paranoianovel Chapter 132 Gathering Intelligence
Chapter 132 Gathering Intelligence
Chapter 132 Gathering Intelligence
(This chapter overlaps with the previous one, so Chapter 135 will be free. Thank you all.)
The three erected a simple tombstone outside the village, stood silently for a moment, and then turned and headed toward Twin Harbor.
This time, nothing unexpected happened, and the three of them traveled slowly.
Smoke curls from the chimneys of villages along the way, and many half-elf shepherds graze their flocks on the hillsides. There are also exquisitely styled low houses sitting by the roadside.
The closer you get to Twin Harbor, the more prosperous and dense the buildings become, and the population gradually increases. Passersby often offer kind assistance.
As darkness fell, the three approached Twin Port and saw a few careless sheriffs on duty at the city entrance.
Kane frowned slightly, observed carefully for a moment, and then nodded to himself.
"What's wrong?" Risa looked at Kane in confusion, while the skinny mercenary immediately became alert.
He knew that his boss was far more insightful than he appeared, and that there were many secrets he didn't know.
Kane said calmly, "It's alright, we're safe."
His gaze swept over the two men, finally settling on the thin mercenary. He slowly said, "This time we left, and wiped out the Bloodline Purification Society, for the reason you made up before—you should know the rest, right?"
The skinny mercenary nodded heavily.
Kane patted him on the shoulder, and the three of them then stepped into Twin Harbor.
Kane's drowsy appearance, visible beneath his mask, naturally caught the attention of the on-duty sheriff.
The two men muttered a few words to themselves, and after collecting the 3 silver coins entrance fee, they gestured for the three to enter.
After entering the city, the three followed the direction of the inland river and found a small boat. Not long after boarding, they arrived at the Dark Brotherhood's tavern stronghold.
The tavern was still bustling with people, many of whom were drinking from wooden cups, while waitresses bustled about, serving drinks attentively.
But when Kane and his two companions pushed open the door and entered, the noisy tavern instantly quieted down, and everyone subconsciously froze in surprise.
Someone stood up, glancing past Kane at the thin mercenary behind him, and tentatively asked, "Where are they?"
The skinny mercenary shook his head slightly, and the crowd immediately stirred, the already quiet tavern falling silent instantly.
A moment later, many people gathered around and started asking questions all at once.
The skinny mercenary glanced at Kane, then slowly began to explain to everyone as agreed beforehand.
Kane didn't say anything more.
After all, many mercenaries died, and this incident was bound to cause some ripples if it got out.
Kane looked at Risa and said, "Let's go, I'll find you a place to stay first."
Risa snorted in annoyance, but Kane ignored her and led her straight through the crowd to the depths of the tavern.
He bumped into Sophia, who was coming out of the basement because of the noise outside. As soon as she saw Kane, she immediately bowed.
"Your Excellency," Sophia said respectfully in a low voice.
Kane nodded slightly and said, "I have completed the mission regarding the Bloodline Purification Society—however, the losses from this mission were greater than expected."
After listening to Kane's report on the mission details, Sophia's face showed a look of surprise and uncertainty.
The Dark Brotherhood has had its share of missions with heavy losses, but the casualty rate is usually around 30%.
With Kane, a second-tier powerhouse, in charge, the survival rate was less than 30%, a truly rare occurrence.
If Kane hadn't brought the skinny mercenary as a witness, and if she hadn't been so certain of Kane's character...
She even suspected that Kane might have secretly led the mercenaries to the altar and performed a bloody sacrificial ritual.
Kane had anticipated this, and said calmly, "You don't need to give me my commission. Convert it into cash and send it to the families of the mercenaries who died in battle."
For Kane, this commission was nothing, but if his reputation was ruined, it would be difficult to recruit mercenaries in the future.
Sofia nodded, her expression softening slightly.
This also made it easier for her to handle the follow-up matters and comfort the families of the fallen mercenaries.
Kane exchanged a few more words with Sophia, then booked two rooms and took Risa upstairs.
The two first went to the room arranged for Risa to settle in.
Risa suddenly laughed, plopped down on the bed, and crossed her legs.
She stared at Kane with a half-smile, deliberately adopting a seductive demeanor as she asked, "What do you intend to do to this body?"
As soon as she finished speaking, a subtle sense of dissatisfaction arose in her heart—it was Theresa's consciousness protesting.
Kane glanced at her indifferently, his tone flat: "Do you want your pay docked?"
"Deduct wages?"
Upon hearing those three words, Risa froze instantly, her alluring expression vanishing, replaced by a somewhat embarrassed look.
Kane's lips curled into a slight smile, his tone softening somewhat: "It wasn't convenient to ask in detail on the way, but now I'll ask you, why is the Demon Cult hunting you down? Is it merely to turn you into a possession potion?"
Risa frowned at Kane, a hint of surprise in her voice: "You know more than I thought."
After a moment's thought, realizing that she could only rely on this temporary employer for the time being, she finally spoke slowly and explained the reason.
Kane sat to the side, his expression gradually becoming serious.
According to Risa, her original form, the demon child who was sacrificed, was originally just a commoner woman from Susas.
After taking the potion, she was summoned by cultists in a remote village settlement.
Another demon summoned at the same time suddenly went berserk and slaughtered several cultists, but was eventually killed on the spot by the cultists, and its limbs were dismembered on the spot.
She hadn't displayed any abilities at the time, yet the cultists still cast malicious self-glows at her. She vaguely sensed that they seemed to be planning to take her to some headquarters.
During the relocation of the base, she encountered Theresa.
He then transferred his main consciousness into his current body through dream transference.
"Transferring through dreams?" Kane frowned and asked Risa.
"Since you possess this ability, why didn't you continue transferring and find a more suitable body in the first place?"
Risa sneered and said, "This kind of transfer will cause great damage to my main consciousness. Otherwise, why do you think I sell hallucinogenic water in Twin Harbor? It's to select suitable targets, absorb their souls and limbs, and thereby repair my own damage."
Seeing that Kane's expression still held dissatisfaction, Risa added, "I know what you're thinking, but my dream perception can distinguish between the good and evil of the target."
Moreover, as Teresa requested, I mostly killed wicked people, such as merchants who sold inferior goods and deceived customers, employers who exploited the working class, and men who betrayed their families and were prone to infidelity.
In the end, they were just insignificant little people.
"As for the others, I only take a small portion of their soul fragments and life force, and in return, I weave them a beautiful dream as compensation."
By the way, you didn't actually mean what I said before about killing everyone you care about, did you? If so, I apologize.
Kane looked at Risa quietly, completely ignoring her apology.
He knew that the Abyss Demon was inherently eccentric and chaotic, and might have really thought that way at the time. But now that Risa was weak and under his control, and had made the Styx Oath, he didn't need to worry too much.
The most important thing right now is to solve the immediate problem.
Who leaked their itinerary?
He tapped the edge of the table lightly, pondered for a moment, then looked up at Risa and asked, "If I asked you to use dream magic to spy on others, could you do it?"
"Intelligence? What kind of intelligence do you want to know?" Risa frowned, her tone full of doubt.
Kane said in a deep voice, "Our operation to wipe out the Bloodline Purification Society was extremely secretive. Very few people knew the inside story. Even the Bloodline Purification Society itself was destroyed by our surprise attack."
Even so, we were still ambushed by the Wax-Melting Demon on our return journey—which means that someone had leaked our itinerary and plans in advance.
He continued, "I need you to infiltrate the target's dream and gather more information about this matter to facilitate my subsequent plans."
Risa pondered for a moment and nodded: "That's possible, but I can't be too far from the target of the spell."
Additionally, if convenient, it would be best to have the other party ingest a hallucinogenic potion. This would greatly reduce the burden on my casting and make it easier for me to infiltrate their dreams.
As she spoke, she took out a bottle of potion from her person and handed it to Kane.
Kane took the potion, gently stroking the bottle with his fingertips, a thoughtful expression on his face.
As night deepened, Kane finally made up his mind.
He carried a glass of ale laced with hallucinogenic liquid to the door of Sofia, the head of the outpost, and gently knocked on the door.