Chapter 444

Chapter 350: The Target

In a corner at the edge of St. Hymn Cathedral, Ed and Misha were sitting not far from each other. The transaction between them was nearing its end. After hearing Misha’s intelligence report, Ed slowly spoke under Dorothy’s manipulation.

“Listen well, madam. The eight-pointed spy mixed in your investigation team is now named Wei Han Walther, from Kset County in South Lem. You’d better remember this.”

“Wei Han?”

Listening to Ed’s words, Misha frowned slightly, her mind flashing back to the image of what seemed like an open-minded young man. She had gotten along quite well with him over these few days, but she never imagined he was a traitor.

“I’ve seen Wei Han’s profile. His record is clean. There’s no record of any Eight Pinnacle Nest activities in all of South Lem. Is he really a spy?”

With a tone of doubt, Misha asked Ed, who responded easily.

“If it’s really Wei Han… then there’s no problem. But is the person in front of you really him? You should know, right? What is the bl**d Darkness Path ability of the Eight Pinnacle Nest? What is their Black Tier name?”

Ed said, holding up one finger. Listening to Ed’s words, Misha suddenly froze, then immediately understood and said.

“So you mean… This Wei Han has been replaced by the Eight Pinnacle Nest’s Shadow Faced Man? He isn’t the real himself?!”

Misha’s eyes widened, her expression filled with disbelief. Beside her, Ed nodded in response.

“Exactly. According to the clues provided by the insider within the Eight Pinnacle Nest, the information about selecting personnel from national branches to form an anti-spy investigation team was leaked by that big insider within your bureau from the beginning. Therefore, the Eight Pinnacle Nest planned to eliminate and replace the selected individuals midway, so they could openly infiltrate your investigation team. And the unfortunate person who was replaced is Wei Han.”

Ed explained to Misha. Listening to Ed’s words, Misha still looked incredulous, her eyes wide as she murmured.

“All the profiles of the investigation team members have been leaked? This shouldn’t be… Could it be…”

Seeing Misha’s expression, Dorothy raised her eyebrows lightly, then controlled Ed to ask Misha.

“Did you think of something, Ms. Misha?”

“No… nothing.”

Hearing Ed’s words, Misha immediately replied, then she looked at Ed seriously and said.

“You accused Wei Han of being an insider spy in our organization. Do you have any evidence? How can we prove you’re not slandering him?”

“As for evidence, you’ll need to find it yourself. If you have the means, you can use one ‘Enlightenment’ to divine whether Wei Han Walther is still alive. If you don’t have the means, you can also capture that imposter and use ‘Lamp’ to detect his extraordinary traces intensely. It would consume about ten or so ‘Lamps’. Once all the ‘Shadows’ on him are drained, he won’t have any spirituality to maintain his disguise. If he doesn’t resist the detection of ‘Lamps’, the effect of his disguise will be exposed directly.”

Ed said, shrugging his hands. After hearing Ed’s words, Misha couldn’t help but laugh coldly.

“Hmm… Regardless of which plan, the cost is quite high… But at such times, costs can’t be too much considered.”

After saying this, Misha turned her tone and continued.

“Alright, I’ve obtained the intelligence I wanted here. We’ve completed the transaction part. Next, let’s talk about other things. If I’m not mistaken, we still owe you something, right?”

Misha said, clearly referring to the reward the detective should receive after returning the documents from Alster.

“Thank you for remembering this matter. We don’t need much. Just two ‘Shadow’ or ‘Lamp’ related secret transmissions would suffice. You should have some extra secret transmissions from other societies collected, right?”

Ed replied to Misha. Hearing Ed’s request, Misha couldn’t help but say with surprise.

“It’s actually secret transmissions? That’s quite a special request. Alright, considering my previous transaction didn’t fully meet your requirements, I can add one more secret transmission, making it three in total. How about that?”

“That would be very much appreciated. You can send those secret transmissions through the White Stone Craftsmen Guild. The recipient should still be the detective.”

With a slight smile, Ed stood up and said to Misha, extending his hand.

“Then, we have settled everything for this meeting. Now it’s time to say goodbye. I wish we have the opportunity to work together again, Ms. An Yin Bureau.”

Seeing Ed’s hand extended toward her again, Misha paused slightly, then calmly stood up, extending her own hand to shake with his.

…

In Northern Tivyán, on the streets far from the Church District.

Although the winter streets were cold, many people were walking down the street wearing thick clothes due to the approaching end of the year. Ordinary workers were busy hanging trimmed branches and colorful flags, decorating the streets for the upcoming New Year.

Tiny snowflakes fell onto the wet road, instantly melting away. Various carriages came and went on the wet road. Inside a common black carriage, Dorothy sat steadily in the compartment, watching the falling snowflakes while pondering over what she had just witnessed and heard in the cathedral. Her expression was not particularly bright.

“I didn’t expect… Even the An Yin Bureau knows so little about ‘Shadow.’ Not only the Holy Emblem… even the name is unclear… This was somewhat careless…”

Tightening her cotton coat, Dorothy muttered softly. Although the transaction wasn’t entirely fruitless for her, her main goal hadn’t been achieved.

‘Three secret transmissions related to ‘Lamp’ or ‘Shadow,’ the lack of spirituality could be replenished. Such gains can be accepted, but the key point is that the Holy Emblem of ‘Shadow’ is still out of reach. Although there is a clue… it doesn’t seem very reliable.’

Dorothy thought to herself. Although it wasn’t clear yet, in her heart, the moon saint, Mirror Moon Goddess, was most likely the main deity of ‘Shadow.’ The reason was simple: when she extracted the spirituality from the goddess’s message in the underground ruins of King Campus, besides the inherent ‘Enlightenment,’ there was only ‘Shadow,’ with no other spirituality. This strongly suggested the inclination of this goddess’s spirituality.

Therefore, later, Dorothy asked Misha for intelligence about the Mirror Moon Goddess. Although the clues were minimal, they were not entirely fruitless.

“Duke Saranchi, Bartlett Despenser?”

Rubbing her chin, Dorothy murmured this name. According to Misha, if she wanted to further understand the truth about the Mirror Moon Goddess, she could only seek out this duke. However, as a highly esteemed member of the royal family, contacting him was not easy.

‘Although Misha said that this duke occasionally attends gatherings, I might have a chance to contact him. But the circles of royal gatherings are too highbrow; I can’t get close for the moment. Contacting him seems quite difficult…’