Chapter 265 - 264: Chief of the Intelligence Bureau

Chapter 265 - 264: Chief of the Intelligence Bureau

To be honest, the idea of the 25th Production and Construction Brigade came to Gawain the moment he realized someone was trying to investigate the Cecil Clan. He can freely and happily admit that a large part of the name comes from his mischievous sense of humor—after all, people from another world wouldn’t get the joke related to planet Earth. Gawain has come to terms with the fact that his crazy use of references won’t affect his dignity as an ancestor emerging from the tomb. It might even be seen as a deep strategic mind...

But though there’s an element of mischief, Gawain believes there’s a certain effectiveness in using this method to handle spies infiltrating the territory.

Dead spies indeed pose no threat to the territory, but they also hold no value whatsoever. As for Gawain... he’s actually someone who won’t overlook any value.

He’s building an economic-intelligence network throughout the southern borders, but waiting for this network to mature and function takes a long time. Merchants need time to establish themselves in various places, intelligence channels require even more time to be established and run stably, and those future "Military Intelligence Bureau Operatives" are still undergoing basic training in the Cecil Clan. During this time, the spies falling into Gawain’s hands from all over the southern borders are practically treasures falling from the sky.

If the infiltrators were top spies like the royal shadow guards, Gawain might employ more decisive measures, because a royal shadow guard with various extraordinary abilities would cause massive damage if they were exposed and started waving their two-handed greatsword to perform a whirlwind slash (blame goes to First Generation Shadow Guard Instructor Gawain Cecil). Keeping them would be more risky than rewarding. But the spies from those small southern aristocrats are on a completely different level—seeing their "business skills," Gawain knows they are just grunts. In terms of surviving in enemy territory, they might not even compare to a hundred of Amber’s underlings...

On the one hand, the power of the southern aristocrats is limited. On the other hand, they evidently haven’t given the Cecil Clan enough attention yet and naturally wouldn’t send their most elite spies to such a place. The grunts they send, instead of trying to uncover secrets or sabotage the development of the newly explored territories, mostly aim to figure out just one thing: What exactly is that ancestor doing in the south?

Thus, Gawain didn’t overreact with harsh measures but rather chose to gather the spies together to play some games...

Of course, for those spies who are already captured and exposed, there’s no other option but to deal with them, reveal the information as necessary, and it serves well—exposing a batch of spies makes the situation seem more realistic. If no spy sent to the Cecil Clan had been caught, the southern aristocrats would indeed become more suspicious—unable to detect a single spy? That ancestor might be a fake one.

As for the consequences the aristocrats might face after sending spies and being discovered by the duke of the Cecil Clan, they’re not too worried—after all, intrigue and schemes are part of everyday aristocratic life, especially in this fragmented and feudal landscape. A bit of spying is basically routine, mostly just gathering peripheral information. Without real damage and as long as things don’t go too far, no one will burn bridges for this—additionally, with citizenship management almost nonexistent in this era, even if things become quite serious, they can always deny everything.

However, one thing Gawain clearly understands is that the "25th Brigade" won’t last forever. Sooner or later, clever people will realize the truth and unravel everything. The spies being raised will eventually become aware or try to break free, but given the current organizational level of the Cecil Clan, that day seems a long way off. Until the truth about the "25th Brigade" is revealed...

Gawain thinks he can use this large group of spies to accomplish many things.

After sending Aunt Heidi off, Gawain had someone call Amber back from her wandering.

Upon meeting, Gawain immediately asked, without giving the half-elf a chance to speak: "How’s the training going for your underlings?"

"Andon’s group?" At the sight of Gawain’s expression, Amber knew it was time for serious business. At that moment, her usual teasing of the old man could easily get her a smack on the head, so she shelved any playful thoughts, "That depends on what you mean—if you’re talking about direct fighting, all they can do is scare people a bit. As for reading and writing, it’s impossible to see results in such a short time. But if you’re asking whether they understand the situation and what the leader has planned for them... they’ve understood that clearly for a long time."

Gawain raised an eyebrow: "What about knowledge on identity disguise, intelligence gathering, and message conveyance?"

Amber smiled: "That’s their bread and butter, and with the specialized courses you arranged, it’d be hard not to learn."

"Very good, it’s time to send out the first batch of operatives."

Amber was a bit surprised: "So soon?"

"Someone is already sending spies to the Cecil Clan, so we need to get our intelligence network running quickly as well," Gawain shook his head. "Besides, I don’t plan to give them overly difficult tasks right off the bat—after all, their basic training isn’t completed yet. Didn’t you mention last time that those people could bring in more ’helpers’ from elsewhere? That’s their first task. Go find people, bring back more recruits, and continue training them. Next spring will be the time for them to move along with the Cecil trade route throughout the southern borders."

"I understand, I’ll handle the arrangements," Amber volunteered confidently, patting her chest. "I know those little punks better than anyone, and I’ll assign them tasks—you just need to approve the funding."

Gawain was a million percent sure that the last sentence was the half-elf’s primary intent...

But he also knew that she enjoyed making risky comments, yet when it came to serious matters, she could distinguish priorities. From the start, he had planned for Amber to oversee these affairs: "I was going to send you even if you didn’t volunteer—and from now on, you’ll be in charge of this group, including any expanded teams they form in the future."

Amber’s ears twitched as if she hadn’t processed it: "Huh?"

"There’s no one in the territory more suited for this task than you," Gawain seriously told the half-elf, "and no one knows your subordinates better than you do."

Gawain wasn’t just flattering; it was the truth. Despite appearing as an unreliable thief, Amber was the most suitable person in the territory to lead an intelligence organization—firstly because she’s an excellent master of shadows capable of training more shadow manipulation professionals. Secondly, she’s familiar with assorted people from all walks of life, has a comprehensive understanding of interacting with different individuals, and gathering information from various environments. Lastly, she has extensive experience traversing the southern territories, during which she built quite a significant group that, even after many years of her absence, still maintains high loyalty and trust towards her. This indicated she actually had some leadership skills and personal charisma, although all of these were usually overshadowed by her nonchalant persona.

Compared to Amber, the other people on the territory were completely mismatched in terms of professionalism—Aunt Heidi was good at managing domestic affairs and knocking on Rebecca’s head, Rebecca was good at mathematics, inventions, and the rod of ’rest in peace’, Nicholas Egg was skilled in mechanics and humor, and Kamel was simply a pure researcher. That left only Sir Philip and Byron Kirk with some intelligence experience, but they were better at military affairs and comedic banter...

There was no one more suitable than Amber to head the Intelligence Bureau.

Gawain suddenly held his forehead: "What kind of people are on this territory..."

Amber didn’t quite understand what was going on: "Huh?"

"It’s nothing, I got distracted," Gawain quickly composed himself and looked up at Amber, "I appoint you as the first director of the Cecil Military Security Intelligence Bureau, responsible for training and managing intelligence personnel and overseeing all intelligence work, reporting directly to me, understood?"

It wasn’t until this moment that Amber was completely sure Gawain was serious. Although she always had "I’m amazing" on her lips, when it came time to be entrusted with a significant responsibility, this half-elf was unusually flustered. She widened her eyes to confirm repeatedly: "Are you serious? Are you sure you want me to do it? Don’t blame me if I mess up!!"

"The job isn’t as complicated as you think. I’ll help you set up a simple framework and show you how to manage. Then you can choose people from your subordinates to fill your department—you can also request administrative staff from Aunt Heidi. I’ve already written the basic regulations and key points of intelligence work, which you can take back and study carefully. In a word, I believe you can do it well."

Amber quieted down and suddenly looked very seriously into Gawain’s eyes. After a long time, she softly said, "...Do you trust me?"

"Trust."

"Alright, I’ll do it."

Three days later, in a special facility within the military district, Scarface Anton quietly sat in a front-row seat in the hall, waiting for orders to come.

He was no longer wearing that filthy, torn, and always peculiar-smelling old waistcoat; instead, he donned a well-tailored, neatly ironed black heavy woolen shirt. This fabric, which became popular over the past two years, was neither as crude as the coarse linen worn by the poor nor too expensive to bear, making it a favorite choice for citizens living with dignity and some affluence. He shaved, sat up straight, and despite the scars on his face still appearing fierce, he believed he was ready to disguise himself as a merchant.

Beside him sat ’witch’ Giply. She also no longer wore her ragged and comical witch’s attire and had taken off the plethora of useless "Magic Wand" decorations meant only to scare. Instead, she wore a well-fitting apprentice’s robe and held an oak Magic Wand in her hand, quietly reading a magic book with her other free hand, much like a true Mage apprentice—her tricks, which could barely spark a few embers, finally had some use.

A quiet Giply did indeed look somewhat like a ’witch’.

Further down sat ’Buck Teeth’ Poppy, ’Long Fingers’ Sam, ’Quick Leg’ Pierce...

These hooligans, one by one, washed off all their grime, dressed in decent clothes, and sat straight and silent, like real citizens or truly respectable people: merchants, Mage apprentices, knight apprentices, Pharmacists, and bards, roles they have been learning to play all along—and will continue to act for some time.

Not everyone was learning well; many were still deemed by the boss as "still like barefoot ruffians even in boots," but regardless, today was the time for them to prove their value to the leader.

A commander would come here to be their direct leader and announce the leader’s first order to them.

The people in the back rows had already begun whispering, discussing what kind of person this so-called "commander" would be, but Anton ignored these discussions. He just quietly watched the stage at the front of the room, waiting for someone to appear there.

A blurry shadow suddenly appeared there, followed by a half-elf who materialized out of thin air from the air.

The somewhat chaotic hall immediately quieted down, and Anton, as if expecting it, smiled.

"You little bastards, I am your commander from now on!" Amber stood on the high platform, looking proudly at familiar and recently familiar faces below, "I’ve brought the first task given by the leader.

"Complete this task, and when you return, you will no longer be gutter hooligans, no longer low-grade trash, no longer mice and rats looked down upon—you will have an official and respectable new identity—

"You will be the first batch of operatives in the Cecil Military Security Intelligence Bureau!"

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