Anrelo's Investigation

The search of Beiweier's residence yielded nothing; the notebook was nowhere to be found.

The safe itself showed absolutely no signs of prying or breaking.

Anrelo was covered in cold sweat.

He forced himself to remain calm, pacing back and forth between the upstairs and downstairs again and again, flicking the half-broken tail back and forth, trying to find a thread to grasp in the chaos.

Anrelo went to the basement and glanced at the boxes.

There are five boxes in total.

The boxes were all tightly sealed and locked, and the locks were intact.

Anrelo found the keys on Beiweier and then opened them one by one.

It was full of missile debris, but not completely filled.

Each box contained a piece of paper with the initial weight recorded in Beiweier's handwriting.

"Check the weight," Anrelo instructed his subordinate.

The weighing results came back quickly, and they matched perfectly. Anrelo rubbed her face vigorously; things had become even more complicated.

Someone stole his notebook, which he had stored here, and also took some missile debris, but left no trace. Even the list recording the weights was adjusted to match.

How can we investigate this? Anrelo was extremely dejected.

The communication stone on his body suddenly lit up, and he quickly answered the call.

"Come here immediately!" came the message from the Death Knell.

"Yes!" Anrelo quickly replied.

****

On Su Ming's side.

According to the team's analysis, they can launch another attack after the Burning Cloud above the palace dissipate.

It could be a feint or a real attack; in any case, the initiative lies with the allied forces, who will outmaneuver Abidaqi through strategic maneuvering.

Fire control experts on the technology side proposed several solutions that could be adopted in a real attack:

Allocate all fuel to the early stages and switch to terminal gliding for covert attacks; or reduce the explosive charge and increase the terminal penetration speed so that the enemy does not have time to deploy the "Burning Cloud" protective layer. But several hours later, the huge Burning Cloud was still there, showing no signs of weakening.

Meanwhile, the enemies of the Plundering Clock have already begun to set up the "Obscuring Barrier Canopy" magic array on the ground.

Everyone's expression changed.

"The ' Obscuring Barrier Canopy ' is one thing," Zijin, unable to comprehend, "But can such a large area of high-energy ' Burning Cloud ' really remain permanently?"

No matter how powerful Abidaqi is, he cannot maintain the operation of this spell indefinitely.

The Jinxiu merged into Su Ming's forehead, and the two carefully sensed the flow of Magic Power in the direction of the Cloud Fang Royal Palace.

They cautiously released their senses, avoiding alerting Abidaqi and the Death Knell.

After a long while, Jinxiu came to a conclusion.

"Fire-based energy is constantly surging from underground, replenishing ' Burning Cloud '."

"It seems to be related to that ' Kindling ' magic circle," Chloe said.

Something that took a powerful dynasty a century to build is clearly not that simple.

"Is there any information in ' The Flame of Succession Arc '?" Su Ming asked. Yise had already uploaded the entire manuscript by taking photos with his phone.

"As for my evaluation of this script..."

"The story is beautiful, the characters are moving, and the dialogue is profound."

Chloe had finished reading it, she sighed.

"But not at all when it comes to technology!"

Katharine was also studying a printed copy of the manuscript.

"That's not surprising."

She shared her opinion.

"Night Song Comes from the West is, after all, just a literary writer, not a researcher."

Yuya clearly had something to say; in her mind, Night Song Comes from the West was also a respectable historian.

But Su Ming stopped him.

Next door, Yise used the excuse of discussing the script to call over Hebana. Su Ming connected the microphone on Yise and put the sound into the work group.

"... This script did indeed contain a lot of technical content."

Hebana told Yise.

"For example, the technical details of the ' Kindling ' magic array, and how the six Cangxiao Key control the array."

"I told Miss Xi that if these details are written down in too much detail, it will be difficult to perform on stage."

"Especially since most of the audience are ordinary people, they don't know anything about arcane knowledge."

This presents a significant barrier to understanding.

"So, on my suggestion, Miss Xi deleted those."

Su Ming felt a strong urge to strangle this Hebana.

Can't you please consider people who like to read technical content?

"Are the original, unedited manuscripts still preserved?" Yise pressed.

Raccoon Bana shook his head regretfully.

"Miss Xi has a very powerful magic pen that can erase what's written on it."

"So she never leaves a trace when she makes revisions."

Now Yise was really annoyed.

Do you remember the specifics?

The Hebana gave a wry smile.

How could I remember?

"I know nothing about those magical techniques, otherwise I wouldn't have offered this advice from your perspective."

Several bystanders angrily slammed their fists on the table.

[Switch to being a fangirl and steer the conversation towards rescuing people.] Su Ming replied helplessly.

"Hmm," Yise replied.

She gave a sweet smile, her face filled with innocent anticipation, and asked Hebana, "Excuse me, where is this Miss Xi? May I have the honor of meeting her someday?"

****

After a series of adjustments, "Burning Cloud" began to operate smoothly and stably.

Abidaqi wiped the sweat from his brow and returned to sit down in a nearby house. Because the palace had been demolished, the living and working areas of the Plundering Clock had been greatly reduced, and everyone had been concentrated in a temporary area.

Of course, there are still separate suites for senior staff, but their offices have been combined.

A human girl came over carrying a basket, tidied up the table, and then placed the dishes on it.

Her expression was indifferent, lacking even the basic etiquette expected of a servant; she simply went about her task, then bowed slightly and stepped aside.

Death Knell didn't mind and invited Abidaqi to dine with him.

The two elves began to sit facing each other and dine.

Because it doesn't need to operate within human territory, the Death Knell doesn't need to conceal its elven characteristics.

Originally, it was just to avoid making the elves, who rarely appear in the human world, too conspicuous.

The two naturally had similar tastes. "Your cooking skills are quite good, slave," Abidaqi praised.

He glanced at Ximina and noticed her dejection.

"Do you want me to help erase part of her mind?"

Death Knell shook his head, seemingly unconcerned.

"It's just a consumable item; you can just kill yourself and find another one."

Abidaqi understood.

"That's true, if you erase your mind, your cooking skills will also decline."

Their conversation had no effect on Ximina whatsoever.

She seemed oblivious to everything around her, her eyes devoid of life.

Outside the window, the once grand and imposing Cloud Fang Royal Palace had been reduced to ruins.

Ximina felt heartbroken and regretful that a building that encapsulated nearly a thousand years of history was destroyed in an instant.

But then again, if even a palace that embodies the hard work of countless generations can be demolished so easily, then the passing of my own bleak life, leaving only a ripple unknown to anyone, is hardly something to pity.

****

Anrelo rushed back from outside.

"My lords!" he quickly bowed.

The Death Knell bell waved, gesturing for Anrelo to come closer to speak.

"The Bone King has been targeting our actions too much lately."

She got straight to the point.

"Lord Abidaqi and I agree that there has been an intelligence leak within our ranks."

The precise strike targeted the Blackstone Mining Area, a key part of the Earthfire Plan; the "Obscuring Barrier Canopy," originally intended for protection, was also destroyed within hours of its construction.

Today, Abidaqi's plan to use "Burning Cloud" as a counter-strategy to deplete the opponent's ballistic missiles was also known to the opponent in advance.

One instance could be considered a coincidence, but a series of occurrences is highly suspicious.

"You're one of the more quick-witted ones under me," Death Knell assigned the task, "List out the most suspicious links, people, or departments that you believe have leaked intelligence, and submit a list." Anrelo's heart tightened.

This task was clearly not assigned to him alone. In essence, it was meant to make these orcs denounce and expose each other.

"Yes." He had no choice but to reply.

Given Anrelo's high standing, he believed he wouldn't be on the suspect list. He hadn't done anything to betray him, and he wasn't afraid of the false accusations and slander from his "colleagues."

"What did you look up this morning?" Death Knell asked.

Anrelo briefly recounted Beiweier and his wizards had secretly collected rocket fragments from the Blackstone Mine the previous day, and then poisoned themselves to death.

He made no mention of the stolen safe.

"Just two idiots," Death Knell scoffed.

To these visitors from Eden, these orcs were capable of eating anything.

Eating rocket metal shells is probably more normal than their usual eating habits.

"But some of the rocket debris was stolen," Anrelo continued.

To prevent theft, Beiweier would wed a single hair of his own in an inconspicuous spot on the very surface of the box before sealing it. Anrelo was well aware of Beiweier's habit.

But the thief was unaware of this.

Anrelo found the hair; the warning hairs on all five boxes had been torn off and hadn't been replaced when they were relocked.

He was 100% certain that the box had been tampered with.

"Two idiots eating rocket debris is bad enough, but someone actually steals this stuff."

"Death Knell asked, puzzled."

"You think there's something fishy going on here?"

Anrelo replied:

"The handwriting and weight of those lists match, and there were no extra traces at the scene."

"If my subordinate hadn't been familiar with Beiweier, he wouldn't have been able to spot this minor flaw."

"But I can't figure out how the thief did it."

Abidaqi said, "Mind manipulation spells can all do that."

"There are also techniques for replicating handwriting."

There are many methods.

Anrelo bowed respectfully.

"In the eyes of adults, it's nothing out of the ordinary."

Abidaqi dislikes beating around the bush, so he directly addressed the issues.

"Anyone capable of doing something like this must be at least High Rank combatant."

"There's absolutely no reason to steal rocket debris."

"If you ask directly, Beiweier wouldn't dare refuse."

Anrelo made a judgment:

"So either the thief's identity is questionable, or the other party's motives for wanting these things are questionable!"

Death Knell thought it made sense. "Should I go to the scene and sense any clues about the energy?"

Anrelo's heart tightened.

The matter of the laptop must absolutely not be known to Death Knell.

"There's no need to delay you, sir," he said calmly.

"I plan to search for the various places where rocket fragments are hidden, find those orcs who dare to disobey orders, and also quickly find clues."

Abidaqi nodded.

"These are turbulent times, and it is appropriate to maintain high pressure and stabilize order within Cloud Fang City."

The best deterrent is to capture the orcs who dare to commit crimes.

"I'll give you two days," said the Death Knell. "Resolve this quickly."

"Yes!" Anrelo replied.