"After the meeting, I'll investigate. By next Monday's meeting, I'll have more intel."
It seemed Capitalist's intelligence had a bit of a delay, but it was also possible that news of what happened in Greenfield City had been completely suppressed.
Just as King Arthur had said, Greenfield City had activated its Iron Curtain System. This was a physical lockdown system for the city; every single route in and out was sealed by iron gates over ten meters thick.
The city's entire airspace was closed. No one could enter or leave Greenfield City without being detected.
Red Fruit City had a similar system. Every city had comparable defensive measures.
"If you can, I hope you'll help me find a vulnerability in Greenfield City's Iron Curtain System. As far as I know, all such defense systems have backdoors intentionally left in them."
King Arthur voiced his request for help before Lin Qi could.
Of those present, only Capitalist nodded.
The others turned their gazes to Guang Ling.
With Guang Ling's control over the network, it should be much easier for him to find a vulnerability than it would be for Capitalist.
"I can't use the network too conspicuously. It would pose a fundamental risk to the Highest Level," Guang Ling explained, and the others looked thoughtful.
Guang Ling continued the topic. "Wizard, what trouble have you run into?"
Lin Qi followed Guang Ling's lead and asked his own question, his disguised, mature female voice speaking up: "The Assassin Alliance. I want information on the Assassin Alliance."
"You've run into the Assassin Alliance too? Wizard, are you in Greenfield City as well? That's great... no, that's terrible. Wizard, with your Ability, maybe you can get me out of here."
King Arthur was pleasantly surprised. Based on past operations, he knew Wizard possessed an almost inhuman ability for information gathering.
If it was Wizard, he might actually be able to break through the Iron Curtain System's blockade.
"Unfortunately, I'm not in Greenfield City. I've just run into some trouble from the Assassin Alliance."
Lin Qi shook his head. Red Fruit City and Greenfield City were very close to each other.
But with the Iron Curtain System active, the difficulty of getting in from the outside was far greater than the difficulty of getting out from within.
"Is that so? I don't know much about the Assassin Alliance, probably not as much as Capitalist. Looks like you'll have to owe this favor to her."
King Arthur's hopes were dashed, but he wasn't dejected. Before joining the Mercenary Corps, he had been an independent Mercenary, so he was more than used to being in dangerous situations.
Lin Qi looked toward Capitalist, who shared her intelligence on the Assassin Alliance generously, without making any demands.
"The Assassin Alliance. A Tier One Mercenary Corps, an Intercontinental Mercenary Corps. Rumor has it they have very few members, though not fewer than us. They almost always operate solo."
"According to analysis from the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance, the Assassin Alliance is suspected of possessing Tier Zero power—that is, the ability to confront a major corporation head-on."
'They're that strong?'
The information was direct, but it wasn't what Lin Qi was looking for.
Lin Qi followed up with another question. "I heard that members of the Assassin Alliance refuse Prosthetic Body modifications? And that they're... particularly generous with new members?"
Capitalist paused her explanation, raising her head to gaze intently in Lin Qi's direction.
"Have you been recruited by the Assassin Alliance? This information is High Level, classified as an S-Class secret by the Asian Political Zone Big Business Alliance."
Capitalist made almost no effort to hide her "noble" status.
As long as it was intelligence that could be obtained through official channels, Capitalist could almost always get her hands on it.
Within the Mercenary Corps, she was mostly in charge of logistics.
The only true field operatives within the Highest Level were Master Ma and King Arthur. Lin Qi could only be considered half of one.
"You could say that." Lin Qi couldn't reveal any information about Lin Xin, so he gave a vague answer.
"It seems you haven't."
Capitalist's headshake was quite obvious, making Lin Qi's performance seem rather clumsy.
Lin Qi didn't care.
"I can share this information, but you'll owe me a favor."
Lin Qi nodded. Trading a favor for S-Class intelligence from the Big Business Alliance was a good deal. Besides, given Capitalist's status, she might never have an opportunity to call in that favor.
"The Assassin Alliance is a Mercenary Corps that originated from the Eastern Alliance in the Asian Administrative Region. Their growth model isn't based on recruiting new members, but on a master-apprentice system."
"The Assassin Alliance has three Extraordinary Professions, or you could call them three factions: Blood Robe, Soul Seeker, and Death Warrior. It sounds a bit mysterious, but ultimately, it's a path similar to that of a Martial Artist. The only difference is their extreme resistance to Prosthetic Body modifications. In fact, you could say the entire Eastern Alliance is very resistant to Prosthetic Body modifications."
"As for the generosity you mentioned, that would be the Blood Robe Faction."
"Wizard, I advise you to stay as far away from Blood Robe as possible. I personally suspect that Blood Robe is secretly being cultivated by the Eastern Alliance."
"Getting involved with the Eastern Alliance is far more troublesome than the Witch Hunt."
It wasn't just Lin Qi; even Master Ma and King Arthur seemed stunned by what they heard.
'So the Assassin Alliance has a background like that?'
'No wonder they act so arrogantly.'
"Wait, that's not right. If the relationship between the Assassin Alliance and the Eastern Alliance is as you say, how could they cause an incident like this in Greenfield City? It doesn't align with the Eastern Alliance's interests. Why would the Eastern Alliance want to throw the Asian Administrative Region into chaos?"
King Arthur immediately pressed for an answer.
For now, Capitalist couldn't answer that question either.
Her intelligence only went so far.
Besides, King Arthur's claim that a Tier Four Extraordinary from the Assassin Alliance had carried out an assassination was just his side of the story. It wasn't certain that the Assassin Alliance was truly responsible.
Lin Qi could only give a slight nod.
'Stay away?'
'Lin Xin is my own sister. If something happened to Lin Xin, I could never stand by and do nothing.'
The Eastern Alliance, to Lin Qi, was a powerful entity beyond his comprehension.
In a world where major corporations annexed and controlled Cyber Cities, and cities were independent of one another, the Eastern Alliance was a strange existence—seemingly scattered in form but united in spirit.
It was composed of no fewer than twenty major corporations, yet they acted as a unified alliance, advancing and retreating together.
Outsiders and other major corporations always viewed the Eastern Alliance as a single, cohesive entity.
Whether or not the entire administrative region fell into chaos often depended on the will of the Eastern Alliance.
'My little sister is getting less and less adorable.' Lin Qi felt a headache coming on, but he steeled himself.
He had an entire Doomsday World backing him. Even powers as formidable as the Assassin Alliance or the Eastern Alliance would not be allowed to harm his family.
As for Lin Xin, Lin Qi planned to have his dad keep a close eye on her.
At least until he himself became stronger, Lin Qi would absolutely not allow Lin Xin to go out and perform any missions for the Assassin Alliance.
"Wizard, is there any more intelligence you wish to ask about?" Guang Ling asked.
During regular meetings, Guang Ling usually acted as the moderator and decision-maker.
Lin Qi shook his head. "My needs have been met."
Guang Ling looked at King Arthur. "In that case, this meeting is adjourned for now. King Arthur, I suggest you move to a new hiding spot as soon as possible. More trouble is heading your way."