In the dim room, after listening to Mr. Ci Rong's words, John stood rooted to the spot for a long while before speaking hesitantly.
"This, this... Mr. Ci Rong, the only valuable clue we found in Green Shade Town was about this woman's characteristics. Are we suddenly not looking for her anymore...?" Facing Mr. Ci Rong's command, John's expression showed confusion and bewilderment, while Mr. Ci Rong snorted coldly.
"Hmph... According to the latest intelligence, those characteristics were faked and deliberately shown to others. That woman doesn't look like that at all. Her real appearance should have not-too-dark skin and not-too-large breasts. If you search according to the information you've gathered, you'll only waste energy and time. You'll fall into their trap.
"So, don't look for that woman anymore. Put your energy into other tasks."
Mr. Ci Rong said sternly, while John was momentarily unable to react. He thought to himself:
'Faked? Was the previous information false? That means I have no reason to touch that girl from before. No, I finally found someone so exquisite, I can't just miss this opportunity. I have to talk to Mr. Ci Rong about it.'
John wanted to make a move on Naifnis under the guise of interrogation. Now that Mr. Ci Rong had issued a command, it was difficult for him. Unable to suppress his desire, he tentatively spoke to Mr. Ci Rong.
"Uh... Mr. Ci Rong, we put in some effort to gather this intelligence. Although I don't know where your new information came from, I think we should verify its authenticity and accuracy first. How about we continue searching for the person while also confirming the reliability of this new information's source? To tell you the truth, I just found someone here..."
After John finished speaking, he smiled and looked at Mr. Ci Rong in front of him. Sitting on the chair, Mr. Ci Rong remained silent for a while before speaking slowly in a lowered tone.
"I personally gathered this new intelligence. Does it still need confirmation?"
Hearing Mr. Ci Rong's words, John was stunned for a moment before immediately reacting, bending over and saying with a forced smile.
"Uh, ah! So you personally gathered it! Then there's definitely no mistake! No mistake at all! I'll go notify Jade's side right away and have him abandon all search for that woman."
A frightened John immediately scurried out, while Mr. Ci Rong remained seated in the dim room, gazing at the two black spiders in the box beside him.
At this moment, he began to recall more of the intelligence he had just gathered, especially about the organization that had revealed its name and was opposing them.
"Rose Cross, completely unfamiliar..."
Thinking, Mr. Ci Rong murmured. This was the first time he had heard this name. It was clearly the name of a society, but he had never heard of it before.
Where did this so-called Rose Cross come from? Why are they here? What is their purpose? Why are they opposing us? A series of questions troubled Mr. Ci Rong's mind; he couldn't figure out the answers for a while.
'Hmph, no matter who you are, your movements are now under my control. In eight days, you'll choose your stronghold and prepare to give me a surprise, right? It's not certain who will surprise whom then...'
Mr. Ci Rong thought this way. Since he couldn't figure out what this Rose Cross was for the time being, then by the time they took down one of their strongholds and captured a few people for interrogation, they would know all the details.
Although Mr. Ci Rong's spiders lost track of the two Rose Cross members, they had also grasped the location of their next meeting point. He only needed to hide the spiders there in advance to know the location of their stronghold. How he would act then would be his choice.
"Heh... this Rose Cross is probably just a small society that popped up out of nowhere. Their tricks are limited. They wanted to spy on me, but now I'm spying on them in return. They probably don't know that I've already grasped their movements..."
Mr. Ci Rong murmured with a light chuckle. This feeling of others being on the first layer and himself on the second made him feel a bit smug.
'No matter how they jump around, everything is already within my grasp.'
...
Outside King's Campus East Gate, Green Shade Town.
In the evening, after successfully recovering all the Corpse Puppets and confirming that no one was following her, Dorothy went to a restaurant in Green Shade Town for dinner and then returned to the home at 17.
At this moment, Dorothy was sitting on a chair on the balcony, stirring the coffee piled high with sugar cubes on the table in front of her with a spoon, while recalling the events of the day.
'Today was the first wave of the intelligence war with Eight Point Nest, I guess. Although I was almost tricked, I managed to turn the situation around later and successfully misled the other party. The initiative in intelligence is still in my hands.'
Dorothy thought reflectively, then picked up the coffee cup where all the sugar had dissolved and blew on it a few times.
'If the misleading works, then Naifnis's crisis can be resolved, and in eight days, I'll get an opportunity. If I can make good use of this opportunity, I might be able to break through that society's blockade and enter the ruins in one go.'
Dorothy analyzed thus. She had basically confirmed that Eight Point Nest now controlled the underground ruins and was doing something inside, though she didn't know what.
'The entrance to that underground ruin is likely beyond the Spider Web Corridor. However, it seems that as long as you're not one of them, any creature that steps into the Spider Web Corridor will trigger an extraordinary alert. It's simply impossible to get past...'
Dorothy thought this way. Among her Corpse Puppets, the only one that could pass through the Spider Web Corridor without triggering an alert was the bird-shaped Corpse Puppet, by flying directly without touching the spider webs. However, a bird flying into that enclosed indoor space would be too conspicuous, so it wasn't suitable.
At this moment, Dorothy regretted that the size of the corpses her Corpse Puppet Ring could control was limited; they couldn't be too large or too small. She couldn't control the corpses of small insects, otherwise, she could have controlled a flying insect to go inside.
'I can't remain completely ignorant of the situation beyond the Spider Web Corridor. Before the opportunity arrives, I must find a way to sneak into the Spider Web Corridor.'
Slowly drinking her coffee, Dorothy was thinking about how she could sneak into the Spider Web Corridor. After much thought, she could only think of one way.
"It seems... I have to talk to her with more sincerity..."
...
At noon the next day, in a tea house in Green Shade Town.
On the second floor of the tea house, in a private room, Naifnis was sitting here, drinking tea while looking out at the sun-drenched street outside the window. Occasionally, she would look at the pocket watch on the table. From her expression, she seemed to be waiting for something.
'It's already twelve o'clock, why hasn't Mr. Brandon arrived yet...'
Naifnis thought anxiously. Two days ago, after Brandon instructed her to go to the academy yesterday, he also arranged the location for their next meeting, which was at twelve o'clock in this tea house. However, Naifnis still didn't see Brandon's figure now.
"Knock... knock..."
Just then, there was a soft knock on the private room door. Naifnis was slightly startled. After hearing that the knocking rhythm matched what they had agreed upon beforehand, she immediately got up to open the door.
"Mr. Brandon, you finally... huh..."
Naifnis opened the door, but what appeared before her eyes was not the handsome young man with a scholarly air she had in mind, but a young girl instead.
With white hair, a thin white dress, a sun hat, and a small bag slung over her shoulder, the girl, whose height was just about even with Naifnis's proud chest, raised her delicate face and said with a smile.
"Hello, Senior Naifnis, my name is Dorothy, and I belong to the same society as Brandon. What I need to discuss with you today is a bit special, so I'm here on his behalf."
Dorothy said softly to the astonished Naifnis in front of her, and the other party only murmured after being stunned for a while.
"Belong to the same society as Mr. Brandon... so young?! Are there still such young members in a secret society?"
"Of course, in the extraordinary world, anything is possible, Senior Naifnis, let's go inside and talk slowly...
"This time, I am permitted to reveal to you some of the secrets of us Rose Cross..."