Chapter 524: Chapter 64
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
North Wind, of course, was not coming to replace Wood so as to let him leave his position and go back to the Mifata Federation. She did come to replace him, so that much was right. But she was not to let him leave alive; she had to kill him.
Of course, she couldn’t tell him about that. Only a fool would do that. She had already prepared a set of speeches, and that was what she was saying now.
“Sorry, but I’m here to assist you,” North Wind said. “In recent years, your work efficiency has declined significantly. Our leaders thought it might be because you’re alone and inconvenient in working, so I accepted art training specifically to be your assistant.”
Wood was upset, but his doubts disappeared.
Indeed, as North Wind had said, in recent years, the efficiency of his intelligence collection had indeed declined a lot. On one hand, it was because the work of woodcarving took up a lot of time and energy. On the other hand, it was also because he was alone and inconvenient in intelligence searching in many cases.
In order to avoid others’ suspicion, he had to act very cautiously. Although that helped him hide his identity very well, that still greatly limited his actions. In a whole day, he usually just had one or two hours of free time. He had to strictly act within a reasonable scope and had never done anything out of his character.
As a spy, it was necessary for Wood to be cautious. In the past few years, his main duty had been to lurk in other countries, so there had been nothing wrong with him being so cautious. But now, seeing the great changes on the Main Plane, everyone was afraid that in the near future, there would be fierce frictions between the Mifata Federation and the Republic of Northwest. In that case, being cautious had to give way to efficiency.
Wood understood the whole thing at once. He knew why North Wind came to help him.
So he sighed and asked, “Did you see my report before your departure?”
North Wind was surprised at that and shook her head. She really knew nothing about the report.
Wood shook his head and said with regret, “I had suggested in my report that the Federation should be neutral in the coming war and that we should even support the Republic of Northwest. I wrote many specific reasons; it was very detailed. But I’m not going to tell you all about it. But what a pity! According to your mission, the Federation has chosen to support the enemies of the Republic of Northwest. To be honest, I don’t think they can win!” Wood said with regret. “Those guys may get some benefits from the war by chance, but what can they do with the Republic of Northwest that is thousands of miles away? Nothing! It’s just like the situation when the Federation was founded—the old and conventional forces were not in favor of the great mentor, but there was nothing they could do. Their high-end force was useless in front of the great mentor, and their army could not attack us across the forests, swamps, deserts, and mountains.
“That was why we could build up our country smoothly. I think you are also familiar with the history. Don’t you think the situation of the Republic of Northwest now is very similar to that of the Federation from before?”
North Wind did not expect Wood to say all that. She thought about it carefully and frowned.
Although there was something wrong with Wood’s position of thinking, what he said was quite reasonable. For the Federation, even if they won this war, they wouldn’t get many practical benefits. Then why should they even bother?
North Wind was also a high-level spy. Although she was far less experienced than Wood, she had all the accomplishments and insight that a high-level spy should have. She was the one to take over the intelligence station in Pyroxene Town from Wood. That proved that her ability was quite remarkable. With her own insight, she could clearly sort out what Wood had said and drew conclusions that were similar to his.
She remained silent for a moment, sighed quietly, and then said nothing.
It could be seen that Wood knew the situation of the Republic of Northwest very well, and he also had a good understanding of the relationship between the Federation and the Republic. Maybe he could have been a good diplomat if he could go back to the Federation.
But she could also see that Wood’s attitude was ambiguous. If she were in Wood’s position, she would not give so much praise for the Republic of Northwest when she was asked.
Some of the details of Wood’s words did show his problem.
The senior officials of the Federal Intelligence Service have made an accurate judgment on Wood. It is possible for this high-level spy to betray them!
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If that was the case, her task was clear.
Execute Wood and take over his job!
Certainly, she didn’t show anything on her face. Instead, she acted as if she was deep in thought, thinking carefully about what Wood had said.
After a while, she sighed softly and said, “What you’ve said really makes sense. Unfortunately, judging from my mission, your suggestion was rejected.”
“You’re right!” Wood sighed deeply. “I realized that when I heard you say that you’re here to be my assistant instead of replacing me. If it’s not for the purpose of strengthening our intelligence work, why should they send an assistant for me? And if it’s not for the hostile relationship between the Federation and the Republic, why do we need to strengthen our intelligence work?”
North Wind nodded and agreed with what he had said.
“So, what are you going to do?” Wood asked. “Of course, it will be much more convenient for two people to work than just one. But have you made a plan of action? I can help you modify it. I’m not questioning your professional competence, just… After all, I have lived here for more than ten years, and I am more familiar with the actual situation here than you are. I know you must have read a lot of information, but after all, the written information can’t outweigh the practical experience. So I would like to know your plan first and see if there is anything to add.”
North Wind did not mean to hide her plan, so she just told him about it.
“You want to be a painter and travel around, pretending that you’re looking for inspiration for your painting, and then expand your acquaintances through those young artists…” Wood pondered for a moment and shook his head. “It’s certainly a good idea, but in the eyes of those vigilant professional intelligence personnel, you’re too obvious.”
“So what do you say?” North Wind was not angry that her plan had been rejected. Wood was her senior and even had become a high-level spy of the Federation before she was born. It was natural that he had a better idea than her.
Wood thought carefully for a moment and said, “I suggest that you open a painting class to teach children how to draw.”
North Wind was confused for a moment, and then she understood what he meant.
With a group of children as a cover, her intelligence collecting behavior would be concealed under cover of collective activities. And through these children, she could also have more social connections. Of course, she might be more close to the middle-class society, but as a latent spy, focusing on the activities of the middle-class society could help a lot in hiding her identity.
After all, there were many elites in the upper class, and they might have all kinds of wonderful powers. By contrast, staying among the middle class was much safer for her.
As for the intelligence searching, as long as she worked hard to screen the information carefully, she could even collect information from small restaurants in poor neighborhoods.
As an excellent spy, North Wind was very confident about getting enough valuable information by communicating with her students’ parents.
She couldn’t help but laugh at that thought. She paid more respect to Wood, but she felt far more regretful for him.
How could such an excellent high-level spy be suspected of betrayal? What a pity! What a pity!
But she still had to do what she was supposed to.
With words of praise and appreciation, North Wind had already sentenced Wood to death in her heart.
Sui Xiong was floating in the air invisibly, watching the communication between the two high-level spies. He couldn’t help but laugh happily.
Things were getting more and more interesting.