Since inspiration had given him a warning, Odis stopped thinking about the problem.
He glanced at the short diary entry again and realized it must be very important information, so he put the two pages away and decided to think about the problem again in the "wilderness of knowledge".
Then Odis took out the metal box he had just acquired and studied it for a while, but still couldn't figure out how to open it.
Of course, you can't discuss this with Bernadette. What if she says that the box was left to her by her father after it's opened? Should you give it to her or not?
If you give it to them, the 50 pounds will be wasted.
If I don't give it to them, I might get beaten up.
Thinking of this, Odis smiled somewhat helplessly, put the box away, and planned to put it into the "Wilderness of Knowledge" when they returned to the pharmacy later.
...
No. 199 Hairun Avenue.
The "hounds," who had also attended the party, came out of the party venue.
Just as he was about to get into the carriage, he suddenly saw someone waving at him from across the street.
The man "Hound" recognized was Claymond Donahue from the Operations Division of MI9.
The other person was in his thirties, with short hair and a very high Adam's apple, as if an egg was stuck in his throat.
"The Hound" quickly crossed the road and smiled, "Cremond, what are you doing here?"
"I've got a lead for you about Lelouch." Corylmond's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke. "I've heard you're currently in charge of finding information about Lelouch, which is a tough job."
In terms of rank, Corraymond and "Hound" are of the same rank, but "Hound" is not from the Action Section. The two know each other but are not familiar with each other.
"Thank you for keeping an eye out for Lelouch," "The Hound" smiled and said, "If the information is verified, I will report the source of the information truthfully."
This means that if there is any merit, you will get a share, but if it is not true, you will get nothing.
In an organization like MI9, there are few truly kind-hearted individuals. Perhaps Corraymond's so-called provision of clues was motivated by some ulterior motive.
"Whether it's merit or not doesn't matter." Corraymond smiled and continued, "Have you ever considered that Lelouch is the 'leader'?"
The "hunting dog" feigned surprise: "Huh?"
He had certainly considered it, since the two did have some similarities, but then he felt that the "leader" was a person of the "mechanical heart," and the "mechanical heart" would not allow the "leader" to kill the nobles of the Kingdom of Rune.
The key issue is the lack of compelling evidence, which prevents an arrest.
"You didn't miss such an obvious clue, did you?" Cormond laughed. "Lelouch and the 'leader' both wear masks and have used powerful supernatural weapons."
"That is indeed a clue." "The Hound" smiled, not denying the clue outright: "But there is a problem, if the 'leader' is Lelouch, where did he buy those extraordinary weapons shaped like javelins? It couldn't have been provided by the 'Mechanical Heart', could it?"
"If we can prove that the 'Leader' and Lelouch's weapons come from the same source, we can make a call to the 'Mechanical Heart' and then capture the 'Leader'."
Both MI9 and the "Substitute Punishers" once planned to search for Lelouch by focusing on his weapons.
However, despite using their intelligence network to inquire everywhere, they were unable to find out where Lelouch's extraordinary weapon came from.
Lelouch's weapons have distinctive features; ordinary extraordinary weapons are rarely made as disposable items, and it is also rare to make such a large quantity.
Starting from these two directions, it should be easy to find the source.
But this lead ends here, because no one has ever made such a weapon.
It is quite certain that the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery has always been interested in supernatural machine guns and cannons, but has never produced supernatural weapons such as javelins.
The key point is that the "Mechanical Heart" has never used any extraordinary weapons like javelins in any of their operations. If this is used as a clue to investigate, they will definitely deny everything.
Some have suggested that Lelouch made those extraordinary weapons himself, but these ideas were quickly dismissed because the creation of extraordinary weapons has always been the domain of Sequence 6 "Craftsmen" in the "Generalist" pathway.
Lelouch only has Sequence 8, and he is not a "Generalist" pathway.
From the perspective of the official extraordinary beings, a "low sequence" does not possess such capabilities.
Alternatively, if the "leader" is an ordinary person, they could be arrested and interrogated to see if there are any clues.
But he is a member of "Mechanical Heart". If he wants to arrest someone, he has to give a decent reason. He can't just tell "Mechanical Heart" that Lelouch and the "leader" both like to wear masks and then arrest and interrogate them, right?
Corraymond laughed and said, "I will find the evidence. I have already obtained a search warrant. Today I am here to search No. 199 Hairun Avenue."
He believed that this was an important stronghold of the "leader," and that some clues would always be left behind.
MI9's operations section never needs a search warrant to search a place, but the "leader's" situation is indeed somewhat special.
Corraymond carefully applied for a search warrant to prove that it was MI9 conducting the search, not his personal action.
"The Hound" said, "I'll wait here for a bit. If you find evidence, I'll go with you to apply for the arrest of the 'leader'."
In his view, Corraymond's search was entirely a matter of personal revenge, since the team leader's brother was the one who was killed by the "leader" in the Kapin case.
Corraymond sneered and led his men into No. 199 Hairun Avenue.
He had assumed the waiters would stop his search, but they didn't. After finding out which department he was from, they said he would have to pay for the damage.
Corraymond and his men didn't take it seriously, continuing their previous rude search tactics.
But they quickly finished searching because no one lived there, and there wasn't even any furniture like wardrobes that provided privacy; several rooms were even empty.
There were many chairs in the living room where the gathering took place. They turned each chair over and carefully examined the backs and undersides of the seats, but found no clues.
The basement, which had given Claymond such high hopes, had no extraordinary characteristics, no spiritual fluctuations, nothing at all.
He was now a little puzzled as to how the "leader" had left from the basement.
They even knocked a hole in one of the walls and smashed several holes in the ground, but there was no secret room, no secret passage, and no extraordinary mechanism.
After searching until the afternoon, Corremond had to accept the fact that he had found nothing there.
Just as he was about to leave with his men, the waiter handed him a bill demanding 50 pounds in compensation.
After so many years of searching, this was the first time someone had demanded compensation from Claymond, so of course he ignored it.
The waiter then said, "Then we'll have the 'boss' send the bill to your department."
These were all things the leader had instructed them to do: do not obstruct official searches, and just demand more money in compensation.
If the other party tries to renege on the debt, they can say that the "leader" will send the bill to their workplace.
Corraymond frowned. If the "leader" really went to deliver the bill, things would get complicated.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
After all, almost everyone in MI9 knows that the "leader" had just helped them escort their informant, but then turned around and searched the "leader's" gathering place, causing the "leader" considerable losses, and they all came knocking on their door.
Of course, the key issue is that they didn't find anything, and it's difficult for Corremond to explain this to Danesi.
After hesitating for a moment, Corraymond took out his wallet and gave the waiter five 10-pound notes.
As soon as they stepped outside, the "hunting dogs" surrounded them and asked, "You've been searching for so long, you must have found quite a lot, right?"
Corraymond snorted and quickly left with his men.
"The Hound" said from behind them, "You didn't read the report I provided earlier, did you?"
He had searched for two whole days at No. 199 Hairun Avenue, but had not found any clues about the "leader".
Even now, how the "leader" left No. 199 remains a mystery.
Claymond had certainly read those materials and thought that "Hound," as an intelligence officer, was not professional enough to conduct a search mission, so he specially brought an expert in the field of extraordinary agencies, but still found nothing.
He watched the "hound" ride away in the carriage and suddenly realized that investigating the "leader" in the normal way would not work.
...
Odis's carriage soon arrived at the Backlund Mechanical Research Society.
Max was off today, so the research institute's reception staff took Odis directly to the office of Senior Deacon Ikonser Bernard, who was also the captain of Backlund's "Mechanical Heart".
Captain Ikonser, his hair still disheveled and messy, asked, "Any more leads to provide us?"
Odis first glanced at the corner of the office wall; his intuition told him something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then he said, "I learned at today's gathering that someone seems to be investigating the 'Night Watchers'..."
He told Iconser everything he had learned, along with his own speculations.
The captain nodded slowly: "This is very important intelligence. I will notify the 'Night Watchers' immediately. As for your reward, we'll discuss it first and then send someone to deliver it to you."
"Okay," Odis said. "Also, on Saturday, there seemed to be an extraordinary battle taking place on Rice Street…"
He briefly mentioned the information about Xinghe, but didn't share his own speculations, only saying that it seemed to be a magical and extraordinary ability.
Iconsel also took it seriously and said he would send someone to re-examine the matter immediately.
After seeing Odis off, Ikonser suddenly stood up and said to the corner of the wall, "Odis doesn't seem to have anything unusual about him."
An elderly man in a white priest's robe suddenly appeared in the corner where Odis had just glanced at him; it was none other than Cardinal Horamik Hayden.
"He really doesn't seem to have any problems." Khoramik sighed and added, "If only he didn't have any problems at all."
It's rare to find an intelligence officer with such keen insight.
Iconsel asked, "What about the information he provided...?"
"Handle it as it comes," Horamik said. "His analysis just now was very logical, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Ikonser then had his men send a telegram to the "Night Watch" squad to remind them.
What Ikonser didn't expect was that Kreste Cecima, one of the three leaders of the "Red Gloves" of the Church of the Night Goddess, personally came to visit him.
...
After returning to the herbalist shop, Odis rested for a while before preparing to take the initiative to play the role of a "wizard".