"It's good that you know what you're doing, but having Thunderbird participate in the assessment isn't entirely a bad thing. It's a pity you weren't there today; you didn't see how badly Nundu was frightened. I bet he'll have nightmares tonight." Ashwinder couldn't stay serious for more than two minutes before his tone became flippant again.
"That guy just doesn't know his own strength," Golden Knight shook his head helplessly. "But it's a good thing to deter Nundu; it saves him from being indecisive and hesitant in future actions. But you still haven't told me clearly why Thunderbird suddenly appeared. Didn't he just come four months ago? Is there some change in Britain?"
"Heh heh, there's been a big change," Ashwinder chuckled coldly. "Thunderbird explicitly stated today that the British branch can no longer be established. The transit station strategy has been declared a failure, and he will withdraw completely from Britain soon. He even asked me for a set of Portkeys to and from America. It seems he has completely given up."
"What?" Golden Knight's reaction to this news was identical to Ashwinder's; he shot up from his seat and asked in disbelief, "How could this be, and so suddenly? What exactly happened in Britain?"
"I asked him, do you think he told me? You know what kind of person he is," Ashwinder shrugged helplessly.
"Sigh…" Golden Knight also realized at this point that with Thunderbird's tough personality, he would never easily admit defeat, nor would he be willing to expose his wounds to others. "No wonder after so long, there hasn't been a single transfer from Britain. It seems Thunderbird must have encountered strong resistance there. The waters in Britain are deeper than imagined. I originally thought that with the war just ending, the Ministry of Magic wouldn't have so much energy to prevent smuggling."
Golden Knight didn't say anything to blame or complain about Thunderbird, because Thunderbird's contributions to the club were obvious to all. Moreover, Thunderbird could be said to be the most active leader in the Silver Spears at the moment. If even he couldn't solve it, someone else might have an even worse effect.
"But no matter how embarrassing the things that happened to them in Britain were, Thunderbird must give a complete report. After all, from the current perspective alone, the club has already lost five Silver Spears in Britain. Such serious losses cannot be ignored." When discussing serious matters, Golden Knight immediately adopted a businesslike tone.
"I told him the same thing," Ashwinder nodded at this point. "He also knows the seriousness of this matter, so he hopes to convene a Longspear Meeting to publicly report to everyone and also requested to see Rune Serpent."
"Convening a meeting is not a problem; after all, the British transit station has affected the club's long-term strategy. But to see the leader…" Golden Knight hesitated at this point, "I can convey it for him, but he is ultimately responsible for the failure of the British affairs. In this situation, Rune Serpent may not be willing to see him."
"Anyway, I've conveyed everything clearly. What to do is your problem to consider," Ashwinder said indifferently.
Golden Knight nodded upon hearing this, then got up and paced back and forth a few times before looking at Ashwinder again. "I can agree to the Longspear Meeting now. Let's set it for the beginning of next month. I will send out the message to all leaders. The key now is, what should the club do after the British strategy is hindered?"
"What, do you want to open up a new battlefield? Or speed up the progress here?" Ashwinder looked at Golden Knight with interest. He didn't like to think, but he wasn't stupid and understood what Golden Knight was worried about.
"To be honest, the progress speed here is already a bit rushed. For this, we even promoted several leaders in a short period of time. If we speed up again, the risk is too great. We can't do this unless absolutely necessary," Golden Knight shook his head with some hesitation.
"So you mean?"
"Hmm, it seems we can only try to find solutions from other directions first. The goods supplied by several European branches are very unstable now, so we must find new sources of supply," Golden Knight knew what Ashwinder was referring to and nodded affirmatively.
"Then do you think we should start from the north or focus on the east?" Ashwinder asked while pondering.
"This still needs careful consideration. Let's discuss it together when the Longspear Meeting is held. Fortunately, we don't need to rush so much. The current reserves of the breeding base are very sufficient, and we have plenty of time," Golden Knight couldn't make an immediate decision after a moment of thought.
"I understand," Ashwinder nodded. "But for this Longspear Meeting, are you going to let those newcomers participate? This is a good opportunity to show them the club's strength."
Golden Knight immediately shook his head upon hearing this. "Are you kidding? They aren't even leaders yet, and even if they are promoted, we can only trust them after they drink the Elixir of Life."
"Heh, so you still know they're not trustworthy? I was overthinking it then," Ashwinder said with a surprised expression.
"Hmph, this kind of probing is meaningless. Just do your own job," Golden Knight snorted in displeasure.
"Got it, got it, sorry, sorry, my bad," Ashwinder waved his hand exaggeratingly at Golden Knight, and it was hard to tell how much of the other man's words he actually took to heart.
After these two chatted for a few more sentences, Golden Knight took a portion of funds from the material warehouse and left the headquarters.
Alan, who witnessed the entire conversation between the two Silver Spears, silently pondered the information he had received.
*From the conversation between Ashwinder and Golden Knight, it's possible that Golden Knight doesn't control Ashwinder's shedding period. There's clearly not much trust between these two guys.*
*On the other hand, my guess seems to be correct. The club's supply of magical animals is already tight, and now they have to rely on the breeding base for supply.*
*As for what they said about the north, the east, and the local area, it should refer to whether the next strategic direction is to develop the markets in Northern Europe or Eastern Europe, or to accelerate the division of Germany.*
*Indeed, dividing Germany as a strategy that can benefit the club long-term should be approached cautiously. The division of Germany is now at a critical juncture. If a reckless advance leads to ultimate failure, the consequences would be even more painful than losing the British transit station.*
*The most ideal state in Germany at present is to complete the division of Germany in the next five to ten years, and then have the high-level officials supported by the Silver Spears completely control one of the countries, preferably West Germany, because it is coastal. Having West Germany would even solve the problem of transporting magical animals from America.*
*And what needs to be done now is to open up a new supply route for magical animals from Northern Europe or Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe has rich magical animal resources, and Northern Europe, in addition to local resources, is also coastal and can receive goods transported from America outside of winter. Each has its own advantages.*
*But there are also corresponding hidden dangers. The wizards in Eastern Europe are too exclusive and very fierce; it's not easy to develop collaborators in the short term. Northern Europe, on the other hand, has the Pure Land Society. Over the years, the club has already lost several Silver Spears in Northern Europe.*
*However, if I were Golden Knight, I might still choose the north as the breakthrough point.*
Alan put himself in Golden Knight's perspective to think and make the most favorable judgment for the development of the Silver Spears.
The magical animal resources in Eastern Europe were indeed an undeveloped virgin land, but it required infiltration, overcoming resistance, developing collaborators, hunting, and transportation in Eastern Europe. This standard smuggling process would waste too much time; it might take several years for the Eastern European branch to truly take shape. Not to mention, the reason a branch wasn't established there before was because the resistance encountered in Eastern Europe was greater than elsewhere, so it wouldn't see profits anytime soon.
Northern Europe was different. Although the resistance there might be greater than in Eastern Europe, it had a quick path to monetization. It was summer now, and if they could seize a port in Northern Europe within a few months and establish a smooth transportation route, even a temporary one, it would give the club a huge boost.
So, in an emergency, using Northern Europe as a breakthrough was more efficient, because they didn't even need to establish a Northern European branch, but merely set up a temporary transportation route. They could make do for a while, and everything will be fine once Germany was divided.
After organizing the existing intelligence one by one and pondering for a moment, Alan also had a basic outline of the Silver Spears in his mind. The club's development was still stable, and what Alan needed to do was break this stable state. If everyone followed the rules, how could he have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters?
After he spent a few more hours organizing clues, Hog and Shalltear, who had been on stakeout, also returned to their residence. Hog then brought Alan a shocking piece of news.
"What? You mean you were with Minister Peter all day today and didn't let him out of your sight? Are you sure Golden Knight's location was still on him at the time?" Alan looked at Hog with some surprise.
But Hog didn't understand why Alan suddenly reacted so strongly; he just reported truthfully, "That's right, that Golden Knight—uh, Minister Peter—has always been under my nose. He went out today to meet with several managers of civilian organizations, including the Milan Claremont that Feng mentioned. This guy was busy until just now, and I confirmed Golden Knight's location every half hour to make sure the Minister Peter in front of me hadn't been swapped."
"Then this matter is interesting…" Alan muttered to himself, then couldn't help but fall into deep thought again.