Chapter 4216: For the Motherland (II)

Facing Xia De's answer, the pale-faced man was stunned for a moment. Xia De didn't know what he was thinking at this moment, but after just a moment, the other party said:

"The people who attacked us are most likely Delin-Aul restorationists. We discovered their connection with the thieves in Willondale, but before we could submit the relevant intelligence and evidence, that group of people came. Do not trust any local agents; I suspect there is a mole among us."

Agents and moles, in the eyes of the Outlander, were common plots in such stories; he was not surprised at all.

That man continued to say:

"The thieves are not Delin-Aul restorationists; they only contacted the thieves and were communicating with the other party to buy the stolen goods. Yes, that group of restorationists had already found out who took the stolen banknote printing master plates, but we still don't know the identity of the thieves. Originally, we wanted to wait until they traded to capture both sides at once, but didn't expect that in the end, we ourselves became the first prey to be captured."

"Banknote printing master plates?"

Xia De thought of the two pieces in his hands, but the ones in his hands were the master plates for pounds, and the ones lost here were definitely the master plates for crown banknotes.

"Besides you, did anyone else escape?"

Xia De asked again. The man sitting on the ground shook his head; he could feel that he probably wouldn't make it:

"Your Excellency Gray Headed Eagle, please take this intelligence to Her Highness Margaret. You must let Her Highness be careful of those local resident Gray Glove members; there must be someone among the local members who has already rebelled. The first batch of teams that came from Willondale to investigate the theft case probably also has problems; the downline I developed sent back very bad news.

Please be wary of the Astley family; the only ones capable of corrupting the Gray Glove to this extent in the Arcadia region are probably them."

"How come I don't know?"

Xia De thought in his heart, and then promised:

"Every word you said, I will take to Her Highness Margaret."

He hesitated whether to perform treatment on the other party, not needing to be completely cured, just needing to let him temporarily escape the danger to his life. And the man sitting on the ground seemed to see through Xia De's thoughts; he shook his head lightly:

"Your Excellency, no need to think about finding a doctor for me, I should just die here. My identity has already been exposed, even if I survived, and have your testimony, in the situation where the entire group's uplines and downlines are wiped out, what awaits me is only endless review and imprisonment. Moreover, as the person in charge of this intelligence line, I have completely failed; I have let down those who trusted me, and I have let down Karsenrik."

His voice became increasingly weak:

"When I joined the Gray Glove many years ago, I thought there would be such a day, just didn't expect that in the end, it wasn't falling into the hands of MI6, those damn Delin-Aul..."

Xia De had a good impression of this person. He persuaded again:

"If you want to take the secrets of the past and go far away to another land, never caring about the things here again, I can not inform others of your whereabouts. The intelligence you provided is worth exchanging for your life."

But that person still shook his head; he had already made his decision:

"Hiding and dodging for a lifetime is not as good as dying here with my partners. My mission has already been completed, that is enough."

Xia De looked at him, confirmed that the other party was really prepared to face death, and only then nodded lightly:

"I have one more thing I want to ask you, among the local agents, is there anyone with the codename 'Big-Mouthed Sparrow'?"

The dying man struggled to search his memory that had already begun to become blurred:

"There is, but that person and I are not on the same intelligence line. The last time I heard someone mention him was in 1853. I am not sure if the other party is still in Arcadia now... Your Excellency, if you want to find him, you must be careful of the local agents..."

He was already too weak to speak. Xia De respected his wishes, but still asked softly:

"Are there any other words you need me to take to others? What is your codename? After you die, where do you want your corpse to be buried?"

A weak smile appeared on the man's pale face:

"No other words. Those who know me, those I know, have all died almost completely. My codename is, Night Owl. There are no secrets in this house that need to be handled, this is just a temporary resting place for me. Please do not handle my corpse, just report to the police anonymously. There are still many valuable clues on my corpse. After reporting through police channels, at least it can let those hidden agents know that there is a big problem locally."

He said to Xia De again:

"You definitely won't leave directly with the intelligence. There is a small booklet in my coat pocket, that is the only thing I rescued from the stronghold. It has the contact methods for three other intelligence lines, but among these three intelligence lines, there is definitely at least one that has problems. Your Excellency, take it, I hope this can help you. For the motherland, for Karsenrik."

His eyes suddenly seemed to be glowing, his originally weak body had strength at this moment. He struggled to make himself sit up straight, his right hand grabbed Xia De's arm tightly, he asked Xia De:

"Your Excellency Gray Headed Eagle, we will eventually defeat those Northerners one day and realize the unification of the Old Continent, right?"

Xia De looked into his eyes and rarely told a lie:

"Yes, I believe there will be such a day."

"That's good, that's good."

He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall again, his breathing stopped, and his spirit returned to silence.

He died.

Xia De stood in place for a while longer, then nodded lightly to the corpse, only then taking out that small booklet for contact. Afterward, Xia De followed the other party's request not to handle the corpse, but found a boy selling newspapers at the street corner with some loose change to report to the police station.

He used illusion to hide his figure and stood in the alley for a while, only leaving after confirming that the police arrived and discovered the corpse.

It was already lunchtime when he returned to the Fragrant Mansion. Weigao and Yifu, who had gone out, had already returned. Seeing Xia De also returned, Weigao was very happy:

"I thought your business wouldn't be finished until the afternoon. Ajielina has already told me the gist of the matter, how was it, was the contact very smooth?"

Xia De let out a long sigh:

"Not smooth, although I found the person, the matter has become more complicated... Let's talk about it in detail while eating."

Thus, lunchtime became Xia De's storytime. Weigao and Ajielina both listened very carefully. Although Yifu was also listening seriously, Xia De could see that she was not particularly interested in these things.

After Xia De finished speaking about the morning's experience, Weigao immediately expressed:

"Really, what do these things have to do with the Astley family? That dead guy got the wrong target, right? Our family has nothing to do with those restorationists... When you talk to Margaret about this, don't say such unreasonable guesses."

Xia De said with a smile:

"Got it, moreover Margaret wouldn't believe it either."

The red-haired little princess said:

"So, the local Gray Glove intelligence system has a big problem, right? Really didn't expect that besides MI6, there is someone else who can cause such great damage to the Gray Glove at once. What we got should be first-hand news, even if Xia De you reported to the police, Willondale realizing the destruction of an entire intelligence line and the unreliability of the local intelligence system, I'm afraid it will also need reaction time."

Ajielina noticed the value in it. If she could mobilize MI6, this reaction time was enough for MI6 to do many things. However, the little princess was currently just a witch apprentice, so she only suggested that Weigao could let the Astley family's intelligence network in the local area take the opportunity to do some things.

The little princess then asked again:

"So, the item lost from the Willondale Royal Mint is the banknote printing master plate? This is even worse than the situation expected at the beginning. Although printing banknotes doesn't just rely on the master plate, the formulas for paper and ink are not simple to copy either, but the master plate is still the most important one."

She couldn't understand:

"This level of thing, how exactly was it stolen? The Delin-Aul restorationists are not thieves either, MI6 hasn't even figured out what exactly was lost, what other forces are there on the Old Continent with this kind of ability?"

Ajielina didn't suspect that it was a Ringed Shushi organization that committed the crime, otherwise there was no reason for the other party to contact the Delin-Aul restorationists and discuss trading the stolen goods.

"Could it be an internal crime of the Gray Glove?"

Ajielina could only guess this way, but Weigao disagreed:

"The Gray Glove organization in Willondale is led by 'Lion Ryan' himself, he doesn't even trust his own children, the possibility of an internal crime in the Gray Glove is very low. I also can't guess who exactly has such great ability, but why did that group of people want to bring the master plate here?"

Ajielina also had a guess about this:

"Teacher, this might be because of the Old Continent Industrial Expo. During this period, there are many outsiders in Arcadia City, even visitors from the North, this place is very suitable for hiding oneself. Moreover, since the other party wants to sell the stolen goods, naturally they have to find a suitable buyer. Although the Delin-Aul restorationists have hidden themselves, everyone knows they definitely have a stronghold in the local area."

Xia De nodded:

"Weigao, trouble you to inform Sylvia and Margaret through the Council's channels about the things I investigated. They need to know these situations before coming here. In addition, although I don't want to interfere with the banknote printing master plate matter, Margaret can't not care, let's investigate this."

He placed the booklet with clues to the three intelligence lines on the dining table:

"Just in time to investigate together with the Big-Mouthed Sparrow I am looking for. Weigao, I need the power of the Astley family."

Weigao nodded:

"Of course, what needs to be done?"

"Send your manpower, contact these three intelligence lines at the same time, find a way to obtain the information we need. The agent identity I am using, you can take and use. Margaret also gave me a few spare identities, all can be used, investigate the whereabouts of the master plate and the Big-Mouthed Sparrow as soon as possible."

?? PS: For the Motherland (I) is Chapter 1796, the two do not have continuity, just because both are expressing similar stories in a chaotic era, therefore the same title was adopted. ===== CHAPTER 4217 =====