Chapter 550: 242 What the heck is called a surprise!
The Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau of the Sherman Empire was the largest intelligence organization within the Empire’s territory, under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Military Departnt. Its original duty was to supervise the army, but later it expanded to monitoring all officials and departnts related to the military.
The main leadership of the Bureau was held by a Vice Admiral, a powerful military figure directly accountable to the Empire’s highest three commanders.
Under the Bureau’s frawork, twenty-six deputy directors held the rank of Rear Admiral or Brigadier General. With overlapping responsibilities and a plethora of offices, they jointly oversaw the main work of this massive organization.
When ntioning the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau, one inevitably has to ntion the Central Intelligence Agency of the New Federation.
The difference, however, was that the Bureau was mainly in charge of supervising internal affairs of the Empire, while the Federation Intelligence Bureau was responsible for intelligence work outside the Federation; the two were not directly comparable.
Within the Imperial Military Departnt, the Bureau was actually the fastest place for military promotion.
A noble-born officer with exceptional talents could, within the Bureau system, earn a few evaluations of third grade or higher military achievents, actively participate in administrative work, and, with a bit of luck and patronage, aspire to reach the rank of Colonel before retirent.
Lieutenant Colonel Atro’s career trajectory was initially set on this glorious path.
With the help of his uncle, this Baron worked diligently in the Bureau for over twenty years, eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and the position of Head of the International Court Departnt, stationed at the bustling Cole Port International Court.
Although he already had a wife in the Empire, while working abroad, he still developed nurous office romances and even had a cozy resting room set up in the local office.
There was no helping it; the cultural atmosphere of Cole Port was uncompromisingly against “gambling and drugs,” and Lieutenant Colonel Atro was simply adapting to local customs.
But then, suddenly;
Yes, very suddenly, just as he was reassigned back ho and prepared to continue his sprint for higher power, daunting news arrived.
A grave mistake had occurred in a task he had previously overseen.
That damned White Ghost was Captain Hanton!
It was Captain Hanton whom he had left in Cole Port Prison and hastily declared dead during a prison riot!
Regret, Lieutenant Colonel Atro felt regret then.
Fortunately, Atro had a powerful uncle.
As the results of the Cole Port Prison riot investigation were released, the uncle, who was well-acquainted with intelligence work, keenly sensed sothing off in the report and imdiately ordered Atro to investigate thoroughly.
This investigation uncovered a series of problems.
There was still a doctor on the Kigrov research ship who hadn’t been brought back into Imperial territory!
Atro spent so money and pulled so strings to gather intelligence, discovering that the woman was in fact a secret agent of the Guel Alliance and very likely had abducted Captain Hanton.
If this was to be disclosed, Atro’s bright future would be forever tarnished; the Imperial Military would never reuse any diocrity, even a Prince wouldn’t be an exception.
Atro panicked.
He wasn’t stupid; he saw the issues clearly. How could the Guel Alliance intelligence departnt go to such lengths to abduct an ordinary low-level officer?
But it didn’t matter, he had his uncle.
Atro reported all the circumstances truthfully, and his decisive uncle, leveraging his authority, classified the incident as a Category A event and marked nurous Imperial secret files on the supposed deceased Captain Hanton.
Later, Atro heard that a Vice Admiral commanded a Dreadnought to blast apart a Guel Alliance battleship.
He thought that with this, all would be settled.
But to his surprise, Hanton had not died and returned years later as the White Ghost!
The Cole Port Prison incident erged, unstoppable, upon the desks of a group of leaders in the Military Intelligence Bureau.
These leaders nearly swallowed Atro whole.
In their eyes, having once abandoned the White Ghost, it was the main reason the White Ghost was reluctant to return directly to the Imperial Military.
The best outco for Atro should have been a dry position with no chances for graft and no young female secretaries, where he could carry the bla and barely scrape by until retirent.
But it didn’t matter, he had his uncle.
Atro’s uncle secured him an opportunity for redemption.
Now, Atro stood in the spaceport on this nondescript Imperial Administrative Star, dressed sharply in ceremonial attire, his hair neatly parted, his clean-shaven face sporting an almost rigid smile. Floating before him was a transparent projection screen, emblazoned with two lines of large characters.
Welco hero Hanton;
Welco Captain Catherine.
By Atro’s side, two youthful and stunning girls, dressed in dresses and sneakers, held bright bouquets in their hands.
The entire spaceport was filled with plainclothes agents from the Bureau, and the security systems were ten tis tighter than usual.
Even to be on the safe side, Atro had used so connections to ensure that in the last four hours, the only rchant ship arriving at the port was the one carrying Yang Ming and Captain Catherine.
And this was just the preparation before receiving the guests.
In what ca next, Atro had prepared a series of surprises for Captain Hanton.
He had to beco Captain Hanton’s friend, to be the Bureau staff mber with the best relationship with the White Ghost, in order to preserve everything he had.
‘Thank you, uncle.’
Atro felt grateful in his heart.
And whenever he recalled how he had arrogantly sat in front of the White Ghost, spouting grandiose words and even refusing to et his sincere gaze… Atro felt a twinge of fear.
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