Chapter 498: Exposed
“Report!” A knock sounded on Akado’s door. He knew it was finally the result of the Einstein affair. Akado, who was reading a progress report on the industrial reconstruction of western France, put down the document and looked up. “Come in.”
Speer was truly a genius of production and organization. He was methodically reorganizing production in France, integrating all the enterprises that had stopped production due to the war, and using rational resource allocation to once again have these enterprises produce the war materials Germany urgently needed.
This was incredibly important for Germany, or rather, for a Germany at war, because the ability to integrate Europe’s industrial capacity was the key to whether Germany could counter the powerful industrial strength of the United States in any overseas conflict.
This German Minister of Industry was absolutely an excellent choice, which made Akado wonder why Hitler had not put such a genius in the position he deserved back in 1940. With just a few months of effort, Speer had achieved results that had impressed even the German military. France had already begun to mass-produce tank tracks and spare auto parts on a large scale, products that could alleviate the pressure on Germany’s domestic industry.
“My Führer! The enemy’s operation to abduct Dr. Einstein has been thwarted by us. All of the British agents involved in the operation have been captured,” Gascoigne reported, standing at attention in front of Akado’s desk.
“And Dr. Einstein?” Akado asked.
“Dr. Einstein was shot in the chest by a British spy, the woman codenamed Athena. He is currently being treated in Rotterdam,” Gascoigne replied, bowing his head.
Akado was taken aback. He thought of his friend from long ago, who had sat with him at a table, discussing all sorts of physics problems. Lost in memories for a moment, he was somewhat dazed and did not react immediately.
“Being treated?” Akado quickly came to his senses, stared at Gascoigne, and asked in a low, frowning voice, “What happened? Didn’t I order you to ensure the Doctor’s personal safety?”
“Our soldiers, to protect the Doctor’s safety, even specially arranged for four men with shields to storm the house first. But the other party opened fire very decisively. It was clearly premeditated,” Gascoigne had to defend his subordinates. “That British agent, codenamed Athena, was also a veteran, very skilled.”
“Did you capture her alive?” Akado asked, standing up. He gave an order to Anna beside him. “Have Depp prepare the car. I’m going to Rotterdam.”
“The British spy was ultimately killed. She would rather die than lay down her weapon,” Gascoigne replied.
Akado nodded, then walked to the door. He suddenly stopped, turned his head, and stared at Gascoigne with a sharp gaze. “This time, you didn’t have a hand in this, did you?” he asked coldly.
A long time ago, Akado had bribed General von Seeckt’s secretary. This secret had ultimately been buried by history, and the person who had handled Seeckt’s secretary back then was Gascoigne. This made Akado even more uneasy, which was why he had asked such a question.
“My Führer, we did not! It was indeed the British spy who opened fire,” Gascoigne replied in terror.
Akado nodded, and his expression softened slightly. He turned and walked out of his office with Anna.
In fact, Akado knew that whether Einstein died or was rescued, the outcome was very favorable for Germany. The only slight flaw was that as a celebrity in the scientific community, Dr. Einstein could no longer contribute his strength to Germany.
The worst possible outcome would have been for Einstein to be taken away by the British or the Americans. In that case, Germany would have lost a great scientist, and the United States and Britain would have obtained a great deal of intelligence on German technology.
Now, it seemed that God had decided to help the Germans once again, arranging a nearly perfect ending. Einstein was not dead, and he had been wounded by the British. This way, after Einstein recovered, he would certainly, for his own safety, give up the idea of going to Britain or America and could only honestly stay in Germany and continue to serve Akado. And if he wanted revenge for the bullet he had taken, he would have to contribute his scientific knowledge to Germany even more diligently.
The Goddess of Fate, after nearly ten years since the remilitarization of the Rhineland, had once again smiled upon Führer Akado. If Einstein did not die, that would be a perfect ending. For this ending, Akado was now eager to rush to Rotterdam, to sit by Einstein’s sickbed and stage a moving drama of a ruler and his loyal subject reconciled.
Akado had even imagined the scene. The moment Einstein woke up, he would find the Führer of the Reich sitting by his bed, gazing at him with an affectionate look. The wounded doctor would tearfully admit his mistake and vow to contribute his strength to the expansion of the Reich. Akado would comfort his friend, and then the two would be reconciled and continue their cooperation…
Indeed, transmigrators are blessed by the gods. On the Führer’s plane, with its roaring engines, Akado was still sighing with satisfaction in his heart. I have finally encountered the kind of protagonist treatment with heaven-defying luck that one reads about. Although it came a little late, it has still begun to work.
However, when he arrived at the best hospital’s emergency room in Rotterdam, he discovered that he had really been thinking too much. Einstein was indeed not dead, but his injuries were by no means minor. When Akado arrived at the hospital, he was still undergoing surgery and was said to not yet be out of danger.
The “ruler and subject reconciled” drama that Akado had carefully prepared was completely useless. From the looks of it, Einstein might end up personally starring in a reverse version of “Entrusting the Heir at Baidicheng.” Until now, Einstein’s fate was still unknown.
While Einstein’s life hung in the balance on one side, on the other, the British had already learned of the fall of their super-spy, Athena. This spy network was absolutely crucial in Germany; it could be called the largest British spy organization in Berlin without any problem. This time, it had been completely wiped out, and it had also led to the discovery and annihilation of many surrounding small contact stations by the Germans.
Such a heavy loss was something the British were unwilling to see. After this operation, their spy network in Germany had been severely damaged. For a time, they were completely ignorant of what was happening in Germany, becoming blind in the truest sense of the word.
After a painful reflection, and adding up the various clues from before, the British felt that there must be a huge German spy network within their own ranks, which had directly led to the failure of the Athena operation. So they began a targeted investigation, and this time the scope was more precise, and the investigation more purposeful.
The Athena operation targeting Einstein had always been one of the core secrets of the British intelligence service, so not many people had access to it. The internal investigation quickly identified the big-mouthed Louis as the prime suspect, because in one meeting, based on the needs of the subsequent plan, Louis had been ordered to prepare for Einstein’s reception.
So Louis was arrested in a flash and subjected to a surprise interrogation overnight. Louis was not a German spy and was very cooperative. He quickly recalled that he had once revealed information about the Einstein operation to a few friends in a pub. This kind of important information was naturally not something he would tell just anyone, so he easily remembered that he had mentioned it to the old man, Greve.
Greve, again. The British intelligence service immediately remembered this old man. In the last incident, where the torpedo destroyer had turned coat, leading to the sinking of the HMS Hood and other warships, the destroyer captain who had been commended as a hero was Greve’s own nephew.
Although a crewman had testified to the innocence of Greve’s nephew last time, for the same name to appear repeatedly in espionage activities could clearly not be dismissed as a coincidence. Everyone understood that this old man named Greve was not so simple.
“Arrange an action team! Put this Greve under surveillance! Search his apartment when he’s not at home. If there’s evidence, arrest this guy immediately!” the director of the British intelligence agency ordered through gritted teeth.
The next morning, the British action team arrived near Greve’s apartment. They had the disgraced Louis invite Greve to the pub. Greve saw nothing amiss, nodded in agreement, got dressed, and went to the pub with Louis.
The moment Greve left, the agents of the action team swarmed into his apartment. They carefully searched his room for the evidence they wanted. Soon, they found a radio transmitter and an important codebook in a hidden compartment.
Now everything was clear. The evidence was very obvious. This Greve was a German spy hidden within Britain, and it was very likely that this spy was the mastermind behind the attack on the Hood and other incidents—the German spy chief codenamed “Poison.”
Looked at this way, trading “Athena” for “Poison” was a big win for the British intelligence service. The intelligence that Poison had gathered was often very important strategic information, and its value for the Germans in analyzing Allied strategic arrangements was simply priceless. And as long as the exposure of the spy Poison was not discovered by the Germans, they could use the deciphered codes and false intelligence to cause even greater losses for Germany.
“Wait here for this ‘Poison’ to come back! We’re taking him alive! Then we’ll see if he doesn’t cooperate!” the leader of the action team said viciously. “This time, we have finally won a victory against Germany in the intelligence war! Hmph, you Germans, let’s see how capable we British are!”
Published: 2025-08-30T04:19:47.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-01T17:33:39.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c498-exposed-137683578
Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com