Tivian, King's College, Royal Saint Crown University.
On top of a clock tower, in a room used for storing tools, Edrick placed his hand on the floor, allowing the gecko that had traveled a long distance to crawl into his hand. After lifting it, he stroked it with his other hand and closed his eyes, seemingly sensing something.
"How is it? Did you scout anything?"
Sitting on a crate, Brandon looked at Edrick and asked. After a moment of silence, Edrick opened his eyes, put the gecko back into his pocket, and said quietly.
"I did scout some intelligence, but it's not very valuable. After the leading guy entered a Stone gate, my puppet was blocked outside and couldn't follow, so it had to return."
"Ha... so it was all for nothing? Rick, your puppet isn't very reliable." Brandon chuckled lightly, a hint of disdain in his expression. Edrick turned his head with a hint of displeasure and said to Brandon.
"If you're capable, you can go yourself."
"Hey, don't be angry, I was just joking, don't mind it." Brandon apologized with a grin, then changed the subject and continued.
"Oh right, didn't you say you found out something else? What exactly is it, tell me?"
"Nothing much, just that last time we took care of those two henchmen in Green Shade Town, Lisa was seen by a passerby when she entered the house. Now those guys are preparing to look for her."
Edrick said slowly, then sneered contemptuously, and continued.
"Heh... but those guys are destined to work in vain. The physical characteristics of Lisa they got from the passerby are the result of her careful disguise. They even think Lisa is a Crown University student. Let them investigate, investigating based on false characteristics, the more effort they spend, the better."
After Edrick finished speaking and Brandon heard his words, his eyes lit up, and he also laughed and continued.
"Lisa's disguise, haha... not to mention her skin color, she usually has so little up front, and this time she padded it so big, isn't she afraid it'll fall off?"
After teasing his companion, Brandon's expression changed, and he then said to Edrick.
"Speaking of which, our scouting is now obstructed, and we don't know the movements of those guys, what should we do next?"
Listening to Brandon's words, Edrick thought for a moment, then continued to speak.
"I suspect they have some kind of anti-scouting method, so for the time being, I don't plan to conduct scouting activities. The stronghold in Green Shade Town can no longer be used. The matter at Crown University will be a long-term job. The top priority should be focusing on establishing a new stronghold."
"Hmm... we should indeed rebuild the stronghold here at Crown University. So, has the location for the new stronghold been decided yet?" Brandon continued to ask Edrick, but the other party shook his head.
"Not decided yet, there are still many things to do." Saying that, Edrick glanced around, paused, and then continued to speak.
"Eight days, eight days from now at six in the afternoon, you still come to this place to find me. By then, the new stronghold will definitely be arranged properly, and I will tell you the specific location."
"Six in the afternoon eight days from now? I understand, I'll be on time." Listening to Edrick's words, Brandon also nodded and said.
"Got it, I'll be on time."
"Alright, that's all for today then. Cause less trouble for a while, don't actively provoke them, everything waits until eight days later. By then, we might be able to give them a big surprise."
After speaking, Edrick looked at Brandon seriously, then spoke solemnly again.
"Then, see you later, for Rose Cross."
"For Rose Cross, goodbye."
After nodding to each other, Edrick and Brandon left the room together, walking down the spiral staircase of the clock tower. The two small black spiders that had been secretly observing also followed along.
At the bottom of the clock tower, Edrick and Brandon bid farewell without a word, then they both walked in different directions. The two small black spiders also followed different targets separately, intending to continue tracking.
However, after separating, Brandon and Edrick quickly walked into the crowd, and their pace became faster and faster, quickly far exceeding the speed of normal walking, making it difficult for the small spiders crawling on the walls and ceiling to keep up for a while.
Due to the huge difference in size, the speed of the small spiders could not keep up with humans no matter what. Before, they had no problem following the gecko, but now tracking Brandon and Edrick, whose pace had accelerated, was impossible.
Soon, due to the difference in speed, the small spiders lost track of Brandon and Edrick. The two figures disappeared into the flow of people in the school. Seeing this situation, they had no choice but to return to their master's hands.
...
Inside the Secret Knowledge Society's meeting point, Naifnis was sitting at an edge position, looking seriously at a book. Beside her were some other members of the society with strange behaviors and absent-minded expressions.
Naifnis was quietly reading, and in a place she didn't notice, a gaze was staring intently at her.
Behind a Stone pillar in the distance, a middle-aged man was hiding, secretly looking at Naifnis in the distance, his expression full of seriousness.
He was the one who had talked with Mr. Ci Rong before the spider web corridor. He was Mr. Ci Rong's direct subordinate. He had just received Mr. Ci Rong's order to assist Jade in searching the school for the female student who appeared at No. 23 yesterday.
According to a witness in Green Shade Town, before the gunshots at No. 23, someone saw a female student with a good figure and darker skin enter there, so they concluded that this female student was related to the incident at No. 23 where they lost two members, and they decided to find her.
Just now, the man was assigned this task by Mr. Ci Rong. He was just about to leave the meeting point to go to the school to find Jade and begin the secret search when he saw an unexpected figure in the meeting point.
'Darker skin, good figure... Oh... a bit too good, the characteristics completely match, could it be that girl? Is she a member of the little kid society controlled by Mr. Ci Rong? If so, that's really getting something without effort...'
Staring at Naifnis in the distance, the man thought to himself. He hadn't expected that a search task that he thought would take a lot of effort to get results would suddenly reveal a highly suspicious target whose characteristics all matched.
'Hehe... such a big gain right away, this is really great. Let's just capture her and interrogate her. It's even more convenient to capture her if she's a member here. Such an attractive girl, maybe during the interrogation later I can...'
Thinking to himself, the man walked out from behind the Stone pillar, slowly walking forward, towards Naifnis. His gaze at Naifnis was like staring at prey, desire surging in his pupils.
However, at this moment, another voice interrupted his steps.
"Mr. John, you're here."
The man named John was startled, stopped in place, and looked in the direction the voice came from. Standing there was a male student with a dazed expression. John recognized him; this was a student who had read almost all of Mr. Ci Rong's collection and could gain Mr. Ci Rong's trust.
"What do you want, kid! Can't you see I'm busy?"
His actions interrupted, John said angrily, while the other party replied quite calmly.
"Mr. Ci Rong told you to put down what you're doing and go to him now."
"What, Mr. Ci Rong is asking me to go see him now?"
Listening to the male student's words, John felt a little surprised, and the other party nodded and continued.
"Yes, go now, Mr. Ci Rong is waiting for you inside."
After hearing the words, John paused slightly, then looked at Naifnis, who was reading in the distance, again, and gritted his teeth, saying.
"Okay, I'll go see Mr. Ci Rong first, and come back to do the main business later."
After speaking, John immediately walked away. He walked through the meeting point, through the spider web corridor, and arrived before a Stone gate, gently knocking on it with his hand.
"Come in."
Words came from within the Stone gate, and John immediately pulled the mechanism beside it, causing the Stone gate to rumble open automatically.
Beyond the Stone gate, gas Light illuminated the dim room. Mr. Ci Rong was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, rubbing his temples and thinking about something. On the low table in front of him lay an exquisite small box, in which lay two small black spiders.
"Mr. Ci Rong, you were looking for me." Coming to Mr. Ci Rong's side, John said respectfully, and Mr. Ci Rong nodded in response.
"Hmm... I told you before to help Jade find that woman with dark skin and a good figure, you don't need to look anymore. Not only do you not need to look, tell Jade as well, he doesn't need to look either, it's a waste of time to keep looking."
Mr. Ci Rong, who had received the latest intelligence, said directly to his subordinate in front of him. Listening to Mr. Ci Rong's words, John was directly stunned in place.
"Ah..."