Inside the Tivian Hidden Security Bureau, in a secret conference room, Misha, Prince Harold's trusted knight, was conducting intelligence analysis for the newly formed investigation team members. When she mentioned the term "Detective" while analyzing the Saint Crown University Extraordinary incident, the members below reacted differently.
"Detective? Who is this Detective? How could he figure out the movements of the Eight-Pointed Nest and then report them to us through the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild?"
By the side of the long conference table, Weihan, a young man, asked with a hint of confusion. Across from him, Jiff, a woman, replied.
"It's probably a codename. This Detective is likely a member of some hidden society. This society is probably hostile to the Eight-Pointed Nest, so he's relying on reporting to us to try and 'drive the tiger to swallow the wolf,' using our power to deal with the Eight-Pointed Nest. It's unlikely for an individual Extraordinary to be an enemy of an entire society."
Jiff said this, then after glancing at the large city map on the wall, she continued.
"Didn't Misha already say earlier? The Eight-Pointed Nest might be hostile to other hidden societies, and they've been engaging in divination wars, even causing the price of Tivian's 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) storage items to skyrocket?"
Listening to Jiff's words, Misha nodded, answering with a confident tone.
"That's right. Based on the current signs, this Eight-Pointed Nest is indeed in a hostile state with an Extraordinary society of comparable or even... greater strength. Although the second report I mentioned earlier was delayed, when our people found the ritual site in the ruins under Crown University, they discovered that the Eight-Pointed Nest's ritual personnel had been completely annihilated. This is highly likely the work of that society... Since the report wasn't successful, they took matters into their own hands."
As soon as Misha said this, it caused the people below to look at each other. The statement about taking matters into their own hands when the report wasn't successful felt like resolving a criminal yourself because calling the police was useless, which was somewhat ironic for them as police officers.
'As expected... This Detective should be the Detective who saved me, Aka's follower, Mr. Paturnax's subordinate... He told me on the train before that his organization was hostile to the Eight-Pointed Nest. This fits perfectly with Misha's description.'
Listening to Misha's words, Grego thought this in his heart. Then, Mike, a middle-aged man sitting diagonally across from him, continued in a speculative tone.
"So... Misha, are you saying that we can obtain information about the Eight-Pointed Nest by contacting this Detective and the society behind him?"
"Precisely. All signs indicate that the conflict between this unknown mysterious society and the Eight-Pointed Nest is very deep. Their confrontations have probably taken place many times in places we can't see. Since this society can grasp the movements of the Eight-Pointed Nest, they must have an unusual understanding of them. They might also know something about the moles in our bureau. It is very necessary to have contact with them."
Putting down the stick in her hand for the moment, Misha leaned her hands on the table and spoke to everyone. After hearing her words, Grego's brows furrowed slightly.
'Detective and his group actually don't know who the mole is in the Directorate General. That's why they asked me to temporarily replace Yadlin's identity in the Eight-Pointed Nest to try and find clues about the mole... However, since Detective and his organization have been fighting the Eight-Pointed Nest for so long, they must also know a lot of important information about them. There's no harm in Misha communicating with them.'
Grego thought this in his heart, while on the other side, the burly Rio continued to speak and ask Misha.
"So... how can we contact that Detective's society? Are they willing to have contact with us?"
"They used the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild to contact us, so naturally, we can also contact them through the Craftsmen's Guild. And they are highly unlikely to reject contact with us, as long as we indicate that we will give them compensation..."
Misha said this, and her words caused Grego's confusion. He responded with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Compensation? What compensation?"
"A missing compensation... Heh... You've been in Tivian for a while now, have you heard of the name Detective Ed?" Misha asked the people in front of her. After hearing her words, some people sitting there looked bewildered, while others had a clear expression, including Jiff, the only woman on the team.
"Detective Ed? The Detective Ed who solved the Flying Theatre murder case and cleared the name of the dance star Adele? I saw him in the newspaper. They say he's a talented young Detective who just appeared in Tivian not long ago. How... is he connected to the person we're calling 'Detective' by codename?"
Gina asked with confusion, and Misha directly nodded in response.
"They are very connected. I am almost certain that this Detective Ed... and the person with the codename 'Detective' are the same person. This Ed is outwardly a secular Detective, but in fact, he is a member of a hidden society. The cases he handles on the surface are secular matters, but their essence involves Extraordinary secrets."
Misha said this, and listening to her words, Jiff inhaled slightly in disbelief. She hadn't expected that this Extraordinary Detective who could appear in the newspaper was the same person as the Detective being discussed here. Many people present showed curiosity towards this Detective who was active in both the secular and hidden worlds.
"This Detective's contact with us actually started earlier. As early as August, on a train heading to Tivian, a traveler from Alster was killed on the train. At that time, a man who called himself a Detective, named Ed, solved the case on the train and killed the killer who attempted to escape.
"And in fact, that victim was a Hunter, a member of the Alster branch. He was ordered to secretly carry a batch of important documents to the Directorate General of Tivian, but he was intercepted and killed by the Eight-Pointed Nest halfway. Detective Ed obtained that batch of documents after solving this case, and then returned the documents to us in the name of a Detective through the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild... and we haven't given any compensation for this yet."
Misha continued to speak to the people in front of her. Listening to her words, the people in the conference room paused slightly, then the young Weihan spoke tentatively.
"So... Miss Misha, are you saying that you want to contact Detective Ed by offering compensation?"
"That's right. To be precise, I want to meet Ed face-to-face under the pretext of discussing compensation, and then have an in-depth discussion with him about the Eight-Pointed Nest. At that time, I also ask you all to help me prevent any unexpected situations. If possible, you can help me investigate his background."
Looking at the people in front of her, Misha said this. Grego, who was sitting behind, after hearing these words and scanning the people in front of him, also thought silently in his heart.
'To find out the details of the Eight-Pointed Nest, the Directorate General wants to contact Detective. This information should also be passed to the Eight-Pointed Nest by the mole here soon. If I sit idly by... it might cause some disaster...'
'This is a war where intelligence is crucial. If the Eight-Pointed Nest has an intelligence advantage, something big might happen. And because there are moles in the Directorate General and this current team, I can't easily report the situation... Hiss... This is a bit difficult...'
Grego thought with some difficulty in his heart. Given the current situation, the contents of today's meeting will definitely be leaked, and due to the mole, confessing to the Directorate General is likely to expose himself. Therefore, he only has one course of action now.
'It seems I need to notify Detective beforehand.'
Grego thought this. At this moment, he was already thinking about how to pray to Aka and transmit the information to Detective after the meeting ended.
...
Tivian North Suburb, outside the East Gate of King's Campus.
Under the gloomy sky, a light breeze blew cold, misty rain everywhere. By the side of the deserted street in Green Shade Town, inside Number 17, in the large stone fireplace, charcoal crackled and burned, and the heat from the fire warmed the surrounding environment. Dorothy, dressed in loungewear, was sitting in front of the fireplace, using fire tongs to poke at the fire. The slight frown between her brows showed that she was deep in thought.
"I've waited several months, and the promised compensation has finally arrived... Heh, if they weren't trying to get information about the Eight-Pointed Nest from me, would these guys just drag this out indefinitely..."
With a cold laugh, Dorothy muttered. Just now, she had received Grego's prayer. She already knew about the establishment of the An Yin Bureau's special investigation team and Misha's intention to contact her.
"Speaking of which, this secret investigation team of the An Yin Bureau was really established for nothing. On the first day of the meeting, most of the meeting's content was leaked by the mole, and it was leaked to both sides. With this, how can they possibly catch the mole..."
Dorothy continued to mutter. After this meeting, she felt that the An Yin Bureau was truly being held firmly by the Eight-Pointed Nest. It felt incredible to think that a hidden special ops agency of a major country was being so tightly controlled by a single society.
'The key factor is that mole who seems to be in a high position. A lot of highly classified information from the An Yin Bureau is leaked by him first. I don't know what position he's in, but he can get so much important information without any repercussions himself. The key is that his performance is also very unstable. Sometimes he can get information immediately, and sometimes he has to wait for a long time. He seems very unstable.'
Dorothy continued to ponder in her heart. The best example Dorothy knew about the unstable information from the mole in the An Yin Bureau placed by the Eight-Pointed Nest was Davik.
At that time, after the An Yin Bureau arrested Davik, the Wolf Blood Society contacted the Eight-Pointed Nest to buy information about Davik. As a result, Davik lay in the hospital for several days, and the mole within the An Yin Bureau couldn't find Davik. Later, after Dorothy controlled Davik to go to the Directorate General, the mole got the news and reported it to the Wolf Blood Society. They even had to find people like Grego, who hadn't officially entered the Directorate General, to collect information. Given the information capability shown by that mole before, this was indeed unusual.
Therefore, Dorothy could only conclude that the high-level mole planted by the Eight-Pointed Nest inside the An Yin Main Bureau, although his information capability was very strong and he could collect a lot of top-secret information, was also very unstable at the same time. Due to various reasons, a lot of important information could not be obtained in time, so it was necessary for Yadlin and others to also infiltrate to cooperate and provide support, and the Werewolf Smith's words later also confirmed this guess.
'The high-level mole in the Directorate General can be left aside for now. The key now is that the investigation team leader named Misha wants to meet Detective Ed and get information about the Eight-Pointed Nest from him. If I want to get that compensation, I have to arrange for Ed to meet her...
'But if I agree to meet her, this information will definitely be passed from the other moles in the investigation team to the Eight-Pointed Nest. These guys know that Detective Ed was responsible for the Crown University ruins incident last time, and they might not let it go easily.'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. At this moment, she was also inclined to send Ed to meet Misha. Negotiating compensation was one thing, but more importantly, she could also take the opportunity to ask her about the pure color god of'Shadow' and the saint emblem. Since Misha was the Director's trusted subordinate, she might know something. With such a large mirror moon statue standing in the An Yin Bureau headquarters, it would be unreasonable for the higher-ups not to know some secrets.
Therefore, Dorothy planned to have Ed meet Misha and the others, but the key was what the Eight-Pointed Nest might plot if they got the news, which was hard to say.
'A high-level mole who seems to have connections everywhere, and several moles in the investigation team specifically established to catch moles. Is this An Yin Bureau running a winery? If I hadn't also arranged a mole to go in, I don't know how these guys would win.'
Dorothy complained in her heart. This time, if she hadn't set up Grego with a triple identity, she might have also been tricked by the Eight-Pointed Nest. However, complaining aside, Dorothy was also thinking about a solution to the current problem.
"Perhaps... if I could expose the other moles in this investigation team, besides Grego, the situation might be better."
Dorothy muttered this, and then she began to think about how to dig out the moles in the investigation team. After thinking for a long time, she had a slight idea.
"Perhaps... I can try this... I don't know if it will work..."
Dorothy muttered like this, and then she started acting on her thoughts. Then she closed her eyes and began to pray to Aka in her heart.
"Great Aka, please convey my words to Mr. Mays House. I have received his intelligence, and this intelligence is very critical. Detective expresses his gratitude to him.
"Given Mr. Mays House's current special identity, in order not to arouse suspicion from the Eight-Pointed Nest, please have him convey the contents of the meeting to the Eight-Pointed Nest as they are. If the upper echelons of the Eight-Pointed Nest receive information from other moles in the investigation team but not from Mr. Mays House, they will become suspicious. He still needs to play all his roles well for now.
"Finally, I have a small request that Mr. Mays House needs to comply with. Please convey the information of all members of the investigation team to me by means of prayer later. I need to know their appearance, name, and Extraordinary path. You just need to think about their appearance in your heart while praying. Remember, the appearance must be clear enough in the response."
After praying to herself in her heart, Dorothy opened her eyes and directly sent the content of the prayer to Grego through the information channel. Then she continued to use the fire tongs to arrange the charcoal fire in the fireplace. After that, she put the fire tongs aside, stretched herself, stood up from the stool, and sat back on the sofa not far away.
Lying back on the sofa, Dorothy watched the flames flickering in the charcoal fire in the fireplace, feeling the warm warmth, and quietly waiting for Grego's response.