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 Department. Its original duty was to supervise the army, but later it expanded to monitoring all officials and departments 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 framework, 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 mentioning the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau, one inevitably has to mention 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 Department, 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 achievements, actively participate in administrative work, and, with a bit of luck and patronage, aspire to reach the rank of Colonel before retirement.
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 Department, stationed at the bustling Cole Port International Court.
Although he already had a wife in the Empire, while working abroad, he still developed numerous 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.
Yes, very suddenly, just as he was reassigned back home 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 something off in the report and immediately 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 some money and pulled some 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 mediocrity, even a Prince wouldn’t be an exception.
He wasn’t stupid; he saw the issues clearly. How could the Guel Alliance intelligence department 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 numerous 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 emerged, 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 outcome for Atro should have been a dry position with no chances for graft and no young female secretaries, where he could carry the blame and barely scrape by until retirement.
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.
Welcome 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 times tighter than usual.
Even to be on the safe side, Atro had used some connections to ensure that in the last four hours, the only merchant 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 came next, Atro had prepared a series of surprises for Captain Hanton.
He had to become Captain Hanton’s friend, to be the Bureau staff member with the best relationship with the White Ghost, in order to preserve everything he had.
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 meet his sincere gaze... Atro felt a twinge of fear.