Empire of the Ring

Chapter 709: Fruitful Results (1)

“Is this all you can do? It makes no sense that you’ve been police for decades, and you’re behind the new recruits at the Intelligence Service.”

By the instructor’s rebuke, the faces of the police officers at the Police Intelligence Department became stern.

They came to the Royal Intelligence Service to receive advanced intelligence education, but the hard physical training always followed after the morning job training session.

“Instructor! Let’s cut it short. How many people can do this kind of physical training at the age of 50?”

“If you still have the energy to talk, you can do this. Your fitness is getting better and better, I’m very happy. This time, we’re going to do the guerrilla exercise for eight times.”

The South Korean military’s guerrilla exercise was being introduced in Kazakhstan and forced not only to soldiers but also to government officials who received physical training.

The intelligence police and staff members of the National Police Agency who participated in the intelligence job training were no exception.

They had been training for days, so many of them were complaining.

“Oh, I’m dying. How long do I have to do this exercise? I think that the instructor determined to get us good… ”

“Director, isn’t the Intelligence Service trying to establish discipline?”

“Oh, don’t overthink. The intelligence agents are also training with us. Just hang in there! Let’s see who wins.”

“How can we endure this infamous guerrilla exercise at our age? It’s even hard for young soldiers to complete.”

“Don’t nitpick and follow the instructions. If you fall behind here, you’re disgracing the entire police force.”

Al-Sabah, head of the National Police Agency’s main intelligence division, was now deeply regretful.

It was a mistake to ignore his colleagues’ comments on the intelligence training.

He snorted when his colleagues, who formerly attended the training, advised him to strengthen his basic physical strength in advance, thinking it was just a simple drill.

He wanted to leave if he could, but this was a training ground for the Royal Intelligence Service. Quitting would be such a dishonor to the whole National Police Agency.

“I don’t even remember what I learned at the job training because I was too tired from the physical training the day before. This physical training is useless.”

“Have you not heard that His Highness often comes to this training ground to train with others? You have to hang in there. This will be good for us.”

“Gee, I applied to the Intelligence Department for no reason! That instructor is killing me.”

‘Ahmadi’, a section chief of the Police Intelligence Department, cried.

“Don’t even think about getting promoted if you don’t pass this training.”

“Director, you should get promoted first, so I can get promoted, too. Don’t stand in front of your juniors and get promoted already.”

“You know this is rude, right?”

“The bottom line is what that instructor is doing is rude. Please save your subordinates by pressing him down with your position.”

“Hey, instructor! Let’s take a break for a while. You don’t even give me time to smoke?”

“The Police Chief also quit smoking during the training period. You are no exception.”

Everyone was silenced by the instructor’s remarks that the Police Chief was no exception either.

“Oh, he wants us to stay quiet.”

“We just have to endure the next two weeks.”

“Director, you are no help here.”

“Oh, come on!”

As everyone seemed to be exhausted, the instructor smiled and gave an order.

“We will dismiss after running around the training camp five times!”

“What?! He’s determined to kill us. Five laps is two kilometers…”

“Isn’t he being extra harsh on us? You’ve been picking fights with him, haven’t you?

“Oh, you are dumping it on me, now? You asked me to do something.”

“You should have done it in a more sophisticated way. You kept on getting on his nerves, Director.”

Since they had been working with each other for more than a decade, they were close enough to insult each other without hesitation.

“I’ll see you after the training.”

“We’ll all just pass out after this training. You can carry us on your back to reprimand us.”

“Oh, shut up. Just do as you’re told.”

“Director, please fix it quickly. After five laps, we’ll all die.”

At the intelligence service training ground, the staff of the National Police Agency continued to groan.

***

“How’s the training going?”

“Everybody’s following well. There’s no one who’s fallen behind yet maybe because of their pride.”

Park Jong-il was surprised when he had hoped for a fall-out, but no one fell behind yet.

“There’s a lot of talk about how hard the training is…”

“The intensity is less than one-twentieth of what our intelligence agents get. You can’t condescend to handle intelligence without being able to digest that much physical training.”

Intelligence agents must be trained hard as they were given tough tasks sometimes risking their lives, but the police intelligence agents mostly spent their time at their desks.

The fact that such people had been following the hard training well even though it was hard, it simply meant that they were very determined.

“So, did the police change their attitude clearly?”

“Yes. I thought it was a mess, but when I opened the lid, it seemed pretty good. If this atmosphere lasts for a year, the image of the police will have a huge turn.”

“Right. The police haven’t had any sense of honor before.”

Kazakhstan once had so many police officers that there were more than 150,000 as the police institution only existed to maintain dictatorship. Of course, there was no honor in this as it worked on to get in the favor of the power elites.

Likewise, those in power were turning a blind eye to corruption committed by government officials, a group loyal to them.

Only the personal success, not the service persons for the nation and the people, was the best good.

It took five years just to change that mindset of civil servants.

And the last one was the police.

Youngho had given up the organization before, but now, a new wind of change had come.

When the police were born again, which was the organization most closely working with the public, it seemed like a warm breeze was blowing across Kazakhstan.

When the police changed, other government ministries began to change as well.

“What is the cleanest organization in our country?”

“Of course it’s a military organization. And I don’t want to admit it, but the police are right behind it. It’s like the prodigal son.”

“Whoa, that’s a huge compliment. Is it a personal judgment or the intelligence service’s view?”

“Both. It’s true that the police are changing fast, obviously. The people feel the same way.”

“Is that so?”

At times like this, it was necessary to reward the organization. Many times, a prize had a stronger effect than a whip

“Looking at your face, you look like you’re going to give them a gift.”

“For a good organization, you should praise and award.”

“They’d love it if you modernized their equipment.”

“The government is working on it. What other equipment?”

“Looking at the police training, I figured they’ll need the latest intelligence equipment.”

“Isn’t it too early?”

“I think if the police work hard like they do now, they’ll show off a perfect police cordon.”

If Park Jong-il praised the police this much, it meant he was getting high-quality information through the police information network.

“Is that what Kaliyev asked for?”

“No, but he looked at our equipment and was very envious. He said if the police can have such equipment, they will be able to track down and catch spies all over the country.”

“He’s saying that the police used to boast perfect security but became terrible under the new government.”

“It’s true though. We can’t deny that we were letting go of the domestic intelligence business.”

“He must have had a lot of complaints.”

“He’s been keeping quiet in the corner, but he said he was quite frustrated.”

“That Kaliev… He seems to be quite a patient and insightful person. He’s very different from the way he looks.”

Kaliyev seemed to be a quiet and compliant person, but he was a man of leadership.

“He knows how to wait for the right time. And I felt like he had a great judgment and knows how to act quickly in situations.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“A good judgment means he’s smart and has a good eye for the current. I don’t think it’s a matter of dichotomy.”

Youngho tended to judge people as either good or bad, but Jong-il, who did not trust people easily, gave a roundabout answer.

“Somehow, the change in the police organization has improved the overall atmosphere in our country, so we should give a prize.”

“That’s why I want to hand down the equipment that the Intelligence Service has used.”

It seemed Park Jong-il wanted to improve the Intelligence Service’s equipment at this opportunity, as new equipment was being released quickly day after day.

“It’s time to replace the Intelligence Service’s equipment. Why didn’t you ask before?”

“Well, we already spend a lot to maintain and operate the organization, so how can I ask for more? The equipment and tools still work fine, too.”

“Oh, come on. So, are you saying you’re going to keep using them?”

“Well, I’d rather have a new type of equipment if we were to improve our efficiency. You know, we need to catch as many spies as we can.”

“Okay. If you have any equipment you want, submit a request. The same goes for personal equipment.”

“Now I get to save the Intelligence Service’s face.”

Youngho felt sorry that he had never been paying too much attention to the Intelligence Service. It was because Park Jong-il, his trusted friend, was in charge and he was good at it.

So, he decided to give a boost to Park Jong-il as well.

“Buy a small jet dedicated to the Intelligence Service. It’s not a good sight to see agents fly in and out of foreign countries in the public’s eye.”

“A private jet?”

“Wouldn’t you need at least a 16-seater jet to transport the operatives?”