Igwinte at night, White Pearl Street.
After clearing the scene, the two men in black quickly left. They climbed out through the window, submerged into the Shadow, and then quickly turned left and right through the alleys of White Pearl Street, moving forward.
After carefully circling in the darkness for a long time, the two men in black finally advanced towards their target. They proceeded to the end of a narrow alley and then entered a building through a back door.
After passing through a dimly lit corridor, the two men in black arrived in a spacious room. There were many bookshelves in the room, lined with old books, and a scent of decay permeated the air.
At this moment, between the bookshelves, stood a bald, hunched old man. When the two men in black saw his figure, they immediately knelt on one knee and spoke.
"Mr. Clifford…"
"How is the situation?" Hearing his subordinates' words, Clifford said slowly, and the two men in black in front of him quickly replied.
"We went to find Ke Li. He did receive Mr. Burton's belongings, just at noon today. It's this thing…" As he spoke, one of the men in black handed a pocket watch from his pocket to Clifford. After Clifford took it, he observed it carefully for a few moments, then spoke with a slight frown.
"This is indeed Burton's thing. So, did that guy Ke Li see the seller clearly?"
"No, Ke Li said the other party was a slightly taller man, masked, carrying a gun, a ruthless character. Ke Li himself was even robbed by him." The man in black continued to report. Hearing his words, Clifford couldn't help but reply with a cold snort.
"Hmph… Most likely, he tried to scam the other party but ran into a tough character. Where is Ke Li now?"
"That guy was disobedient and wanted to fight back. We've already taken care of him. The body was dealt with using a talisman seal and brought back." The man in black continued to answer. Hearing his words, Clifford slowly nodded.
"That guy brought it upon himself. The information obtained this time is indeed a bit scarce, but at least it confirms that those guys might be fencing stolen goods on White Pearl Street… You should continue to pay attention to any recent disturbances around here, especially focusing on those fencing channels. Be sure to catch those guys' tails."
Clifford instructed his subordinates, and the men in black under him nodded in response.
"Yes, Mr.."
...
At this moment, in front of this building, at a street corner across the road, Dorothy was standing quietly, confirming the location of another Holy Communion Society stronghold in the distance through the positioning of a gecko Corpse Puppet.
"Finally… found another one…"
In order to find the hidden stronghold of the Holy Communion Society on White Pearl Street, Dorothy staged this fishing scheme.
Dorothy first locked onto Ke Li Kross, a notorious usurer on White Pearl Street, based on the results of her three-day investigation there. Then she used a Corpse Puppet to pawn the pocket watch obtained from Burton there, and subsequently used other Corpse Puppets to spread this news on the street, letting the information get out.
The purpose of doing this was to attract the attention of the Holy Communion Society's eyes and ears on White Pearl Street. Since they are all on the same street, the Holy Communion Society's stronghold would definitely hear this rumor. After the failed divination, the Holy Communion Society, trapped in an intelligence predicament, would most likely not let go of such a clue. They would secretly send people to Ke Li Kross to verify this message, attempting to obtain clues about the unknown enemy from Ke Li.
And this was what Dorothy hoped to see. She had used animal Corpse Puppets to constantly monitor Ke Li beforehand, waiting for people from the Holy Communion Society to come looking, and then follow these people to track down the Holy Communion Society's stronghold on White Pearl Street.
"So… now that I've found another one… how should I deal with it?"
Under the moonlight, Dorothy leaned against the wall by the roadside and began to ponder. Discovering a new stronghold was certainly good, but how to deal with it afterwards became another problem.
Dorothy could launch a surprise attack like before, but once a stronghold is attacked, the remaining strongholds of the Holy Communion Society would definitely be alerted. Repeating the previous tactic would certainly be much more difficult. After all, it's been many days; if companions who went missing on a mission a few weeks ago suddenly return, they would surely be suspicious and alert, right?
Without resorting to a sneak attack, Dorothy actually didn't have much chance of winning against a single stronghold of the Holy Communion Society.
Furthermore, she couldn't report it directly. There are moles within the An Yin Bureau, and reporting it would only alert the enemy, causing them to retreat in advance.
So how exactly should she deal with it?
For a moment, Dorothy was a bit stumped. She looked at the building across the street that served as the stronghold, carefully observing its front facade and the sign on the facade illuminated by the street lamp.
"Barnard Old Book Collection"
'Is this a bookstore? Or rather… this bookstore should be the facade disguised as this stronghold.'
Looking at the bookstore sign not far away, Dorothy thought for a few moments, and then some ideas slowly emerged in her mind.
"Perhaps… I can give it a try…"
Nodding slightly, Dorothy murmured, and then she turned around and walked in the direction away from White Pearl Street. Today's reconnaissance ended here; now she needed to go back and get some good rest.
...
The sun rose in the east, the night dissipated, and a night's time passed quickly.
In Igwinte in the early morning, on the apartment building on Nanyang Flower Road, Grego, who had worked overtime all night, was climbing the stairs with tired eyes and a slightly swaying figure.
"Ugh~ Searched all night and got nothing. Another piece of fake news from who knows where. It's really annoying…"
Complaining in a low voice, Grego felt considerable resentment at this moment. Since the Burton case, he had been working overtime frequently recently. He was either analyzing the case in the bureau or rushing around due to various pieces of information, leaving him mentally and physically exhausted these past few days.
'Before leaving, I even received information saying someone was fencing stolen goods from the Burton case on White Pearl Street… How many times has it been for similar information? This time it's probably fake again… Anyway, thankfully Mr. James sent other teams this time. I need to get some good rest today.'
While thinking, Grego arrived in front of his own door. After opening the door with his key, he saw his sister sitting on the living room sofa, eating breakfast.
"Good morning~ Grego, are you back from your night shift?"
"Mmm… Good morning Dorothy…"
Grego nodded, then closed the door and entered the house. After examining the tired Grego, Dorothy asked curiously.
"Grego, you've been working overtime quite a bit recently. Is there a problem?"
"It's all because of that damn Burton. Wei Er case. Seven people died, but the murderer still hasn't been caught. Many wealthy families feel unsafe, so the demand for security has increased. That's why we've been so busy these past few days…" As he spoke, Grego took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack, then sat heavily on the sofa and drank milk.
Listening to Grego's words, Dorothy also covered her chest and spoke with an uneasy tone.
"Burton. Wei Er… I saw it in the newspaper too. It's truly too cruel. It's unsettling that such a cruel and vicious murderer is still at large. I even feel unsafe on my way home from school…"
"Don't worry… Although that murderer is still at large, he shouldn't be interested in ordinary people… Hmm, I mean he might only target the wealthy." Putting down the milk bottle, Grego said. Knowing the inside story, he knew this was an assassination case between secret societies, and the victims were far from good people.
"Dorothy, it's best you don't get affected by the public opinion on this case. Remember to prioritize your studies."
"Mmm, don't worry, I'm studying diligently every day."
Dorothy replied with a smile, thinking to herself that she was worried about tuition fees every day.
Then, Dorothy thought for a moment and then looked at Grego, who was eating bread, and asked.
"Oh right, Grego, do you know… White Pearl Street?"