The Moles Are Banding Together, Huh (33)

After a while, Ian got to taste the manager's highly praised braised squid.

It was indeed incredibly delicious, with a crisp, springy texture. The chef's technique was quite refined—the squid was cooked just right. Any longer and it would have turned rubbery, while the braising sauce was exceptionally rich and savory.

The shrimp-stewed chicken was also quite good, though Ian felt that his own version might taste a little better. After all, he quite liked making stews or meat casseroles at home.

Since they had made Ian wait a little longer, the restaurant also gave him a small serving of sweet soup and cookies. It was a sweet mushroom soup, hot and fairly thick, meant to be eaten with the cookies. He finished it by dipping the cookies into the soup, then ordered another serving of fried fish, its golden crust crisp and fragrant.

"Sir, is there anything else you need?"

Ian had not eaten much this time, so the manager came over to ask.

"No."

The youth smiled and shook his head. Ordering more would not have been a problem—there were plenty of people in Terra who could eat a great deal—but he had eaten Marquis Barton's magical beast feast yesterday. In theory, a First Energy Level Sublimer should still be using his Origin Seed to digest it. Any more would have been unreasonable.

A disguise had to be convincing. Although Precognitive Vision had not revealed anyone suspicious on the surface, even without watchers, a proper disguise still had to be maintained.

However, when Ian habitually activated Precognitive Vision and swept his gaze across the surrounding crowds and buildings, he let out a quiet sound of surprise.

Inside a casino at the other end of the street, he saw the silhouette of a Second Energy Level Sublimer.

The casino looked rather luxurious. Even in bustling Nauman City, its glittering splendor was particularly eye-catching. It was hardly strange for a Sublimer to be relaxing and entertaining inside.

But Second Energy Level Sublimers were clearly not common in Nauman City.

"Does that casino have some kind of background?"

While paying, Ian added a small tip and asked the owner. After thinking hard for a while, the man answered, "That casino belongs to House El. It's considered one of the better places in the city in terms of service. They say it has connections to Canaanmore, though that's never been confirmed."

"When the public academies were shut down, House El borrowed a huge sum from Elf merchants to buy the land of a school and build that casino... But whether the rumors are true or not, the service there really is quite exquisite."

"Wait, what did you say?"

Ian felt as though he had misheard. Frowning, he asked, "The public academies were shut down?"

"Yeah. Land was still fairly cheap back then." The owner nodded slightly, seeming somewhat regretful. "It's a pity my family didn't make up our minds at the time. Otherwise, we could have bought a plot too, and our shop wouldn't have ended up so small."

The owner's concerns were completely different from what Ian cared about, but Ian did not ask any further questions.

The youth walked out of Sea Tide House and looked toward the casino, his heart filled with complicated emotions.

Several decades ago, under the reforms of the late Emperor and Hilliard, public schools had been established in major cities throughout the Empire, teaching all kinds of knowledge for free and spreading basic education.

Thanks to that Mass Education Movement, the Empire's literacy rate had greatly increased. Even after universal education was abolished, literate parents still did their best to teach their children.

Ian's mother had been one such person. She was among the rare few who had continued trying to learn all kinds of knowledge after the Dark Moon Turmoil.

It was because of that that Ian had gained a basic understanding of the common language, allowing him to quickly learn all kinds of knowledge about Terra.

He had long known that the Mass Education Movement had ended after the Dark Moon Turmoil... It had not even been withdrawn at Landkeeper Axel's initiative. The entire movement had merely been a political task personally funded, launched, and forcibly enforced by Inaga II alone.

If he were still alive, that would be one thing. But he was dead.

Upon hearing the news, Ian's rare good mood vanished. If not for the Second Energy Level Sublimer inside the casino walking toward the entrance, he might have simply returned to the Silverfang Chamber of Commerce to read and prepare his luggage for the upcoming trip to the Imperial Capital.

The Second Energy Level powerhouse who emerged from the casino did not fit the casino's atmosphere at all.

She was an Elf female knight with pale purple hair.

The female knight was adjusting her fur-lined cloak, looking somewhat irritated. Beneath it, she wore a lightweight military-style white shirt and a thin layer of brown leather armor, accentuating her lithe and graceful figure.

Ian noticed that she had two short swords and twin guns hanging at her waist. She was clearly a Canaanmore gunblade knight. In particular, the twin guns had inlaid mechanisms specially designed to load Element Crystals—extremely expensive custom-grade alchemical weapons.

The Elf knight was very perceptive. As Ian openly looked her over, she noticed his gaze as well and revealed a slightly puzzled expression.

Given her appearance and temperament, the Elf knight did not find it strange that someone would pay attention to her. But she had never seen such a young First Energy Level Sublimer in Nauman City before. That was what was truly strange.

It was normal for Sublimers to take notice of one another. Ian calmly turned his head and walked toward the Silverfang Chamber of Commerce, while the Elf knight turned toward the eastern district.

Her expression was grave and impatient, with an undercurrent of anger deduced by the Silver Chip.

"Purple hair, a gunblade knight..."

Ian muttered to himself, deep in thought. "Canaanmore's mole in the Dragon-Worshiping Cult, the Purple Maple Knight?"

Compared to the "coincidence" brought by Precognitive Vision before, this was a genuine chance encounter. Still, considering that Nauman City only had a few streets suitable for dining and entertainment, the odds of running into her were not that low.

But he did not understand why she looked so anxious and angry.

"Does it have something to do with Oak Master's operation?"

Thinking of Oak Master, whom he had encountered heading south upon entering Nauman City, Ian formed a guess. "Yes. It was an official Canaanmore operation to track the Dragon-Worshiping Cult. In the end, not only did they fail to obtain the 'key item, Ruststeel,' they also exposed their mole, who had likely already risen to the middle ranks of the cult."

"The Purple Maple Knight must have wanted to bring back clues related to the Ancient Dragon, but she overlooked Anfa and caused everything to fall apart—even the Canaanmore Dragon-Worshiping Cult members who had already been captured escaped from prison."

"On top of that, Oak Master's operation did not include her. Whether it was because they doubted her reliability, simply sidelined her, or meant to protect her, any of those would be enough to leave her frustrated."

At that thought, Ian could not help laughing. "So this has something to do with me too?"

"If it had not been to 'exchange for me, who was kidnapped by the Dragon-Worshiping Cult,' then even if Marquis Barton had already been cooperating with them, they would not have escaped so easily, right?"

Ian knew perfectly well that Marquis Barton should have known about his identity in the Dragon-Worshiping Cult. If nothing else, Elder Manyan definitely had deep cooperation with Nauman City's authorities.

Their opponent was the "official Canaanmore faction," located at the Ancient Dragon Maze.

After all, if the Canaanmore Federation figured out the location of the Ancient Dragon Maze, what business would any other faction have left? They could simply close the door and explore it themselves.

Therefore, no matter which side it was, they had to slow Canaanmore's official exploration as much as possible, delaying their progress until their own side obtained crucial intelligence before proposing "cooperation."

The Purple Maple Knight was precisely the key for Canaanmore's side to break the deadlock. Unfortunately, she had failed. Not only had she exposed her identity, she might also have developed some conflicts with Oak Master's team.

But no matter what, their target had to be the Dragon-Worshiping Cult.

Thinking this, Ian circled around at the intersection, taking a wide detour as he remotely monitored the Purple Maple Knight's movements with Precognitive Vision and the Silver Chip.

—No matter what, Elder Manyan, Anfa, and Sheo were not his concern. They had the Fourth Energy Level Mountain King backing them, after all.

But since he had joined, he should do something. Besides, he had nothing better to do.

After following her for more than twenty minutes, Ian realized that the Purple Maple Knight was also extremely cautious. She kept taking detours through the streets and even bought a grilled fish to eat along the way. At a glance, she looked nothing like a Second Energy Level Sublimer, but rather like some Canaanmore tourist visiting Nauman City.

But in the end, she still headed toward her true destination.

In Precognitive Vision, another purple mist was approaching her.

The youth observed carefully, then saw a familiar aura.

It was none other than the Magnetic Light Knight, Chris.

The two met inside the warehouse of a chamber of commerce. They seemed to have contacted each other beforehand, so there was little small talk before they began their proper discussion.

"Heh."

Seeing this, Ian immediately grinned. "What kind of day is today?"

"All the moles and undercover agents have gathered together?"