Munitions Empire-Chapter 2013 - 1877: Eyes of the Divine [Part 2]

He paused for a moment, then added: "However, due to the immense amount of data, and the limited performance of the central processor, it will take some time to complete the matching work."

"Moreover," another colleague continued, "besides this person, we have also identified seven or eight similarly suspicious individuals who frequently appear near the Forbidden City."

With a hint of concern in his tone, he said, "We are attempting to connect these individuals to see if we can find any breakthrough. However, some of them are ’newcomers’ to Chang’an, while others have been here for several years with varied backgrounds."

"These people are not ordinary tourists," a seasoned agent said assertively, "Their behavior is very suspicious, entirely illogical."

He paused, then added, "Their disguises are full of holes in the eyes of experienced agents like us, and we can confirm with absolute certainty that they are scouting."

"What’s the progress on the weapons investigation?" Li’ao finally spoke, his voice deep and powerful, imbued with a bit of undeniable authority.

The team member responsible for investigating suspicious weapons replied wearily, "Director, the weapons inquiry is quite difficult because the scope we have to monitor is too vast, and some mistakes are inevitable."

"Just summarize the important parts," Li’ao interrupted impatiently, squinting his eyes with a trace of coldness.

Seeing this, his subordinate shrank back in fear and quickly reported the investigation results: "Regarding the Eastern Continent, due to frequent battles recently, as far as we know, in the past three months, at least four sniper teams have gone missing or suffered losses, with more than seven high-precision sniper rifles lost, and some observational equipment also missing."

After swallowing, he continued, "In the Western Continent, the management of military weapons is relatively strict, and the accounts mostly tally up, but over thirty-two civilian high-precision rifles are missing, making the investigation quite difficult, and it’s beyond our capacity."

"Additionally," he took a deep breath and continued, "we also conducted a covert investigation and found that including mines, the amount of missing explosives is astonishing, estimated to exceed a ton, including some powerful military-grade explosives. This doesn’t even include shells, because the management of shells is more complex, and accurate statistics are impossible."

The amount of shells and aerial bombs consumed in the Eastern Continent over the past half year is countless, including those that were fired without exploding, and it seems completely pointless to attempt to count such data.

"Director, starting the investigation from weapons and explosives is too inefficient, like searching for a needle in a haystack," a team member suggested. "I recommend we directly arrest these suspicious individuals to let them know we have them in our sights. Perhaps they will cancel their plans out of fear. If we manage to interrogate the person behind it, even better."

"But what if we fail to extract information?" another team member opposed, "Even if we capture these suspicious individuals, the masterminds hiding behind them still roam free, posing a threat to Your Majesty’s safety, which is absolutely intolerable!"

"Then what do you propose?" the first team member retorted.

"My suggestion is," another team member analyzed calmly, "on one hand, let the team investigating weapons and explosives continue their deep dive, while we increase manpower and enhance surveillance of those suspicious targets. Make sure we don’t alert them, just monitor their every move closely."

He paused, then added, "On the other hand, utilize street cameras to closely monitor that most suspicious person. I want to know his residence, who he interacts with, and detailed information on everyone he’s been in contact with, inspecting each one thoroughly without missing any clues."

"We’ll proceed like this for now!" Li’ao didn’t have a better solution and thus accepted his subordinates’ suggestion, ordering aloud.

"Yes, Sir!" everyone present answered in unison, their tone firm and powerful.

...

Sofia angrily stared at the computer screen in front of her, her long fingers clenched into a fist. She finally understood why her subordinates had been saying that they seemed to be under surveillance...

Indeed, she finally learned about something called a camera. This gadget was also a novelty on the Western Continent, and if it weren’t for the internet, she might not have known about it.

As for the subordinate she stationed in Chang’an... he simply doesn’t go online! With Sofia’s financial support, this subordinate has been too busy making money and enjoying life to have time to pay attention to the latest scientific and technological information.

Exposed! That was Sofia’s first reaction, but her second reaction was that she should still be safe.

The trusted aide who frequently went scouting had been acting independently for some time, and had severed all contact with her, so even if caught, he wouldn’t implicate her.

Yet she felt helpless that her action plan hadn’t even started, and a backup plan was already doomed to fail.

After dealing with the Great Tang Empire’s Silver Fox, also known as the Imperial Security Bureau, for so many years, she was well aware of her opponent’s capabilities. She had no illusions; she knew her subordinates had surely been exposed.

The only question was: how much had been uncovered?

"Fool!" Sofia slapped the table hard, her exquisite face full of anger, her tone becoming sharp, "You’ve been here for so many years, and you tell me you don’t know about computers? Or the internet? What have you been doing every day? How on earth are you completing the tasks I assigned to you?" She quickly turned her head, her sharp gaze cutting like a knife towards the subordinate standing beside her, as if she might flay him alive.

Her subordinate, frightened by this sudden outburst of anger, shivered all over, and his already somewhat awkward expression became even more uneasy, with large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, soaking his collar.

"Ma-Madam..." he stuttered, trying to explain but at a loss for words.

Sofia took a deep breath, suppressing her inner fury, pointed at the computer in front of her, and said word by word, "I’ve asked about this! Lots of young kids know how to use it! And you tell me you can’t? Do you even have a brain?"

She turned back to the computer screen, her long fingers flying over the keyboard, trying to sift through the complex information to find what she needed: "I spent so much money training you, and this is the answer you give me?"

Her tone was filled with disappointment and helplessness: "How can I trust you to complete more important tasks in the future?"

The subordinate bowed his head, not daring to meet Sofia’s gaze, only wiping the sweat off his forehead repeatedly, whispering in defense: "M-Madam, there’s nothing I can do... I’ve never encountered this sort of thing before, it’s just...impossible for me."

Sofia never really knew how to use such things either, but she was indeed very smart, managing to learn some functions of the computer within a few days. Although somewhat clumsy, she was far more capable than others.

If she were not so exceptionally intelligent, she wouldn’t have thrived within the Shireck Consortium, nor could she have opposed the Great Tang Group for so many years.

"Shut up!" Sofia ignored the idiot standing beside her, using both index fingers clumsily to peck at the keys on the keyboard, typing out the keywords she needed, and began browsing some content online that interested her.

This thing is simply too convenient, so convenient that information previously requiring extensive investigation can be found easily... For someone like Sofia, it was like opening the door to a new world, making her somewhat fascinated.