Unfortunately, sir, I really did kill her... But her strength was actually close to Sequence 7. No wonder she lasted so long under Sunfire's attacks...
Lorry smiled without speaking, then gave a slight nod as the realization gradually dawned on the other man, whose gaze grew increasingly incredulous.
He felt that Qiao had been right about one thing.
Unless there was a particular reason not to, you had to let others see your worth. Hide your abilities for too long, and they might really take you for a fool.
As an unofficial member of MI9, that would not be a good thing.
Vera fell silent for a few seconds, then his lips curved into a faint, self-mocking smile.
"When I first took you on as an Informant, it was because I valued the Marauder's potential in intelligence gathering.
"Beyonders of this Pathway are well suited to mingling in the East Borough. Compared with Beyonders of other Pathways, they can more easily pick up information that others cannot.
"I never expected... Heh, I underestimated you."
"I had a bit of luck. It was just a fluke," Lorry said modestly.
He knew very well that this superior of his was at least a Sequence 7 Interrogator of the Justiciar Pathway, and possibly even a Sequence 6 Judge.
-He could infer that from the earlier Alyosha plagiarism case, when Vera had agreed to his request and personally conducted an "interrogation."
A Wraith whose strength fell short of Sequence 7 would not last a minute against either an Interrogator or a Judge.
The other man's surprise stemmed more from the contrast than from Lorry being particularly strong.
"Luck is part of strength too, isn't it?" Vera chuckled.
He raised his hand, revealing the things in his palm, and asked in his rich voice, "What