Looking up at the wall clock, Alger saw that it was past 8 o'clock. He put down his thick glass and squeezed through the passing drunks onto the street.
Because the Rorsted Archipelago have abundant coal resources, Bayam, like mainland cities such as Backlund and Pritz Harbor, has rows of tall black lampposts along the streets, with the glow of burning gas shining through the metal grilles and illuminating the relatively clean ground.
Alger loosened his headscarf and slowly turned into a side alley. At the end of the alley, he smelled the stench of urine mixed with alcohol. Although the Fragrant Leaf Bar had restrooms, the number was clearly insufficient for the peak hours of customers. Some drunkards who couldn't hold it in and couldn't wait had to find a secluded place to relieve themselves.
Red Moonlight pierced through the clouds and shone into the alley. Just as Alger was considering whether to make his act more convincing, a strong, full voice, tinged with amusement, came from behind him:
"Did you deliberately leak information about ' Blazing ' to us?"
"Not stupid... "Alger muttered to himself, slowly turning his body, seemingly preparing for a surprise attack.
He saw a figure leaning against the wall about seven or eight steps away, with a very poor posture.
The figure was about 1.78 meters tall, wearing a boat-shaped hat, with a thin face, sharp features, and an extremely aggressive appearance.
A lock of his black hair hung down, partially obscuring his dark green left eye, which softened his otherwise cold and hard demeanor.
Although wanted posters often differ significantly from the actual individuals, and many well-known pirates don't even need to disguise themselves to roam the city, Alger, as an insider of the church, had seen many near-photographic portraits created through rituals and had attended pirate conventions, so he was able to easily connect the man before him with a name on the wanted poster.
He didn't show it, deliberately hesitating and asking in return:
" Calm Squall?"
This is "Iron" Maviti's main henchman, an Beyonder skilled in controlling his emotions and thinking calmly, yet utterly devoid of humanity, with a bounty of £1,500.
The man tugged at his black trench coat, a smile appearing on his face, but without any real mirth, as he said:
Can I deny it?
"Hmm... it seems that won't work. Just like you can't deny that you deliberately mentioned ' Blazing ' in front of Olmer, he's not someone who likes to use his brain, while I'm the complete opposite."
"I never intended to hide anything. I only hoped to exchange the information I obtained for some reward. Between the lone ' Blazing ' and the well-equipped 'Iron,' any sane person would know which to choose. Of course, I hope you will keep this a secret for me; I don't want to be hunted down by ' Vice Admiral Iceberg,'" Alger replied frankly.
Squall nodded leisurely and slowly:
"Explain in more detail."
"Just like I mentioned before, I ran into and recognized ' Blazing ' at the Gold Coin Casino. He asked me to keep an eye on 'Steel's' movements. Heh, he seems to be planning a counterattack," Alger chuckled. "We agreed on a contact point. I think this is intelligence worth at least 1,000 pounds."
"1000 pounds? Look up at the red moon, you're not dreaming!" Squall scoffed. "This might be a trap, don't you understand? ' Blazing ' has likely found accomplices, which is why they dare to look for us in the opposite direction."
"Whether it's a trap or not is not for me to judge. 500 pounds, anything less, I'd rather pretend nothing happened," Alger argued for his payment.
"300 pounds. You'll come with me to a place and stay for a while to prevent you from selling this information to anyone else and disrupting our plans. We'll pay you after we actually use this intelligence to capture ' Blazing ' or communicate with his spirit. Don't worry, food, wine, and a bed are all free. Either way, you'll make a profit! If anything goes wrong because of you, hehe, you should know the consequences." Squall proposed in an unyielding tone.
As I expected, given my unknown background and lack of significant danger, they were far more likely to choose temporary detention than to silence me... However, I had also prepared for the worst and made the necessary arrangements. As long as I wasn't careless, escape shouldn't be a problem... Alger pretended to think for a moment and said:
"It can't be more than two days, otherwise my crew will take my ship away."
"I'll notify them if it's been more than two days." A sharp scalpel had appeared in Squall's hand, which he twirled and bounced like a juggler.
After Alger described in detail the contact point at 15 Fragrant Tree Avenue and the corresponding contact methods, Squall said nothing more, turned around and led the way, leading Alger through a maze of turns until they arrived at some unknown street and entered an unremarkable house.
"Long time no see, blue-haired ghost ship captain." The person who Door Opening was an elderly man with more white hair than black hair. He was dressed like a local and wore loose-fitting wide-legged trousers.
" Old Quinn, you really are the intelligence officer for ' Admiral of Blood '..." Alger said, feigning surprise.
Old Quinn chuckled and said:
Rumors always contain both truth and falsehood; what you think is false may actually be true.
He didn't turn on the gas wall lamps, but instead carried a silver candlestick, leading Alger and Squall through the dark hall into a spacious, sturdy, windowless basement.
"You'll stay here for a while. My friends and I will keep an eye on you and provide you with drinks and food," Old Quinn said with a smile. "To show our sincerity, we won't disarm you."
"Okay." Alger walked to the low bed in the basement.
Old Quinn then closed the heavy stone door and locked the basement.
Squall did not linger there, but hurried away, repeatedly checking to see if he was being followed.
After changing to a taxi, he arrived at the Loen quarter of Bayam, the residence of the upper class.
Upon entering the garden villa, Squall saw Maviti sitting on the living room sofa waiting for him. The other companions were either lying down, standing, or sitting, forming a semicircle, while the puppets and Living Corpse acted as guards around the area.
"Steel" has thick lips, dark skin, and his hair is curled up in clumps, resembling the steel balls commonly found in factories.
"Is the information reliable?" His arm muscles twitched, exuding power, yet his overall demeanor gave off a cold, sinister, and lifeless impression.
Squall nodded and said:
"A pirate captain who only cares about money. I've already detained him with Old Quinn. If anything goes wrong, he certainly won't get out alive. I think he understands that perfectly well."
At this point, Squall revealed a cold smile:
"However, we still need to be wary of unexpected events; this could be a trap set by ' Blazing '."
"What ideas do you have?" Maviti asked directly.
His gaze first fell on a pirate lying on the sofa, who was wearing a brown local robe and twirling a yellow-brown straw hat with a dent in the middle.
This is Maviti's second-in-command for this operation, the sixth captain of the ship, " Blood Brambles " Huntley, who lost his ship in the previous battle with " Vice Admiral Twilight," with a bounty of £3,800.
"Clearly, Squall has a plan." Huntley his straw hat to cover his slightly pale face.
Squall chuckled:
"Didn't John Smith and his group of adventurers send Mithor to join us in disguise? We can just accidentally leak this information to him and make him think that we are still waiting for help and that we can't make our move until the day after tomorrow or the day after that."
"Those Greed adventurers will definitely not let ' Blazing ' go and will surely strike first. When the time comes, we'll find a place to watch from the sidelines. If anything unexpected happens, let them suffer the consequences. If everything goes smoothly, we'll eat them all up too!"
"Good." "Iron" Maviti's eyes flickered, flashing with a strong bloodthirsty impulse.
In the early hours of the morning, everything was ready.
" Blood Brambles " Huntley picked up the leather suitcase, took out a peacock blue rug from it, and slowly spread it out in front of him. It had many mysterious and strange patterns on it, with a flavor that did not belong to humans.
Maviti, Squall, two other Beyonder, and seven or eight Living Corpse and puppets stepped forward one after another.
Huntley entered last, half-closing his eyes, and silently uttered an Elvish word:
"Flight!"
The peacock blue carpet suddenly taut, floated up, and carried everyone away from the ground, rising into the air and flying towards Fragrant Tree Avenue.
During this process, Huntley took out a black handkerchief, flicked his wrist, and it transformed into the night, magically concealing all the more obvious traces under the Moonlight.
In about seven or eight minutes, they arrived near No. 20 Fragrant Tree Avenue, with their target house diagonally opposite.
They stopped moving forward, letting the " Flying Carpet " float quietly in front of the crown of a large tree, while they looked down at the situation of their target.
Time ticked by, and Huntley steadily steered the magical object, showing no signs of diminishing its Spirituality power.
As the long night slowly passed and the sky began to glow red, the Sun was about to rise. "Iron" Maviti's crew of pirates began to search for another suitable surveillance location for daytime.
Just then, a figure, with a hunched back, moved nimbly across the rooftops and arrived above No. 15 Fragrant Tree Avenue.
He wore a black cloak, had scorched yellow eyebrows, deep blue eyes, and relatively soft features and contours; he was none other than " Blazing " Danitz!
Danitz cautiously looked around for a while, then climbed up the towering chimney, braced himself with his hands, squeezed inside, and slid down.
"They're really here?" "Iron" Maviti, " Blood Brambles " Huntley, Squall, and the others were all instantly energized.
At this moment, several figures darted out from the chimneys and hidden spots around houses 13, 14, and 17, and with great speed, entered house 15 from different locations by smashing windows, kicking open doors, or using the chimneys.