Reincarnated as Nikolai II

After excluding countries one by one from the candidates, only his middle finger was pointing toward Bronstein.

"Lastly, the Russian Empire. Out."

"Minister. I know you're a person of light words, but I believe you're not ignorant. Stop there."

"This empire cannot be maintained without His Majesty the Tsar's existence. Yes, indeed. And this is an element that harms the perpetuity of the state, regardless of political stance. Whether there's a turning point or an attempt at system transformation like the bureaucratic era again, something needs to be done."

"..."

"Whew, that's all for today. Fortunately, seeing that I'm not in handcuffs, it seems it's not yet the day for me to be arrested?"

A real desire wells up to take this person to the basement and extract what's in his head properly using the powers of water and fire.

Today too, he accidentally met this minister, accidentally continued the conversation, and added more information about him.

Such meetings have continued so many times that for Bronstein, they've become almost like daily routine.

Of course, he reports these meetings to the Tsar, but he wonders if it's his illusion that at some point, he seems to be playing the role of a messenger directly conveying the minister's thoughts to the Tsar.

No, rather, knowing this fact well, the minister in front of him pretends to be calm while risking his life doing this.

'If he makes even one slip of the tongue, he might be interviewed in a damp concrete basement.'

Depending on the level of his statements, he might walk out without a limb, or never come out at all.

To Bronstein, this Minister of Industry was like a madman walking on a tightrope.

"Haha, I'll come again next time. I believe you'll surely report today's meeting to the Tsar!"

"Next time, do it yourself. I'm not that leisurely a person."

"A mere bureaucrat cannot request a private audience out of personal desire for power. That would be deceiving and disloyal, stealing His Majesty the Tsar's time, wouldn't it?"

"Tsk."

Leaving him waving his hand, Bronstein exited the palace.

Riding in a particularly black-windowed AMO private car, he arrives at the Intelligence Bureau building, formerly the St. Petersburg Police Headquarters.

After extension upon extension, the Intelligence Bureau headquarters now looks like several buildings merged together.

In stark contrast to the past when even the capital branch was just over a hundred people, it has now become a building where over a thousand personnel work.

After passing through several security checks and searches there and going inside...

"I'll go alone from here."

A room appears that others cannot enter.

A small study that only a few people can access.

Thick walls that make even modern eavesdropping difficult, a cube-like room with poor heating and cooling due to the absence of basic facilities.

There, Bronstein stared blankly at documents whose content he wouldn't even remember from the conversation he had just had with the Minister of Industry.

<Operation Name: Pompeii>

Personnel Status:

Joseph Kettler (Assassinated) Ernest Rutherford (Joined) Georgy Gamow (Expected to join) Pyotr Kapitsa (Expected to join) . . .

Endless lists.

Some were killed as quietly as possible, while others were too famous to kill.

For example, the director of the Radium Research Institute (FRI) in Petrograd, V. Vernadsky, and his researchers might be easily recruited as fellow empire citizens, but approaching people like British physicist Chadwick is extremely cautious.

Still, they kill those they can kill as much as possible, and even if they can't kill them immediately, they assign people to monitor them.

Key personnel alone number in the hundreds.

Those associated, those who might be helpful, those loyal to other countries, or those at risk of information leakage or espionage—if classified, thousands of names appear on different lists.

What they have in common is that they are all scholars.

And it's noticeable that their fields of study are concentrated in a few areas.

"...Progress is slow. The Tsar might be disappointed."

Perhaps Minister Jugashvili's judgment of the Tsar is close to the correct answer.

He is someone who always has a purpose when elevating a person to a high position.

And the reason Bronstein gained authority comparable to Director Sekerenskiy even in the era of the Duma is only one.

Because of this Pompeii Project.

"The Nazis are derivatives of our Russia... That statement wasn't wrong either."

However, the difference is that while they might have created Dachau concentration camps after seeing the Ural prisons where Siberian exile is carried out, they don't know the true nature at all.

The Ural Mountains are not simply labor camps for traditional Siberian exile.

If in the past Siberia was a place that took resources and discarded people, now the Ural Mountains are becoming a place that hides people and absorbs resources.

And as Director, his primary duty is to maintain, manage, and advance all of this secretly.

For this plan, the Tsar has even provided imperial funds not disclosed in the national budget.

"Let's see, Otto Hahn? A German chemist who has been researching radioactivity for over 20 years? Hmm, he might need to be killed as quickly as possible."

The Minister of Industry. The Prime Minister. Even the Crown Prince doesn't know this top secret.

The Pompeii Plan, where operational command authority is held only by himself as Director and Roman as Chief of Staff.

However, I heard that because success is still uncertain, the Chief of Staff is formulating war plans excluding this.

'Since he said maintaining secrecy is as important as success, it's an unavoidable aspect.'

Nevertheless, Bronstein wanted to make this plan succeed.

That was the reason he became Director and the way to prove his worth.

Furthermore, it was also his will to somewhat settle his debt of gratitude to the Tsar.

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii.

A site of human fossils and remnants of human civilization that couldn't even become fossils.

The Pompeii Plan was about recreating the volcano that destroyed that city.

The aftermath when the Pompeii Plan succeeds?

"It just means a slightly stronger weapon will be created. The Tsar will make good use of it."

He doesn't really care about that; what he needs to focus on is succeeding and presenting this to the Tsar.

Which city would follow Pompeii after the plan succeeds was not Bronstein's concern.