP5SD at the approaching Castle. He knew Castle was a bestselling novelist with a broad network of connections in New York City. He had received orders from the board not to harm this writer, whose potential plight could cause a huge uproar in the city. However, he couldn't answer Castle's questions about his background and identity. Helplessly, he hoped the MP5SD in his hands could stop Castle from approaching. He shouted for Castle to halt and not come any closer.

But something completely unexpected happened when Castle was within thirty meters of him. The writer, supposedly harmless according to the intel, suddenly dashed towards him with ghostly speed. The leader had no time to react or pull the trigger of his MP5SD, which still had its safety on. He was hit by two tranquilizer darts from Castle's gun and lost all ability to fight back.

Hit by the powerful tranquilizers, the leader dropped his submachine gun, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

Seeing the man lying unconscious without having fired a single shot, Castle felt more confident in his earlier assumptions. These people were likely from a domestic company with an interest in drone technology. They had enough understanding of his identity not to shoot him. With this certainty, Castle became even less concerned about his safety. He deduced that the chubby guy was not in immediate danger. These people probably wanted the drones and their flight control systems, mistakenly believing the chubby guy was the designer.

This error would ultimately lead to General Atomics' downfall in this matter. However, now was not the time to dwell on this. After taking down the leader and disarming him, Castle quietly approached the garage where three electronic equipment experts were still trying to break into the chubby guy's house. They hadn't noticed their leader had been taken down due to their focus on the garage door.

Amused by the tech experts' frustrated discussion, Castle realized they were as much tech nerds as the chubby guy. Entrenched in their professional field, they were oblivious to their surroundings. Knowing their leader was outside watching, they hadn't noticed Castle sneaking up on them.

Castle decided not to waste any more time. With the chubby guy taken away, there was no telling where they might take him. The priority was to rescue the chubby guy. As for the identity of these men, it was secondary. From now on, Castle and the chubby guy would blacklist the company behind this. Even if they offered money for the technology, Castle wouldn't deal with a company that resorted to kidnapping.

Returning the tranquilizer gun to his personal space and pulling out the Glock 17s, Castle spoke up, breaking the tech experts' discussion. "Gentlemen, your criminal activities can end now. Turn around slowly and raise your hands. I don't want to blow your heads off."

Startled, the three tech experts, engrossed in their debate over the garage's defense system, froze. Hearing Castle's clear threat, they obediently raised their hands and turned to face him, visibly trembling.

Seeing their fear, Castle didn't make things difficult for them. Using zip ties he found on the unconscious leader, he had the tech experts bind their hands. Then he led them to the lawn in front of the chubby guy's house, making them help carry the unconscious leader inside. Castle had many questions for these people, but the priority was to uncover their identities.

"General Atomics? The company in California that designs and manufactures the MQ-1 and MQ-9 drones for the US military?"

Castle's entire demeanor changed upon learning their identity from the terrified tech experts. He had guessed right. He had been willing to cooperate with them if they approached him, but instead, they had kidnapped the chubby guy after he left. Their decision was clear: they didn't want to pay for the technology. They saw the chubby guy as the golden goose and tried to take him away.

Frustrated by the greed of these capitalists, Castle now despised them. Although he was wealthy, he felt like a naive flower compared to these calculating capitalists.

"Where are you taking the chubby guy after kidnapping him? Tell me now! My patience is running thin. He's my nephew, and you blatantly kidnapped him from his home. I need to know his exact location!"

Determined to rescue the chubby guy, Castle threatened the frightened tech experts directly, wasting no more time on pleasantries.

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