Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Intelligence

Tivyán, Royal Sacred Crown University King Campus.

On the roof of a clock tower, in a room used for storing tools, Edric placed his hand on the floor, letting a distant gecko climb onto his hand. He lifted it and stroked it with his other hand, closing his eyes as if sensing something.

“Did you find anything?” Brandon asked, sitting on a crate, looking at Edric. After a moment of silence, Edric opened his eyes, withdrew the gecko into his pocket, and said quietly.

“I gathered some intelligence, but it’s not valuable. The leader guy went through a stone door, and my puppet got stuck outside, unable to follow. I had no choice but to come back.”

“Ha… So, it was all for nothing? Rick, your puppet isn’t very reliable,” Brandon chuckled, a hint of disdain in his expression. Edric turned to him with slight displeasure and replied.

“If you think you’re capable, you can go yourself.”

“Hey, don’t be angry; I was just joking. Don’t take it to heart,” Brandon apologized with a grin before changing the subject.

“By the way, didn’t you say you found out a bit more? What exactly is it?”

“Nothing much. It’s just that when we took out those two goons in Green Shade Town, Lisa was seen entering the house by a passerby. Now those guys are preparing to look for her.”

Edric said slowly, then sneered contemptuously before continuing.

“Heh… But those guys are bound to be laboring in vain. The physical description they got from the passerby was after Lisa had gone through careful disguise. They even think she is a student from Crown University. Let them investigate according to the false characteristics; the more energy they waste, the better.”

After Edric finished speaking, Brandon’s eyes brightened at his words, and he laughed as he continued.

“Lisa’s disguise, haha… Not mentioning her skin tone, she’s usually only a little above average, and now she’s padded so much. Isn’t she afraid it’ll fall off?”

After joking about his companion, Brandon’s expression turned serious as he addressed Edric.

“That aside, now that our reconnaissance is blocked and we can’t figure out their movements, what should we do next?”

Listening to Brandon, Edric pondered for a moment before speaking again.

“I suspect they might have some counter-reconnaissance measures in place, so I’m not planning any surveillance activities at this stage. The base in Green Shade Town is no longer usable. The matters concerning Crown University will take a long time; our immediate focus should be on establishing a new base.”

“Yeah… We definitely need to rebuild the base here at Crown University. So, has a new base been determined yet?” Brandon asked further, but Edric shook his head.

“Not yet. There’s still a lot to do.” With that, Edric scanned the surroundings, paused for a moment, and continued.

“In eight days, at 6 PM, come back to this place to find me. By then, the new base will definitely be arranged, and I will tell you the specific location.”

“At 6 PM in eight days? Got it, I’ll be punctual,” Brandon replied, nodding at Edric’s words.

“Understood, I’ll be on time.”

“Alright, let’s call it a day for now. Try not to stir up any trouble recently and avoid provoking them. We’ll see what happens in eight days; perhaps we can give them a big surprise then.”

As he finished speaking, Edric looked at Brandon earnestly before solemnly adding.

“See you then. For the Rosy Cross.”

“For the Rosy Cross. Goodbye.”

After exchanging nods, Edric and Brandon left the room together, descending the spiral staircase of the clock tower, while two small black spiders that had been lurking in the shadows followed closely behind.

At the bottom of the clock tower, Edric and Brandon silently parted ways, each heading in different directions, while the two small black spiders also followed different targets, intending to continue their tracking.

However, after parting, Brandon and Edric quickly blended into the crowd, their pace accelerating until they exceeded the average walking speed. This made it difficult for the small spiders crawling along the walls and ceiling to keep up.

Due to the significant difference in size, the spiders couldn’t match humans’ speed. They had no issue following the gecko before, but now they couldn’t track the rapidly moving Brandon and Edric.

Soon, due to speed differences, the spiders lost sight of Brandon and Edric, whose figures vanished within the flow of people on campus. Seeing this, they had no choice but to return to their master.

…

At the meeting point of the Secret Knowledge Society, Nephnis sat at the edge of a space, intently reading a book. Beside her were other society members who exhibited strange behavior and dazed expressions.

Nephnis was quietly immersed in her reading, unaware that someone was fixated on her from a distance.

Behind a distant stone pillar, a middle-aged man was hiding, secretly observing Nephnis with a serious expression on his face.

He was the same man who had previously spoken with Mr. Thistle in the spider web corridor. He was one of Thistle’s direct subordinates and had just received an order to assist Jed in searching for the female student who had appeared at number 23 yesterday.

According to witnesses in Green Shade Town, prior to the gunfire at number 23, someone saw a well-built female student with slightly darker skin enter there. Hence, they concluded that this female student was related to the event where two of their members were lost at number 23, leading them to decide to find her.

Just moments ago, the man was tasked by Thistle for this job, and as he was about to leave the meeting point to search for Jed at the school, he unexpectedly spotted a figure of interest.

‘Slightly darker skin, well-built… Oh… a bit too good to be true; the characteristics perfectly match. Could it be that girl? She’s a member of the little brat society controlled by Mr. Thistle? If it’s true, then this is quite effortless…’

Fixating on Nephnis from afar, the man thought to himself, unable to believe that the search mission, which he had expected to be laborious, had suddenly revealed an incredibly suspicious target that matched all the characteristics.

‘Heh heh… What a significant gain right from the start, this is fantastic! Just grab her and interrogate her. If she’s from this society, it’ll be even easier. A girl like her, who knows, maybe during the interrogation…’

While lost in these thoughts, the man stepped out from behind the stone pillar and slowly moved toward Nephnis, his gaze on her akin to a predator stalking its prey, desire swirling in his pupils.

However, at that moment, another voice interrupted his movements.

“Mr. John, you’re here.”

The man named John froze for a moment, stopping to look in the direction of the voice. There stood a dazed-looking male student, whom John recognized as someone who had almost read all of Thistle’s books and gained his trust.

“What do you want, kid? Didn’t you see I’m busy?”

Annoyed at being interrupted, John snapped, while the student calmly replied.

“Mr. Thistle wants you to put down what you’re doing and go see him right now.”

“What, Mr. Thistle wants me to find him now?”

John was somewhat surprised at the student’s words, and the latter nodded, continuing.

“Yes, go now; Mr. Thistle is waiting for you inside.”

Hearing this, John hesitated for a moment and glanced one last time at Nephnis, who was still engrossed in her book, clenched his teeth, and said.

“Fine, I’ll see Mr. Thistle first, then I’ll come back and handle the real task.”

With that, John immediately left, crossing the meeting point and passing through the spider web corridor, arriving in front of a stone door, knocking softly.

“Come in.”

A voice came from inside the stone door, and John quickly pulled the mechanism beside it, causing the door to rumble open.

Beyond the door, a gas lamp illuminated a dim room. Mr. Thistle was sitting with his legs crossed, massaging his temples as if deep in thought. On the small table in front of him lay a delicate little box, quietly containing two black spiders.

“Mr. Thistle, you called for me.” John said respectfully upon reaching Thistle’s side, who nodded in response.

“Yes… Earlier, I instructed you to assist Jed in finding that woman with darker skin and a good figure. You can stop searching for her. Not only do you not need to look, but also let Jed know he doesn’t need to either; any further search would be a waste of time.”

Receiving the latest intelligence, Thistle spoke directly to his subordinate. Upon hearing Thistle’s words, John was left dumbfounded in place.

“Ah…”