---o---
"Infiltrate directly?!"
March 7th panicked for a moment, quickly reminding him, "Caelus, Qlipoth Fort is starting to be guarded by a lot of Silvermane Guards. If we're discovered... we'll be in trouble."
"Don't worry, trust me." Caelus was extremely confident about this.
Seeing his confident expression, March 7th nodded skeptically. Since he'd put it that way, she had no choice but to trust him, right?
"Alright then. I'll trust you on this one."
"Let's go."
Caelus led March 7th to the perimeter of Qlipoth Fort. After a scan with his minimap, he confirmed that it was just as March 7th had said. They had the entire fortress guarded so tightly that it was impenetrable. Even the sewer entrance had people patrolling it from time to time.
"See? I told you it would be difficult."
After peeking around the corner to confirm the situation, March 7th threw her hands up in a helpless gesture. Given the current circumstances, infiltration would be extremely difficult.
Caelus, however, was already prepared for this. He held up two fingers to March 7th.
"I have two methods right now. Pick one."
"Huh?" March 7th looked at Caelus with some surprise, then her face lit up. "As expected of you! To think you could still come up with two methods at a time like this. Let's hear them."
---o---
Caelus nodded and said with a serious expression, "The first method: so-called infiltration is just a matter of quietly taking everyone out. Then no one will be around to discover that we've infiltrated."
March 7th blinked, then retorted, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, "That's called an invasion! Not an infiltration! Give me another one!"
Seeing that March 7th disagreed, Caelus had no choice but to helplessly present the second method. A brand-new iron pickaxe suddenly appeared in his hand.
"The second method is a bit more troublesome. We dig our way in!"
March 7th saw the pickaxe suddenly appear in Caelus's hand. She was about to retort that this was no different from bandits spending months digging a tunnel to rob a bank, but then a thought struck her. Caelus's digging speed was on a completely different level from that of ordinary bandits!
Besides, if they went in from underground, the risk of being discovered would indeed be much lower.
After hearing the plan, March 7th immediately nodded in approval. "Let's do that one!"
"You got it."
Caelus peeked around the corner to confirm the direction, then immediately raised the pickaxe in his hand and began to dig straight down. Once he had dug four meters deep, he expanded the area slightly to allow March 7th to jump down from above. He then used blocks to seal the original entrance seamlessly. No matter who came by, all they would see was perfectly intact ground.
Caelus took a torch from his bag and handed it to March 7th to help light the way. Then, with one in front and one behind, the two began to dig their way toward Qlipoth Fort.
...
A little over ten minutes later, inside Qlipoth Fort.
---o---
Having organized the information she had gathered from her surveillance, Bronya knocked on the door of Cocolia's office.
"Come in."
Cocolia was sitting behind her desk handling official business. Seeing that it was Bronya who had entered, a gentle smile immediately appeared on her face.
"You're back? Tell me, what did you discover, Bronya? What have our three Nameless been up to?"
Bronya nodded. She walked to the desk and handed the prepared documents to Cocolia, allowing her to read them while she reported verbally.
"I tailed Caelus, March 7th, and Dan Heng in succession. For a time, the first two were just wandering around Belobog like ordinary tourists. They even went to a farm and bought a dozen or so cows."
"Bought cows?"
Cocolia looked up at Bronya with some surprise, suspecting she had misheard. But Bronya's nod was firm and certain.
"Yes."
Cocolia took a sharp breath, pinching her chin with one hand as she fell into deep thought.
Buying cows? What kind of move is that?
Since these three Nameless claimed to be from another planet, then civilization must exist on other planets as well. Why would they have to come to their planet, Jarilo-VI, which was in the middle of an apocalypse and suffering from a scarcity of resources, to buy cattle? Weren't they losing out on that deal?
Cocolia couldn't wrap her head around it. The only explanation she could think of was that the two of them had more money than sense. She turned her attention to Dan Heng.
"What about the other one?"
"The other Nameless, Dan Heng, acted alone. He went to the Belobog library. However, the books he read were quite varied, from astronomy to geography, the history of Belobog, and he even browsed through some old guides on animal husbandry and horticulture. I didn't find anything particularly special."
After hearing this, Cocolia gave a knowing smile and shook her head.
"No, that was a deliberate act. He likely knew you were following him, which is why he intentionally looked through all sorts of books to throw you off."
At the same time, Cocolia guessed what Dan Heng was truly after: the history of Belobog!
The Eternal Freeze had descended upon Jarilo-VI for over a century, but as long as humanity had not been completely wiped out, records would surely have been left behind. Dan Heng wanted to use this to find records related to the Stellaron.
"I was discovered?" Bronya blinked in surprise. She had thought her tracking skills were quite good!
I was discovered that quickly?
But being discovered was one thing. To this day, there was still one question that had been weighing on her mind.
"Mother, why did you have me follow them? Even if Mr. Dan Heng's counter-surveillance skills are strong, we could just explain it away by saying we need to be cautious since they frequently adventure between various planets, right?"
---o---
Hearing this question, Cocolia's eyes narrowed slightly. Under the orange glow of the office lights, a shadow fell over her eyes, making them difficult to read.
"Because they will bring disaster to Belobog. On the surface, they claim to be here to resolve the Stellaron issue, but that young man named Caelus has a Stellaron inside his own body."
"What?!" Bronya was shocked.
Caelus had a Stellaron inside him? Although she didn't know what a Stellaron was, everything she had heard, whether from her mother or from Caelus's group, told her that the Stellaron was an extremely dangerous thing.
"But, Mother, you've only met them once. How did you know?"
Faced with this sudden question, Cocolia's body tensed. After a long moment of deliberation, she shook her head and warned with a stern face, "Bronya, this is not something you should know. All you need to know is that they are dangerous. Tomorrow morning, while they are completely off-guard, I want you to take men to arrest them and bring them back to me for personal interrogation."
"But Mother..." Bronya wanted to know more. She didn't want to wrongly accuse good people.
"Follow your orders, Bronya!"
"Yes..."
Bronya lowered her head and left the office. Cocolia watched her leave and let out a soft sigh.
"Bronya, one day, I will tell you everything."
Afterward, Cocolia stood up and walked into a private rest chamber set up in her office, intending to take a bath and relax.
What she didn't know was that just one meter below her feet, Caelus and March 7th were pressed against the ceiling, eavesdropping on their every move.
When March 7th heard that Cocolia was planning to have Bronya arrest the three of them tomorrow, she instantly panicked.
"Caelus, we have to get back and tell Dan Heng about this!"
Caelus, however, shook his head. He raised the pickaxe in his hand and continued to dig in the direction of the rest chamber.
"Not so fast. I still need to confirm one more thing."
Cocolia was actually able to discover the Stellaron inside me during our first meeting. At the same time, I also had that strange feeling back then. Now that I think about it, it's hard to say if the feeling I had was the aura of a Stellaron!
I need to see for myself if Cocolia also has a Stellaron in her body!
---