Chapter 1284: Infiltration

When the joint report from Iron Axe and Edith reached him, Roland’s first thought was spy films — the particular genre of them, black and white or washed-out color, with men in overcoats slipping through checkpoints while carrying microfilm. The thought came and went in a second. What remained was the recognition that this was genuinely workable.

He had thought further than Edith, if only because his frame of reference was wider.

Espionage was one of the oldest professions in organized warfare, and it had worn many names across many centuries. What Roland was familiar with were the networks of the two World Wars: early in those conflicts, intelligence gathering had been improvised, almost artisanal — two individuals communicating without system or structure. As governments tightened their grip on civil society and record-keeping, the craft had evolved under pressure into something systematic, something that could survive the scrutiny of a police state. Cell structures. Dead drops. Legend-building.

But in a feudal country governed by nobles, where registration was inconsistent, movement records nearly nonexistent, and local officials largely indifferent to whoever passed through the market square — the operational environment was almost incomparably permissive. A trained agent here would be essentially invisible. Even Nightingale, who could strip a lie bare with a glance, would get nothing from someone who carried no lies — only a routine life and a second identity stitched beneath it like a hidden seam.

Roland approved the proposal immediately.

He had no intention of handing the whole project to Edith, though — and that had nothing to do with trust. Intelligence collection was long, slow, granular work. Edith’s mind was best deployed at the level of strategy and the whole shape of the war. To pull her down into the operational details of a single network would be waste on the order of using a master lens-grinder to cut window glass.

He needed a professional.

Roland uncapped his pen and placed Hill Fawkes at the top of the letter.

The Kingdom of Dawn had been quiet lately. The former ringmaster, who had built his fortune on the circulation of information and the management of people who needed to disappear, must be restless with inactivity. Roland sealed the letter and passed it to Nightingale, who handed it to Honey.

That problem, at least, was dispatched.

What occupied him afterward was larger: not a single intelligence cell, but a communications network — one that could carry information across a continent without a carrier pigeon that took days or a messenger that took weeks.

Until the expedition to Taquila, all his intelligence needs had been domestic, and the “Seagull” had been adequate. Now the First Army was fighting in the Kingdom of Wolfheart and the Kingdom of Everwinter simultaneously. The report in his hands had been composed a week ago and arrived by sea. Even with Honey’s animal messengers cutting the lag down to two or three days, the delay was structural: Honey could not extend her network indefinitely, could not modify animal behavior at its roots, and had a hard ceiling on the number of creatures she could hold at any one time. She could not support communication across the entire Western Region, let alone across the nation and beyond.

The only true solution was radio.

Telegraph technology was simple in principle — simpler than what they were already running — but like any signal system, it depended on reception. A telegraph line could carry a message reliably for roughly a hundred kilometers without an amplifier. An electron tube could extend that range, repeat and boost the signal, make distances that a pigeon took two days to cover into a matter of minutes.

And if he could build an electron tube, he could build a radio.

There was almost no electromagnetic noise in this era: no cellular towers, no power grids, no industrial interference. The electromagnetic spectrum was clean and quiet. A properly tuned antenna on the Impassable Mountain Range could receive signals from thousands of kilometers away. Portable radios, distributed to front-line units, would give commanders a picture of the battlefield that no messenger system had ever provided. The communications advantage alone would outweigh almost any numerical disparity.

He did not know yet where to begin with the electron tube. Perhaps it was time to give the Design Bureau of Graycastle a new direction.

That night Roland crossed into the Dream World, sent Zero off toward school, and drove south to the Clover Group’s construction site. Garde had moved quickly — the plant’s exterior had been repainted, the equipment replaced, the rust stripped away. Had the man not been so intent on demolishing the apartment block, Roland might have found him genuinely agreeable to work with.

He heard the machinery before he saw it. The yard was crowded, workers drifting in from every corner of the plant, and in the center of the gathering stood a machine that was simultaneously ingenious and slightly absurd: the lower half of a tracked vehicle, not yet assembled into anything recognizable as a final product, coupled to a steam-powered piston arrangement that sat atop a second tractor. The second tractor was, in effect, powering the first — providing the steam that the tracked vehicle’s engine could not yet generate on its own.

Roland stood at the edge of the crowd and laughed.

The principle was the same as a solar torch that only worked in sunlight. Master Xie had not solved the chicken-and-egg problem of testing a steam-powered vehicle without a working steam source; he had simply added a second chicken. The tractor had to run under its own power and power the caterpillar rig simultaneously. Ludicrous. Elegant. Exactly what Roland needed.

“Ahem — hey, boss.” Master Xie appeared at his elbow, visibly bracing for judgment.

“Good work,” Roland said. “This is exactly what I wanted.”

“R-really?” Master Xie scratched his scalp. “You’re certain your collector friends want something like this?”

The tractor frame, Roland noted, had been completed since his last visit. Master Xie had been putting in nights.

“Did you produce the testing components with machine tools?”

“Every one.” Master Xie’s hands moved together, the habitual gesture of a craftsman accounting for his choices. “The tractor, the boiler, and the water tank I bought secondhand — all of it came to around three hundred thousand yuan…”

“Money is not the problem.” The Clover Group was covering the costs. “As long as the parts were machined, not cast or forged by hand, my friend will be satisfied. Keep going. When the deal closes, your salary doubles.”

Chapter 1284 - Infiltration

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn When Roland received the report jointly written by the commander of the First Army and the chief of the General Staff, he immediately thought of the spy movies he had watched. This was apparently a very feasible plan. He even thought more about the plan than Edith. Spy was an ancient profession, and it had various names in different times, but the spy Roland was familiar with were those in WWI and WWII. Early intelligence collection was simply a two-way communication without a systematic organization. As the government tightened their control over people, spies and agents found it increasingly hard to escape the scrutiny, and that was the time when a well-organized system was established. This also meant that in a feudal country ruled by nobles, spies could be anywhere. Once those agents received some professional training and learned cunningtricksto protect themselves, they would never be found even if the whole city was turned upside down. They were like shadows slinking in the city, whosepresencenever raised the awareness of the people who received their tips. Even Nightingale would fail to get anything out of them upon an interrogation. Roland thus approved the proposal at once. However, he was not planning to entrust this task totally to Edith. This, nonetheless, had nothing to do with trust. Intelligence collection could be time-consuming. He would rather Edith focus more on the big picture of the planthan a specific project.Otherwise, itwould be a total waste of Edith’s talent. He would need a professional to deal with this matter. Roland spread open a letter and put Hill Fawkes at the top. The Kingdom of Dawn had been quite peaceful recently. This former ringmaster must be very bored at the moment. After Nightingale handed the letter to Honey, Roland started to consider about another thing. That was an intelligence gathering network. Before, he had only needed to take care of the war and political matters within Graycastle. However, ever since the expedition to Taquila, it had taken the carrier pigeon a much longer time to commute. Thanks to the support of the “Seagull”, Roland was still able to receive information in a timely manner. Nevertheless, they were now waging a war in the Kingdom of Wolfheart and the Kingdom of Everwinter, and Rolandnoticeda significant delay in communication. For example, the report he was currently reading had been written a week ago and had been shipped by sea. Although animal messengers would make things a lot faster, he would still need to wait for at least two or three days. More importantly, Honey did not have a lot of messengers that could fly more than 1,000 kilometers. She could only control the behavior of the animals but not change it. Plus, Honey was not powerful enough to support the communication throughout the entire Western Region even for short-distance messengers, let alone the communication throughout the whole nation and beyond Graycastle. There was actually a limit in the number of the animals she could control. Therefore, how to efficiently deliver messages was also a huge problem that needed to be solved after this intelligence gathering network was established. Roland knew very well that the ultimate solution would be radio communication. The telegraphtechnologies were simple, but like telephones, the communication through telegraphs relied largely on reception. Normally, the signal could only cover a distance of 100 kilometers without a repeater like an electron tube that could amplify signals. However, if he couldinvent an electron tube, he would also be able to create radios. There was no electromagnetic pollution in this era. The sound produced by tuned electromagnetic waves was very similar to the crying of a baby. He would only need to erect an antenna on the top of the Impassable Mountain Range to receive messages thousands of kilometers away. If he could successfully create radios, it would only take a few minutes to transmit the report from the front to his office. If every soldier in the army was equipped with a portable radio, that would be even more helpful to the war than the Radiation Project. Nevertheless, Roland had no idea where to start and how. Perhaps, it was time to ask the Design Bureau of Graycastle to work on more projects. Roland entered the Dream World at night. After he sent Zero off to school, he drove to the construction site of the Clover Group in the southern suburb. Garde was indeed an efficient businessman. He fulfilled his promise at once. Not only did he authorize Roland to manage the plant, but the plant was refurbished as well. The rusty wall was painted, and the facilities were renewed. Had the Clover Group not insisted on demolishing the apartment building, Roland would have loved to deal with Garde and conducted more business with him. He parked his vehicle and found the yard outside the plant look a bit strange. Normally, few people came here, but today, there were a lot of workers. He also hearddeep, heavyroar of machineries. Roland quickly passed through the crowd and saw a queer catepillar machine in front of him. Only the lower part of the machine was currently completed. There was nothing special about the catepillar and the wheels per se. What attracted these workers was the distinctive steam-powered piston at the top and another tractor that produced steam. Roland burst into a laugh. So that was Master Xie’s idea. To minimize the impact of the imaginary boiler and water tank, he installed this part of the machine onto a tractor so that he could test out both of them at the same time. The tractor not only had to run on its own but it alsoneeded to power the catepillar machine. Th principle was so similar to that of the “solar torch light” that would only work when there was light. “Ahem… hey, boss,” Master Xie, having realized the awkwardness of the machine, greeted Roland in embarrassment. Roland praised him heartily, “Good job. This is exactly what I want!” He came here to check the progress of the project. Last time when he had come here,Master Xiehad onlycompleted theframe of the tractor. But now,the tractorwas finished. Master Xie indeed had put a lot of efforts into it. “R-really?” Master Xie said while scratching his scalp. “Are you sure your collector friends are interested in this kind of thing?” “Did you make the parts of the tester with machine tools?” “Yes, I can assure you about that,” Master Xie replied quickly as he massaged his hands. “But I bought the tractor, the boiler and the water tank. They’re all second-handed, and it cost me around ￥300,000…” “Money isn’t a problem,” Roland dismissed his concern while waving his hand. The Clover Group would pay everything. “As long as they were manually made, my friend will be satisfied. Keep up the great work. Once the deal is successfully closed, I’ll double your salary as a bonus!”