Having finished his motivational speech, Lofan changed the subject. His restructuring of the entire Search Bureau would proceed from the top down.
The first thing he announced was the official personnel appointments.
First came Director Geluusi and Deputy Director Laien.
Both would relinquish their military ranks while retaining their current posts, receiving the new authority of director and deputy director.
They would handle the bureau's day-to-day affairs and report directly to Lofan.
Geluusi and Laien stepped forward from the line of people on the dais, saluted, and returned to their places.
The Admiral's secretary, Ain, would serve as acting Minister of Internal Affairs.
She would be responsible for establishing the various departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Once that was complete, she would automatically step down, with her successor selected by the director.
Binz would serve as acting head of the Operations Department, responsible for establishing the Search Bureau's operations and arrest divisions.
Black Arm Zephyr would relinquish his instructor position while retaining his honorary Admiral rank.
Previously hired as an instructor for the Operations Department, he had now been specially appointed chief instructor of the Search Bureau by a decision of the bureau committee.
He would oversee all personnel training within the Search Bureau.
Mary, formerly deputy head of the Search Department, would now be promoted to department head and be responsible for setting up the Search Department.
The bureau's existing personnel would also be transferred to the appropriate departments according to their abilities, becoming its core officers.
Lofan knew that those who remained would become the future core of the investigation bureau, as well as its backbone.
Talented people ought to be placed in suitable positions. As for the manpower they needed, he would leave those talented people to build it up gradually.
After announcing the personnel appointments, Lofan immediately announced another order.
"I will establish an Internal Intelligence Unit within the Navy's search organization, dedicated to overseeing the entire bureau.
"It won't have many members. Its primary duty will be to monitor everyone in the Search Bureau.
"The reason is simple: I will be launching an assessment with no set end date.
"Everyone who joins the Search Bureau will be under this secret unit's surveillance at every moment.
"Anyone who fails to meet the standards will be removed from the Search Bureau.
"The criteria for this assessment will be each person's loyalty, ability, and sense of justice.
"Anyone who falls short will be purged by this secret unit.
"The size, structure, and personnel of this unit will all remain confidential.
"This is one of the bureau's highest secrets. I hope all you brave souls will perform well.
"Purging the Navy, restoring military discipline, and rebuilding the Navy's glory are duties we cannot shirk!"
Lofan's words made the teeth of the people on the dais ache.
How had something they had already agreed on changed again today?
The people below the dais, on the other hand, were fired up, as though they had all been pumped full of adrenaline.
After the new training assembly ended, Lofan returned to his office.
He might have finished firing everyone up, but the practical problems remained unresolved.
Manpower? There was none. Money? It didn't exist.
Their current handful of people would struggle to sweep the building, let alone sweep clean the Navy spread throughout the world.
Or sweep away the threats lurking everywhere.
Sengoku had money, but not enough.
Sengoku had promised personnel, but those weren't enough either.
Sitting in his office, Lofan felt anger welling up inside him, until he laughed in exasperation.
Sure enough, whether here or in his previous life, getting the bigwigs to cough up money was harder than hard.
They wanted Lofan to make money, and they wanted Lofan to pay out of his own pocket.
And afterward, whether he could even get thirty percent still depended on their whims.
Wouldn't that make Lofan a beggar on his knees? How could he let his plans be held up by such a trivial matter?
"Sure enough, it's better to rely on yourself than ask others. I'll still have to handle these things myself.
"That old fox Sengoku-who knows when his money will arrive?"
Lofan thought for a moment, and a plan took shape in his mind.
A faint smile returned to Lofan's lips. It seemed it was time to collect a debt from an old acquaintance.
Lofan picked up the Den Den Mushi on his desk and called Morgans. "I trust you've been well, Mr. Morgans."
"Admiral? What is it?"
Morgans's throat tightened, his words coming out dry and his voice somewhat hoarse.
Morgans was very nervous. Knowing something and failing to report it amounted to betraying their cooperation agreement.
If Lofan knew about this and had come to demand an explanation, Morgans would be in a very unfavorable position.
He might even lose his life.
"Don't be nervous, Mr. Morgans. I'd like you to keep an eye on a few people for me.
"As for the reason, I'll offer you a price you can't refuse.
"So the reason can be disregarded, wouldn't you agree?
"Rest assured, I won't twist your will or dignity as a journalist."
That was what Lofan said, but he had never intended to pay him anything.
Getting money out of Lofan was no easy feat.
Besides, Morgans was someone Lofan had picked out to develop into an intelligence organization. He would have to learn loyalty.
Since Morgans had already committed an act of betrayal,
it was perfectly reasonable to use this assignment as an opportunity to give him a warning.
In that case, there was only one answer: Morgans had to swear allegiance to Lofan.
Meanwhile, Ain was still scrambling to deal with the work that had suddenly been added to her plate that day.
The framework of the new system had been established, but cultivating people's awareness was difficult.
And that formidable task had fallen on Ain's shoulders.
In truth, Ain had absolutely no idea how to educate others.
She could only imitate Lofan's methods bit by bit.
Drawing on what she had learned from her teacher Zephyr, she slowly but steadily prepared the teaching materials for the training classes.
According to Lofan's plan, after the new Search Bureau was established, they ought to have at least close to half a year to train personnel.
During that period, the investigation bureau would be completely incapable of doing its work.
In other words, if anything happened during that time, Lofan and the others would still have to step in and investigate.
The administrative departments would be responsible for compiling the teaching materials used during training.
The internal affairs departments would also teach the new political education classes.
As for training in skills and abilities, all of it would be entrusted to Chief Instructor Zephyr.
Ain sat in her office, staring blankly at the documents, her eyes vacant and her mind empty.
That showed just how much damage this job had done to Ain's brain. She was still a child!
In her dazed state, Ain could not even respond to anything around her. Binz had already been calling her for five minutes.
But he couldn't use something as crude as slapping her across the face or pouring cold water on a girl.
There was no guarantee Ain wouldn't tear him apart with her bare hands once she came to.
With no other choice, Binz went to fetch the Admiral to see whether he had a solution.
"Ain, Ain, wake up."
Seeing no response from Ain, Lofan was momentarily speechless.
It's just writing some lecture notes. Does it really warrant this? Her brain has even crashed. Does that make sense?
Finally, through Binz's tireless efforts, after he had shaken Ain for nearly ten minutes, her brain slowly began working again.
"I'm sorry, Admiral. I'm so useless. I can't do it! This problem is too hard. I don't know how to solve it!"
Looking at the documents scattered across the desk, Lofan finally realized what had happened.
He had given Ain a problem, but he hadn't taught her how to solve it.
Writing lesson plans required teaching materials too, didn't it? Lofan had forgotten to give Ain the teaching materials!
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