Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

While the Han Yuan Army's iron cavalry, long-handled swords, and powerful crossbows shone brightly on the training ground, attracting the attention of everyone, in the shadows, another equally important, and even more decisive, special force was quietly undergoing a transformative expansion and upgrade under Xiao Chen's personal supervision.

This is the night owl.

As the power of Han Yuan rapidly expanded, its controlled area broadened, and its struggles with the imperial court, Northern Yan, the grasslands, and various forces in Jiangnan became increasingly complex and in-depth, the original scale, organizational structure, and methods of operation of Night Owl gradually became unable to meet the growing intelligence needs.

Xiao Chen no longer needs sporadic spying and information transmission, but a more extensive, deeper, faster-responding, and more comprehensive intelligence network.

To this end, Xiao Chen personally summoned Zhao Tie and convened a top-secret internal meeting with the core members of Night Owl, where they established a comprehensive expansion and professional reform plan for Night Owl.

I. Organizational restructuring and functional subdivision. Night Owl is no longer a general intelligence organization, but has been divided into four major divisions, each with its own responsibilities, cooperating with each other, yet remaining relatively independent.

The Internal Security Department is responsible for internal security, counter-espionage, monitoring officials, eliminating traitors, and maintaining core secrets within the Cold Abyss. Its reach extends to every corner of the Cold Abyss, ensuring internal purity and stability.

Foreign Intelligence Division: Responsible for gathering intelligence on foreign entities. It comprises the Northern Yan Division, the Grassland Division, the Central Plains Division, and the Jiangnan Division. Each division is further divided into several "groups" responsible for specific regions or targets.

Operations Division: Responsible for special operations, including assassinations, kidnappings, sabotage, rescues, defections, spreading rumors, and creating chaos – all considered "wet" operations. Personnel are rigorously selected from elite military personnel and outlaws, and undergo special training.

Communications and Logistics Division: Responsible for the establishment and maintenance of intelligence transmission networks, research and development of secret writing and cryptography, equipment research and development and supply, financial management, personnel placement and family care.

II. Professionalization of personnel recruitment and training.

Night Owl no longer relies solely on military selection and recruitment from the martial arts world, but has begun to establish his own "Eagle Training Hall".

We select promising students from among displaced orphans, orphans of martyrs in the military, and even outstanding students who voluntarily join Hanyuan Academy, and provide them with long-term, systematic training.

The courses include: martial arts, horsemanship and archery, infiltration, disguise, secret writing, code, interrogation, counter-interrogation, geography, customs, and even unorthodox skills such as disguise, ventriloquism, poisons, and lock picking.

The training focus differs for personnel in different departments and sections. The Internal Security Department emphasizes loyalty and insight, the External Intelligence Department emphasizes language and adaptability, and the Operations Department emphasizes ruthlessness and decisiveness.

Third, funding and equipment have been significantly improved.

With special approval from Xiao Chen, the annual budget of Night Owl was tripled, and a "Special Operations Fund" was established for major operations and rewards.

The Institute of Geography and the Armory Department commissioned a batch of specially made equipment for Night Owl: steel crossbows, hidden darts, poison needles, smoke bombs, flashbangs, improved night-clothing, miniature binoculars, specially made climbing tools, false identity documents, disguise materials, and more. They even began experimenting with training carrier pigeons and falcons for communication and reconnaissance.

Fourth, the intelligence network has become more three-dimensional and covert. Night Owl no longer relies solely on "spies" to gather intelligence, but has begun to build a three-dimensional network of "outposts + mobile operations + covert operations".

In important cities, transportation hubs, and near key enemy departments, establish fixed outposts under the guise of legitimate businesses such as inns, restaurants, warehouses, pawnshops, casinos, and brothels, serving as intelligence relay stations and personnel bases.

At the same time, a large number of itinerant vendors, traveling doctors, street performers, and vagrants were dispatched to infiltrate the target area.

For core targets, the strategy is to infiltrate them for extended periods, even at great cost, by sending personnel into enemy territory to seek higher positions.

With the expansion order issued, Night Owl, this "machine in the dark," began to operate at high speed.

"Eagle Training Hall" was established in a secluded valley a hundred miles west of Zhenbei New Town. The first batch of three hundred boys were secretly sent there to begin a rigorous training program that lasted at least a year.

Their past was erased, replaced by code names and new identities.

Among the instructors were retired scouts from the military, legendary figures from the martial arts world who had been recruited into the government, and even language and customs experts "invited" from the Northern Yan and the grasslands.

The secret agents of the Inner Guard, like invisible shadows, quietly infiltrated every corner of the Cold Abyss.

The artisans in the workshops, the merchants in the market, the soldiers in the military camps, the minor officials in the government offices, and even the leaders among the vagrants may all have another identity.

They kept a low profile, but were always on guard against any suspicious signs, maintaining internal stability.

The tentacles of the Foreign Affairs Department are extending outwards with unprecedented speed and depth.

In the capital of Northern Yan, a trading company called "Northern Wind Goods Store" quietly opened, specializing in furs and medicinal herbs from the northern border. The business was booming, but in reality, it was Night Owl's largest intelligence base in Northern Yan.

On the grasslands, several caravans controlled by night owls, under different banners, frequently traveled between tribes, not only trading goods but also gathering information on the grasslands' troop deployments, pasture distribution, and tribal conflicts.

In the capital, Night Owl's spies began to try to contact some disgruntled low-ranking officials, impoverished noblemen, and even... low-ranking eunuchs and palace maids in the imperial palace.

In Jiangnan, under the guise of grain trade, more intelligence agents were planted, targeting Prince Yong's local forces, Yu Qian's remnants, and... those who knew about the old Lin family case.

The "Dark Blade" of the Operations Division has also begun to be drawn.

Several bandit leaders who had repeatedly robbed Hanyuan merchant caravans in Jiangnan and colluded with the Yongwang faction were killed by a mysterious assassin who slit their throats under tight guard.

A border guard in Northern Yan who had repeatedly made things difficult for the Hanyuan caravan and demanded excessive bribes was found drowned in his own well.

On the grasslands, the chieftain of a small tribe who was secretly plotting against Batu Khan, along with his confidants, was reduced to ashes in an "accidental" tent fire.

These actions were swift and clean, leaving no trace, yet they secretly deterred villains and cleared away obstacles.

The Communications and Logistics Division established a "pigeon network" and "horse relay stations" covering the entire territory of Hanyuan and extending to the surrounding areas.

Important intelligence could be transmitted over thousands of miles by carrier pigeon within a few days, while urgent military intelligence was relayed by fast horses, traveling day and night.

The "secret writing potion" and "digital codebook" developed by the Gewu Institute have begun to be used, greatly improving the security and confidentiality of intelligence transmission.

The expansion of Night Owl's organization is like an invisible net, quietly spreading out around the Cold Abyss and even further afield. It doesn't show itself, yet it's constantly gathering information, influencing the situation, protecting the Cold Abyss's structure, and laying the groundwork for future actions.

Xiao Chen knew that in the chaotic game of war, while open warfare was important, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering often determined the outcome.

Night Owl was the hidden piece in his sleeve, a piece capable of changing the course of the game.