The speech was a success.

To be fair, the beautiful and noble Countess standing on stage in her glamorous armor, raising the banner and recounting the glorious history of the nation, with a particularly captivating voice, was certainly something everyone loved to hear.

Moreover, the speech of this Countess had been polished by a certain Transmigrator, blending both grand epic narratives and stories of ordinary people.

When Sif concluded the speech with, "The national interest is your interest, and your interest is the national interest; the White Rose battle flag will always be with you," the young people present were all moved.

Of course, no speech can move everyone.

With keen eyes, Roland noticed a few new cadets who reacted indifferently and even a bit dismissively.

Roland silently noted their appearances, intending to have Raikkonen investigate their backgrounds later.

If they can't blend into such an atmosphere, there might be some issues.

Just as he was silently taking note of people, Sif, who had finished the speech, walked over.

"Roland, there are a few cadets acting strange."

"The ones who didn't give positive feedback during your speech?" Roland felt a chill in his heart; Sif wouldn't make random guesses, she truly had Insight.

"Not just them, there are over a dozen people who harbor hostility towards me."

Sif said softly, "It was just a speech, logically speaking, even if they couldn't resonate, it shouldn't lead to hostility. Moreover, they don't know my true identity, so their hatred is directed towards..."

Empress Sylph.

However, the Empress is also the Countess, so the hatred directed at the Empress was transferred to Sif.

Roland and Sif exchanged a glance, seeing the cold killing intent in each other's eyes.

These individuals had major issues.

In this era, there was no strict political screening, and Roland, with his motto of meritocracy, inevitably had some slip through the net into the Military Academy.

In a group of nearly a thousand cadets, having selfish and divergent minds is normal, but how could they have such clear hatred for the Empress?

Without a trace of expression, Roland called over Boen, asking him to start the cadets on a simple drill, with a gathering planned for the evening.

After making arrangements, he immediately sought out Raikkonen.

As a professional paparazzi once, he had an excellent memory for faces, able to remember them clearly with just a glance.

During the upcoming banquet, he would remember the suspicious individuals like a hound, and investigate them one by one.

Roland was curious to know what kind of people would bite the hand that feeds them by plotting against the Empress.

Insight is indeed a very useful Extraordinary Ability.

Although it currently only distinguishes between hostility and goodwill, loyalty and deceit, it is already very powerful.

Insight is practically tailor-made for authority-based professions, thoroughly solving the problem of rulers not knowing what their ministers are thinking.

Raikkonen was invigorated upon receiving the task.

He hadn't had a chance to make a contribution for some time, almost feeling gloomy.

His primary task was responsible for the intelligence system construction. However, this is a long-term systematic project; even though Roland had given him authority and funds, manpower was scarce.

Intelligence personnel can't be casually found off the street; they must possess very strong professional capabilities, and be extremely loyal with solid roots.

The construction of the intelligence system was proceeding with difficulty, currently dependent mainly on the Golden Kite Wanderers. But wanderers are, after all, foreigners who will eventually return home, requiring self-reliance in the end.

During this period, he felt very empty; if not for also maintaining discipline, he would have been quite bored.

The opportunity to make a contribution was rare, and of course, he wouldn't miss it.

At dusk, as the sun set in the west, the busy cadets cheerfully entered the communal dining hall.

Dining is the simplest pleasure, regardless of the realm.

Especially with tonight being hosted by both the Countess and the Governor for dinner.

This was a supreme honor.

Many of them, in their lifetimes, had only ever seen minor officials like mayors, tax officers, and sheriffs.

Upon hearing that the Lord Governor ranks even higher than a provincial governor, many were so excited their lips trembled, barely able to sit still.

The god-like beauty of the Countess made them want to look but afraid to do so, fearing desecration.

Roland clearly saw the trepidation in their eyes.

That was the normal mentality.

His selection criteria for military personnel came from Qi Jiguang's "Records of Military Training," and these young cadets were among the best, mostly from backgrounds as farmers, miners, hunters, and industrial workers.

Few of them had seen major officials, and feeling apprehensive was normal.

In such a setting, those who could maintain calmness inside and out had either seen much of the world or harbored ulterior motives.

The dinner was sumptuous.

After all, this might be the last great meal for some of those with ulterior motives, and no care could be spared.

Before the meal began, Roland stood in the center of the hall, smiling as he delivered his address.

After completing his address, his expression turned serious, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Cadets, you have all voluntarily joined the New Army, voluntarily pledged allegiance to the Empress, correct?"

Even the most honest farmer would know the answer to this question, and everyone responded vociferously.

Roland raised his right hand, speaking in a deep voice: "I can offer you opportunities for advancement, a stage for promotion and wealth, but all this is predicated on loyalty and courage!"

"If anyone is disloyal or unwilling to serve the Empress, you may stand up now, and consider this banquet my farewell gift; I promise not to pursue it."

These people might come from Cabinet factions or other countries; persuading them to leave quietly was best, avoiding unnecessary bloodshed.

By this point, if they still wouldn't leave, then they were enemies and should not be treated kindly.

The entire room was silent, no one moved.

A few people in the crowd glanced around, not daring to look at Roland.

They were also quite anxious, but there was no room for retreat, so they could only do their best to disguise themselves.

Roland smiled, raised his glass, and said loudly, "I know everyone here is loyal to the Empire, cheers!"

The opportunity was given, but if they don't cherish it, then it's time to close the net!

Sif squinted, a touch of crimson appearing in her pupils.

Damn it. Eating her food, taking her money, not only not doing their job well but also showing hostility toward her?

If she didn't want to catch more fish, she would have killed all these ill-intentioned people right now.

After Roland and Sif toasted the students three times, they left the banquet scene, giving Raikkonen the badge numbers of unusual personnel.

They needn't worry about what came next, as professionals would handle it.

Of course, Raikkonen could handle such an open-book exam.

He wasn't aiming for high marks; he wanted a perfect score.

Taking the opportunity to toast the students, he carefully observed the targets they had discovered.

These people hid well, but they still had flaws.

No matter how well they spoke the Hansa dialect, after using the rolling "r" for twenty years, it was still unmistakable!

Under the rounds of toasts from the knights of the Knight Order, almost all the students who attended the banquet were drunk.

It's just that some woke up in dormitories, others in interrogation rooms.

What awaited these people were incessant fatigue interrogations and furious interrogators.

In this era, there wasn't a superhuman with beliefs as steadfast as the sun; even the toughest of men couldn't withstand multiple attacks.

...

After three days, Raikkonen placed the detailed interrogation report in front of Sif and Roland.

There were a total of eleven suspicious individuals, coming from the Cabinet, Vladimir Empire, Jin Yuan Republic, and Tirol Kingdom.

But this was just the tip of the iceberg; the related personnel they confessed involved more than a hundred people.

Sif's eyes reddened, and a murderous aura filled the room.

But she controlled her emotions and said coldly, "Raikkonen, leave this matter to you. Root out every single one of those behind them, not missing a single one!"

The goal of not missing a single one is somewhat idealistic; all intelligence organizations have loss-cutting mechanisms, and how they reduce losses after an intelligence agent's communication is cut off is also an important part.

In the next week, Raikkonen, using the information pried from intelligence personnel, started capturing people following the clues and quickly caught nearly a hundred hidden agents.

The largest number came from the Vladimir Empire and the Jin Yuan Republic, followed by the Tirol Kingdom.

There weren't many intelligence personnel from the Cabinet ministers, and they weren't sent by William but by the Finance Minister Sim.

Perhaps he knew Norton had joined Roland's camp, or perhaps for other reasons, in any case, he firmly stood against the Empress, becoming the most obstinate member of the anti-imperial authority faction.

The three intelligence personnel he sent were thrown into prison, where they enjoyed indefinite solitary confinement.

These three were hard to kill and couldn't be released, so they were temporarily detained.

Upon hearing the news, though Sif didn't lose her temper on the spot, she silently placed Finance Minister Sim on the blacklist.

When it was time to settle accounts back in the Imperial Capital, he would be first.

A group of intelligence personnel from several other countries was captured.

With such a large number of intelligence personnel captured at once, it also brought new problems—how to deal with them?

It's certainly not an option to kill them all, nor would it be meaningful.

The captured intelligence personnel are valuable resources that can be exchanged for things.

However, some nations might be willing to trade, but others might not be.

Sif sighed helplessly, "It's a pity we won't gain much. The current President of the Jin Yuan Republic, Desgrey, is a ruthless person; he would rather abandon prisoners than easily compromise. The Tirol Kingdom might bleed a little, but surely not much."

"As for the Rurik, in their place, failure and death are similar; don't expect them to pay much for the dead."

Roland said with a smile, "I don't quite agree. If we're asking for the ownership of the magic crystal ore veins, they definitely won't give in. But if we're just exchanging for grain, they're likely to agree."

"Grain?"

Sif's eyes lit up.

This year's climate has been very unusual, and it's foreseeable that there will be poor harvests by the end of the year.

The Jin Yuan Republic doesn't care.

They possess the largest plains and high-quality arable land, so even if more than half of the country's land yields nothing, it won't affect them much.

Even if the climate is bad, at most it will make the poor farmers suffer.

As long as there aren't large-scale famines, the lower classes in Jin Yuan won't rebel.

The Tirol Kingdom doesn't have that much grain production, but they are neighbors with the grain-producing country Talia, and their military strength is far superior to the internally fractured Talia.

With neighbors having grain and them having guns, they are not worried at all.

They don't care about grain, so exchanging hostages for grain is not a big issue.

The Vladimir Empire possesses the best grain-producing areas in Eastern Rodinia, and although their agricultural level is low, the total grain output is high.

They are also a major grain exporter, exporting millions of tons of grain to various countries on the Rodinia Continent every year.

Negotiating to exchange grain for hostages won't be a problem with them.

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