Whenever Pangolin recalled that check, his self-confidence—already battered to the point of shattering by countless failures—spoke to him like a venomous snake, telling him to just give up. He was so terrified at that moment that he burned the check and the letter to ashes, because he wasn't sure if he could hold onto his faith. Even if the other party just wanted him to be a double agent for the Emperor and the nobles, helping them hide some information while ostensibly serving the Emperor—something as simple as that could make his life take off. He had refused firmly at the time, not even intending to tell anyone. If there had been someone supporting him in secret, he was truly afraid he might have thrown himself into the arms of the nobles.
But now? The Emperor he served actually sent two little girls to handle this matter, after so many professionally trained people had failed? What did this mean? Did it mean they had become abandoned pawns? Did it mean the Emperor intended to kill the donkey after it turned the mill? It was obvious that due to the pressure during this time and the infiltration by the nobles, Pangolin's firm faith had developed a crack, and it had even reached a point close to collapse.
"Don't be anxious. Do you think the things we can think of, His Majesty wouldn't think of? We just need to sit back and watch how things develop."
Unlike Pangolin, Vodka appeared nonchalant at this moment. It was as if he had guessed even his good friend's state of mind, using a relaxed tone to persuade his old partner. Although he also lacked confidence in whether Jeanne and her companion could break this desperate situation, he believed the Emperor would not send someone specifically to die under the current circumstances.
"Sigh... you are right, we can only trust His Majesty for now. Hopefully, all of this will proceed as you wish!"
With that, Pangolin turned and left. For people like them, since they had already chosen this path at the beginning, they could only choose to keep moving forward along this path. Vodka silently watched his old friend's disappearing back, appearing as if he wanted to say something, yet he did not open his mouth, only silently watching his good friend's departing back. After finishing a cigarette, he smiled and left this place. However, looking at his back from a distance, it seemed somewhat lonely as well.
Meanwhile, Jeanne and Lemuen arrived at the room where those investigators had stayed. There was only a bed and a set of table and chairs inside, and a large amount of paper was placed messily everywhere around the room.
"This is the place. The previous investigators all stayed in this room. We haven't even sent anyone to clean up; if they left any information, it must be inside."
Chekhov stood there, wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead with his hand, while introducing the specific situation of the room to Jeanne and her companion. As he spoke, he looked at this room with a sorrowful gaze, seemingly reminiscing about the investigators who had passed away.
"If there is nothing else, I will take my leave first. I hope His Majesty can bless you in completing the mission, and also bless me by the way, so that I can survive safely."
Toward the end, Chekhov's voice had become very soft. That was less like a blessing spoken to Jeanne and her companion, and more like comfort to himself, caught in helplessness. In fact, the intelligence agents in this company had already fallen into a state of despair when the previous investigators died. They believed the only reason they had not been silenced was that they ostensibly represented the Emperor's eyes and ears; if they suddenly died violently, it might alert the Emperor. Rather than saying they were warriors dedicating their loyalty to the Emperor, it was better to say they were animals kept here for amusement by those nobles; they could no longer see hope. Otherwise, how could it be that only Chekhov came out to welcome Jeanne and her companion? Because the others no longer held hope; they would only fulfill their due responsibilities...
"The people here... seem to have fallen into a state of despair. Although it's a bit inappropriate to say this here, if someone came to turn them, I reckon it would go very smoothly."
Lemuen whispered to Jeanne after Chekhov had walked far away. If she said this loudly here, she would probably be surrounded and beaten by the staff here, right? Although this was a fact, it was indeed somewhat inappropriate to say this about a group of people who had fought to this point under such circumstances without defecting to the nobles despite being in a desperate situation.
After Lemuen finished speaking, she shook her head before Jeanne could answer, as if trying to shake that thought out of her mind.
"Their situation is indeed very disadvantageous. Even those who came here didn't even know who their enemy was before they were silenced. Anyone would be in this state."
Jeanne did understand their current state of mind. If no matter how hard you worked, you received no reward, and even became a laughingstock for the enemy, I imagine the mental state wouldn't be very good. While speaking, she picked up the information scattered on the floor one by one, then carefully looked at what was recorded on them.
After entering this room, Jeanne keenly discovered the inconspicuous trash can in that corner. It was filled with a large amount of information, and there were even several bags of such waste beside it. In other words, after the struggle of the three investigators regardless of their safety, they might have truly found something valuable, which was why the last person joined that smuggling gang. Unfortunately, despite their hard work to complete the mission, the enemies had still used their power in the end to crush their attempt to cut off their financial path and ambitions.
Lemuen also organized the scattered papers on the floor along with Jeanne. She also noticed that there were clearly three completely different types of handwriting on them; it seemed these three people had indeed left something behind.
"Wow, looking at it this way, these things are simply messy without any clue! The only smuggling group they found was that gang that has already disappeared."
After being busy for a long time, the two of them finally organized these scattered documents. Looking at the three stacks of documents with different handwriting in front of them, and the chaotic mess, they felt their heads growing large. They also hoped to find some traces within these documents, but unfortunately, the things written in here were too chaotic, and the two of them, just having arrived in Lungmen, simply did not understand.
"I feel, it was meaningless for him to go to that gang. That action seemed to appear just to lure him out; it was probably interrupted by your sister and her companion before the other party could take action."
Jeanne looked at a diary; it was left by the last investigator. The diary recorded the entire process of how he discovered that smuggling group. At the end of that diary, a few sentences were written for those who would come after; it seemed he already had this premonition at that time.
"Whoever discovers this diary, it seems I should already be dead by now. Then, I must warn you about an important matter: be cautious in trusting the information in your hands. Because that information, for the vast majority, is a trap given to you by the enemy. They want to make you disappear as much as possible through accidents; they also seem worried about making it too obvious and being discovered by someone..."
It seemed the other party already knew the possibility that he might lose his life; it was just that this was his only breakthrough in this period, and he had to take the risk to act...
"What a pity, even though the nominal smuggling action this time was destroyed by them, he still did not escape the fate of death; he was even killed by someone else inside the Guard Department."
For this reason, Lemuen also felt a little regretful. If the other party were still alive, they might have brought back more valuable things.
"Looking at it this way, the other party should have known everything happening here like the back of their hand. Then what method did they use to monitor?"
With that, Jeanne scanned around outside the window. But it was quiet outside, with not even a bird, and it was too open for anyone to hide. However, the surroundings were filled with various companies, and this building was surrounded by various tall buildings. Looking from the window inside the room, one could see those pitch-black glasses opposite.
Suddenly, Jeanne looked toward the Ursus symbol placed in this room. This was also one of the few decorations in this room, and a decoration placed in many places in this company.