"It's an inside man!"
Ian came to a conclusion. "Compared to the prophecy I received from Linda, if I hadn't intervened, the one who ultimately obtained the 'key item' would have been the Spirit Cognition Institute."
"And the Spirit Cognition Institute obtained it by joining forces with another faction I currently know nothing about. That faction definitely wasn't Canaanmore or Marquis Barton's side, because the former would never share with the Spirit Cognition Institute, while the latter is the one truly colluding with the Dragon-Worshiping Cult."
"That raises a question. Was the shadow following me the same one working with the Spirit Cognition Institute? Lately, aside from the Ancient Dragon aura on me, the only thing worth tracking me over was Layan Territory... Oh, and the Blazing Flame Lands. I nearly forgot. But it couldn't have been them either."
"If it wasn't the Dragon-Worshiping Cult, the Blazing Flame Lands, or Canaanmore, nor any local organization, then it could only have been an Imperial organization from beyond Southern Ridge... In other words, like the Spirit Cognition Institute, an organization from the Imperial Capital."
"In the prophecy, forces from the Imperial Capital joined hands and obtained the 'key item' held by the Dragon-Worshiping Cult!"
Though he had little direct intelligence at present, the boy held a great deal of indirect information. It allowed Ian to clearly analyze the current situation.
Clearly, the Canaanmore Branch and Southern Ridge Branch of the Dragon-Worshiping Cult had conducted a joint operation, one tacitly approved by Marquis Barton.
Otherwise, there was no explaining how those Dragon-Worshiping Cult members had openly taken a merchant ship here, nearly been captured several times after being discovered, and finally escaped by taking advantage of the dragon's shadow sweeping overhead.
Marquis Barton had deliberately let them go.
As for Canaanmore, whether it