Chapter 299: Informant Contract

On the way back to the Market District, Lu Mi leaned against the carriage wall and mulled over the whole affair several times, only to realize he had overlooked a problem:

"A Sequence 7 sent on a relatively simple mission goes missing mysteriously, suspected dead—will the secret organization behind him just treat it as if nothing happened?

"Will they not sense something amiss by tonight and launch an investigation?

"The boss, as a 'Conspirator', couldn't possibly have failed to consider this, yet he didn't warn me and let me return home alone... Is he using me as bait?

"Hmm, the secret organization behind the 'Werewolf' might not take action tonight. As long as they aren't in a state of sacrificed sanity, they should be able to tell that the disappearance of their subordinate implies something is very wrong. The Savar Party definitely isn't as simple as it looks on the surface. If it were me, I would certainly endure for a period, waiting for more events to unfold before taking the chance to probe the Savar Party's true situation.

"Of course, if they have an angel's protection and can briefly manifest Him in the Breeze Dance Hall, they could do whatever they wanted...

"Now that I think about it, that 'Werewolf' was arrogant, but not actually that stupid or reckless; he was just average. He must have pre-captured ordinary Savar Party members to roughly figure out the situation of the few leaders, and then chose me—someone who had just joined the Savar Party not long ago, and according to common sense, must not have come into contact with the core affairs of the Savar Party yet, had no major secrets, and wouldn't involve too much...

"Moreover, ordinary Savar Party members don't know I've already advanced to 'Pyromaniac'. If he only inferred based on my few recent combat records, then that guy thinking he could easily handle me is perfectly normal. In close-quarters combat, a 'Werewolf' with stronger self-healing, greater speed, more power, sharper reflexes, and claws that count as non-human weapons is indeed far superior to a 'Provoker'..."

By the time Lu Mi returned to the Breeze Dance Hall, he had sorted the matter out relatively clearly. He touched the K-man's finger in his pocket and, acting as if he had noticed nothing, entered the room on the second floor to wash up and sleep.

…………

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Yu Jianna left 17 Pasteur Street in the Botanical Garden District with a piece of toast in her mouth.

She had tossed and turned on the bed she shared with her mother until midnight after returning to visit her brother last night, and had to wake up early again to avoid running into the surrounding neighbors, lest they ask this and that, mentioning that a wanted criminal was also named "Cherie Belot".

In the early morning, still lingering with dimness, there weren't many peddlers or passersby. Yu Jianna walked through them all the way and turned into a quiet alley near Saint-Gilles Street that was almost deserted.

Just then, she saw a rather familiar figure walking toward her.

It was a man with a tan complexion and slightly thick lips. With the Southern Continent indigenous bloodline, his light yellow hair was neatly combed. A piece of inconspicuous tape was stuck to the bridge of his nose, and he wore a light-colored shirt and a yellow vest, with a golden, shining "Sun Holy Emblem" pinned to his chest.

"Sun Holy Emblem"... Yu Jianna's heart skipped a beat as she remembered who the other party was.

That was the Beyonder of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church who had once been responsible for protecting Yu Ge Artois!

Yu Jianna instinctively wanted to turn around and leave the alley, but before she could turn halfway, she caught a glimpse of another Beyonder of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church who had protected Yu Ge Artois at the alley exit!

That was Valentine, whose eyes were bluer than a lake and whose expression was quite cold.

Yu Jianna stopped her turning motion, held her breath, and placed her right hand on her waist, ready to draw the hidden revolver and dagger at any moment.

Imre saw this and quickly shouted:

"Don't be nervous! We aren't here to arrest you."

Thinking of Franca's analysis that official Beyonders would likely develop her into an informant, Yu Jianna calmed down quite a bit, but still scrutinized Imre and Valentine with a vigilant gaze.

Imre smiled kindly:

"We want to clear out wild Beyonders, but that doesn't mean we don't make selections.

"Don't be scared by the rumors about the stake. This is Trier, not some place where wild Beyonders who haven't committed serious crimes will face such things. Of course, in the provinces, in the countryside, in small cities and towns, there are similar cases."

Yu Jianna became increasingly certain of the official Beyonders' intentions and feigned the appearance of someone with little experience:

"What exactly do you want to say?"

Imre smiled and nodded:

"We hope you can cooperate with us.

"In fact, if it weren't for our deliberate leniency, you would have been arrested long ago."

Yu Jianna pondered for a moment, as if recalling what kind of help she had received that allowed her to live peacefully until today after assassinating Yu Ge Artois.

After a while, she asked hesitantly:

"Cooperate?"

Imre smiled and nodded:

"Let me introduce myself first. I am a 'Purifier' from the Religious Court of the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church. My name is Imre, and that is my colleague, Valentine.

"Not every wild Beyonder can receive our goodwill and have the opportunity to cooperate with us. We have investigated your situation and confirmed that you are also a believer in God, have not committed any relatively serious illegal acts, and furthermore, after obtaining extraordinary abilities, you have also restrained yourself and not used that special nature to do things you shouldn't, except for the assassination of Yu Ge Artois.

"However, we can understand your hatred and choice from an emotional perspective, and that was still a damned heretic; everyone has the qualification to act on behalf of God to purify him. You should be very clear that if it weren't for our intentional arrangement and forced negligence, you couldn't have escaped from the Congressman's office."

Yu Jianna nodded slowly, indicating that she had realized it after the fact.

Imre continued:

"Based on the fact that you are essentially very kind and can persist in being yourself without abusing your abilities, we intend to ask you to be our informant and provide us with relevant intelligence.

"Rest assured, we won't force you to betray your friends; we just hope you will keep an eye on things that might bring disaster to the Market District or to Trier."

Persist in being myself, not abusing abilities... It was in the past, barely is now, don't know if it will be in the future... Yu Jianna gave a self-deprecating smile, wanting to say that you came too late; the current me is no longer the past me.

She thought for a moment and said:

"I also live in the Market District, and I am very willing to solve problems that might harm this place through you."

She tactfully expressed her willingness to cooperate.

Speaking of this, Yu Jianna suddenly had an inspiration and blurted out:

"I discovered something two days ago!"

"What?" Imre looked at his teammate Valentine with some surprise.

Neither of them expected that the newly developed informant would provide intelligence immediately.

Yu Jianna started from how she attended an occult gathering, heard about the disappearance of the Deep Valley Monastery gatekeeper, and took on the corresponding commission, all the way to how she and her companion accidentally discovered a monk with a mechanical prosthetic eye entering a nearby quarry and opening a secret cave filled with a large number of human arms and legs.

During this process, she omitted the identity and name of her companion, as well as the time and location of that occult gathering.

Imre and Valentine listened with a mix of joy and heaviness.

The reason for their joy was the unexpected gain, while the heaviness stemmed from the bizarre nature of the matter, which was clearly very troublesome.

"Very good, this is the kind of cooperation we need." After Yu Jianna finished speaking, Imre praised her.

Valentine also nodded reluctantly.

It wasn't that he felt there was no need to develop such an informant; after the Yu Ge Artois affair, his view of wild Beyonders had changed significantly. He just had some emotions because Imre could have persuaded Cherie Belot alone but insisted on dragging him along.

After praising the morning sun, he could have gone home to rest and had time to share breakfast with his wife and children.

However, Imre's reason was very legitimate:

According to regulations, when developing informants, especially when developing Beyonders of a few paths like "Witch", it is best to have two "Purifiers" present.

According to Imre, in the many years of the past, there were no lack of cases where "Purifiers" were seduced by the other party while developing "Witches" as informants or pursuing them, eventually falling into love, betraying the church, and losing control painfully in the torment of faith.

Therefore, similar occasions should try to have two "Purifiers" supervising each other.

Although Yu Jianna was only an "Assassin" and was still a long way from the "Pleasure" that could truly be called a Witch, such things could never be taken lightly, especially since this was a rare female "Assassin".

After the praise, Imre added:

"Cooperation means both sides can benefit from this matter. We will provide you with rewards of varying degrees based on the intelligence you provide, which you can choose from money, materials, knowledge, weapons, etc."

Yu Jianna hesitated and asked:

"Will there be a reward for the matter I just mentioned?"

"What do you want?" Imre asked back.

"The main ingredients for the 'Instigator' potion," Yu Jianna answered without hesitation.

Franca had already given her the potion formula.

Imre was not surprised and nodded:

"We will discuss it after we verify the authenticity and importance of this intelligence."

"Good." Yu Jianna didn't hold much hope, so naturally, there was no great disappointment.

Imre took out a seemingly ordinary piece of white paper with a few clauses written on it, roughly containing the content just discussed.

This didn't restrict Yu Jianna's faith to always be the "Eternal Blazing Sun", only requiring her not to worship evil gods.

Yu Jianna, who already had experience, read those clauses repeatedly and confirmed there were no problems before signing her real name readily.

She watched as Imre took out a fountain pen that looked like it was made of pure gold, signed his name first, and then quickly wrote a few bright red words in the notary's position.

A layer of sunlight-like radiance briefly enveloped the contract before disappearing.

Yu Jianna bid farewell to Imre and Valentine and walked toward White Coat Street.

…………

3 White Coat Street, Apartment 601.

Lu Mi knocked Franca awake early in the morning and recounted the "Werewolf" affair in its entirety while she looked at him with murderous intent.

Franca quickly entered the state, muttering to herself thoughtfully:

"If there is a follow-up investigation, the one who comes won't be a 'Zombie', but a 'Spirit Medium'. I lean more toward the latter."

"Huh?" Lu Mi sounded a bit bewildered.

Franca explained simply:

"They are Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 of the 'Prisoner' path, respectively."

Lu Mi said with a mix of doubt and emotion:

"You know this path quite well."

"Of course," Franca laughed. "In the whole world, except for a very few, the rest of the Beyonders of the 'Prisoner' path are within two forces. One is the Southern Continent terrorist organization 'Rose School of Thought' I mentioned before, and the other is..."

Speaking of this, she paused, deliberately keeping Lu Mi in suspense for a few seconds before saying:

"The Church of the 'Fool'."

(End of chapter)