abnabooks Chapter 146 Change of Attitude
Chapter 146 Change of Attitude
Chapter 146 Change of Attitude
When Deputy Director Jonas brought Evan and Hugh Deercha back to the secret room, they saw Zeril lying on the ground, looking completely different from before. He now had typical Fursac features and was 20 centimeters taller.
Deputy Director Jonas, wearing gloves, examined Zeryl's body and then said:
"Sudden death, without any warning, and without a single wound on his body. It must be the 0th-level sealed artifact he mentioned. Kalinin is really quick."
Evan also stepped forward to examine Zeryl's body, but found nothing unusual. After standing up, he asked:
"Although the rat lurking in the Fusak Empire has identified Zeril as a defector, his own hidden dangers have not been eliminated."
As long as Zeryl remains in our hands, that Rat and Intis in the Eighth Intent will be living in constant fear. If you want to turn that Rat against us, you must first dispel the concerns of the relevant parties, especially Intis's concerns about the Rat's exposure.
After listening to Evan's words, Deputy Director Jonas thought about it and wholeheartedly agreed.
Zeril was a member of the "Cuckoo" project, which was personally devised by Kalinin. It was a top secret, and he would never make it public that he had killed Zeril from thousands of miles away using a level 0 sealed artifact.
Therefore, in the eyes of "Rat" Petrov Andrei and the Eighth Inspector of Intis, the fact that Zeril has fallen into our hands could potentially expose Rat's identity.
Fortunately, Evan's previous plan worked. By not going all out to fish out the Puppet Master Rosago, Intis would have been given the illusion that Zeril was indeed rescued by MI9 agents who happened to be passing by, and that it wasn't a trap set specifically for him.
They never imagined that MI9 had a bug like Evan who knew about the Rat's existence in advance. This information gap could be exploited to allow MI9 to create the illusion that the Rat's identity had not been discovered.
"I'll handle this. You don't need to worry about it. Just tell me about the safe house you arranged for interrogating Zeryl."
Evan's heart skipped a beat. He knew that Jonas was going to put on a show for the Intis people, so he readily told Jonas about the safe house.
After noting down the safe house details, Jonas took a cigarette case from his secretary, Trish, handed it to Evan, and said:
"You've done me a huge favor this time. Besides praising your contributions, I'm also giving you this as a small token of my gratitude."
Evan knew exactly what it was, and after making the usual polite refusal, he accepted it.
"By the way, I should tell you that your plan to seal off the East District and trap them like turtles in a jar has been approved. The East District will be sealed off and cleared out tonight at nine o'clock. Colonel Pal from the action team is in charge. Are you going to participate?"
Before leaving, Deputy Director Jonas suddenly remembered something he had just discussed in a meeting and asked a question.
Two days ago, after reaching an agreement with Miss Sharon and obtaining investigative information on other spies from Isinger Stanton, Evan drafted a report.
Based on the fact that many of the spies he had investigated were doing dirty work and had deep ties to the East District, he proposed a unified operation to blockade the East District, trap them like turtles in a jar, and thoroughly clean up the East District.
The plan was just approved today, but Evan is not going to participate because he has already made a great splash during this period. Even if he makes another contribution, it will not help him get promoted.
Moreover, since Robert officially became chairman of the Military and Intelligence Committee, coupled with Archbishop Anthony's approval of him and the existence of Hugh Deercha, those on the fringes of MI9 have been moving closer to him.
These people gravitated towards him for various reasons, but Evan couldn't take it for granted. He had to seek benefits for those who gravitated towards him. Therefore, Evan didn't participate in this operation, but instead offered advice to the participants as the plan's drafter.
Therefore, many fringe members of MI9 will be involved in this major operation, and it was Deputy Director Jonas who brought this together.
Most of those who were marginalized were Mason Deer's close associates and subordinates, suppressed by the royal family. Only when the royal family's representative in MI9 raised such a matter could these people be reinstated.
This was also one of the conditions under which Evan agreed to hand over the rat to him, helping him to offset the criticism he had been facing during this period due to the Lanius incident.
"No need. I trust Colonel Pal's abilities. The personnel for this operation are all veterans, and Colonel Pal is also an experienced senior. Even without me, we will definitely succeed without any mistakes."
Evan looked into Deputy Director Jonas's eyes and said to him with a smile.
During this period, marginalized and disillusioned members of MI9 suddenly began to coalesce; they were all former key members of MI9.
The energy it unleashes is considerable and will greatly impact the power structure within MI9.
One should not harbor malicious intent, but one must be wary of others. This major operation will bring great merit, and there can be no mistakes along the way.
If Evan gets involved, he might be taken advantage of, or even deliberately sabotaged, so Evan will absolutely not get involved.
At the same time, Evan specifically emphasized that he believed in Colonel Pal's ability to lead this major operation well, meaning that if anything went wrong, it would have nothing to do with him, the person who drafted the plan and did all the preliminary work.
The problem must lie in the execution. Colonel Pal, the one in charge of the operation, is the first to be blamed, and the relevant high-ranking officials who chose Colonel Pal to lead the operation are also implicated.
You should know that Ivan's brother Robert has just taken over as chairman of the Military Intelligence Committee and is sharpening his knives, looking for chickens to be slaughtered!
Seeing Evan's smile, Deputy Director Jonas knew he had seen through the possible scheme and smiled back, saying:
"Colonel Pal is indeed experienced and in his prime, so we really don't need your participation. You've been working hard lately, so take a couple of days off. I'll submit a report requesting commendation as soon as this operation is over."
After saying that, Deputy Director Jonas left with his beautiful secretary, Miss Tracy, but the smile on his face disappeared as he turned to leave.
Evan also knew that his good relationship with Deputy Director Jonas had ended at this moment, but not because of personal grudges.
When Evan first joined MI9, Jonas Augustus saw him simply as the younger brother of a close friend from military academy. Taking care of him meant taking care of both his friend's and his superior's brother.
However, as time went by, Evan unexpectedly took Mason Deer's daughter as his subordinate, attracting Mason Deer's old followers to his side.
A few days ago, when Evan attended an upper-class mass held by the Church of the Night, he actually received public praise from Archbishop Anthony of the Church of the Night. This further drew the attention of the Church of the Night members within MI9, and Evan's potential influence is already considerable.
Just as Jonas Augustus began to change his attitude toward Evan, the exposure of the Lannault incident caught him off guard, putting him in the eye of the storm. The longer it went on, the greater the pressure became.
Especially with the continued inability to find Lanius, King George III was under increasing pressure, and Jonas Augustus was worried that one day he would become the scapegoat.
Just then, Evan found him, reported the relevant information about Zeril, and put forward a bold conjecture: that Zeril's superior was a high-ranking rat turned by Intis.
If this is true, it would be incredibly valuable. If we could turn this rat against us, it would be like opening a window in both the Fussac Imperial Guard and the Eighth Intis.
This achievement is so great that if Jonas Augustus were to one day successfully ascend to the status of a demigod, he could even become the head of MI9 based on this achievement.
If anyone else had discovered this secret, Jonas might have taken credit for it, or even killed him to cover it up. But Evan was no ordinary person, so he could only try to negotiate with Evan indirectly.
Evan was waiting for him to negotiate terms. Given his status and strength, he was absolutely incapable of taking down this high-level rat. Since he couldn't take it down, Evan wanted to use this opportunity to seek greater gains.
His personal achievements were already very high, and he had greatly enhanced the reputation of MI9 during this period. In addition, he was too young and had not yet been promoted to the Extraordinary Rank, so he had no personal demands for the time being. Therefore, he directly made a condition that gave Jonas Augustus a headache.
As the royal family suppressing the remnants of Mason Deer's power, the goal is to lift the suppression and arrange for these people to participate in the large-scale operation drafted by Evan.
In the end, Jonas Augustus agreed, but Evan didn't believe it was his own decision and thought he should have consulted with King George III.
King George III absolutely could not stand by and watch his underlings, who had worked for him and taken the blame, be taken down. Everyone knew that in the Lannister affair, Jonas and the already punished members of the Royal Guard were the scapegoats.
If George III couldn't protect Jonas, then he wouldn't be able to command his men, and no one would work for him anymore. So, with George III's approval, the crackdown on Mason Deer's remaining men came to an end.
Jonas's suggestion that Evan participate in this large-scale operation was a scheme against him. The operation is bound to go wrong, and Evan, who is involved, will not be able to escape responsibility. When someone wants to find fault, they will always find a pretext.
This would greatly diminish Evan's previous achievements, and Mason Dill's subordinates involved would have even less to boast about. It's just a pity that Evan was more experienced than Jonas had imagined, and he wasn't blinded by his achievements. He subtly warned Jonas that this operation couldn't go wrong.
Otherwise, Colonel Parr would be primarily responsible, Jonas would be secondarily responsible, and given that the matter of Lanius is not yet resolved, the affair with the rat certainly cannot be made public. It would be incredibly easy to bring him down then. He should behave himself and not try anything funny, or he won't get away with it.
Evan watched Jonas Augustus's departing figure with a deep gaze.