Chapter 2396: Convenient Identity

With this, everything finally connected. Xia De's superior, Director Anluosi, had mentioned multiple times that an agent had gone missing in Moon Bay City, and that the agent had been involved in the matter of those three precious cards.

So, before dying, the agent had somehow encountered the "defector colleague," Miss Brown, which led to the disappearance of old Mrs. Fox's nephew and his wife, subsequently triggering the 【Eternal Light】, and finally dragging in Xia De, who was already involved in this affair.

After going around in such a huge circle, the matter still landed on Xia De's head.

Xia De continued chatting with Mr. Dylan, then quietly signaled to Mr. Albert on the side. A mass of spiritual light, visible only to Ringed Shushi, drifted from the coroner, who had also disguised his face. Xia De guessed this was the "Light Avatar" clone technique he had used before.

Not long after, the mass of light returned, and Xia De ended his conversation with Mr. Dylan:

"Besides this house, are there any other clues about suspicious individuals?"

"Sir, this..."

Mr. Dylan did not answer immediately this time, instead saying with difficulty:

"You know, this is not your... mission."

Looking at his expression, it was as if he feared Xia De might suddenly shoot him. The reputation of the "Grey Hawk" was built by Sparrow Hamilton on the blood of others; an ace agent was definitely not a soft-hearted person.

"Indeed, this is not my mission."

Xia De nodded, then suddenly leaned forward, causing Mr. Dylan in front of him to nearly jump in fright.

"If there are any questions, have your new supervisor, Mr. Richard, ask Her Highness Margaret. I don't need to explain how I do things to you."

"Yes, yes."

Sweat broke out on Mr. Dylan's forehead, while the other agents he brought remained tacitly silent. This was clearly a matter between superiors; maintaining silence was a basic quality of an excellent agent.

"Besides us and the Intelligence Agency, quite a few others are also looking for that mysterious person, because it is said that the person obtained a card from the dead agent—a very precious card."

"It could be from the 【Founding】, 【Angel】, 【Demon】, or 【Ancient Sage King】 series. The value of that card is at least 500 Crowns."

That is over 6,000 Pounds, and if it really were one of these original series of Luo De Pai, and a genuine one, 6,000 Gold Pounds wouldn't even be enough to buy it.

"Is there any other information?"

Xia De asked again. Even though he hadn't done anything special, the mental suppression caused by his powerful soul already made the room with the open door deathly silent, and Mr. Dylan, facing him directly, was already feeling terrified:

"Sir, there is no other information for now. The intelligence obtained by that lurking Intelligence Agency agent is very important; the cards are actually unimportant to us. That intelligence is about the local Grey Glove agents accepting bribes from... the seven great families. That is all, really, that is all."

Even the clergy of the Zhengshen Sect could be corrupted by the "City of Wealth," so it was not unimaginable for agents to accept bribes. So, that "Mermaid" really hadn't chosen the wrong city.

"Alright, I understand. If you have any questions about my actions, just go ask Her Highness Margaret."

Xia De did not think he would dare to go, or even dare to mention that he had appeared.

After saying this, he left with Mr. Albert.

Back on the street, the coroner hesitated, curious about Xia De's identity. He could tell that "Mr. Watson" was very likely a big shot in the Grey Gloves. But thinking about it, it didn't matter, so he didn't ask in the end:

"There were no documents or cards in the house, but I found this in the cracks of the floorboards."

He displayed the key tied with a red string that he had been clutching in his palm. Xia De smiled and said:

"As long as there is a clue. Mr. Albert, would you like to perform a divination?"

When the two first met, Ptolemy Albert had personally said he was not a diviner (Chapter 2056), but at this moment he said:

"Divination also has a certain margin of error. No need for such trouble. Can you wait for me? I'll go ask a nearby locksmith; maybe there will be clues."

So he walked into the misty fog. Xia De continued walking forward, entering a snack shop still open at the intersection, intending to replenish his "toy inventory." By the time Xia De walked out of the shop clutching a paper bag and stuffed the bags into his coat, he noticed Little Mia was still in his pocket, but he did not intend to let this cat touch these harmful toxic mists.

After all, Little Mia was very fragile.

Mr. Albert also returned quickly, bringing back another carriage:

"The local locksmith has also joined the Mutual Aid Society. Although he didn't craft that key, he can tell whose handiwork it is. The locksmith trade has its own rules; let's go find the person who made the key."

The carriage carried the two through the Lower City. Although the old locksmith found at the next stop had nothing to do with 【Eternal Light】, his nosy neighbor had participated in 【Eternal Light】 activities.

Under the neighbor's persuasion, the old locksmith finally revealed that this key had been crafted by him half a month ago. Although he had only seen the key, he knew where the lock was:

"This key was copied from the original. The original key had a serial number on it; although it was deliberately erased, I still remember the approximate one. Similar locks are all produced by the 'Moon Bay United Lock Company.' There is only one sales shop for them in the entire Lower City, and the lock corresponding to the number should have a sales record. Of course, provided that the lock was sold within a year."

So the next stop was the shop selling door locks. This was the first time Xia De knew such a shop existed. This time, there was no need for 【Eternal Light】 to have any effect; Xia De used illusion to turn invisible and went to check the sales records himself, and then he knew exactly where the key corresponded to.

"Let's go, it's still the Lower City, 7 Priest Ao Gu Si Street, Block B... Priest Ao Gu Si?"

This was not a very rare name.

Xia De and Mr. Albert continued to ride the carriage through the thick fog of the Lower City. When they reached their destination this time, fortunately, the door was not open, and there was no doorman, but unfortunately, Xia De heard a large number of heartbeats inside the door.

Xia De stepped directly onto the steps. Mr. Albert, who also noticed something wrong behind the door, wanted to stop him, but Xia De shook his head:

"I know."

He did not use the key but knocked on the door very politely. After the knocking, the person pressed against the door panel behind it clearly waited deliberately for a while before responding. The door was only pulled open a crack, and a man with the appearance of a local revealed his face:

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

Xia De thought for a moment:

"Is Ryan Anjou here?"

As he spoke, he used his finger to pry at the door, his longest middle finger extending directly inside. "Ryan Anjou" was the name of Margaret's father, so the man inside's mouth twitched, and a gun barrel extended from under the door lock:

"Get lost!"

"Wait a moment."

Another person's voice came from inside:

"I am curious, who is so bold as to make such a joke. No matter which side they are on, at least this courage is admirable. Let them in; since they are here, they are all friends."

A series of pistol-cocking sounds came from inside. Mr. Albert sighed, thinking Xia De wanted to solve everyone after entering the door, but Xia De said again:

"Director, no need to welcome me like this, right?"

A tone of voice representing confusion came from inside. Xia De then took out his credentials from his pocket and handed them to the person at the door. The latter's eyes widened immediately upon seeing the familiar credentials. He passed the credentials inside, followed by another series of sounds of pistol safeties being re-engaged.

"Come in quickly, I really didn't expect to run into you here."

Director Anluosi's face appeared at the door, but he glanced at Mr. Albert, and Xia De guaranteed:

"A trustworthy friend."

Thus, the two finally entered the room together, and Director Anluosi also smiled and returned the credentials to Xia De. As for how Xia De knew his superior was inside, it was naturally because when he pried the door with his hand just now, his finger was pointing toward the inside of the door, and "her" perception was not limited to just using Xia De's eyes.

"Why did you come to Moon Bay in person?"

The door closed again. Xia De's colleagues consciously cleared the space in the foyer, leaving only Xia De, Director Anluosi, and Mr. Albert.

Director Anluosi pressed the hat on his head so as not to reveal his full face in front of Mr. Albert:

"You know the situation in Moon Bay recently. Now that the local police and the Grey Glove organization are busy maintaining order, I thought I'd come in person to try to do something while it's chaotic. And..."

He lowered his voice:

"I heard that the ace of the Grey Gloves, that Grey Hawk, has also come. I am really looking forward to fighting him."

Thus, the "Grey Hawk" nodded knowingly:

"My friend and I are tracking a Luo De Pai. We have already obtained some clues; this matter seems to involve that missing Bottom-Dwelling Fish."

Director Anluosi felt it was quite reasonable for Xia De to appear here because of "looking for cards":

"I didn't take the initiative to find you, but you were able to investigate it yourself. That's right, and our dead colleague gave that card and some important documents to others before dying."

"I came here to handle this matter as well. This counts as a small trouble. Currently, there isn't much progress, just that a stranger passed information to us through our channels a few days ago, wanting to sell those documents to us."

"I wanted to see the person who took the documents in person, but the other party has been slow to show up. We only found this place after tracking them. I suspect the person who took the documents is also very familiar with the Sixth Agency, and may have even seen me before; the other party knows our internal information channels."

Xia De pretended to know nothing:

"Director, is there any other news? I only want that card. You know my methods; I'll come help too." ===== CHAPTER 2397 =====