At the Seyd Merchant Association, Cordova Roye, a deacon of the Church of Storms, led a group of Mandated Punishers in thoroughly searching the Loen-style three-story building. They found considerable evidence of the association's dealings with various gangs and even rescued more than a dozen girls from nearby islands from the underground cells.
Meanwhile, Alger stood some distance away, quietly watching the Mandated Punishers at work. As an outsider, it was inappropriate for him to touch the evidence in such circumstances.
"Deacon Roye, we interrogated the captured merchant association members separately. Their testimonies all indicate that a group of people hurriedly left before we arrived, seemingly to look for something... However, those we captured were all low-ranking members. They didn't even know who had been staying here before."
Wick, the captain of the Mandated Punishers squad, walked over and reported the investigation results to Cordova.
Glancing at the team members still busy examining the scene, Cordova composed himself and asked in a deep voice,
"Did that group leave suddenly, without any warning?"
"Yes." Captain Wick nodded gravely.
Before the operation, they had only briefly informed the Loen Military. If there was no mole on their side, then the most likely possibility was that the military had leaked the information, allowing Vice Admiral of Ailment's subordinates to receive advance warning.
Cordova pondered for a moment without pursuing the matter further. Instead, he asked, "And who was the Beyonder who escaped right under our noses?"
Captain Wick did not answer. Instead, he looked toward another Mandated Punisher beside him, one responsible for seeking clues and reconstructing the truth through supernatural means.
This team member was not a Beyonder of the Storm Pathway, but a Sequence 7 Keeper of Knowledge of the Reader Pathway—a Detective. Seeing the captain and deacon looking at him,