“Next, we have the most noble recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Grand Cross of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Grand Cross of the Bath, the Victoria Cross and the lower grades of Knighthood, the leader of the anti-colonial movement, the bell-ringer of the East India Company, the hero of the Crimean War, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a lifelong dear friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Great Dumas, a steadfast supporter of scientific luminaries like Faraday and Darwin, having served as assistant under-secretary, deputy under-secretary, and permanent under-secretary in departments of the Home Office and the Navy Department of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the inaugural Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, the first graduate and most distinguished alumnus of our school. Please welcome Sir Arthur Hastings to deliver a speech on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the University of London.”
Arthur's gaze swept across the crowd before him, looking at the young faces and murmured, “Agares, what do you think I should say?”
The Red Devil's wraith hovered behind him, saliva almost dribbling from the corner of his mouth, “Look at these ignorant souls; they still worship you as a hero. Why not say something they'd like to hear?”
Arthur took a deep breath and let out a deafening roar, “Oxford is a bunch of whores' bastards!”
“Oh!!!!”
The audience erupted into thunderous applause.
“Cambridge is the same!” he added immediately.
The applause grew even more fervent...
(The protagonist, possessed by a devil, travels through 19th-century Britain in a world without magic)

Uh...not exactly, sir... I'm actually a thief, not a patriot, nor some great British hero. At most, the government just utilized my professional skills for their work.


——Michael Ondaatje "The English Patient"


I authorize you to reorganize the Abwehr, Germany needs to establish an institution like the British Secret Intelligence Service as soon as possible—a united group of people, working passionately.


——Adolphe Hitler, Chancellor of the Third Reich of Germany (appointed William Canaris as the first director of the German Intelligence Agency under the supreme command of the military in 1933)


We monitor everyone equally, in the spirit of impartiality, and in line with the glorious tradition laid down by Sir Arthur Hastings when he established the national security system in 1832, without exception.


——Herbert Morrison, Home Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (answered reporters' questions in February 1941)


Chapter 725 - Chapter 348 The Great Game