The carriage jolted violently.
Ms. Cecil leaned back against the somewhat stiff leather seat.
In her coat pocket, her fingers repeatedly brushed against the cold silver link charm.
On the other side of the carriage...
Charlotte was leaning against the window, staring blankly at the dim streetscape rushing past outside.
The girl's profile, illuminated by the gas lamps, held an air of innocence that seemed untouched by the world.
Looking at the red haired girl, Cecil suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable irritation.
She didn't know how to face Charlotte anymore.
There was no doubt about it.
This silly girl's older brother, that fellow named Elias, was a free transcendent wandering outside the sight of official authorities!
From a teacher's perspective...
She really should take this moment to subtly warn Charlotte.
Even if it was the Rockland family's private business.
A wild transcendent directly affected this girl's life and safety!
In the Kingdom of Velen, and even across the entire continent...
The archives of the Seventh Agency were never short of stories about free transcendents who, out of greed, laid hands on some low risk containment object, only to fail at suppressing the backlash. The result was always the same: their entire family mutating into piles of flesh covered in tentacles and eyeballs overnight!
Such incidents were so common that Cecil had become nearly numb to them.
However.
Her reason warned her repeatedly.
From the perspective of a senior investigator of the Seventh Agency, she absolutely should not intervene in this matter.
Not only would it involve the agency's confidentiality agreements.
More importantly...
The lead on Elias was highly likely to be connected to the ongoing investigation of the murder at the Golden Rose Hotel!
Caught in a fierce conflict between emotion and logic, Cecil remained heavy hearted and silent throughout the journey.
Moreover.
As the carriage drew closer to the West District, the clues in her mind began to align more clearly.
She suddenly thought of something she had overlooked!
This afternoon, across from the Golden Rose Hotel.
It was a mental connection between two Moon Lord believers that had scared off those two rookie investigators, thereby saving Brian!
What if...
What if that so called Moon Lord believer was actually Elias?!
It wasn't an impossible theory!
Cecil narrowed her eyes.
This wasn't just a wild guess.
She knew that Elias and the detective named Brian were acquainted!
To save a friend, he used such a risky mental broadcast to create a diversion.
The motive was practically flawless!
“Whoa!”
The driver pulled the reins roughly.
The carriage came to a steady halt in front of the apartment building at 137 Ash Street after a sharp sway.
“Ms. Cecil, thank you so much for today!”
Charlotte hopped off the carriage, holding up her skirt.
She stood under the streetlamp like a warm little sun, waving goodbye to Cecil inside the carriage.
Cecil immediately tucked away her gloomy expression.
She put on her trademark smile of intellectual elegance and gave a slight nod through the window, returning the polite gesture.
Until...
She watched as Charlotte took out her keys, pushed open the worn wooden door, and stepped completely inside her home.
Click.
With the soft sound of the apartment door closing...
The gentle smile on Cecil's face vanished instantly, as if someone had cut the power.
In its place was cold calculation.
“To Spark Square.”
She leaned back into the seat and coldly spoke three words to the driver outside.
Back at the White Bank Hotel, the moment she confirmed Elias was a transcendent...
Cecil had already made up her mind.
She was going to meet this bold, well disguised young man!
She wanted to know so badly!
What role had this guy played in the series of disasters that had hit Hope County lately?
And just how much was he involved?!
So, Elias, you like to secretly plant tracking charms on your sister, do you?
Fine then!
Now the charm is in my pocket.
I'll be waiting at the destination. If you have the guts, follow the trail and find me.
This was a classic fishing operation.
If she could obtain critical intelligence regarding the Golden Rose case from Elias...
She wouldn't mind doing him a favor and letting him off the hook.
As for why she chose Spark Square as the meeting place?
The reason was simple.
Spark Square was the largest open area in the central district of Hope County with the clearest line of sight!
Even though the Spark Festival was approaching and some vendors selling roasted chestnuts and mulled wine would linger at the edges late into the night...
It was precisely because of these ordinary people acting as cover, combined with the unobstructed terrain...
That it was the perfect place for two mutually wary transcendents to meet!
This was ten thousand times safer than meeting in the dark alleys of the West District or the abandoned factories of the East District!
Cecil didn't want to meet an unexpected end by being ambushed by a Scale One rookie.
...
The night wind howled.
The carriage stopped at the edge of Spark Square.
Cecil paid the fare and walked into the square alone.
At this hour, the daytime bustle and heat of Spark Square had been thoroughly scattered by the cold wind.
Only a few scattered vendors who were reluctant to leave remained at the edges.
The faint light from the gas lamps feebly announced the prosperity of the day.
This was exactly the ideal environment Cecil wanted.
Quiet, open, defensible, and suitable for an offensive.
She walked straight to the center of the square and stood beneath the massive bronze statue of the king.
She took a deep breath and began to set up some backup measures nearby, then quietly waited for the prey to take the bait.
However.
Before Elias could arrive...
Suddenly!
The air less than three meters beside Cecil rippled and distorted violently without warning!
She felt the aura of the spirit world!
Sure enough.
In the blink of an eye, a deep spirit world rift appeared beside her.
Following that...
From the chaos of the rift, a strangely shaped creature dressed in black emerged.
This was a dedicated spirit world messenger used internally by the Seventh Agency!
The messenger's featureless face seemed to stare at Cecil to confirm her identity.
Once confirmed...
It stiffly reached out and respectfully presented a letter sealed with a black wax seal before Cecil.
Mission accomplished.
The messenger didn't stay for a single second longer, immediately shrinking back into the rift.
Cecil frowned as she took the letter.
The moment she saw the wax seal, her expression shifted slightly.
The letter was from the Seventh Agency—Hastings Port Branch!
Cecil warily scanned her surroundings to ensure no one was approaching.
She briskly tore open the envelope and, by the dim light of the square's lamps, quickly scanned the intelligence written in cipher.
“The Mist Veil Society is attempting to infiltrate the Wayland Shipping Company. Current true purpose unknown.”
“However, it is highly likely to be related to the lighthouse at Moon Bay.”
This was just an appetizer.
The content that followed was the real main course!
“A few days ago.”
“Agents from the Hastings Branch discovered a male corpse on a rocky beach near the coast.”
“The manner of death was gruesome.”
“However, based on the tattoos remaining on the skin, he was confirmed to be a member of the Mist Veil Society!”
“And from the traces of spirit measurement at the scene...”
“The caster who killed this cultist was merely a Scale One transcendent!”
Scale One?!
Cecil's eyes twitched uncontrollably.
A newly awakened rookie took down a cultist of the Mist Veil Society?!
But that wasn't all.
“Not only that.”
“Traces of a violent, unknown monster's activity were also found at the beach crime scene.”
“Spirit measurement indicates the monster's destructive power reached Scale Two.”
“Furthermore, the aura emitted by its spirituality is highly consistent with that of the deceased Mist Veil Society member.”
In other words...
That unknown Scale One transcendent had not only killed a cultist.
He had also escaped from the monster!
This record was simply absurd!
Cecil continued reading.
“That night, branch agents followed the trail to the hotel room where the deceased had stayed.”
“The identity of the deceased was thoroughly confirmed—Mist Veil Society cultist: Richard Firth!”
“But what is even more terrifying...”
“Spirit measurement shows that before the official investigation team arrived, someone else had already been in that room!”
“And through spiritual comparison, that person was the Moon Lord believer!”
“We have urgently confirmed with the Ascetic Society headquarters.”
“The target's spiritual wavelength is unfamiliar; they are not a registered ascetic!”
“This is a free transcendent completely outside of our control.”
“This person stayed in Richard's room for a long time.”
“He even... directly triggered the gaze of the Lord of Mists in the room's bathroom.”
“He's insane!”
A bathroom?
Why a bathroom?
Seeing this, Cecil's hand shook, nearly dropping the letter.
However, the next sentence on the letter completely shattered Cecil's worldview.
“Incredibly, he eventually succeeded in escaping the fate of going mad and survived!”
“Furthermore, based on the traces of the room being searched, it is inferred...”
“He made off with quite a few precious supernatural materials left behind in the room by the deceased.”
“As for whether he took other stolen goods, it is currently unclear.”
Stared at by an evil god, and he just... didn't go mad and kept looting?
This was too surreal!
“Meanwhile.”
“In a corner of Richard's room, branch agents also found the missing daughter the Sorenstein family offered a massive reward for last month: Isabella Sorenstein.”
“However, due to prolonged, cruel brainwashing and inhuman mental torture by the cultists...”
“She has completely broken down and become insane.”
“Her physical condition is even more horrific; the victim lost her tongue and eyeballs, and her ears were pierced deaf.”
The final paragraph of the letter read:
“However.”
“Just this morning, with the joint assistance of the Ascetic Society, the branch extracted a critical piece of information from the depths of Isabella's shattered subconscious!”
“The person who killed Firth and entered his room...”
“Is named Elias.”
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