VIII

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A bistro converted from a basement stays quietly on the corner of a remote side street.

The old wooden signboard is full of cracks and crunchs when blown by the cold wind of late autumn. The haphazard stone staircase, the crooked hinged wooden gates, the dim lighting, and the choking smell of cheap distilled spirits mingle with the crude aroma of brewing multigrain wine. Such taverns, in this city of 500,000 people, have not a thousand, but eight hundred.

The horse-drawn carriage stopped at the side street, and the driver expressed reluctance to enter the alley. Two passengers, dressed in dark blue military coats, paid and got out of the car and walked to the tavern.

"Is this the place?" Crade López asked the lieutenant beside him, rubbing his hands. He no longer had epaulettes on his shoulders, and all of them had been brought back to the station by Tug.

According to what was written in the letter, this should be the case. How did they learn about our intelligence system? Our intelligence system is independent of the military system. The chief staff officer of the 3rd Separate Artillery Regiment, Major Hail Tedwood, nodded prudently and replied. Major Hull is a shrewd, capable young officer with short light black hair, who graduated third in the command department of the Military Academy three years ago with the rank of lieutenant. Promoted from lieutenant to major in three years, he has fully proven his abilities. Of course, he also did not have epaulettes on his shoulders.

"It's not strange, it's not your responsibility. "There is no such thing as an intelligence agency that is absolutely secret. It's easy to send a message to the deepest part of the network, just let it relay it for you. The city's web of intelligence and gossip must be intertwined. ”

"But...... We're kind of a branch of the dignified Military Intelligence Bureau, aren't we?" asked Major Hull, "according to protocol, exposure of personnel of our stature should not be allowed. Why do you bother with that letter, sir?"

"Military Intelligence? No, no. The intelligence network you and I use is only nominally subordinate to the Military Intelligence Bureau. This intelligence network is not as bureaucratic and inefficient as the one of the MIA. ”

In essence, it should be a gift from Marshal Conti Fox, Clad thought. That's a terrible thing, it's the most wasteful agency in the Free Army. It took the bureaucrats nine months to find out what was going on in Denika. "If one day I can become a big man in the army, I must completely reform it. ”

"That's right. The major, who was nominally subordinate to the Secret Operations Division of the Military Intelligence Agency, smiled wryly and did not answer.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, the two walked into the tavern and looked around. Business in the tavern doesn't seem to be doing very well, with only a few people sitting at the bar or table drinking, chatting, and reading the newspaper. Clad and Hull glanced at each other, and walked straight into the depths of the tavern, finding a table and sitting down.

"What do you want?" Hull asked his sir.

"Add one and three-quarters spoonfuls of sugar to the black tea. López replied.

At this time, the person reading the newspaper who was sitting at the next table behind López suddenly whispered: "There is probably no black tea here, how about changing the beer?"

"If it's beer, add two and a half spoonfuls. ”

"See you in the toilet. The man closed the Matbiocy Times the day before yesterday and stood up. Three minutes after he left, the two of them also got up and went to the toilet located deep in the tavern.

The skylight of the toilet is open. After adding defensive magic to himself, Clad climbed out of the skylight without hesitation, and Hel hesitated before putting on his white gloves and carefully climbing out of the skylight. The mysterious man reading the newspaper was waiting outside the skylight.

"Please come with me. His tone was steady.

"Wait a minute, who the hell are you?!" asked Hull Tedwood hurriedly. "How do you know...... Uh, our intelligence network?!"

The man smiled, his smile a little obscene: "I don't know who you are or where you are. Tonight is a masquerade ball, and dress and appearance don't mean anything. Please come with me. ”

Hull wanted to ask again, but Clad stopped him. "So, do we need to be blindfolded, like traditionally?"

"Not necessarily. The man laughed, "You are unlikely to remember the rest of the road, even if you are not blindfolded." Please come with me. ”

Clad nodded slightly, and the man began to lead the way. The trio walked through hidden alleys, climbed down stairs and cellars, and finally found themselves in the city's sewers. In the sewers, a dinghy has long been waiting, and a dim oil lamp. Even with repeated washes from the Meterbysi River, the smell of decay and stench in the sewers is still strong. The major frowned, and the temporary lieutenant general's face was still expressionless, and he quietly followed the man to board the dinghy.

"Departure?" asked the man when they were both on board. Clad nodded.

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The boat rushes left and right with the current in the dark, rancid sewers, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Sometimes, when the oil lights faintly appear in the distance, the boat will stop and wait for a moment to prevent it from bumping into other ships.

Lennie's sewer system, claimed to be the second most complete in the world, is only slightly less complex than Deland's. All the sewers are connected to the moat or the river Metbysi. The ingenious design of the water conservancy project makes all the sewers live water and will not rot and accumulate silt. There are also many new sewers that lead to the outskirts of the city. Unlike the well-planned above-ground sections, Lennie's sewers have no direction to speak of, and they are accessible in all directions, so you don't need to be blindfolded.

After about thirty minutes, after crossing more than a dozen moats, the front suddenly became brightly lit. The space suddenly opened up, and a large, artificially constructed open "boat pool" barricaded the waterway, and the banks were already filled with the same boats they were on, at least thirty or forty. The air was filled with the scent of purifying agents, which swept away the rancid smell from everyone.

"It's amazing. I've lived in Lenny for over twenty years, and I didn't know there was such a place in the sewers. Hull sighed under his breath.

"I've lived for more than 40 years, and I've only heard about it. "And I'm sure this place won't be like that all year round." ”

The man who was mooring the boat heard this and smiled back: "You are right. The place will be restored to a normal sewer full of stench and debris tomorrow. Please come with me. ”

The two men followed him ashore. The man found a pull ring by the wall, knocked it a few times, and then a staircase suddenly appeared not far away, leading to a deeper place.

The man descended the stairs first, followed by Crad and Hull. After taking two steps, the secret door behind him closed. By the light of the oil lamp in the man's hand, the two could barely see the road ahead. After walking down the narrow and oppressive staircase for a long time, the group saw the door. The man knocked a few times in front of the door, and after a secret word, the iron door quietly opened.

"Subtle doors and mechanisms. Clad commented, "You're the famous Lenny Thieves' Guild, aren't you?"

"Perhaps. The man replied, snapping his fingers at the light. The eyes of the two of them lit up, and they realized that this was actually a display room with countless kinds of clothing.

Thousands of different men's and women's garments hung in rows of shelves and wardrobes in the interior, ranging from the emperor's gowns and the papal's robes to the hides of savages, the rags of beggars, and the shackles of slaves. In addition, there are a variety of masks with different styles and art styles, ranging from the Elven Empire Era, the First Dynasty Era, the Dark Ages, the Glorious Age, and the Revival Age.

"We're at a masquerade tonight, so please wear your masks. The man reminded, "If possible, it's best to change your clothes." ”

López nodded slightly: "The mask is very good, you don't have to change your costume." ”

"Why, sir?" asked Hull, picking a Revival mask.

"From now on, just call me Your Excellency, not Sir. Clad put on the priestly mask of the Elven Empire and explained in a low voice, "Rather than let people know who we are by our actions, it is better to use this costume to make suspicions." A soldier will reveal the aura of a soldier at any time. ”

Seeing that the two of them were wearing masks, the man stepped forward again and took out two medals: "Oh, this is the pseudonym that the two of them used when they were here." Sarik-31 and Korrell-57 have only the name of the god written on the front and the numbers on the back written in cipher, to prevent anyone from sneaking into the ball. Please remember your number and don't forget it. ”

The two secretly expressed their admiration for the organizers' thoughtfulness. With the name tags of the gods of chaos and deception and the gods of destruction and war pinned to their chests, they pushed open the doors and walked into the room.

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As they expected, behind the venue was a rather luxurious ballroom. There were more than a dozen doors around the ballroom, all of which were the same as the one behind them.

"An oriental proverb says that a cunning rabbit has three nests...... They look like there's more than three. ”

The lieutenant general looked around and recognized a painting by the late Revival master Lam Bolun, and he took a seat underneath it.

Looking around, there were already a lot of people in the stadium, estimated to be hundreds, most of them men, but many of them were women. All were dressed in strange and gorgeous costumes, with exaggerated masks and the name of a god pinned to their chests. Even if every two or three people represent an intelligence network, there are at least thirty or forty different forces here at the same time, he estimates.

"There are a lot of magicians here...... Or magical creatures. Hull sat down at the table and whispered to himself.

Hearing this, Clad's brow furrowed slightly: he felt that it was slightly inappropriate to use probing magic here. Before he could remind him, someone at the next table had already spoken first.

"It's rude to use probe magic here. ”

Although his face is obscured by a harlequin mask, he can still tell from his voice that he is a middle-aged man. Clad took a closer look at the man: he was dressed in an elven gown and wore the insignia of Rurid, the god of command and rule, on his chest.

"However, if Your Excellency overhears other people's conversations, I'm afraid it's not very open. ”

The general picked up the wine glass from the table, turned it in his hand, and said coldly: "The noble lord who came from afar is actually not suitable for this kind of occasion. I would like to advise you that intelligence work is not something that anyone can do. ”

"Uh......!" the other man seemed to be beaten, snorted lowly, and stopped talking. Clad knew he had guessed it.

At this moment, all the chandeliers suddenly went out at the same time, and the whole ballroom became dark!

In the corners of the ballroom, there were a few soft noises, but the vast majority of the people were still calmly silent. After all, those who can come here are all excellent agents of various intelligence networks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this Lenny International Intelligence Agency Symposium. On behalf of the hosts, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for the long-term support of this occasional meeting. Of course, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you who are here for the first time. ”

Several rays of light hit the center of the dance floor at the same time, shining on the speaker's body. The speaker was a diminutive man with a deep voice and the badge of Travo, the god of rumors and travel. He stood at the top of a half-man high round platform, which Clad was sure didn't have in the middle of the dance floor.

The man cleared his throat and continued his opening remarks: "As is customary, I would like to introduce the purpose of this seminar to the newcomers. As we all know, intelligence is one of the most important commodities in this world. Employers can pay a high price for information, and agents are doing their best to provide accurate, accurate, and prompt information. The problem is that the vast majority of intelligence networks don't trust other intelligence sources. If everyone is to build independent, reliable, secret, and effective intelligence networks, it is inevitable that there will be conflicts between them. As hosts, we don't want to see too much bloodshed between the intelligence networks, so we held this seminar for intelligence agencies. Here, agents can buy and sell intelligence without risking anything and without revealing their identity. ”

At this point, the spokesman paused, and some whispered exchanges of voices were heard below.

"Oh? That's interesting...... Presumably, Lennie's Thieves Guild has been unable to control the operation of the underground intelligence world, so this intelligence agency exchange was held, no, it should be said that it is an intelligence auction. Klad mused. By Eastern standards, the vast majority of those present – including himself – were rather amateur intelligence operatives. In terms of organization, the best intelligence agency he had ever seen was the Mitsuji of the Western Tang Dynasty, and in terms of personal ability, the best was probably the ninja of Yingguo. A unit of the level of the Free Army's Military Intelligence Bureau, even if it is placed in the Hua Dynasty, which is not very good at the secret service, I am afraid that it can only pick up leftovers. The ability of Western countries to control their people is far inferior to that of the East.

"Tonight, we guarantee the safety of your transactions. I am not boasting, the security of this secret building is among the best in all of Lenny, at least ten times more secure than the United Parliament building. If someone is going to commit murder here, even if he succeeds, it will be difficult for him to escape our net. For tonight's seminar, we have prepared this ballroom for relaxation, as well as two intelligence trading halls, and twelve secret rooms for you to use......"

"So, how is the deal going to go? Auction?" asked a young woman's voice.

The woman got to the point. The man smiled—his smile wasn't too open, "In order to ensure the security and confidentiality of your transactions, we use three methods to conduct intelligence transactions. The first is 'retail'. Do you see that hall over there? That's the retail hall. If you think your information is valuable, you can label it with scope, timeliness, and keywords, and then put it in an envelope and ask us to sell it, and we'll do a little bit of scrutiny to make sure there is no fraud. If you're interested in keywords, you can pay for them. ”

"If I find that the goods are not right, can I return them?" said a thick male voice.

"Sorry, no. You're all experienced agents, so it's not unusual to make about 80% of your total expenses, so it's normal to buy useless information here. The man replied with a smile and continued his explanation, "The second method is 'ordering'. If you are interested in a particular piece of information, you can write down the requested information in the ordering hall and pay us a bounty deposit. All sellers who know a little bit about this can write down the information they know, and finally, the ordering party will give a rating of the information according to the value of the information, and we will distribute the deposit to the provider according to the assessment. ”

"Is the last one wholesale?" asked another man.

"No, no, the last one, is 'negotiation'. If the information is too critical, the seller and the buyer can talk directly in a secure back room. A detailed summary of the information must also be bought with money. Now, let's start a sleepless night. Please play the band!"

A gentle waltz sounded – and the band was of course top-notch. After a few moments, the lights came back to light, and the waiters pushed carts full of plates inside.

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After listening to this tirade, Major Hull had only one thought: "...... It's really unscrupulous to make money. ”

"I think so too. Clad bowed slightly, "Are you interested in the ball? There are a couple of ladies over there who look pretty good." Showing cute fangs. If you're willing to turn over turbans and hats, there should be plenty of pointy ears. ”

"With all due respect, it's not funny that you're telling a joke so seriously. Hull looked at his commander in amazement—he didn't know that this cold-faced general would tell such a joke. "I'm not here for a vacation...... I'm a racist on 'that' issue. ”

"Oh, forget it, let's get straight to the point. The lieutenant general stood up.

Two active-duty officers dodged masked men and women hugging on the dance floor, as well as waiters coming and going, and walked into the "retail hall."

The walls are covered with scraps of paper with keywords and prices, which are supposed to be pre-provided information ready to be sold. In the middle of the hall were large round tables, and the waiters kept throwing new envelopes into them, and the agents rummaged through them. Some envelopes are brown brown brown paper indicating "retail information", while others are more elaborate white envelopes indicating "information to be negotiated". Hull huddled close to the table, rummaging through the stacks of envelopes with a large group of people to see what information was of interest, while Clad scanned all the envelopes behind him.

"Councillor, adultery, death threats!" a man next to him, with the name of Lessado the god of justice and judgment written on his chest, snatched an envelope and walked away in a hurry.

"Empire!Southern Expedition!Strategic Plan!" a woman in a priestess mask happily went to pay with an envelope.

"Forbidden spells!secrets!magic academy!" The nobles who had been sitting near them had collected all these envelopes as if they had found a treasure, and they almost clashed with others.

Hull sighed and said in a low voice, "It's all so-called 'intelligence' with high prices and sensational keywords. ”

"Even in the world of intelligence agencies, it's always been more stupid than experts. If I want to sell information, I will definitely sell this kind of information that is easy to understand. I don't dare to mark out the really important intelligence keywords...... Those who do this kind of thing must also be stupid, stupid. Clad watched silently as Hull flipped through the envelope, "They'll even hide the keywords for the really important information, so that only the 'insider buyers' can understand the ......."

His gaze snapped to one of the envelopes in Hull's hand. On that white paper envelope, it simply reads "Vampire, White House, Ring Fort, Budget." ”

"Stop, Hull. Look at the envelope. The lieutenant general was busy.

"Why?" the Major was a little puzzled, "This kind of information about vampires in the ring fort is like a third-rate ghost story to listeners, and it can't be trusted......"

"Nope. The White House is the building of the Interprovincial Parliament...... The ring fort is the headquarters of the Free Army...... Also, vampires on a budget. ”

Clad López's eyes lit up and he reached out to take the envelope. Seeing that he was about to get it, two slender and slender fingers cut out from the side and grabbed the envelope in front of him.

"I'm sorry, two gentlemen. There were two identical envelopes just now, but unfortunately someone else got the first time, and I didn't want to give up this time. Can the cost be split in half?"

The female voice with a magnetic and mature feeling sounds a little familiar, as if she had just asked a question. The two of them walked up the snow-white jade arm and saw a tall woman wearing a dark blue off-the-shoulder evening dress, with pale skin like paper and a bewitching mask. On the badge on the woman's chest is the name of the goddess of fate and time: Fortila.

"Your Excellency?" Hel tentatively asked his chief for advice.

If you can recognize this keyword, you are not an amateur intelligence person. Clad nodded slightly. There were already two of the same ones that had been taken away......

"May it be a pleasure to cooperate, Ms. Fortilla. ”

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