Chapter 1747

Xia De maintained his illusion and also wanted to follow into the stairs, but when passing the passage entrance, he found that a simple alert ritual had been set up here:

"Oh? This place can actually afford to hire a ring-warlock to help set up a ritual?"

However, because that alert ritual was too simple, it had absolutely no effect on Xia De, who was proficient in illusion.

Passing through the dark and narrow stairs, they arrived at the hidden fourth floor. This place was even more extraordinary; it was actually a large flat-floor-like room. The degree of luxury in decoration and the layout of furniture were even better than downstairs, making Xia De have to suspect whether this was the place used by this high-end brothel to entertain big shots.

As soon as Director Anluosi appeared, he heard a voice from the southeast corner of the room:

"Anluosi, you are too slow. Do you know how much money it costs to rent this place?"

This was a man's voice, and it was Karsenrik.

Director Anluosi pressed his hat and brought his subordinates over:

"You also need to have some patience, Hikari Shenode. If people find out that the two of us are meeting like this, how much trouble do you think it will cause?"

In the southeast corner of the room, the floor protruded a platform with two steps, on which a square table and stools were placed. The single-layer glass of the window on one side of the wall could overlook the entire Mikaela Blast Furnace City in the misty rain from the fourth floor. And according to the silhouette of the "glass blast furnace" not far away, Xia De could also judge the specific location here within the city area.

The person talking to Director Anluosi was a tall and thin man Xia De had never seen before. He had very thick stubble and looked like he was deliberately keeping this appearance. The strange tall and thin man should have been the inviter of this meeting because there were five or six of his subordinates in this top-floor room, but they all consciously retreated to another room partitioned by a wooden wall, not listening to the following conversation.

The tall and thin Hikari Shenode shook hands with Director Anluosi:

"It will indeed cause some trouble, but do you think people will think that you, the Director of MI6, have defected to our Karsenrik, or that I, the Minister of the Gray Gloves, have defected to your Delarian?"

Xia De was very glad that no one could see his astonishment at this moment, and at the same time, he was also very glad that he had followed.

Director Anluosi waved his hand:

"Boring question. If it weren't necessary, I wouldn't come to see you. Sit down and talk; you know I can't stay here for long."

He signaled for the person behind him to hand him the briefcase:

"This cooperation is a last resort; let's get straight to the point."

"Okay, regarding the fact that someone has prepared for at least a year to try to assassinate your Duchess Jia Lin Na and our head of the negotiating delegation, Duke Simir, here, the current intelligence is as follows."

Minister Shenode of the Gray Gloves said. However, he was not Xia De's superior; the ace agent "Gray Hawk" was originally directly under the royal family, even if it was passed down to "Gray Hawk II," it was still directly under Princess Margaret.

"Before discussing, are you sure it's safe here?"

Director Anluosi pressed the document that was pulled out and asked. Minister Shenode nodded:

"Absolutely safe. I hired those special people to set up a ritual to prevent anyone from sneaking up; otherwise, why do you think it's so expensive here?"

As he spoke, both sides took out the documents they had prepared, and the white document paper soon covered the table. Director Dak Anluosi and that Minister Hikari Shenode stood up, almost lying on the table to exchange and discuss every clue and piece of information each held. Xia De leaned on the railing beside the high platform, looking at the rain outside the one-way glass while listening to every sentence of their conversation.

Although it was raining, there was still faint sunlight shining on the outsider's face through the glass. Raindrops hit the window densely, and the leaders of the agents were also exchanging intelligence rapidly. Xia De stood there quietly like this. Although he didn't miss any information, looking at the rainy scenery of the glass city outside, looking at the quiet city, it was inevitable that he felt a bit emotional—everything changed too fast.

While listening to the intelligence, he thought of the smiling faces of the girls around him, from Luvia to the last smile of Difa. He knew he shouldn't think about these things, but the atmosphere of this rainy day was a bit too oppressive.

Spring rain is usually not heavy, but once it starts, it cannot stop; this is the climatic characteristic of the Green Lake region. By the time Director Anluosi and the man carrying the briefcase behind him walked out of the local high-end business place, which was planted with flowers in front of the door and used a flower wall as a shadow wall to isolate the sight of passersby on Percival Avenue, it was already 10:30 in the morning.

The carriage was waiting at the intersection for the two. Director Anluosi, who was always cautious, looked around before putting away his umbrella and boarding the carriage. He was very cautious, signaling for the carriage to take the assistant away first, while he himself pressed his hat and walked toward Xia De, who was standing with his hands behind his back in front of that flower wall shadow wall, looking up at the flowers while holding an umbrella.

"You don't seem surprised to see me here."

Xia De did not look at his superior who had come to his side. Director Anluosi said with a smile:

"Since that lady has already arrived in this region, and you have also appeared, what else is impossible?"

He paused:

"However, if I had seen you in the building in front, I would probably be really surprised."

That was why Xia De chose not to appear over there:

"Do you mind telling me the situation? Or I will go directly to ask that lady."

Dak Anluosi thought for a moment:

"Let's find a quiet place to talk."

The two looked at the building behind the shadow wall almost immediately, and then shook their heads together:

"There is a Victory Carriel Hotel nearby; let's go there."

The Victory Carriel Hotel was where Professor Boulanger and the three followers of the God of Love were temporarily staying. Compared with the building covered by the flower wall shadow wall, the Victory Carriel Hotel was undoubtedly a truly decent place.

On a rainy Tuesday morning, there were not many people on the first floor of the hotel. Xia De and Director Anluosi chose a seat against the wall, far away from the indoor lights, so it was only after the waiter brought the tea for the two that Director Anluosi, who looked plain and unremarkable, was willing to take off his hat.

"I just met with someone from the Gray Gloves."

Director Anluosi lowered his voice. He was not sure how much Xia De knew, so he simply started from the beginning:

"Did Miss Jia Lin Na tell you about the third party in this negotiation?"

"Yes."

"Since discussing the border and trade route issues in the Pantanal region last year, some people have been plotting to intensify the conflict between us and Karsenrik by assassinating members of the negotiating delegation. Starting from the noble who met with a mysterious figure in Tobesk City some time ago, which was not yet confirmed, we have now obtained definite news that the assassination is aimed at that lady and the Duke who is the leader of the Southern delegation."

He left Xia De some time to think:

"Absolutely do not relax your vigilance just because the other party is a mob gathered together; some of their people are among us. The Old Continent has been at peace for too long; now, a single spark will ignite the sensitive powder keg. Too many people hope to change the current order. Besides, we have walked too fast in the past few decades, and some things that should have been handled long ago have piled up too much."

The outsider also understood the judgment of MI6 on current events from his superior's tone and expression:

"I knew the importance of this negotiation very early on, but has it actually progressed to this extent?"

"Peace is the rare era; war and strife are the norm in civilization."

Director Anluosi said in a low voice:

"We who hear the thunder in the silent places are the ones who best know the undercurrents hidden beneath the calm water surface. The two banks of Green Lake, Green Lake City and Mikaela Blast Furnace City, will surely leave their names in history books in the future."

Xia De nodded gently. Both were silent for a while before Xia De asked:

"Although this is not my mission, can you tell me what the main difficulties are now?"

Director Anluosi nodded cautiously but shook his head again. His eyes were fixed on Xia De:

"Among the other party, there are also people with extraordinary abilities."

He spoke very cautiously, and his voice became lower:

"You should understand what I am saying, but those people with extraordinary abilities, because they fear the rules of the church, are only hiding behind the scenes and dare not take action directly."

Just like the ring-warlock of the 【Tyranny Club】 who appeared during the banquet shooting last Friday.

"These people will not take the initiative to attack, but their existence itself can provide convenience for ordinary people. This is the most difficult point of the investigation, but fortunately, whether it is MI6 or the Gray Gloves, there are also some people with extraordinary abilities as helpers."

"Since it is confirmed that such people exist, why not ask the church for help?"

Xia De asked again, and Director Anluosi shook his head slowly:

"We maintain a tacit understanding; as long as the church does not take action, no one can cross that line. Once the church takes action, you must know that the Five Gods Church will not consider the interests of Delarian and Karsenrik; they only want to catch those who do not follow the rules. But whether it is Delarian or Karsenrik, they both believe they can benefit from handling this matter."

"So... now not only are we and the other party maintaining a tacit understanding, but even the church is maintaining a tacit understanding with everyone?"

Xia De summarized.

"The church is like a god, watching everyone coldly from above, playing a 'game' within the rules, and waiting for the rules to be broken before taking action personally. And people always do not like such high-and-mighty existences to directly intervene in their own affairs, so one must grasp a degree."

If it weren't for Xia De's superior hearing, he probably wouldn't be able to hear a single word clearly at this moment.

"In fact, it has always been like this. In this era possessing peculiar power, agent departments must not only grasp the boundary between themselves and ordinary citizens but also grasp the boundary between the ordinary and the extraordinary. This is very difficult, very difficult, harder than walking a tightrope in a circus. Carefully shuttling through the foggy alleys, only looking at the figure one wants to pursue in front, not paying attention to those peculiar things in the fog—yes, yes, this is us, so we are the country's ace."

This plain-looking middle-aged man had a terrifying light in his eyes at this moment:

"Therefore, even if everyone knows it well, there are special existences in such things that are enough to shake the world order, they can only pretend not to know anything, and then wait for the other party to make a mistake. And in this matter in Green Lake, the third-party force is about to cross the line!"

PS: Qidian has opened the in-text illustration function, but image review takes some time, so it might take a while.

The in-text illustration is Difa Servit.