They certainly didn't bring the Yeti Squadron here for a vacation.
The main reason for getting a mansion was that it was easier to hide the Infected compared to a house in the slums. After all, he was just a soul; he didn't need to eat, nor did he require a specific place. Sleeping on the streets wouldn't affect Lucas Reeve. The secondary reason was to let these children, who had suffered for so many years, enjoy themselves a little.
That night, he laid out the next day's mission.
Having slept all afternoon, everyone was full of energy and listened with extra attention.
The eight members of the Yeti Squadron would form groups of two and quietly pretend to be passersby to investigate all of Chernobog. Meanwhile, Lucas Reeve, with Alina and FrostNova, would head to the slums to find Azazel. As it was their first time in Chernobog and they were unfamiliar with the place, they could only try to get a feel for the people, things, and the balance between underground and official powers before planning their next move.
And.
To prevent any accidents.
Lucas Reeve had also initially entrusted Raythean Industries with getting identification for everyone and purchasing a lot of trendy clothes that would clearly mark them as upper-class. This was to avoid suspicion in case they encountered a patrol from the Infected Pickets.
Usually, given the pickets' tendencies.
They wouldn't dare investigate someone dressed so luxuriously.
How could someone dressed like that possibly be an Infected?
At this moment, Lucas Reeve couldn't help but sigh at how convenient it was to have a rich girl around. No wonder in animes or movies, the protagonist's group always had a 'rich girl'. A rich girl could solve 99% of the problems, leaving the remaining 1% for the protagonist's plot armor.
If it weren't for Jessica.
Lucas Reeve might have consumed one of his 'favors' to get a lot of money, then used Mirror Flower, Water Moon to get everyone identification and purchase property.
In reality, the outcome would be similar.
It just became much more convenient.
The next morning.
The newly-clothed members of the Yeti Squadron, bearing Lucas Reeve's orders in mind, filed out of the villa. In pairs, the three groups followed the map in different directions to explore Chernobog. To cover any potential expenses, Lucas Reeve gave each group a considerable amount of money and tasked them with investigating the entire city.
Since they had just arrived.
Lucas Reeve might not need them to investigate too quickly. First, they should get used to the rhythm of city life. Their personal safety was the top priority in all matters.
Meanwhile, Alina and FrostNova didn't change into expensive clothes, remaining plainly dressed, as their destination was the slums, where looking too wealthy would be counterproductive.
Chernobog's slums were located in a corner of the mobile city-state, similar to Lungmen. However, Chernobog's slums, compared to Lungmen's, were almost like The Wastes. Sewage was everywhere, and there were few intact houses; even those that existed were just hastily built from wooden planks. The slums were rife with armed violence and gang warfare.
The Chernobog government wouldn't intervene, or rather, couldn't be bothered. Instead of wasting manpower there, it was better to let them fester like a poison pot, fending for themselves.
The greatest 'treasure' in the slums was the garbage trucks that arrived daily from the core urban area.
This trash, unwanted in the city center, often became treasure for the people in the slums. It was common for fights to break out and casualties to occur over it.
FrostNova and Alina walked slowly through this slum.
Although their clothes were already quite plain.
Their beautiful faces and proud demeanor still made them stand out like cranes among chickens, incredibly dazzling. Many of the listless people around them stared with gleaming eyes upon seeing the two.
"Mr. Reeve, the slums are so big, how are we supposed to find Azazel?"
Alina quietly asked Lucas Reeve.
"There's a way..."
Just as Lucas Reeve took possession of Alina's body, by sheer coincidence, a group of gang members walked towards them from the front.
Being in the slums was actually similar to being in prison.
Even if you don't actively look for trouble, someone will come looking for trouble with you. Being honest will only make others think you're easy to bully and bully you even more. In fact, this theorem applies everywhere, including school and the workplace.
"Yo? Who are you two little ladies?"
"From your aura, you're not one of our slum women. Are you noble ladies from the city center here for an adventure, or were you sold here by human traffickers?"
The speaker was a young man in his twenties, covered in tattoos, with a mouth full of yellow teeth that were already turning black at his young age from excessively smoking low-quality cigarettes.
"How about you follow me? In this area, I can still..."
The young leader hadn't finished his sentence.
With the sound of a shattering mirror.
All the punks surrounding the two of them instantly fell into a hallucination, their eyes vacant, which could even be described as dazed.
Lucas Reeve implanted a memory into the leader.
Then, the lead punk slowly said.
"We don't know either. The so-called Azazel is a legendary place around here. No one knows where it is... Besides, those damn pickets come to arrest people almost every day. There aren't many Infected left in the slums. Azazel might not even exist anymore, or it's just a holy land imagined by a bunch of damn Infected."
Although there were many of these punks.
Their individual mental strength was so poor, even worse than an ordinary person's, that it was far easier to confuse them than a regular Ursus soldier.
With a snap of Lucas Reeve's fingers.
To avoid drawing attention, Lucas Reeve didn't let them act on their own but ordered them to disperse and return to their own places. Lucas Reeve and FrostNova also followed in their midst, feigning being captured. This area was crowded and conspicuous, and Lucas Reeve didn't want to be too noticeable. In reality, such things happened frequently in the slums.
The city center seemed prosperous.
In reality, many people loved to sell girls from the city center or civilian districts to the slums, so the onlookers, apart from feeling pity, didn't find it particularly strange.
—Thirty minutes later—
"Mr. Reeve, what do we do now?"
FrostNova and Lucas Reeve stood in a remote, deserted corner. Garbage was strewn everywhere, foul wastewater pooled on the ground, and the grease from the gutters on both sides had overflowed, filling the air with a putrid smell.
Lucas Reeve relied on his Mirror Flower, Water Moon to ask many people in the slums, but no one knew of Azazel's existence. It was as if the place was merely a legend. Originally, Lucas Reeve thought the place was common knowledge; it seemed he was mistaken.
Only by following Lucas Reeve's side.
did FrostNova increasingly feel the terror of his illusion ability.
Or rather.
It was just too convenient.
Even FrostNova couldn't help but fear what would happen if she fell under this illusion one day.
However.
A sentence from Lucas Reeve dispelled FrostNova's worries.
With FrostNova's strength.
It was unlikely that Lucas Reeve could completely seal her five senses with Mirror Flower, Water Moon. Even if he succeeded, she would be able to break free on her own very quickly.
This ability seemed incredibly powerful.
In reality, without a Zanpakutō as a medium, its limitations were quite significant. He could only use his own Spiritual Power to cast it, and to achieve 'Complete Hypnosis', his Spiritual Power needed to be much, much stronger than the target's. It could solve many small problems, but its effectiveness was not significant in battles between the same level.
On a daily basis.
Mirror Flower, Water Moon was very useful.
But in real combat, he still had to rely on the Holy Lance.
"Let's investigate for another half hour. If we don't find any other information in half an hour, today's investigation is over."
Lucas Reeve thought for a moment and stated his idea.
They wouldn't stay in the slums for too long. Staying too long would make them more conspicuous and increase the risk of exposure. They were in a state of infiltration and could not afford any risks.
Moreover..
What was giving Lucas Reeve the biggest headache now was the hidden Black Serpent.
According to Talulah and Patriot.
The Black Serpent had many, many Serpent's Scales, likely spread throughout all of Ursus.
He couldn't guarantee Chernobog didn't have one, or rather.
Lucas Reeve was even ninety percent certain that Chernobog absolutely had a Serpent's Scale of the Black Serpent.
After all, Chernobog was considered a major emerging city. The Black Serpent would not likely give up this place. Moreover, it was highly probable that the scale held a high position, as evidenced by the fact that Koschei, a duke, was the Black Serpent.
Perhaps.
Chernobog's mayor was the Black Serpent, or there was a Black Serpent among the high-ranking officials of the municipal government.
Therefore, Lucas Reeve had to be more cautious. Even if there was a possibility of fighting against thin air, as long as the possibility existed, he had to be cautious.
If there really was a Black Serpent in Chernobog, what would he do if he discovered Lucas Reeve was in the city?
He would probably be smiling from ear to ear.
*Hmph! Trying to escape? You've walked right into my net!*
What would happen if he then dispatched ten Emperor's Blades at once, or simply brought over the 'War Casters' that Patriot had mentioned? Lucas Reeve wasn't confident enough to think he could match a large army.
Although Lucas Reeve now had 30,000 Prayer Power on hand, if he cashed it all in to boost his spiritual strength and used FrostNova's body, he might be able to escape, but...
It should be known.
The Prayer Power that the Reunion Movement could currently provide Lucas Reeve was already scarce.
The loss of 30,000 Prayer Power would not be worth the gain.
Lucas Reeve had also hypothesized before.
Under normal circumstances.
If he were the Black Serpent, and his plans were disrupted by some moronic outsider, and even the elite troops he sent to encircle them were defeated, he would definitely be furious, wishing he could grind that outsider to dust. And afterwards, he would certainly look for an opportunity to eliminate this person in one fell swoop. Before finding that opportunity, surveillance would be indispensable.
Surveillance was nothing more than long-range surveillance and inside agents.
An inside agent was unlikely.
This batch of Reunion Movement members had been thoroughly vetted, and no new Infected had joined recently. Moreover, on the deserted ice fields, it would be impossible to hide from the Shieldguards while sending messages to the outside world. Without a network, one could only use letters, but in this weather, even carrier pigeons would freeze to death on the way. To transmit information, one would have to meet with outsiders, but the Shieldguards and Patriot were not blind.
The other method was long-distance surveillance.
Lucas Reeve thought this method was also possible.
Dispatching drones to monitor the Reunion Movement's every move from several kilometers away through cameras—Lucas Reeve felt this was the most likely scenario.
Let's assume.
This city has a Black Serpent, and his status is not low.
And the Black Serpent also learned through his surveillance that a group of people had left the Reunion Movement, but he doesn't know their destination.
Lucas Reeve was certain that his group had not been discovered on their way, because his [Spatial Perception], combined with his spiritual strength, could sense everything several kilometers away. Therefore, Lucas Reeve was sure no one was tracking them. Furthermore, the Black Serpent actually didn't know that Lucas Reeve had the absurd ability of Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
So.
Even if there was a Black Serpent in Chernobog, he probably wouldn't associate Lucas Reeve's group with boldly heading straight for Chernobog in the short term. However, it wouldn't be possible to hide for long. Lucas Reeve was already prepared for the possibility of being exposed at any second.
The continuous use of Mirror Flower, Water Moon was also a considerable burden on Lucas Reeve's Spiritual Power. Just as he was resting his mind and preparing to continue the investigation.
A little girl's cry for help came from the corner of the street.
"Don't run, you damn Infected!!!"
The roars and jeers of the Infected Pickets came from behind.
Just as Lucas Reeve and FrostNova stood up.
A little girl stumbled in from a nearby corner. Upon seeing the dead end ahead, the girl's face changed drastically, and her expression could even be described as despair.
And the mocking expressions on the faces of the pickets behind her became even more ferocious.
Since there were only so many Infected in Chernobog, and they were catching fewer and fewer, but the number of Infected required by the higher-ups each month remained unchanged. As more and more Infected died in the mines, the demand from above even increased. These ordinary picket members, having taken abuse from their superiors, had finally caught a little Infected and couldn't wait to vent all the frustration they had endured these past few days. As long as they didn't kill her, it was fine.
Like a cat playing with a mouse, when they saw the dead end ahead, the two of them didn't even chase anymore, just walked slowly over.
"Yo? A buy-one-get-two-free deal?"
When one of them saw Alina and FrostNova at the end of the dead end, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly. He didn't care if they were Infected or not; as long as he could hand them over, it was fine. Anyway, with Infected becoming scarcer these days, the pickets needed to meet their monthly quotas. Who knew how many non-Infected from the slums they had forcibly arrested to complete their tasks? One or two more wouldn't make a difference...
Seeing Alina and FrostNova at the end of the road, the white-haired bear girl also despaired.
She didn't dare to cry for help, afraid of implicating these two.
Suddenly...
Lucas Reeve sighed.
"Alina's" figure instantly vanished from the spot, rushing towards the two at high speed. Then, with a side flip, she landed in front of the two pickets, followed by two solid punches.
Lucas Reeve didn't use Mirror Flower, Water Moon immediately. He wanted to teach these two pickets a lesson first, then use Mirror Flower, Water Moon to alter their memories.