Dantai Society's Suspicion

(Miluno)

She asked her father to investigate, only to find out that "Gong Ling" was a non-existent person, just a fake identity used by an informant.

This is undoubtedly the worst news of the day...

This means that letting her go means the trail has completely gone cold, and he may never see her again in this lifetime.

The little thing inside his head sighed, "But this guy is really patient! Just to confirm whether Dantai Zhengchu was suitable to be given the Crystal, he really took care of him for two years?"

Two years?

"That's right, didn't Ceruno- chan say it before? Two years ago, after that old man surnamed Gong left, Gong Ling came to the Dantai Society in place of her grandfather to take care of the daily life of the head of the Dantai Society..."

Etc.

I interrupted Mono's speech and patted Ceruno on the back of the head, breaking up her increasingly off-topic chatter with her mother.

"Ceruno, since that old man surnamed Gong..."

The screen showed what looked like a hotel; they were on a business trip.

Dad sat on the bed behind Mom and added:

"His name is Gong Zhenglong."

"Well, since Mr. Gong Zhenglong has no wife or children, why would this 'Gong Ling' lie and claim to be his granddaughter? Isn't that just needlessly increasing the risk of being exposed?"

It's almost a miracle that they didn't get caught for two years.

"You're looking at the problem from the wrong angle, my dear daughter! Don't question what has already happened; instead, think about why it happened. Sometimes that will open up new avenues of thought."

My mother twirled her sideburns with her fingers in front of the camera, saying with a smug look on her face:

"Think about it, what if Grandpa Gong was covering for her? An old man who had worked in the Dantai Society for decades recommended his granddaughter to continue shining in the industry. Even if the head of the Dantai Society didn't care about the past, he would still keep her."

In other words, is that old man in league with those traitors who want to disrupt the world and spread terror?

"Dad, can you check on that old man's whereabouts?" I asked.

My father, who doesn't talk much, nodded, but my mother said:

"Well, to confirm his whereabouts, we might need to make a trip in person. After all, the lives of elderly people are largely disconnected from the internet, and it's difficult to determine the whereabouts of retired seniors in the countryside based solely on online information."

Ceruno shook her head at her mother's words.

"There's no need to go to his home to check. He went back to Dantai Society a few days ago and took care of Dantai Zhengchu for a day in place of his granddaughter... Just check his train or plane ticket purchase records."

Dad got the results so quickly, and he sat back down behind Mom.

"I had no travel records in the past two days, nor did I drive on the highway."

Ceruno was still rubbing her fingers together and muttering to herself.

"But I really did meet Grandpa Gong, didn't I? Xiaoling and Quanyin can testify to that, it was in Uncle Dantai's bedroom."

"That's strange. How could a man in his sixties walk across provinces and cities just to take care of Dantai Zhengchu?"

I couldn't make sense of it all, but the little thing was yelling and screaming in my head.

"Oh! I can solve this problem!"

It's too noisy, can you please calm down a bit...?

"Gong Zhenglong is Gong Ling, Gong Ling is Gong Zhenglong!"

Oh oh oh!!

I see!!

Little thing's ramblings:

"You're completely out of your mind too..."

Because it's him personally, there's no need to worry about being exposed when using Gong Ling's identity. That's why he doesn't need to use transportation. He never left the Dantai Society from the beginning, so everything makes sense.

I was about to state Mono's deduction when Ceruno beat me to it.

"Thinking about it carefully, Grandpa Gong recommended Gong Ling to the Dantai Society only after he retired to his hometown. He didn't appear with Gong Ling the day before yesterday either, but lied and said that Gong Ling had gone back to her hometown on business... Although the evidence is not very conclusive, I think Gong Zhenglong is Gong Ling."

The mother on the other end of the screen didn't seem surprised; she just clapped and laughed.

"Good direction~ But Ceruno- chan, don't forget~ Fake Magical Girl created using Contaminated Crystal can't undo her transformation, okay? How are you going to explain this situation?"

It seems Mom had already considered this possibility.

"Hmm..."

Ceruno was speechless at the question, and then frowned as she began to think of an answer.

Currently, the only way to purify the Contaminated Crystal is through the professor's invention combined with Ceruno's dark manipulation abilities; the Fake Magical Girl does not possess this ability.

Furthermore, Mono sensed Dark Energy within her, so she definitely couldn't undo her transformation into Fake Magical Girl...

"It's Dantai Xue."

Ceruno seemed to have found the answer.

"That day, she was the first to rush into the main bedroom. Before Xiaoling and I followed, she used the 'Many-Faced Guest' magic to turn Gong Ling back into Grandpa Gong. When Tiger Cub attacked, Grandpa Gong disappeared without a sound and didn't reappear until Xiaoling and I left... Snow Sis must know something."

After listening to Ceruno's reasoning, the little one, with her short arms crossed, sat on my shoulders, seemingly deep in thought...

"Miluno, I've been keeping an eye on Dantai Xue's situation. From the time Gong Ling disappeared in the bathroom until now, Dantai Xue hasn't received any news."

If everything is as the deduction suggests, then Dantai Xue might not necessarily be Sun Ji's informant, but she could very well be protecting Gong Ling. Moreover, Dantai Zhengchu also concealed Gong Ling's existence...

For the Dantai father and son, Gong Zhenglong was an elder of their grandfather's generation. Although he was just a servant in the family, their emotional bond was much deeper, which is probably why they chose to protect him.

"Mom, we have enough clues and information about the Dantai Society. Can you and Dad take over now?" I asked.

My mother nodded, but her face still looked troubled.

"Catching informants isn't difficult; the Prosecutorate has already identified quite a few from around the world. But losing one or two informants won't significantly impact Sun Ji's intelligence system. What we need to do is catch Sun Ji... catch your father's Proxy."

"Speaking of this..."

Ceruno pointed to her head.

"Auntie, I encountered a magical girl who seemed to Proxy before. Would you like to take a look at my head? Although she was wearing a cloak, I could still see the lower half of her face..."

"Huh? You should have said so earlier!"

My mother was quite excited. She had seen many leads about informants, but leads about Proxy were rare.

"That's the end of the call. We can talk about it when we meet."

Without even turning off the video, he turned back and urged his dad.

"Yun Zhi, quickly pack your things and get ready to go back to Skyreach City."

"I can't leave, I have an important meeting tomorrow..."

"Hmph! All you do is hold meetings and you don't even know what your Proxy looks like. The entire Prosecutorate is less useful than Ceruno... You stay here and deal with the higher-ups! I always handle things on the spot! I'm off!"

While we were talking, Mom packed her things and hurriedly left the guest room.

In the footage, only the father's sigh remains.