"Understood, sir." Hog nodded in acceptance. After rigorous training, his stealth and tracking skills had become highly professional, so much so that Alan himself acknowledged his infiltration techniques.
Alan nodded. He was quite confident in Hog. Then, he pointed to another red dot.
"This is Ashwinder, a Short Spear within the Silver Spears. Looking at his current location, he should be at the headquarters, which is consistent with our intelligence. He is a member specifically responsible for headquarters defense. His status is very high, and his strength is not weak. We don't need to worry about this person for now. Two days from now is Thunderbird's safe period, and I will go to the headquarters as Thunderbird to scout out the situation."
"And this person..." Alan then pointed to the third red dot. "This is another Short Spear codenamed Deformation Lizard. His duty is to handle merit exchanges and assess new recruits. His current location is somewhere in West Germany. We don't know his background yet, so Shalltear, you will track him and prioritize finding out his public identity."
"Alright, sir, it's finally my time to shine!" Shalltear excitedly tossed her hair. She had been cooped up for the past two years, staying in Alan's shop the whole time. This time, she had finally managed to secure a chance to accompany him after much persistent nagging.
"Be careful not to expose yourselves. According to Thunderbird, these three are experts specifically responsible for the headquarters. Not only are they powerful, but they are also very loyal to Rune Serpent—all hardcore elements left over from the Acolytes era. I suspect that Deformation Lizard and Ashwinder, although still holding the rank of Short Spears, have very likely already taken the Elixir of Life."
"Understood, I will be careful." Shalltear replied seriously, then couldn't help but look at the last red dot. "Sir, didn't you say before that there were only three leaders in Germany? How is there still another person?"
"This person is the Spear Phoenix. I don't understand why she would appear here. She should be the head of the France branch right now. Her appearance is a bit unusual," Alan muttered, looking at the red dot with some confusion.
This wizard was also a die-hard, and a true core member of the Silver Spears. Besides handling French affairs, she also participated in the Silver Spears' strategic planning in Europe. It was she who, along with Golden Knight and other leaders, had planned to establish the transit station in Britain. Thunderbird and another leader, Black Dragon, were specifically responsible for American affairs. Unfortunately, Thunderbird had been active in the United States for the past few years, and when he used a Portkey to escape earlier, he had returned to America, staying there to heal his injuries and accumulate strength.
Therefore, Thunderbird was not very clear about the situation in Europe over the past few years. He didn't even know the detailed ins and outs of Germany's division. Of course, this was also due to the significant gap between the high-ranking members in the Silver Spears organization. These few leaders rarely contacted each other and usually managed their own affairs. Thunderbird had always served as the club's top combatant, and he rarely inquired about the club's overarching plans, focusing more on tactical operations.
The reason Thunderbird had come to Britain was because the British transit station connected the transportation routes between America and Europe, which is why the experienced duelist was sent to handle it. The Silver Spear Bird Snake, who was killed by Moody on the island of Ireland a year ago, had been Phoenix's confidant. Bird Snake was also sent by Phoenix to help Thunderbird establish the British transit station, but he died in Britain just two days after showing up.
Phoenix had also been in contact with Thunderbird over the past year, partly to find out exactly what had happened in Britain, and partly to urge Thunderbird to continue advancing the progress of the transit station's construction. However, the hot-tempered Thunderbird didn't pay much attention to Phoenix. He only sent a brief message informing her that the progress of British affairs was hindered and that Bird Snake had died in the British Ministry of Magic's siege, and left it at that. As for the progress of British affairs, Thunderbird only said he was still figuring out a way, and their communication was quite uncooperative.
But in fact, this was the norm within the Silver Spears. Due to the nature of the Elixir of Life, these leaders had very limited trust in each other, and each leader was a powerful and unruly individual. So, for club matters, they would only determine a final goal, and generally didn't care about the specific methods or how long it would take. Therefore, Phoenix and the others didn't really understand the situation in America, and knew very little about Britain. Similarly, Thunderbird and Black Dragon weren't very clear about what Golden Knight and Phoenix had been doing in Europe.
This situation was beneficial for Alan to conceal his identity; the club members wouldn't suspect him for not understanding the situation in Europe. However, because of this, he was now completely in the dark about the situation in Germany and had to start from scratch.
"This Phoenix..." Alan pondered for a moment, looking at the red dot representing her. "I will personally track Phoenix. You two just focus on your own targets. Remember, your primary goal is your own safety. Do not expose yourselves. Report immediately if anything happens. We'll gather at twelve o'clock sharp tonight."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood!"
Hog and Shalltear responded and then both vanished from the spot. Alan also quickly tidied up, gathered all his equipment, and vanished into thin air.
Alan directly used Apparition, continuously maintaining his phantom form as he moved through the air. He had become increasingly proficient in this technique after being tempered by lightning and was now even attempting to integrate it into active combat. However, his Apparition was still slightly different from that of ordinary wizards. When he entered his phantom form, his body would completely turn into lightning, making him look like a humanoid figure constructed of pure electric light. Of course, he would still disappear entirely when performing long-distance teleportation, but when performing short-distance displacements, he left behind an afterimage of electric light.
...
At twelve AM that night, inside a room at the Duden Building tavern.
Alan and Shalltear's figures appeared one after another, but Hog was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's that stupid dog Hog? Did he forget the time again, or was he caught?" Shalltear, upon returning to the room and not finding the annoying hound, immediately gloated with amusement. Of course, she also knew that nothing could have truly happened to him; otherwise, Alan's expression wouldn't be so calm.
"Hog's target made a new discovery, and he's still following up," Alan casually explained to Shalltear, then asked, "How about your side? Did you find anything?"
Shalltear immediately took out several photos and handed them to Alan. He quickly reviewed them and found that most were photos of an old building. It wasn't until he reached the end that he saw a young male wizard in his thirties, but this wizard remained mostly inside that old building, and the photos were taken through windows.
"This Deformation Lizard stayed in his room all day. I could only capture images when he passed by the window. Fearing exposure, I didn't get too close. Currently, I have two pieces of information: first, this old building should be his hiding place; second, judging by his age, he has a high probability of having drunk the Elixir of Life; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to maintain such a youthful appearance." After handing over the photos, Shalltear briefly stated her deductions.
Alan nodded in agreement. In fact, besides this leader's age, his behavior also strongly resembled a wizard who had consumed the Elixir of Life—holed up in a room all day, completely isolated from the world, hiding himself in the shadows. This was very similar to the wizards Alan knew; although they were exceptionally capable and powerful in combat, their hearts were filled with fear—afraid of having their secrets discovered, afraid of their shedding period being exposed.
"Well done. Did you find out his true identity?" Although Shalltear had only staked out the location for a day, Alan still praised her.
"No, the neighbors around him are either empty houses or elderly people with slurred speech and confused minds. I couldn't find out the name he's currently using at all, but even if I did, it would likely be a fake identity." Shalltear shook her head in boredom, then jumped onto the bed. She had been so bored all day, just staring at a broken house; it was even more tedious than playing with Hog.
"In that case, next, install a few magical surveillance cameras near his residence. If he doesn't leave that location, there's no need to continue tracking him manually," Alan instructed.
"Alright, I estimate that guy probably won't leave his residence unless he has an assignment. He's like a ghost, even more eerie than us vampires." Shalltear pouted, then looked at Alan again. "Sir, how was your side? Any gains?"
Alan shook his head. "My side is even worse than yours; I didn't even see the person. She's also been hiding in her room, and I can feel that she's cast protective charms on the house, so I didn't dare send monitoring spiders to probe directly. But even though I haven't figured out her background yet, at least I know her residence. I've already installed magical surveillance around her home. As long as she shows up, I'll be able to ascertain her identity in advance."
"Then, after figuring out her identity, are we going to capture her or kill her?" Shalltear's thoughts were quite aggressive, immediately suggesting a lethal approach.
"Our target is Rune Serpent. These guys can't escape. If it were just about dealing with them, there'd be no need to make it so complicated. Besides, this Phoenix is just an extra. The most important thing is Hog's situation." Alan shook his head. At the same time, he specifically pointed out, "And we still don't know if the Silver Spears' manpower is only what's visible. After all, these few people were only locked onto from Thunderbird, but Thunderbird hasn't participated in headquarters affairs for several years, so it's very normal for other leaders to be hidden."
Just as Alan was speaking, the space in the room suddenly fluctuated. Hog had returned.
"Sir, there's trouble!" As soon as Hog landed, he called out to Alan.