Chapter 474: Cat and Mouse

In the conference hall of the Technical Research Institute, the heads of all major departments are present.

Phoebe Crow from the Pharmacy Department, Nikola from the Mechanical Department, Revoco from the Materials Department, Lockend from the Ordnance Department…

All of them represent the finest talent Henwell has cultivated over his ten years of rule. They form the core force behind Henwell’s future rise, without equal.

The funding consumed by the Technical Research Institute each year nearly matches Peace Haven’s entire military budget.

In fact, if Henwell hadn’t established the Institute, the army could have doubled in size by now, four hundred thousand elite troops, enough for Henwell to annex any neighboring country except Ika.

Yet Henwell resists the urge to mass-produce troops, focusing instead on building a solid technological foundation.

Time has proven his plan right.

Especially after learning about the Western Federation and some continental secrets, Henwell feels even more grateful for his restraint.

Others don’t understand why Henwell is so cautious.

Only Henwell knows that his chance to dominate the continent comes but once.

Once he seizes another nation’s land, he has only a brief window to strengthen his power before endless sieges begin, possibly even involving the Western Federation.

Before that, Henwell must unlock enough tech trees.

In a very short time, before others react, he must rapidly deploy his cutting-edge technologies.

He needs his country to transform swiftly, from a feudal state into the dawn of the first industrial revolution.

Only then will Henwell have a shot at unifying the continent.

Now, a serious incident has occurred in the department Henwell values most.

This unsettles many present, who know exactly how much Henwell has invested here.

They also understand why Henwell commits such resources and enforces tight security.

Each department holds several breakthroughs capable of shifting the world balance of power.

Every single one demands strict secrecy.

If even one leaks out, it could force Henwell to completely rethink his strategic plans.

Jax, the leader of the Technical Research Institute, stands up first. “I take responsibility for this. As the Institute’s security chief, I’m willing to accept any punishment.”

Henwell shakes his head, signaling for him to sit down. “It’s not your fault. This kind of thing was bound to happen sooner or later.”

Jax sighs. “If you hadn’t come today and noticed something suspicious, who knows how much trouble this could’ve caused?”

Henwell chuckles. “Jax, don’t exaggerate. It was just a minor riot. I happened to be here. If I hadn’t been, those rioters wouldn’t have stirred up much. At most, there’d be some casualties, and they’d barely manage to pass on any intelligence. You’re an expert yourself. You’ll soon figure out what went wrong. “

”I entrusted this to you because I trust your attention to detail.”

Jax replies, “No matter what, this is still a major failure on my part.”

Henwell sighs. “Alright then, I’ll dock your pay for a year.”

Before Jax can respond, Henwell changes the topic. “This meeting isn’t about assigning blame. Our regime is new, our departments are still young, and so are we. Maybe because of our achievements, sometimes we forget we’re all still in our twenties.”

“It’s like no one sees me as a young man, and you don’t feel young yourselves. Being young means making mistakes. Don’t be afraid of that. What matters is correcting them quickly and preventing the same errors from happening again.”

Henwell’s words ease the tension, and the room’s atmosphere lightens.

He continues, “Regarding this incident, I have a few points to make. First, some of our people seem to sympathize with the test subjects. Some have even been bribed by them. That’s dangerous. We’re not monsters, but these criminals became test subjects because they committed extremely serious crimes.”

“To eliminate any sympathy among guards and staff, I’ll have someone compile detailed records of the horrific crimes each test subject committed. Everyone here needs to understand these people are no longer truly human. Their greatest contribution to humanity is using their bodies to advance medical research and save more lives.”

“Also, our people will undergo psychological counseling to prevent any mental health issues.”

Everyone agrees this is a good idea.

This riot happened because some researchers sympathized with the test subjects, giving them certain conveniences and allowing them to communicate with other prisoners.

They even passed secret messages to other test zones, sparking a large-scale uprising.

Today, not just one but more than half of the test zones experienced disturbances.

If Henwell hadn’t been here, things could have gotten messy, but it still wouldn’t have been enough for anyone to break through the defenses and escape.

The guards were mainly worried about the researchers’ safety and didn’t want to kill the test subjects.

Otherwise, even though some test subjects have hidden strength, facing fully armed and armored guards, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Then Henwell brings up another issue. “I take primary responsibility for the security flaws here. After all, I designed this system but overlooked the human factor. From now on, I’m implementing a plan: I’ll have people from the Military Intelligence Office go undercover among the test staff. Except for you leaders, no one else will know their identities.”

“On one hand, they can spot any conspiracies among the prisoners early on. On the other, they’ll actively look for security loopholes, ways to escape, pass messages, and so on. You leaders must not interfere, warn your people, or secretly tip anyone off. This is for our own good. It’s better for our own people to find the weaknesses than to have a serious incident occur.”

This idea came from a criminal officer named Jefferson, who inspired Henwell.

It both strengthens the Technical Research Institute’s security and hones the Intelligence Office’s personnel.

In the future, intelligence agents will also have to infiltrate places as tightly secured and even more dangerous than the Technical Research Institute.

This serves as a two-way drill.

Cumberland is especially interested in this project.

Now that Henwell has announced the plan, all department heads can only hope their teams stay sharp.

If too many vulnerabilities are found, Henwell might stay quiet, but Jax won’t be so forgiving.

Next year, cutting their department’s benefits is almost guaranteed.

This cat-and-mouse game has both sides thinking about how to make it more exciting.

Henwell authorizes Cumberland to select several reliable intelligence officers to be stationed at the Technical Research Institute, specifically to study its security weaknesses.