"I understand!"
The man nodded, then pointed to his waist. Ever since they learned that members of the Truth Society had appeared in Lungmen, these field officers never left their weapons behind during their daily routines. After all, no one knew if those lunatics would suddenly show up near Lungmen and cause a bloodbath.
After stepping out, Chen Huijie and her group made a pretense of inspecting the accommodations arranged by the Guard Department. But even a performative inspection allowed them to discover many suspicious points. Under normal circumstances, these points might not have been considered suspicious if one wasn't paying attention. But now that they suspected the opposition would strike here, these suspicious points were magnified infinitely.
While returning to the car to head toward Lungmen, Beatrice pulled out a map of Flower Village.
"This is our scheduled residence. Based on our preliminary screening today, we've identified suspicious targets in a total of seven locations—here, here, and here. According to our people on the ground, those suspicious individuals are living very scattered lives, clearly possessing some basic experience in counter-surveillance," Chen Huijie explained while pointing at several locations on the map.
"So what should we do now?" Beatrice looked up and asked.
Chen Huijie waved the USB drive in her hand and looked at Beatrice. "Go back and identify the people inside. Once we confirm they are the remnants of the Truth Society we're hunting, then tomorrow we'll use a feint—pretending to do one thing while secretly doing another—and have everyone bring their gear to Flower Village to take them down directly. We'll need your people's cooperation when the time comes!"
"No problem, Grandfather has already handed all the people here over to me," Beatrice immediately stated. There was no issue at all; she had just established contact with the local personnel.
However, to avoid having any members of the Truth Society among them, she had only let them know of her presence for now and put them in charge of managing the security of Flower Village. In her words, since people from the Guard Department were coming here for a tour tomorrow, they had to ensure everyone was satisfied; this was a project she had worked hard to invest in, and if anything went wrong, everyone there would be sent to the mines to dig coal.
Faced with her display of young-miss arrogance, the manager arranged by the Schwarz Family could only nod repeatedly, promising that everything would follow the Young Miss's arrangements when the time came. After hearing Beatrice finish, Chen Huijie also felt much more relaxed.
Soon, the four returned to the Guard Department. They went to the Information Department to hand over the USB drive, and results came out in less than two hours. Currently, eighty percent of the Truth Society members who were exposed as having escaped the last arrest were here.
"In other words, their target is indeed us going to Flower Village." A cold light flashed in Chen Huijie's eyes.
"But we can't relax at the Guard Department either; after all, no one knows if the opposition will pull any other tricks," Hoshiguma said while looking at the pile of names.
"There's still time. Gather everyone who is setting out tomorrow for a meeting!" Chen Huijie said to Hoshiguma. Then she looked at Beatrice. "Take a trip to the Logistics Department; all weapons and equipment are to be secretly loaded onto the trucks tonight."
Only then did she look at Flandre, her gaze softening. "Flandre!"
"Present!" Flandre looked excited as soon as she heard her name called.
"Flandre, your mission tomorrow is very heavy, so get some good rest today!"
"Oh..." Flandre slumped back down again. Chen Huijie reached out and patted her head.
"I'm a bit worried about tomorrow's operation. After all, we haven't found the hiding place for those canisters of toxic gas. If the enemy disperses the gas in Flower Village, the consequences will be unimaginable. So, you are our trump card and our insurance. The lives of everyone in Flower Village will be in your hands when the time comes."
Flandre nodded seriously. "Don't worry, Sister Chen, I will protect everyone."
"Of course, I definitely trust Flandre to get things done." Chen Huijie gave a gentle smile and stroked Flandre's long hair; soon, Flandre fell asleep.
When Beatrice returned, she saw the little thing curled up in a ball in Chen Huijie's arms. "She's asleep" Chen Huijie didn't make a sound, only mouthing the words to Beatrice.
"I'll take her to the lounge next door so you can continue working!" Beatrice reached out to pick Flandre up and took her to an empty room specially set aside next door to rest. As for Chen Huijie, she was still considering the details of tomorrow's operation.
The next day, Flandre didn't wake up until just before they set off. After letting out a big yawn, she curled up in Beatrice's arms.
"Didn't get enough sleep?" Beatrice took a wet wipe and wiped her face.
"No! Flandre is very energetic now!" Flandre made a "power" pose, making everyone around her laugh.
Once everyone was on board, the vehicles began to drive out. After leaving the city, everyone tacitly pulled out equipment from under their seats and began checking it.
"Remember, everyone, we are tourists right now, so everyone only wears inner armor. The only weapons are the batons you carry on you—of course, if your bag can hold more, I won't say anything, but it must not be discovered. The enemy certainly won't cause trouble during the day because it would be too easy for us to spot them, so I conclude they will likely act at night. Therefore, we strike first. The operation is scheduled for 9:00 PM tonight, which is when all activities end and it's time to rest. Weapons and equipment will be delivered to your rooms by designated personnel after you arrive. Be extra vigilant tonight. We'll strive to resolve these guys once and for all and return a safe and stable environment to Lungmen."
Chen Huijie sat down after finishing. After confirming their equipment, the officers sat quietly and rested. At noon, the convoy arrived at Flower Village.
After getting off the bus, the officers scattered in twos and threes, looking just like people who had truly come to visit. Chen Huijie found the person in charge, who stated that the food and drinks for the evening dinner had been prepared separately and would be guarded by the Schwarz Family's security team to ensure no issues occurred.
Chen Huijie nodded. It wasn't that she trusted Beatrice implicitly, but rather because many people in the security team were retired members of the Guard Department; their loyalty to Lungmen was still trustworthy.
"The dinner location is on a nearby hill. The air circulation here is very good, and it's located on the north side of the village. It's currently winter, so the north wind is blowing, and the area further north is open ground. There's no need to worry about the enemy setting an ambush to release toxic gas here."
"Will those guys release toxic gas in the city? After all, the environment in the city is complex..." Beatrice asked with some concern.
"Have faith in Chief Executive Wei!" Chen Huijie thought of her uncle's methods; those people in the city were likely already being watched by him. If those people intended to act inside Lungmen City, Old Wei would give them an unforgettable lesson. Instead, it was their own side she was worried about. They still hadn't found the hiding spot for those canisters of toxic gas. She was very uneasy.
"Do you want me to do something?" Flandre couldn't help but ask when she saw Chen Huijie's gloomy expression.
"Not for now. Everything is still under our control," Chen Huijie said after a moment's thought.
"What do you mean 'not for now'? I think since Flandre is willing to help us and we indeed need her help, we should speak up." Beatrice, standing aside, felt that Chen Huijie was just being too pretentious. It wasn't that they should exploit Flandre's abilities just because she was useful, but the current situation was right there—no one knew where their opponents would hide the toxic gas or where they would use it.
Besides the Guard Department personnel and those Truth Society guys, there were many innocent people in Flower Village. If the enemy released toxic gas in the village, the Guard Department people had prepared in advance and could hide safely, but what about the others? Clearly, if they let Flandre act, there was a chance they could find the location of the toxic gas faster. Yet Chen Huijie chose such a rigid path and refused to use her; this was what made Beatrice angry.
"Sigh, haven't you noticed? Flandre has been watched closely since we entered Flower Village. Those guys know Flandre's strength, so if she makes any unusual move, the enemy might act prematurely." Chen Huijie could only explain helplessly when she saw the Pink Sausage Dragon's—wait, the "Little Tiger's"—aggressive posture.
When entering Flower Village, Chen Huijie noticed that the most eye-catching person in the crowd was Flandre. At first, she thought it was because the people here found the "lanterns" behind her unique and looked a few extra times out of curiosity. But after walking along the way, she noticed something was wrong. Most of those who kept observing Flandre were the suspects she had marked. In contrast, ordinary tourists and locals would at most glance twice and wouldn't keep their attention on her.
So she was certain that the source of those gazes was monitoring Flandre herself. Clearly, the opposition was also wary of her strength. Beatrice had been busy handling other matters before, so she wasn't aware of this situation. After hearing Chen Huijie finish, Beatrice had a sudden realization, but she didn't plan to apologize. After all, who told the Pink Sausage Dragon not to state the reason beforehand?
Flandre gave a sweet smile after hearing this, then spoke up. "But do they know there are four Flandres?"
As her voice fell, Flandre split into Four.
"But your appearance is still too obvious; others can recognize you at a glance!" Chen Huijie pointed at Flandre's wings. If nothing else, her iconic wings could be considered unique in Terra.
Flandre shook her wings upon seeing this; these things couldn't be snapped off like Suika's horns, so she could only think of another way. Soon, she remembered a special use of the 'Idlers Dispelling Spell' Magic. Flandre began to describe this Magic to Chen Huijie.
Idlers Dispelling Spell originally sent out Magic at a specific frequency from a certain area, and people who received the Magic would subconsciously stay away from the location of that area.