nagpurpolice Chapter 117 The Investigation of the Hidden Hand and the Mysterious Man
Chapter 117 The Investigation of the Hidden Hand and the Mysterious Man
Chapter 118 The Investigation of the Hidden Hand and the Mysterious Man
A few days later, on the rugged border region where the Kingdom of Bill and the Kingdom of Sant meet.
The two Arnold family "hidden hand" scouts reappeared in a secluded mountain valley.
This time, however, their expressions were more solemn and confused than before.
"Something's not right—the clues have suddenly increased, but they've also become a jumbled mess, pointing in completely different directions."
The tall man, "Dark Hand," frowned as he stared at a compass-shaped magical artifact in his hand that was constantly flashing with a faint, eerie light.
The instrument needle no longer pointed steadily north, but instead wobbled slightly between a few scales like a headless fly.
Near the abandoned stronghold of the "Black Wizards' Bone Rot Society in the North," obvious traces of negative energy erosion were detected. Although they were faint, they were definitely left recently.
The chaotic, frenzied energy characteristic of those mad dogs was also detected on the western trade route leading to the frequent operations of the "Blood Wolf" raiding group—even towards the desolate swamp to the south, there seemed to be some unusual, faint fluctuations.
The fat man, nicknamed "Dark Hand," looked at the chaotic indicators on the compass and felt utterly overwhelmed.
"Who exactly are these people? How come they seem to be involved with these seemingly unrelated forces? Or... have we been tricked? Is someone deliberately creating a smokescreen?"
The tall man, "Dark Hand," remained silent, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the metal casing of the compass. He too strongly sensed something amiss.
The initial, albeit vague, clue that roughly pointed towards Sant seemed to have been erased by an invisible hand, replaced by several seemingly reasonable but contradictory and untenable traces upon closer examination. This was definitely not normal.
"Something unusual must be going on."
He said coldly, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes.
There are two possibilities.
First, this group has a more complex background and greater strength than we imagined. They are able to maintain contact with or even cooperate with multiple dark forces at the same time, which is why their actions are so intricate.
Second—this is a more sophisticated counter-tracking technique; there are experts behind the scenes deliberately misleading us and trying to muddy the waters.
"So—what do we do now? Should we split up and investigate in these directions?"
The fat man asked, his tone hesitant.
The tall man shook his head decisively: "Absolutely not. We don't know how strong the enemy is. If it's a trap, splitting up would be suicide."
Moreover, if it is indeed the second scenario, it means that our movements and investigation progress were likely under surveillance from the very beginning.
He pondered for a moment and made a more cautious decision: "Record all the newly discovered clues, characteristics, and energy fluctuation samples in detail, and send them back to headquarters with the highest level of encryption."
Report the situation here truthfully and request that headquarters send more personnel, preferably professional wizards skilled in energy tracing and trace identification. The two of us alone are no longer able to make effective progress.
"at the same time."
He added.
"We will continue to operate covertly, using the Kingdom of Bill as our base. We will focus on investigating black markets, intelligence dealers, and taverns in various locations to see if there are any rumors about the recent activities of a strange and powerful force, or any unusual flows of funds or supplies. Perhaps we can find a breakthrough from the side."
"This is the only way for now."
The fat man nodded, though somewhat reluctant, he knew this was the safest course of action at the moment.
He immediately took out the communication stone and began to encrypt and send back the complex situation.
Their investigation, due to the layers of mystery carefully laid out by Sean, inevitably stalled and reached a more complicated impasse.
To dispel the fog and find the true objective, the Arnold family needs to invest more time and resources, which is exactly what Hick currently hopes to see.
He really didn't want to deal with a bunch of troublesome guys driven by a sense of "justice" at this stage of development.
Sean, the instigator, was like a spider hidden in the center of a huge spider web. He continued to silently monitor the "Dark Hand's" every move through his spores, which were invisible to the naked eye and were scattered throughout the border. He continuously transformed the slightest movement in the outside world into a stream of information and transmitted it back to the depths of the dark canyon.
Meanwhile, at another border in the Aykar region.
"Aikar—it's been so long since I've been to this chaotic land."
A tall, thin figure dressed in a pure black wizard's robe without any markings gazed at the somewhat desolate land before him and sighed in a hoarse voice.
Beneath his robe sleeves, one could vaguely see fingers that looked like pale, bony fingers.
"Oh? A skeleton like you, you've been to such a remote and impoverished place before?"
The other person accompanying him was also dressed in a black robe, but the style was completely different.
At first glance, the robe seemed to cover her completely, but as she moved, the fabric strangely clung to her body's curves, subtly outlining breathtaking arcs, as if every inch of the design was silently exuding a deadly allure.
"Young lady, I think you lack the most basic respect for a senior!"
The man called "Bones" was clearly unhappy with how his companion addressed him, his tone revealing obvious displeasure.
"Hehehe————"
The woman let out a series of lazy, magnetic laughs, gently brushing a strand of hair from her temple—a simple gesture that seemed to possess a strange magic.
"Then how should I show you respect, senior?"
Her voice was like a feather brushing against the heart, carrying a certain allure of depravity.
"Stop with your disgusting tricks, Lilith! I have absolutely no interest in a bunch of living, lustful rotten flesh!"
The man in black robes remained unmoved, instead offering a sarcastic remark tinged with disgust.
"Hmph! A prim and proper skeleton, utterly boring!"
The woman called Lilith instantly dropped her seductive manner, pouted in annoyance, and retorted sarcastically.
"Hurry up and find that damn guy! We've been chasing him for almost half a year! My delicate skin is getting sunburned and rough from this damn sun and sandstorm!"
She complained, seemingly very concerned about her appearance.
"Vidis said the last guy disappeared in the direction of Ecar! As long as we follow this tracking compass he gave us," we'll definitely find him!
The man in black raised his hand, his robe sleeve slipped down, revealing a skinny, pale hand, tightly gripping a complex magical artifact that kept flashing an unstable green light.
"It'll be soon, it'll be soon! You always say it'll be soon!"
Lilith got a little angry when she heard this, and her voice rose a few decibels.
"Is this piece of junk Vidis gave me even reliable? Every time the pointer shows a slight change, it's just a false alarm! Either they've got the wrong person or the energy's gone! Let me tell you, if I can't find that damn guy in this area of Aikar, I'm not playing anymore! Let whoever wants to do this chore do it!"
"Be patient, Lilith! Be patient!"
The man in black sounded somewhat helpless and annoyed.
The series of failures and the long pursuit led him to suspect that the magical artifact given to him by Vidis might have malfunctioned while traversing some spatial turbulence.
"This reaction is stronger than ever before! He's definitely hiding somewhere in this area! He can't escape!"
"Hmph! It had better be that way!"
Lilith snorted and crossed her arms, clearly her patience was wearing thin.
He ignored his companions' complaints and focused intently on the green compass in his hand, its light flickering erratically. In the shadow of his black robe, two deep, ghostly green lights could be faintly seen dancing in his eye sockets.
"Soon—this time it'll definitely be soon—"
He muttered to himself, as if encouraging himself, or perhaps urging the seemingly unreliable magical artifact to work.
The atmosphere at the Evans family manor in the Kingdom of Sant is completely different from that outside.
In the elegantly decorated yet somewhat old-fashioned manor hall, Mr. Evans sat in the main seat, his white eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Looking at the uneasy-looking old Ryan-Hick's father, Rico Ryan, standing in the center of the hall, his face revealed an undisguised disdain and contempt.
Back then, his most beloved youngest daughter, Kaina, for some unknown reason, looked down on all the promising young noblemen in the kingdom and instead devoted herself to following Rico Lane, who came from a small country territory and had nothing outstanding about him except for being an heir.
No matter how much her father objected, even threatening to sever their father-daughter relationship, Kaina was determined to marry him.
This incident caused quite a stir in the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Sant back then, causing the extremely proud and dignified Mr. Evans to lose face completely.
Even after the couple became pregnant out of wedlock and had a child named Hick, attempting to "marry because of the pregnancy," the old man remained firmly opposed.
He even forcibly took the infant Hick back to the Evans family, declaring that the child must bear the Evans surname and must never have any further connection with the Lane family.
It can be said that this marriage was full of twists and turns and the shadow of being unappreciated from the very beginning.
However, the young couple knelt outside the Evans estate for three days and three nights for the sake of their child, eventually softening the heart of the sharp-tongued but kind-hearted old man, who reluctantly admitted the truth, returned the child to them, and publicly acknowledged the marriage.
But the old man stubbornly insisted on one condition: the child must take the surname Evans!
This was met with strong opposition from her daughter.
Faced with his youngest and most beloved daughter, the old man unusually did not back down this time, insisting that the child must take her mother's surname, Evans!
This matter remained deadlocked until Hick underwent a wizarding talent test.
The final compromise was: at Evans Manor, the child would be named Hick Evans; back in Lane Territory, he could be named Hick Lane.
This dual identity also bothered the old man, so he simply announced only the name Hick Evans to the outside world. As a result, apart from a few people in Ryan Territory, the entire Kingdom of Sant knew that the amazingly talented child was the genius Hick Evans of the Evans family, and almost no one knew that he was also called Hick Ryan.
"Hmph, what wind has blown our esteemed Lord Ryan to my humble manor today?"
Mr. Evans picked up his teacup, blew on it gently, and made no attempt to hide the sarcasm in his tone.
Only when facing this poor boy who "kidnapped" his beloved daughter would this old nobleman, who always appeared kind and amiable in front of outsiders, so unceremoniously reveal his true emotions.