Click.
Bane stared blankly at the hung-up Den Den Mushi, failing to react for a long while. A moment later, his face contorted with fury. He gritted his teeth and hissed, "Those bastards!"
Taking a deep breath, Bane fell silent, tucked the Den Den Mushi back into his robes, and strode out. He no longer had any troops at his disposal; he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate. Besides, the situation was still largely within his grasp, and his chances of victory were far from zero.
…
On a certain street, inside a three-story tea house.
This was an intelligence outpost for the Chris Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Valanfort, the very first one established in the Kingdom of Bivins.
Originally, this was supposed to be a standard large-scale mercenary mission. The Chris Pirates had taken many such jobs before, but because it involved the Revolutionary Army, and specifically their second-in-command, Aeridar hadn't been able to rest easy. He had dispatched several cadres in succession.
Seeing such high priority from Aeridar, Mina, the Director of External Affairs, naturally couldn't ignore it. She had mobilized the full strength of her department to conduct rigorous surveillance on everything related to the Revolutionary Army within the Kingdom of Bivins.
However, an obscure piece of intel had caught Mina's eye: the report mentioned that a vast number of people in the Bivins Kingdom worshipped the Church of the Night.
An ordinary person might not think twice about a religious cult, but Mina was different. She and her sister, Millie, had founded the CIB, one managing the Internal Affairs Department (monitoring the Clifford Kingdom and the inner workings of the Chris Pirates) and the other managing External Affairs (collecting all overseas intelligence).
When the CIB was first established, Mina had meticulously archived old records for future reference, including files on the Church of the Night.
Knowing that this once-notorious cult had resurfaced triggered her curiosity and a sense of unease. She recalled that Mondos Bank had been a follower of the "Goddess of the Night" and had deep ties to the Church. She immediately ordered an investigation into all Church activities, specifically their movements in Bivins.
Sure enough, Mina made a discovery. Over the past six months, the Valanfort branch of the Church had received funding and weapons from several multi-millionaires and Underworld brokers. Their influence had skyrocketed, allowing them to bribe numerous spies and plant sleeper agents throughout the city.
Curiously, these wealthy benefactors and Underworld giants had no prior connection to the Church and did not worship the Goddess of the Night. There was clearly more to the story.
Trusting her intuition, Mina felt that there was a massive underlying issue. It seemed the situation in Bivins involved more than just the Revolutionary Army and the Chris Pirates. Consequently, she had arrived personally, even reaching the city several hours before Dimitri and the others.
"Have you found anything?" Mina sat in a grand armchair on the third-floor balcony, her delicate hand holding a white jade porcelain cup. She sipped her tea leisurely, seemingly ignoring the battle raging outside.
"Mina-san, here is the data on those individuals." A middle-aged man in fine silk robes respectfully handed a thick file to her.
If any local residents had seen him, they would have recognized him as the owner of this very tea house. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes flickered toward the window. Despite his internal terror, he maintained a facade of absolute calm.
Mina let out a soft, knowing chuckle. She set down her teacup, took the file, and began flipping through it in silence. As she read, her brow furrowed, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
"Hmph... playing this game, are we?"
Mina suddenly let out a cold laugh. She had spotted a crucial detail: every single one of those wealthy donors and Underworld brokers had some connection to the World Government.
Some were backed by the Government; some were business partners; some paid annual dividends to the Celestial Dragons. There were even high-profile criminals on the World Government's "Most Wanted" list. Others appeared unconnected on the surface, but a deeper look revealed that their relatives or ancestors were World Government officials.
Furthermore, intel from a week ago showed that several large merchant ships, over a hundred meters long, had arrived from the Sabaody Archipelago. They had rendezvoused with the Church of the Night, claiming to be delivering obsidian and white jade for cathedral construction. Since the Kingdom of Bivins was mostly wasteland and rocky terrain, stone was plentiful, but high-quality obsidian and jade were rare. It seemed like a perfectly valid reason.
However, everyone had overlooked one thing: the Sabaody Archipelago sits atop the Yarukiman Mangroves. It doesn't produce stone. Even the buildings on Sabaody are built with materials imported from elsewhere.
A stone-hauling fleet from Sabaody was a physical impossibility.
This meant the ships were carrying something else entirely—arms.
"The World Government... or perhaps those lingering Celestial Dragons..." Mina narrowed her beautiful eyes, her long fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest.
The tea house owner stood by with a lowered head, hardly daring to breathe.
"If it was a shipment of arms carried by ships that large, it's enough to equip at least ten thousand men."
"The City Defense and Garrison already have their own armories. Aside from the rioting peasants with kitchen knives, the Church's actual strength is only a few hundred knights and a few thousand clergy."
"Which means," Mina whispered to herself, "they must have a warehouse somewhere capable of hidden-storing equipment for ten thousand men!"
Her eyes lit up. "Find a way to infiltrate the Church's cathedral. I want to know if there is a basement and exactly what is stored inside!"
"Understood!" The tea house owner shuddered at her voice and scrambled to obey, turning to leave in a hurry.
Gin, his face somewhat grim, stepped out from behind a curtain. He frowned and asked, "Mina-san, powerful foes have appeared on the battlefield to intercept Dimitri-sama and the others. I heard Mondos Bank, the man on our wanted list, is among them. Should we send reinforcements?"
Mina didn't even turn her head. "They have their tasks, and we have ours," she said flatly.
"Soon, you won't have either!"
Suddenly, a haughty, crooked voice rang out from the roof.
CRASH—!
The ceiling exploded. Large chunks of debris and dust rained down, and through the hazy air, three tall, imposing figures appeared.
———————
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