Munitions Empire

"Two days ago, we received a coded message from Flame Castle, using a top-level encryption," Li'ao walked into Tang Mo's office and began reporting on Silver Fox's most recent special operation.

Tang Mo was drawing a blueprint and without looking up, he responded with a casual, disinterested, "Oh?"

"The other party contacted a sleeper agent, a common mole used by the Shireck Consortium, and activated this undercover intelligence operative," Li'ao knew that Tang Mo wasn't actually much concerned with these operational details, as he had far too many other things to take care of.

He was like a human blueprint machine, having to bring out new ideas from his mind every day, at least one research direction to hand over to his subordinates.

As modern industry unfolded, there seemed to be more and more brainstorming ideas, and many complementary technologies were only found to be lacking when the time came to use them.

Some of those, Tang Mo could immediately provide experimental methods for or even produce on a large scale to fill the gaps, while others had to be experimented and proven by his subordinates.

This was the fundamental reason why he recruited and trained so many technical personnel—if he tried to shoulder the world's progress alone, he simply wouldn't be able to move forward.

"Purpose," Tang Mo flipped to another blueprint, compared the details, then bowed his head again to add something to the previous blueprint.

"According to Sofia, it seems that the other party is preparing to transfer something to Wolf City, likely firearms," Li'ao continued to report following Tang Mo's directive.
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"To create chaos? Or to sabotage? Or is it... an assassination?" Tang Mo raised his eyebrows slightly, then continued without raising his head.

He planned to finish the diesel engine blueprint first, because once he set it aside, he didn't know when he'd be able to pick it up again.

He was now the leader of the Great Tang Group, not just a draftsman, and if he got busy with other work, it might not be until tomorrow, or even the day after that, before he could return to this blueprint.

"Sabotaging a factory seems highly unlikely. Although Wolf City has built up many complete industrial systems, the damage that could be caused by attacking Wolf City is very limited," Li'ao dutifully began analyzing the intelligence in his hands.

"It's hard to imagine what strategic value there is in attacking a steel mill or blowing up some ammunition production lines," he said convincingly, and Tang Mo didn't believe the Shireck board would really go berserk and attack a factory that wasn't worth much.

Such an attack was inefficient and would lower the bar for competition between the two sides. If it came to direct attacks, the Great Tang Group would surely strike harder than Shireck.

Tang Mo could guarantee that the explosives he developed were so advanced that they would be unrecognizable to the enemy as such!

And his undercover agents were of much higher quality than Shireck's rabble—as if they weren't even on the same level.

"Even though the security measures in Wolf City are not very high, and certainly not higher than in Brunas, the likelihood of an attack is too low," Li'ao concluded his analysis in the end.

"We cannot afford to be careless," Tang Mo continued working on the diesel engine blueprint, yet still reminded him in a multitasking manner.

He did not wish for his subordinates to become complacent and cause significant loss to the group. Although the group was as large as an empire by now, it couldn't endure losses in many areas.

To Tang Mo, the accumulation of small mistakes leading to a qualitative change was intolerable. He sought absolute certainty, hence he aimed to eliminate all "what-ifs."

"I have already contacted Wolf City covertly, instructing them to be vigilant about security," Li'ao immediately began speaking about the countermeasures.

Tang Mo drew a screw near a cylinder, and without raising his head, continued to inquire: "What do you think? Since it's not targeted at Wolf City's industrial facilities, then…the deeper implications of this action are worth our conjecture."

"Master, I believe…the other party is likely planning an assassination against a specific target," Li'ao expressed his speculation.

"Why do you think so?" Tang Mo asked curiously.

Li'ao explained his thoughts: "To destroy factories, explosives are far more effective than firearms. We have basically determined that the opposition is bringing in firearms, not explosives, which suggests they are targeting not large buildings or machinery, but people."

"Are you sure they are bringing in firearms, not explosives?" Tang Mo seized on this loophole and questioned his subordinate.

He felt that if the opposition had indeed activated a mole, then all kinds of materials could be in play; it shouldn't be conclusively assumed they were definitely shipping firearms.

Sure enough, Li'ao could not confirm: "At the moment, it's only speculation, but we'll be able to confirm this soon."

"Oh?" However, Li'ao's words still surprised Tang Mo; he was indeed curious how Li'ao could determine with such certainty that the goods in question were firearms.

"The mole we were supposed to meet has now been replaced by one of our own," Li'ao did not hold back and spoke the truth.

"Are you certain there are no problems?" Tang Mo understood, the other party had already been controlled and bought by his side, so he confirmed again.

"Please rest assured, everything is under control, the other party has confessed everything, clearly and without any reservations," Li'ao explained with great confidence, quite proud of the specifics of this particular operation.

"It seems you didn't go easy on them," Tang Mo realized. He had seen the interrogation methods of Silver Fox before.

To tell the truth, as a traveler from another space-time, his repertoire of tortures was even more professional.

Therefore, with his improvements, the "hunters" of Silver Fox were especially ruthless. Anyone who fell into their hands could hardly keep any secrets.

Beating and even pulling teeth were just appetizers for these people. In truth, whips, tiger benches, and chili water were common occurrences for those tough nuts who would rather die than confess.

But after the use of various psychedelic drugs, the addition of mental torment, the employment of intense lights and noise pollution to disrupt the prisoner's normal sleep and rest, there were really not many tough guys left who could still grit their teeth and keep silent.

"We didn't capture or interrogate anyone, Master. You guessed wrong," Li'ao laughed, his wrinkled face reminiscent of shifting mountains. "In fact, it was Sofia who sent the rendezvous code. The other side thought we were his contacts and handed over his work... It was only when he was about to board the ship back to Winterless City that he was caught at the dock and realized he had been played."

Thinking of the entire process, Li'ao couldn't help but laugh. Imagine an organization collaborating with the enemy, selling out their own intelligence agent; how pitiful could that agent be?

After this mole was activated, the liaison officer whom he had never met came knocking. The rendezvous code matched, so naturally, he let down his guard.

After learning that he could hand over his duties and receive a substantial sum of money to live out his life, the mole was nearly moved to tears with gratitude.

Then he saw the actual silver and gold, which made him even more convinced. So, he earnestly and carefully transferred his work to his superior, paying attention to every detail to ensure a comprehensive handover.

The next day, this "retired" mole went to Brunas's dock with his money, ready to begin his new life with unfettered freedom.

But before he could board the ship, he was captured and became yet another trophy for Silver Fox. As for his home, there was already a body double impersonating him, living there awaiting the big fish to take the bait.

"Eh? Ha-ha-ha! Continue, please," Tang Mo finally set down his pen, unable to suppress a smile, and looked up at Li'ao.

This story was too interesting. Think about how unfortunate the mole was; his own superiors were in cahoots with the enemy and had sold him out...

Even until his capture, he couldn't fathom how he could've slipped up and given away his identity.

"The replacement we sent, we even forged his identity proof: photographs, health card, property deeds... a complete set of fake identities. Right now, he's sitting in his own home, waiting for those operators to make contact," Li'ao boasted, proud of Silver Fox's accomplishments.

Once they made contact, there would be no secrets left in this operation, and everything would fall under Silver Fox's control.

"Nicely done," Tang Mo spared no praise, "Good job! Make sure the bonuses for the relevant personnel are distributed on time and in full!"

"Please rest assured! We have never made a mistake in this regard," Li'ao promised confidently. "Once we confirm all the details when they show up, we'll make sure not to miss a single one, and we'll have them all in one fell swoop before they make their move..."

"No! Let a few go! Don't let them suspect Sofia, make them feel that Sofia has tried and helped!" Tang Mo raised his hand, stopping Li'ao.

He needed to maintain a certain level of restraint, to continue to bewilder his foes, letting them keep exposing their flaws.

If they were dizzy with overconfidence, let them continue in their daze! As long as they didn't want to wake up, they could keep fumbling in the dark until doomsday came knocking.

"Yes, I understand, Master!" Li'ao bowed and accepted the command.

"Also, pick some people! Send them to Shireck! Once it's clear who that bastard is who wants to touch my people... send him off," Tang Mo picked up his pen again, treating the situation as if arranging a trivial matter.

You should know that in this century, no external force had dared to entertain the insane thought of assassinating a Shireck board member.

Yet Li'ao reacted as if he'd just heard an insignificant order, slightly bowed, and responded in a low voice, "Yes! I will arrange it now."

"Go ahead!" Tang Mo continued with the blueprints of his diesel engine, paying no further mind to the command.

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Thank you to the Lord of Chaos Being for your tips. Dragon Spirit is very grateful! Today's update will be very late, and the rest of the chapters can be read tomorrow morning. Apologies.