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Since the recruitment plan had failed, Russell had no choice but to head home and rest.
Obviously, what he and Zayne had done wouldn't cause immediate ripples. After all, while they'd made plenty of noise, there hadn't been any real casualties.
If you wanted to be technical about it, the only death was some unknown young man.
Though if Russell and Zayne hadn't shown up, that same young man would have become a proud limb-grafting demon—and the final outcome would've been the same regardless.
It would just cause his parents more suffering. Then again, given how that "filial son" had treated them, maybe his death would come as a relief.
The next day, Russell went to work at the Association headquarters. The Unification Sect still hadn't made any moves.
"Strange." Russell frowned to himself. "Last time, they retaliated almost immediately."
This time, he and Zayne had killed a Sect member right in front of Lucas Shaw—but the man had just... taken it. That was completely out of character for someone who'd shown such a volatile temper before.
It was like he'd decided to turtle up.
When something's abnormal, something's wrong. Russell didn't believe for a second that the Unification Sect would let this slide.
The lack of action could only mean they were secretly planning something bigger.
On his way to the office, Russell passed Simon and Luther. Both gave him strange looks.
But Russell knew why. It was because of Ms. Xie.
Tsk.
With that subtle feeling of vindication, he spotted a middle-aged man standing expressionlessly at the door to the Vice President's office.
"Director Zayne? Something wrong?" Russell played dumb.
Zayne was silent for a moment before speaking. "Vice President, someone attacked a Unification Sect base last night. Initial speculation points to the Spirit Begging Society."
"Is that so?" Russell raised an eyebrow. "Did you tell President Simon?"
Zayne nodded. "He told me to find you."
"Seriously? Is guarding headquarters really that important to him?" Russell complained with feigned annoyance.
The Director of Public Security pretended not to hear.
Seeing this, Russell sighed. "Fine, let's go."
No point entering his office now.
"There must be something special about this base for you to come to me directly, right?"
"Yes, Vice President. You'll understand once you see it."
The familiar Gilded Lily. The familiar pair of investigators.
But this time it was Russell and Zayne—not Mr. Lawson and Mr. Cross.
Back again.
They both thought it simultaneously.
But neither let it show on their face.
The two made their way to the third-floor secret room.
The appearance of the third floor was completely different from when they'd left last night.
The walls were blackened by flames. Most of the severed limbs that had hung from meat hooks were gone.
"Tell me what you found." Russell scanned the scene, then turned to Zayne.
If the man could directly confirm this was a Sect stronghold, he must have discovered something concrete.
"Vice President, look at the limbs on these hooks." Zayne led Russell to several meat hooks. "This one is human. This one is..."
"Demon."
"So I have reasonable suspicion that this was a facility where the Unification Sect created their limb-grafting monsters."
Russell nodded in agreement. "What about the staff here? Did you question them?"
Zayne's expression turned doubtful. "I questioned everyone. They all claimed to have no memory of this room."
"But the madam said she was knocked unconscious yesterday by two strange young men. They called themselves Mr. Lawson and Mr. Cross."
Both culprits were standing right here. Russell felt a twinge of awkwardness.
Controlling his expression, he steered past the topic. "Where's the owner of The Gilded Lily? If regular employees were fooled, surely the owner would know about this room."
After all, any building owner would inspect the place after construction was complete.
But Zayne shook his head. "The owner is missing. We checked his residence—no one there."
"And judging by the signs of habitation, no one has lived there for some time."
"Also, when our people investigated The Gilded Lily's finances, they found multiple large expenditures with unknown destinations this month. Ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars."
Russell closed his eyes and began processing the information.
There were only two possibilities for the owner now: either he was dead, or he'd been a Sect member all along.
After a long moment, Russell opened his eyes. "Director Zayne, please check the recent missing persons reports across all districts of East-Haven."
"Pay special attention to ordinary people with criminal records or those who frequently express anti-Association sentiments."
"Finally, mark their locations on a map. That should yield results."
Zayne didn't immediately understand what Russell was planning, but he followed orders.
It had to be said—when the Association operated at full capacity, its efficiency as a coastal behemoth was truly terrifying.
In just half a day, all missing persons reports from the past two weeks in East-Haven had been compiled and sorted by district, then placed before Russell.
Their home addresses were marked on a giant map of East-Haven mounted behind him.
Russell selected the map of Ford County—where they currently were—and connected the missing persons' locations with a red line.
They barely formed a circle.
The Gilded Lily sat right at the center.
Then he repeated the process for other districts. "Director Zayne should have figured it out by now, yes?"
"Have your people check if there are any unexplained financial outflows in the areas at the center of each pattern."
Zayne had caught on the moment Russell drew the first circle.
If the Unification Sect had multiple locations like this in East-Haven, then members in each area would naturally operate near their own headquarters.
After all, you couldn't have members from Ford County traveling all the way to Lakewood County just to recruit.
Soon, Zayne received a message from his subordinates. It wasn't good news. "Vice President, we've checked everything."
"Only one brothel in Eastbrook District matches the pattern."
"Just like The Gilded Lily—the owner is gone."
"And there have been numerous large expenditures recently."
Russell waved his hand. "Finding even one lead is good enough. If the Unification Sect were that easy to expose, they wouldn't have fought Master Fang in the north for so many years."
"Come on. Let's see what we're dealing with."
Eastbrook District. The Velvet Rose.
Russell and Zayne silently regarded the brothel, which seemed rather deserted during daylight hours.
They both felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.
To avoid alerting anyone, Russell had the main force wait at a distance while he and Zayne conducted the initial investigation.
As they entered The Velvet Rose, the heavily made-up madam froze. She hadn't expected strangers to visit a brothel in broad daylight. But adhering to the principle that customers were customers, she moved to greet them. "Gentlemen—"
Before she could finish, Zayne raised his right hand to stop her. "Association business. I ask questions, you answer."
In his palm was his identification card as Director of Public Security.
The madam nearly fainted at the sight. She'd never imagined her workplace would have any connection to such an important figure in East-Haven.
Is it fake?
Who would be bold enough to impersonate an Association cardmaker?
Either way, as an ordinary person, she didn't dare offend him regardless.
Zayne frowned. "Which floor is your staff rest area?"
Though surprised by the question, the madam answered honestly. "The fourth floor."
"Any architectural blueprints?"
"No."
Seeing he wasn't getting what he needed, Zayne turned to the young man beside him. "Vice President?"
V-Vice... Vice President?!
The madam nearly had a heart attack.
She hadn't expected the young man next to the Director of Public Security to be his superior.
"Take us to the fourth floor." Russell withdrew his gaze from the first floor and spoke flatly.
"Y-Yes, of course. Please follow me, sirs." The madam wiped sweat from her forehead and hurriedly led the way.
The workers they passed saw their usually domineering madam acting so submissive and wisely kept their distance.
Working in a brothel gave you certain instincts.
When they reached the fourth floor, Russell's powerful mental energy swept across instantly.
Unfortunately...
Just like last night, nothing was found.
Zayne watched silently. He knew the Sect stronghold in The Velvet Rose was probably hidden by special means, just like The Gilded Lily.
But he couldn't say that. He couldn't explain how he knew.
Just as Zayne was wondering how to break the impasse for the young man beside him, he heard a calm voice: "Madam, please have everyone in the building evacuate."
"Association cardmakers will assist with the process."
Zayne was stunned. He realized what Russell was about to do. "Vice President?"
Russell glanced at him. "Director Zayne, message the standby personnel. Have them come clear the area."
Seeing the decision was already made, Zayne stopped trying to dissuade him.
But a vague thought emerged in his mind.
I'm not as good as Lux.
Soon, with the madam's "friendly persuasion" and the implicit threat of Association cardmakers, the handful of daytime guests were all escorted out.
"Hey," a pot-bellied guest tugged on the madam's sleeve, "do you know what's going on?"
"Why would these people come to your establishment?"
The madam knew well that the more you talked, the more mistakes you made. She just shook her head frantically and stayed silent.
On the fourth floor, Russell confirmed he and Zayne were the only ones left in the building.
He immediately summoned Mikoto Misaka and Aizen.
He planned to tear down the fourth floor directly.
It was just a brothel. He could afford the compensation.
Besides, if the Unification Sect really had a base here, the Association would foot the bill anyway.
Outside, the gathered crowd of bystanders heard only a piercing thunderclap—and then the fourth floor of The Velvet Rose was instantly reduced to powder.
"Holy shit!"
"Madam, are they demolishing the building?!"
The madam just stared blankly at the scene, wondering how she'd explain this to her boss.
But what happened next made every ordinary person present wish their parents had given them two extra legs.
Saying the fourth floor was "reduced to dust" wasn't entirely accurate. One single room had survived Mikoto Misaka's attack.
With that much noise, even a deaf person would know something had happened.
"Really."
"One after another, why must you all bother me?"
A weary voice echoed in everyone's ears. Then a pale figure appeared in mid-air.
Seeing who it was, Russell's pupils contracted. His heart raced.
Lannide.
Hit the jackpot.
But where's Lucas Shaw?
This time, Russell only saw Lannide. The man in the red dragon robe from last night was nowhere to be found.
Hovering in mid-air, the pale female demon put on her glasses again and looked down at Russell with something like pity. "Someone actually dares to provoke me."
She glanced first at Mikoto Misaka. "Poor. Weak."
The brown-haired girl's eye twitched. She had the distinct feeling she was being insulted.
Lannide then turned her gaze to Aizen. "..."
She seemed to have no desire to comment on him at all.
Hearing her assessment, Russell frowned slightly. A theory formed in his mind.
Could her glasses be some kind of detection device?
Her behavior last night had already made him suspect as much.
Similar to Kumoko's appraisal skill?
But he immediately dismissed the idea. If her glasses worked like Kumoko's identification, his and Zayne's cover would've been blown last night.
But is Aizen really weak?
[Disguiser]: Aizen's long-term practice of concealment makes it impossible for others to detect his hidden true strength when observing him.
So that's how it is. Her glasses must have limitations.
Similar to the scouters in Dragon Ball.
Russell concluded that her glasses could give rough estimates of a card's strength but couldn't detect detailed skill information.
Just as Lannide was about to say something else, Zayne's [Chancellor Tortoise] struck first.
A high-speed rotating stream of dark blue water slashed from ground to sky.
SCREECH!
A harsh grinding sound. The female demon hovered in mid-air, holding an open book. Pure white defensive magic circles materialized around her body.
"You've been chattering since the start." The brown-haired girl's hair crackled with electricity. "Poor? Weak?"
"You're obviously not that young yourself!"
"?" Lannide tilted her head in confusion. The white magic circle blocked a coin that came screaming toward her.
Then she seemed to realize something. "...Boring."
As if she'd lost patience, the pages of her book flipped rapidly. Several massive magic arrays condensed in the sky.
The next moment, flames mixed with lightning rained down from above.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū."
A gentle voice. A transparent barrier suddenly formed in mid-air.
BOOM.
A deafening explosion. Lannide couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I was wrong."
"What an interesting card indeed."
"It was worth fighting my teacher for this assignment. Hahaha."
That strange laugh escaped her lips again—just like when she'd seen Kumoko last night.
Under Lannide's gaze, the brown-haired man who had been smiling serenely the entire time... slowly went cold.
His right hand reached up and removed his glasses.
They shattered silently in the air.
As his left hand swept his hair back, a frigid voice emerged from his lips.
"Don't get too cocky, ant."