Although Belle and Andrew felt a faint sense of strangeness, based on the current information, it really didn't seem like he knew.
If he did know and still acted completely oblivious from start to finish, then that Lycaon's acting skills were simply out of this world.
Ultimately, the two gave up on these endless, nested suspicions. After all, with insufficient information, any amount of guessing was useless.
No longer dwelling on it, Belle fixed her gaze on the three intelligence reports Andrew had laid out.
"Are these the recommendations that Lycaon guy just provided?"
She leafed through the reports. The buildings in all three files could be described as perfect.
Not only were the buildings in good condition, but the surrounding Ether energy was also very calm. In a place like this, the chances of a Hollow crisis erupting were greatly reduced.
All that remained were the differences inherent to each location.
The three locations were arranged from near to far: from the closest in Nineteenth Street, to a moderate distance in the Outer Ring, to the farthest in the Waifei Peninsula.
First was the small warehouse in Nineteenth Street, the closest option.
Although it had the smallest footprint, its basic facilities were comprehensive, it was easy to modify, and it wasn't too far from the city center either.
The biggest advantage of being close to the residential area was the convenience of traveling to various locations within New Eridu. The drive between the video store and the warehouse, using the siblings' car, would only take about ten minutes.
But the corresponding disadvantage was also glaringly obvious.
Inside the city, there were too many eyes and ears. At a time when they were under the most scrutiny, countless people were searching, both openly and secretly, for the person responsible for all this.
And for so many identical-looking people to suddenly appear at once would be as conspicuous as a firefly in the dead of night.
If they were exposed, Andrew and the Silver Squad would likely be entangled in endless trouble once again, and all of Ann and Andrew's efforts to make the Silver Squad disappear from the public eye would be for nothing.
They decisively abandoned the first option and moved on to the warehouse in the Waifei Peninsula, the farthest one.
Although this one was slightly larger than the one in Nineteenth Street, it was still within the city, so the size increase was marginal.
A corporation called Brilliance Crystal Corp held a monopoly on splendor materials there, giving them absolute control and causing constant friction between the military and TOPS over the area. However, this very conflict made it difficult for the military to extend its reach into the region.
If someone came to investigate, the people from TOPS would probably be even more nervous than Andrew and his group.
In that case, if military personnel came looking for clones, Brilliance Crystal Corp would probably turn into the military's number one bootlicker in a heartbeat, sucking up for all they were worth.
But the drawback was also incredibly clear.
A one-way trip of nearly six hours was enough to deter anyone, and that was by airship.
Going by car would only be slower; by their calculations, the time taken would nearly double.
In any case, Andrew wasn't the British Empire; he didn't have a habit of managing remote exclaves.
If he really settled the Silver Squad there, and something happened, by the time Andrew arrived, it would be far too late.
Not to mention the countless inconveniences of daily communication.
The pros and cons of the first two options were stark. Whether it was sacrificing immense security for convenience, or immense convenience for security, the flaws were unacceptable.
And now, only the last option remained—the warehouse located in the Outer Ring.
Everyone began to look through the file. Surprisingly, in the Outer Ring, a place known for having nothing, this warehouse was exceptionally well-preserved.
Aside from a bit too much dust and some rather plain furniture, there were no other material deficiencies.
Finding such a building in the Outer Ring must have taken Lycaon considerable effort.
This place had the largest area. Even after giving each of the twelve members their own room, there was still ample space for various training equipment and recreational facilities.
And a nearby place called Blazewood could satisfy everyone's daily supply needs.
The Outer Ring was an area ignored by the military, the municipal government, and the TOPS consortium alike. In terms of safety, while it couldn't compare to the Waifei Peninsula under the protection of the perpetually on-edge Brilliance Crystal Corp, it was more than sufficient.
And as long as the entire Silver Squad didn't show up in New Eridu at the same time, no one would pay any mind to just three or four people who looked alike.
What was most unexpected was the security situation. The Outer Ring was a lawless zone outside New Eridu's jurisdiction, a place where all sorts of people mingled, so its defense should have been the biggest concern. Yet, Lycaon had marked it as 'Good'.
And the reason for this was that a new gang had recently taken over management of the area—the Sons of Calydon.
After their leader, Caesar, took over the territory, she stopped using the gang's previous methods of extortion and collecting protection money as their source of revenue. Instead, she started a delivery business.
At the same time, under her direction, the old protection fees were transformed into commission fees for issuing requests.
It changed from a large, fixed expenditure into a small, extra cost that only needed to be paid during times of danger.
With this move by the Sons of Calydon, the lives of the residents in her territory quickly became more prosperous, and with that came a daily increase in the purchase of goods requiring delivery.
Even Blazewood, which had been half-dead and practically deserted, began to grow and thrive.
After all, as long as you're human, who doesn't want to live a better life?
Looking at the report, Andrew couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead.
After flipping through it a few more times and confirming that the warehouse's ownership belonged to the Sons of Calydon, and that the gang leader's name was indeed Caesar, Andrew was momentarily speechless.
Did the flag I just raised yesterday already come back to haunt me today?
Isn't this karma coming back a little too fast?!
However, the place was perfectly suitable in every aspect, and the drive was only an hour and a half.
With citizen IDs, entering and exiting the city would also be very quick.
Andrew calculated his own speed. If he sprinted the whole way at full power, he could even cut the travel time down to less than an hour.
And most importantly, this warehouse came with a large greenhouse where he could grow things!
The small space on his balcony, after three months of constant cultivation by Andrew, was now far from enough.
His item box was already stocked with many seeds, just waiting for a place to be planted.
Among them, the most needed were herb seeds—there were already over a hundred waiting for Andrew to plant them!
Furthermore, if these plants from the Monster Hunter world were cultivated on a large scale, he might find a way to obtain a crucial combination ingredient—Honey.
Andrew had already tried using honey purchased from shops in this world and gathered in the wild. After being added, it did nothing but make the medicine a little sweeter.
After multiple attempts, Andrew speculated that it was because the flowers that produced this honey were just ordinary flowers.
But if he used honey extracted from these special plants, he might actually be able to craft the most crucial recovery item that no hunter can do without—the Mega Potion.
____
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