Much like on Earth, every country in this world also attaches great importance to intelligence work.
For example, the Eagle Kingdom and the Griffin Principality both have a group of scouts called "Eye in the Sky". They control magical beasts that can fly at high altitudes, use magic to hide their figures and auras, hide in the gaps between the clouds, and spy on the situation in other countries.
Another example is the Secret Tower Federation. There is a huge magic pool in which countless mages temporarily store their magic power so that they can be accessed when needed in the future. The federal officials used the massive magic power collected in this magic pool to cast some extremely high-level spells, thereby obtaining some secret information that was absolutely impossible to obtain through normal channels.
As for the Gold Coin Federation, it adopts the method of casting a wide net, collecting intelligence from all merchants and hawkers, and then a group of smart and capable intelligence officers fight against the mountains of intelligence every day, sorting out their own ideas from countless fragmentary words. Come what you want.
The Northwest Republic was founded only a short time ago, and the intelligence department had limited manpower and insufficient resources. So they have to make up for the lack of quantity and quality, and lack of manpower? Then let go of simple things and focus your limited manpower on important things.
For example, the person who took Wood's information away from the spies and then sent it back was Deputy Director Cleto of the Fishing and Hunting Resources Investigation Office under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Northwest Republic. Deputy Director Crito was very disgusted with this job that was not part of his job, but he was a bit henpecked when his wife glared at him, so he helplessly muttered "This will require overtime pay" and set off.
A legendary and powerful man who was able to kidnap a marquis' daughter and run away with him when he was still only at the middle level of strength. He was so easy to do such a sneaky little thing. Except for his own dissatisfaction, the whole thing was done beautifully and was not noticed at all.
About two months after Wood sent his message, officials from the federal intelligence community at the Arcane Tower received his tip.
For intelligence work, it actually takes two months for a piece of information to be delivered, which is incredibly slow. In this field, magic communication is used in most cases. Although it is expensive and inefficient, it is faster than before.
Quick, that's enough.
Because what intelligence pursues is nothing more than "accuracy," "secretness," and "speed." The first two points are often encountered but not sought. Even if the best intelligence personnel are dispatched, no matter how high the cost, they may not be able to achieve them. But for the last point, just spend money.
Other countries may have trouble finding a group of mid- to high-level mages willing to work for them, but where is the Mystic Tower Federation? It is the holy land of magic in the entire main plane! Is there still a shortage of mages here
Now that we have enough manpower, all that remains is just a matter of money. For such a big country, is money still a problem
Therefore, the intelligence work of the Mystic Tower Federation has always been the best. Let alone the main plane, even if things happen in other planes, as long as they have a close relationship with the Mystic Tower Federation, they will be reported within one or two days after the news comes out. Sent to intelligence agencies for collation and research.
However, no matter how much money the Mystic Tower Federation has, it cannot be spent carelessly. Only the truly valuable and important information can enjoy the treatment of "not caring about money" and can be sent through magic and sent back as soon as possible. federal.
Wood's intelligence was initially able to enjoy this kind of treatment, especially the defense map he sent out about Pyroxene Town, which made his superiors very satisfied and praised him for it.
But the good times did not last long. As time went by, there was less and less valuable intelligence, and Wood's intelligence treatment became lower and lower. Now, the information he sent has been marked as "least urgent" and uses the same transmission channel as civilian information, which is nothing more than an extra layer of confidentiality.
Wood didn't know these things. He only knows that the country needs him to lurk in the heart of other countries, constantly collecting various intelligence and sending it back. If necessary, he may have to lurk for a lifetime; if necessary, he may draw his sword and rise up tomorrow... In short, he is just a small cog in the huge national machine of the Secret Tower Federation - no, far from that important. , it is probably only equivalent to a handful of soil in a farmland, or a glass of water in a pond, nothing more.
But even if it's a handful of soil or a glass of water, he still performs his duties very seriously and doesn't dare to slack off in the slightest.
Unfortunately, his superiors didn't think so.
"It's this kind of worthless information again... Wood, this kid, seems to have other thoughts." It took about half a minute to read his information - this time was even shorter than Felix's, the secret tower The federal intelligence chief frowned and tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about what to do.
After a while, he made up his mind and asked the herald to issue an order.
Not more than three minutes later, a middle-aged man with a very ordinary appearance, walking on the street as if a drop of water merged into a sea of people, walked in.
"There is something wrong with spy No. 97," the intelligence chief said. "Prepare to initiate a replacement plan."
The middle-aged man recalled briefly and remembered the identity and work of No. 97. He frowned and said, "He has taken root in the Northwest Republic and will hopefully blend into the upper class in the future. If he is replaced now, some pity."
The intelligence director shook his head: "His mind has changed. In the past three years, he has not sent back even a single piece of valuable intelligence."
"Maybe it's just because he is cautious enough?" the middle-aged man said, "He was able to completely destroy his almost high-level strength in order to lurk. Would such a person change his mind? It is unlikely."
"That's what they say, but the fact is that he has changed his mind." The intelligence director waved his hand without intending to explain in detail to the other party, "Go and prepare. We must secure that intelligence point."
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, sighed, turned around and went out.
A soldier's duty is to obey orders, even if he disapproves of the order and finds it ridiculous.
He had already submitted his opinion, but it was rejected, and there was nothing he could do about it.
After returning to his room, he was silent for a while and then said to the adjutant: "Are there any female spies with certain artistic qualities recently? The ones who can carry out long-term missions. They can't be too old or too young."
The adjutant thought for a while and listed several names.
"Give them special training in carving knowledge. In addition, get the detailed information about Agent No. 97." The middle-aged man said, "After the training is complete, select the one with the most stable performance and arrange for her to serve as Agent No. 97." No.’s wife, send her to Huishi City.”
The adjutant nodded, noted the matter, and asked casually: "Do you need to rush it?"
"No need." The middle-aged man thought for a while, with a strange look in his eyes. "The training must be more detailed and proper, and there must be no mistakes. This spy will succeed No. 97, and the training standards must be high."
The adjutant immediately understood what he meant, smiled slightly, nodded and went out.
After the adjutant left, the middle-aged man thought carefully for a while, shook his head, and frowned.
"How is that possible!" He muttered in a low voice, "It's completely unreasonable..."
At this time, another magician covered in black robe came into the office of the intelligence director.
"There is something wrong with someone on my side." The intelligence director said without emotion. "I am going to send someone to replace him. You make some preparations. When the time comes, I will make him die like a drunkard." It looks so gushing that no one can find anything wrong with it."
The black-robed magician didn't speak, just nodded silently.
"What a pity... If I had known that he was unreliable, I might as well have fed him to a witch. Maybe we could have cultivated a witch..." the intelligence director said with some regret, and then talked about another topic, "How many witches are available currently?" ?”
"Six." The black-robed magician replied, his voice was old, hoarse and weak.
"Too little!"
"It's very troublesome to train witches, but they are lost quickly."
"Yeah... because it's easy to use." The intelligence manager smiled slightly, but there was nothing kind in his smile. "Step up the training."
"The materials needed to cultivate a witch are difficult to obtain and require authorization."
The intelligence director sneered: "It doesn't matter how many times I say it, I can't give you this authorization. Want the materials? You figure it out yourself! I won't give you any promises. On the contrary, if something goes wrong, I won't admit anything." thing."
"Don't you think I don't understand you occult researchers? You're just trying to make me take responsibility for you. I'm telling you, don't even think about it!" The intelligence director's face became as cold as ice, "That one is out of the question. The person in question is much stronger than you in terms of qualifications and strength, but I can replace him at any time if necessary. The same goes for you."
The black-robed magician stopped talking again.
"Go and prepare. I will notify you when I need you to do something." The intelligence chief waved his hand as if to shoo away flies. "Don't try to test or fight for anything. I will naturally give you any benefits. I won't You are given, but you cannot give it. You are a soldier now, not a businessman, so don't play haggling with me - this is the last reminder, do you understand?"
The black-robed magician remained silent, bowed his head in greeting, and turned to leave.
After waiting for the other party, the intelligence director tapped his fingers on the table and began to ponder.
This time he was thinking about other issues. As for the spy codenamed "Wood"... a useless spy, it was no longer worthy of him to waste even one more second thinking about it.
Wood had no idea that his fate would be decided by a few conversations in an office tens of thousands of miles away.