(Recently, I'd been staying up late every day and came down with a terrible sore throat and fever. I finally managed to preserve the second chapter update by taking medicine. I'd written 2.3 million words without taking a single day off, and I'd strive to keep that record until the story was complete.)
On Landu Star, Zhongjing City, Blue Moon Bay, within the former Minister of Finance's No. 19 estate.
Inside the massive pavilion halfway up the mountain, light fell across exactly half of the vast, empty hall.
Half light, half darkness.
A man in his thirties wearing gold-rimmed glasses stood elegantly within the illuminated half, bowing slightly toward the darkness.
"Mountain Lord."
Following his gaze, one could see a tall, slender figure sitting silently on a sofa in the shadows.
Before him sat a porcelain cup, fragrant steam curling up from it.
Top-grade Saint Mar coffee beans. Their fervent aroma, like flames, represented confidence and dominance.
"What is it, Mu Cang?"
"We had people watching the Dongye Family and the Sha Family, but discovered unusual activity from another family. Our Asakusa Guard nearly lost track of one of their suspicious personnel."
"Oh?"
At this, First Mountain Lord Ke Qingshan gave an unexpectedly curious murmur. It was rare for a topic to interest him.
The Asakusa Guard was the equivalent of the Empire Hawk Eye.
It had begun forming even when General Ke Qilian of the First Army Group served as commander-in-chief.
Its covert operations and intelligence-gathering capabilities were among the best in the entire Federation.
To state the most ordinary fact, its success rate in obtaining vital intelligence had remained at 100% for five years...
Yet now, he had heard that the Asakusa Guard had nearly lost someone.
"Which family has scouts of that caliber?"
Ke Qingshan was unusually