The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

It was noon when we got back to our camp.

Xin Lebang didn't even have time to eat; he first sent an encrypted telegram back home, inquiring about the exact time of the tank transport.

Then he convened a meeting with the dozens of Longteng Company employees currently in Tehran, all of whom were former soldiers from Southeast Asia.

“New mission.” He stood in front of the small blackboard in the simple conference room: “Protect Princess Ashraf on her inspection tour of the north.”

The trip will take place at the beginning of next month and will last seven days.

They require us to assemble a guard team of at least twenty people, equipped with two bulletproof cars and six wheeled armored vehicles. We need to complete route reconnaissance, risk assessment, and contingency plans within a week.

The team members reacted very professionally, immediately starting to discuss issues such as vehicle allocation, weapon deployment, and communication support.

As Xin Lebang listened, his gaze involuntarily drifted to the corner of the conference room.

Yuan sat there, head down, seemingly indifferent to the discussion around him.

But Xin Lebang noticed that when a team member mentioned that "several tribes in the Mazandran Mountains have been quite restless lately," Yuan Pan tapped his fingers lightly on the chair.

He heard it.

And I noticed that.

After the meeting, the team members dispersed to prepare.

Xin Lebang walked up to Yuan Pan: "Advisor Yuan, the intelligence support for this mission depends on you."

Yuan Pan raised his head, his calm eyes looking at him:

"I need a detailed map of the itinerary."

Then I will review the population, tribal composition, and recent security reports of all the villages and towns along the route. Also, the personnel lists and background check records of the Royal Guard.

Yuan nodded, said nothing more, and began fiddling with a radio.

The radio wasn't broadcasting, but rather emitted a regular, Morse code-like beeping sound, though with a more complex rhythm.

"What are you listening to?" Xin Lebang couldn't help but ask.

“Testing the signal,” Yuan Pan said. “The radio environment in Tehran is very complex, and I need to familiarize myself with the background noise.”

He turned off the radio and stood up: "Advisor Xin, if there are unreliable people in the Persian guard, our preparations will be useless. I suggest you at least get the list of guard officers first, and then we can... cross-verify."

After saying that, he picked up the radio and walked out of the conference room.

Xin Lebang stood there, watching Yuan Pan's figure disappear at the end of the corridor.

Cross-validation? What kind of validation should be used?

This intelligence advisor, who suddenly appeared, is shrouded in more and more mystery.

But Xin Lebang didn't have time to investigate further.

He walked back to his office and unfolded the route map the king had given him.

Mazandran Province, the Caspian coast, the mountains, the tribal areas... He circled several points with a red pencil.

These are all potential risk points.

The sound of prayers from the minaret drifted in from outside the window, long and desolate, enveloping the entire city of Tehran.

The city looked peaceful, with bustling markets and throngs of pedestrians.

But Xin Lebang knew that beneath this calm surface, undercurrents were surging.

John's oil company, the Russian spy network, the internal rifts in Persia, and those lurking in the shadows, filled with hatred for modernization, the monarchy, and foreign powers.

The princess's trip to the north was destined to be anything but peaceful.

He, a former colonel who should have been attending the award ceremony in his home country, now has to prove his worth in a different way on this unfamiliar land.

Xin Lebang lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he muttered to himself:

“Then let’s go. Let me see just how deep the waters of Persia really are.”

----

Nighttime, on the second floor of a local hookah lounge.

Yuan sat cross-legged in the dark room, a map of Tehran spread out in front of him.

The map was marked with needles of three colors: red represented known MI6 surveillance points, blue represented GRU intelligence stations, and black represented the permanent locations of suspicious individuals within Persia.

His cover is that of an intelligence advisor.

In reality, he was the deputy section chief of the Middle East Section of the Central Intelligence Agency of Southeast Asia. He was an intelligence-type synthetic human that Zhang Chi obtained through the system. He was not only absolutely loyal, but also highly capable.

As I was pondering this, a Chinese man in his fifties brought in tea. He was all smiles and spoke with a strong Hokkien accent: "Mr. Yuan, here is your jasmine tea."

"Thank you." Yuan Pan nodded, his gaze never leaving the map.

The other person put down the teapot and lowered their voice:

“In the past two weeks, we have had three more groups of ‘tea buyers’ come and settled them all in.”

There are at least a thousand Chinese people in Tehran now, including technical consultants, oil exploration team members, and construction company employees.

This makes the cover identities of these intelligence personnel quite sufficient.

"You've worked hard." Yuan Pan finally looked up. "What's the John people up to lately?"

“They’re keeping a closer eye on the palace now.” Old Chen’s smile faded. “They’ve rented a second-floor apartment on Farah Street, right opposite the side entrance of the palace, and they’re taking pictures of the vehicles coming and going every day with a telephoto camera. There are also two people posing as reporters who often loiter around the perimeter of palace press conferences.”

Where is the Russian bear?

“More discreet.” Old Chen frowned. “They opened a machine repair shop in the north of the city, but the people coming in and out don’t seem like technicians.”

Our people kept an eye on them for a few days and discovered that they would have vehicles going to the back gate of the Russian embassy late at night.

In addition, the Bolivian Party has been very active recently, printing a large number of leaflets attacking the monarchy for selling out national interests to the Western world and Southeast Asia.

Yuan Pan then inserted two more black needles into the map.

His core mission in Persia was threefold: to establish an intelligence network, to assess key figures, and to prepare for possible future special operations.

The first step is cleaning.

“Tomorrow, I will lead a group into the palace under the pretext of upgrading royal communications security,” Yuan Pan said. “You will arrange two groups of people, one to keep an eye on John’s surveillance points on the outside and record all people coming in and out.”

Another group is keeping a close watch on the Russian repair shop; I need to know which Persian officials they've been in contact with.

"clear."

After Lao Chen left, Yuan Pan took out a palm-sized metal box from the hidden compartment of his suitcase.

Open it up, and you'll find six button-sized devices covered with a stone-like texture.

This is the latest achievement of Nanyang's electronics industry—a passive eavesdropping device.

It does not emit any radio signals, but is triggered by sound wave vibrations. It contains a special magnetic tape that can record conversations continuously for 48 hours.

Its data transmission function can only be activated by scanning at close range with an ultrasonic generator of a specific frequency.

Designed specifically for counter-reconnaissance environments.

The next morning, Yuan Pan led two communications engineers from Longteng Company into the palace.

The procedures are complete and the reasons are valid.

A comprehensive inspection and reinforcement of the palace's communication lines was carried out.

Xin Lebang, as the person in charge of Longteng Company, accompanied them. He watched as Yuan Pan and the other two skillfully used various instruments to test the circuit, and his brows furrowed slightly.

He had never seen these devices before.

The detector, which resembled a pocket watch, emitted a soft beep when it was brought close to the wall; and the box with headphones and an oscilloscope displayed complex and difficult-to-understand waveforms.

"Advisor Yuan," Xin Lebang couldn't help but ask, "what exactly are you looking for?"

“A signal that shouldn’t be there.” Yuan Pan didn’t look up, his fingers tracing along the baseboard. “To put it simply, it’s a listening device.”