landbeastnovel Chapter 387 Counter-Espionage Scheme
Chapter 387 Counter-Espionage Scheme
Chapter 387 Counter-Espionage Scheme
What's your take on this?
Robert sat across from Evan, thought for a moment, but did not make a decision immediately. Instead, he asked for Evan's opinion.
Ever since Evan revealed that he had become the chosen one of the Goddess of Night, Robert has increasingly valued Evan's opinions and relied on his assistance. He would consult Evan on important matters.
"There are only two possibilities in this matter: either there are people within the Fussac Empire who genuinely believe it is possible to turn us against them, or they know it is impossible to turn us against them, but they still want to set a trap through this kind of thing!"
Personally, I lean towards the latter, but I can't rule out the former!
When Evan heard about this from Klein, his first reaction was that the Einhorn group was up to something, but looking at the details, he couldn't rule out the possibility that they really wanted to turn the group against them.
Robert nodded in agreement with Evan's assessment and continued:
"That's what I think too. The key to this matter is whether they intentionally leaked their information to you or it was unintentional!"
Robert was worried about Evan's sources. After all, anyone involved in such a secretive matter should be someone the Einhorn family trusts the most. No matter how good Evan is at planting spies, he shouldn't have access to such core secrets so quickly. Even Petrov Andrei was unlikely to have that access.
Evan knew Robert would ask this question before he arrived, so he prepared his answer in advance.
"As I told you before, I infiltrated the witch cult and turned several witches against me."
Last month, through Petrov Andrei's manipulation, I arranged for one of the witches to become Princess Fussac named Alice Einhorn, and made her the intelligence chief of the Fussac Empire in Backlund.
This time, Maxim went directly to "Alice" and gave her the mission to get close to me and turn me against my cause, emphasizing that she should not tell anyone about this, including Petrov Andrei!
Robert had known all along that Evan had witches working for him, after all, Beckeron of the Intis embassy was killed by a witch.
So he readily accepted Evan's words and said with a smile:
"I was initially dissatisfied with your 'Goddess of the Night' having you infiltrate various secret organizations, but it seems to have been quite effective."
Without this pawn you placed here, we might not even know what happened until the day we're confronted!
If that's the case, then the witches under your command shouldn't have been exposed.
Evan took another sip of his red wine and continued:
"I can guarantee that Alice's identity has not been exposed, which is why I cannot completely rule out the possibility that Einhorn and his men are genuinely trying to turn us against them."
The most important thing now is how we should respond.
This matter is extremely complex and difficult to handle; one wrong step could lead to complete failure.
"This is an opportunity for us, a good opportunity to establish connections with the Einhorn family."
"If we can establish some connection with the Einhorn family, it will greatly help our strategy, give us much more room to maneuver, and make it possible to implement plans that we dared not carry out in the past!"
Evan first analyzed the benefits of establishing ties with the Einhorn family.
The benefits were so great that even knowing it was like walking a tightrope and carried enormous risks, Evan couldn't resist the temptation.
"But we can't put all our eggs in one basket by the fact that this matter won't be exposed."
I agree that pretending to be tempted by the Einhorn family's offer and making contact with them would be very beneficial for our future actions, but the risks involved are also enormous!
"There's only one possibility: once we're involved, they can immediately sell us off to the Augustus family and use Augustus to eliminate us. That's entirely possible!"
Robert, on the other hand, analyzed the enormous risks involved. This wasn't a disagreement between Robert and Evan, but rather a way they discussed the issue.
Both sides hold different positions, and analyzing the pros and cons of a matter can make it easier to understand the whole situation and make the best choice.
Robert's words make a lot of sense, and that's the biggest challenge in this matter.
As long as the two sides have secret contact, it will be like mud stuck to your hands – even if it's not shit, it's still shit for the Horn family.
The Horn family will completely lose the initiative in the whole affair and will be unable to control the course of events!
Once the Augustus family finds out about this, it's hard to guarantee how they will react.
Even if the Augustus family doesn't react much in the end, the trust between the two sides will be at its lowest, which is absolutely unacceptable to the Horn family!
"What you said makes perfect sense, and considering that the attempt to turn us against our side was spearheaded by Ahomatova Einhorn, it's clear that the Einhorn family itself has not reached a consensus on this matter."
Ivan also agreed with Robert's analysis, while also offering a completely new perspective that corroborated Robert's concerns.
If the idea of turning Robert and Irwin against their leaders is a consensus within the Einhorn family, then it's likely that Dante Einhorn will ultimately send someone, rather than Akhmatova Einhorn taking the lead.
In this world, no organization can achieve complete consensus. The Augustus family has branches with different stances, and the Einhorn family is no exception!
"So even if Akhmatova Einhorn is truly sincere in trying to win us back, it's hard to guarantee that other members of the Einhorn family won't interfere!"
Not to mention that Akhmatova Einhorn might also use this incident to completely cut off our escape route. After all, he's an angel-level "schemer," and we can't afford to be careless!
The analysis has now reached a very clear point: Ahomatowa Einhorn's attempt to turn them against their own side has both enormous benefits and uncontrollable risks.
From this perspective, the whole situation seems to be heading into a dead end.
However, after a night of thought, and since Evan had come up with the idea of discussing this matter with Robert to push it forward, he naturally wouldn't let it fall through, so he had already come up with a solution.
"Actually, there are two factors in this matter that we cannot control: one is the reaction of the Einhorn family, and the other is the reaction of the Augustus family."
Ultimately, these two factors boil down to a matter of trust—whether the Augustus family trusts the Horn family!
Upon hearing Evan's words, Robert's eyes lit up immediately. He straightened up from leaning back on the sofa, placed his wine glass on the coffee table, and urged, "Go on, I'm listening!"
Evan didn't keep anyone in suspense and directly revealed his solution, which he had been thinking about all night.
"We have absolutely no way to stop the Einhorn family from doing what they will do!"
But there's still something we can do with the Augustus family!
The reason why we will lose all initiative once we make contact with Ahomatowa Einhorn is that it will make the Augustus family suspicious of us.
In that case, why don't we just repackage it and tell George III everything, letting him decide what we should do?
Robert seemed to hear a bell ringing in his head, a sound like a lightning bolt that cleaved through the fog surrounding him.
Yes, since contacting the Einhorn family might arouse suspicion from the Augustus family, wouldn't it be better to inform them of this beforehand?
Moreover, doing so would not only dispel suspicions but also make the Augustus family trust him even more.
In addition, Robert put himself in George III's shoes and realized that if he were George III, he would not have let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and might even have encouraged the Horn family to make contact with Ahomatowa Einhorn.
This is because it can not only be used to deceive the Fussac Empire at crucial moments, but also to sow discord within the Einhorn family through counter-espionage.
Because Ahomatowa Einhorn's position in the Fusak Empire is somewhat similar to that of Duncan Augustus in the Kingdom of Rune.
Robert even went a step further: if he were George III, he might have wanted to use the Furst Empire to deal with Duncan Augustus.
After all, ever since the attack on the new ambassador Intis's train in West Lavis, George III had been planning to get rid of Duncan Augustus.
Moreover, even if George III didn't think of this at first, Robert would find a way to remind him later.
After all, Duncan Augustus was also his target, and even more so Mr. Azik's target.
In an instant, Robert had already sentenced Duncan Augustus to death in his mind.
So many people want him dead, how could he possibly survive?
"This method is feasible! But it's difficult to strike the right balance."
Having made his decision, Robert began to consider the operational details.
Moreover, what he said makes a lot of sense. If we were to make contact with Maxim too readily in the face of his attempt to win him over, it might arouse suspicion.
Evan was prepared for this question and said with a smile:
"Therefore, the breach cannot be opened from your side, but from my side."
With the goddess's blessing, I am confident that I will not reveal the fact that I have been promoted to demigod in front of her.
If I manage to break through your defenses and then run into a wall with you, Maxim might abandon his two-pronged approach and instead try to find a breakthrough with me.
And I can take this opportunity to make some unreasonable demands, put them in a difficult position, and in turn increase their trust in me!
In fact, Evan had confidence in the "City of Calamity," but there was no need to explain this to Robert.
"You want to use this opportunity to target the Sunia fleet?"
Robert reacted quickly, immediately realizing what Evan was trying to do.
Just like the dispute over naval and army funding within the Kingdom of Rune.
Although the armies of the Fussac Empire are all controlled by the Einhorn family, they are not immune to the same fate. In fact, the fact that the highest-ranking officials on both sides are angels has made the conflict even more acute.
After all, the Hunter path is the war path, which has the authority to "gather the masses". Whoever has the stronger army is correspondingly stronger.
To some extent, hunters of the same order from the same faction are the biggest enemies.
This is also why the Hunter path is so competitive and has a much faster turnover rate than other paths.
Sometimes, Evan even admired Dante Einhorn, the "Conqueror" of the Fussac Empire, wondering how he had managed to keep this vast empire from falling apart all these years.
In any case, based on the research conducted by Evan and Robert through various channels, a large part of the reason for the decline of the Soren family was internal strife, and then they were very unlucky to encounter the protagonist of the era—Roselle, which ultimately led to their downfall.
"For Akhomatova Einhorn, targeting the Sunia fleet and taking advantage of others' generosity would both gain my trust and strike at another Einhorn—why not?"
Evan spread his hands, looking as if he was thinking of Akhmatova Einhorn, which made Robert both amused and exasperated.
Evan's suggestion sounds absurd, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that it perfectly leverages the internal conflicts within the Einhorn family and the current situation, making it highly feasible.
Furthermore, Robert also believed that Akhmatova Einhorn would find it difficult to resist this suggestion, because such attempts to weaken domestic rivals through the hand of the enemy are common in history and are familiar to everyone.
"Alright, we'll do as you say. You'll stay in Backlund for the next two months as much as possible. Whenever Maxim shows up, I'll go directly to George III."
After weighing the options, Robert failed to see any flaws in the plan and finally made up his mind to kill Duncan Augustus.
In truth, Robert didn't want to advance through other pathways after leaving the legal profession, since the rituals required to become the "Black Emperor" at the end of the lawyer's path were too complicated.
Since learning about the history of the Horn family and deciding to no longer serve the Augustus family, Robert naturally turned his attention to the position of Sequence 0.
Although he doesn't know what Sequence 0 of the Arbitrator pathway is, Robert, based on his understanding of Arbitrator potions and rituals, feels that it shouldn't be as complicated as the 'Black Emperor'.
So if he could go through the 'arbitrator' route, Robert would still like to continue down that path.
Of course, it's better to be safe than sorry. Robert always has two plans. While targeting Duncan Augustus, he also prepared to target the King of the Five Seas, Nast Solomon.
After agreeing on matters concerning the Fussac Empire with Robert, Evan brought up the matter of Earl Hall.
"I received your message. Why has Earl Hall suddenly aligned himself with us?"
Robert picked up the bottle again, poured himself and Ivan a glass, and said with a smile:
"Earl Hall has a keen eye; he senses a major shift in the world order, that the extraordinary will no longer live in seclusion, and thus he intends to nurture his second son!"