Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Chapter 1260 Acting without authorization

Dragon's Nest, late at night.

"The action begins." Yan Shuangying gave instructions to the telegraph, "Europe No. 34, you are responsible for creating some "flaws" to make Smith feel that he has found important clues. Remember, the flaws should be vague, so that he will feel that he has discovered them with his keen insight."

"Understood." Europe No. 34 replied quickly.

"Longyan," Yan Shuangying continued to send the message, "You need to show some slight panic, but not too obvious. Let Smith feel that he is getting closer to the truth."

"Got it. I'll reveal some of my true colors," Longyan replied.

A week later, Smith's office.

"Sir!" Thompson rushed in excitedly, "We discovered an interesting detail while investigating Brighton's social circles."

&34;What details?&34;

&34;For the past three months, he has been going to an antique shop near Whitehall every Thursday. And the owner of this shop...&34;Thompson lowered his voice,&34;is a Chinese!&34;

Smith's eyes lit up: "Keep investigating! Find out the details of every time they met."

In the subsequent investigation, more "clues" surfaced.

"Sir, the antique shop owner often goes in and out of the Chinese Embassy."

&34;Brighton has been frequenting a private club recently, where many Eastern businessmen gather. &34;

&34;We found some Chinese newspapers in the backyard of our villa in Brighton...&34;

Every discovery made Smith more confident in his judgment.

"See?" he said to Thompson. "These are not coincidences. Brighton has established a secret contact point near Whitehall under the cover of collecting antiques."

It was then that they noticed that Brighton's recent behavior was a little strange.

"He's started cleaning up his office," Thompson reported, "and seems to be in a state of disquiet lately."

"He found out we were checking him," Smith sneered, "and started to panic."

A day later, they intercepted a letter from Brighton to Scotland and found a code hidden in it after decryption.

"Ha!" Smith said excitedly, "This is the evidence we want! Keep monitoring him, I believe we will be able to catch him soon."

However, he did not notice that in the command room of Dragon Nest, Yan Shuangying was looking at the latest report from Europe 3:

"Smith has completely fallen into the trap we set. The antique shop, the club contacts, the Chinese newspapers, and the letter that they were specifically intercepted all convinced him that he had the key evidence. He has now been blinded by his own reasoning and judgment." - European No. 34"

"Very good," Yan Shuangying replied, "Let him continue to investigate. A person who thinks he has grasped the truth will often ignore the most obvious traps."

"Longyan also cooperated very well," Europe No. 34 continued to report, "The slight panic he showed further strengthened Smith's judgment."

Yan Shuangying sneered: "This is the highest level of intelligence warfare - making the opponent firmly believe that he has discovered the truth, but not knowing that this "truth" itself is a carefully designed trap."

At this time, Smith was excitedly organizing the "evidence" he had collected and preparing to make a final report to his superiors.

He firmly believed that this time, no one could deny Brighton's true identity.

It was late at night in Smith's office.

He lit a cigarette, looked at the documents and photos piled on the table, and fell into deep thought. The surveillance records of the antique shop, the contact report of the club, and the encrypted letter... seemed to be enough to convict him.

"Sir," Thompson said quietly, "would you like to report this to Sir Robert? This evidence..."

"No," Smith blew out a puff of smoke, "now is not the time."

&34;But we already have so much evidence...&34;

"Don't you understand yet?" Smith stood up and walked to the window. "Brighton is not an ordinary spy. He is a senior adviser to the Prime Minister and the heir to the most prominent family in England. To touch such a person, ordinary evidence is far from enough."

&34;So you mean...&34;

"Wait," Smith turned around, his eyes sharp, "wait until we have absolutely fatal evidence, wait until he is completely unable to turn over, then we will take action."

"But sir," Thompson said worriedly, "it's too dangerous to act on our own. If something goes wrong..."

"What are you afraid of?" Smith sneered, "It is precisely because of his special status that the higher-ups dare not act rashly. But as long as we can catch him in the act and find evidence of his direct contact with Chinese intelligence personnel, even the Prime Minister will have to deal with this matter."

&34;But...&34;

"No buts!" Smith interrupted, "Think about it, if we report this to the higher-ups now, what will they do? They will tip off Brighton, give him time to destroy the evidence, and let him find a way out."

He pressed the cigarette butt heavily into the ashtray: "No, we must catch him off guard this time. Let him be completely exposed when he is most proud and thinks he is safest."

&34;So how do we do that?&34;

"I have discovered," Smith lowered his voice, "the antique shop that Brighton goes to every Thursday is likely to be their secret contact point. According to the latest intelligence, an important person will visit next Thursday."

A cold light flashed in his eyes: "That's the opportunity we're waiting for. When the time comes, I will lead the team myself and capture them on the spot."

"This is too risky," Thompson said urgently. "If this operation fails, you will ..."

"I know the consequences," Smith interrupted him, "but this is the only chance. Only by catching them in the act can we make those high-ranking officials give up. Otherwise, no matter how much indirect evidence there is, they will choose to turn a blind eye."

He walked to the table and picked up the intercepted secret letter: "Believe me, Brighton is desperate. He started to panic and started to make mistakes. This is our best chance."

&34;Then at least let me know...&34;

"No!" Smith said firmly, "We are the only ones who know this. Any leak of information may cause the operation to fail."

Looking at Smith's determined eyes, Thompson knew he could not change his decision and could only nod helplessly.

At this time, an encrypted telegram was being sent from London to Dragon's Nest:

"He took the bait. As you might expect, Smith decided to act on his own. He was fully convinced that he had the truth and was ready to make the arrest next Thursday. This conceited man finally walked into our carefully designed trap." - Longyan"