As the fighting people and soldiers left, the street suddenly quieted down.
It was obvious that the pedestrians were sowhat fearful, looking in the direction of the departing soldiers, subconsciously lowering their voices. They quickened their pace a bit, no longer lingering in the street, and quickly left.
"Is this the turbulence in the Soma Alliance that Inogova ntioned earlier?" Richard surveyed the surroundings, with a sense of understanding in his heart.
Evidently, when a city suddenly increases its security asures, even a brawl gets treated seriously, it indicates that sothing significant must have happened.
But what exactly is this significant event?
After thinking for a while without any clues, Richard decided not to waste ti and walked along the street, stopping in front of an unremarkable shop.
The shop seed to be in poor business condition, with the exterior wall in a deep gray color, covered in dust, looking quite shabby. The signboard lettering was extrely blurry, and after being washed by rain over ti, it was hard to discern what it said, which resulted in no custors visiting.
Good disguise... Richard raised his eyebrows and stepped forward, knocking on the door.
"Knock knock knock!"
A dozen seconds later.
"Creak," the shop’s door opened, a young clerk who looked to be in his teens peeked out, with a few traces of alertness on his face.
"What can I do for you, sir? Our shop is closed now; if you want to buy sothing, please go sowhere else?" said the young clerk.
"I’m not here to buy sothing, I’m looking for soone." Richard glanced at the clerk and responded.
"Looking for soone?" The clerk’s expression suddenly beca serious, and he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Water Bird." Richard replied.
The clerk’s eyes widened slightly, sizing Richard up and down, and asked in a low voice, "Are you the one from the south?"
"Yes, codena Gray Crow."
Upon hearing this, the clerk straightened his expression, quickly opened the door, and ushered Richard inside.
"Creak," he closed the door again and adopted a respectful deanor: "So it’s Lord Gray Crow. My master has already received news of your arrival; he’s waiting for you in the back. I’ll take you there."
"Alright." Richard nodded and followed the young clerk to the back of the shop, also examining the dilapidated interior decoration.
It must be said that this place is expertly disguised; it genuinely looks like a shop that went bankrupt due to poor managent. But in reality, it’s a stronghold for the "Spider Web."
The Spider Web is an intelligence organization within the Soma Alliance, and from what Richard understands, it’s likely directly controlled by the mysterious elder Oscar. This organization is vast, handling various matters. For instance, the power shift in Saint Louis City involved their participation.
However, in the Southern Free Federation and other locations, the organization’s strength is relatively weak; most of the ti, they operate clandestinely. It is within the Soma Alliance that they have considerable influence, capable of accomplishing many challenging tasks—which is quite the opposite of the Truth Society.
This is why Richard didn’t hesitate to co to Laisi City, contacting the mysterious elder Oscar via star pattern paper along the way, to ask for so conveniences. This way, he could gather the missing tal Rhenium and tallic Beryllium as quickly as possible and return sooner.
"Tap tap tap..."
With the sound of footsteps, Richard followed the young clerk to the back, lifted a curtain, and entered a room.
Inside the room was a black wooden table, and behind it sat a man with sowhat pale skin, looking about in his thirties. Seeing soone enter, the man imdiately stood up, exchanged a glance with the young clerk, nodded slightly to signal the clerk to step back, then turned to look at Richard.
"You are Lord Gray Crow, correct?" The man asked.
"Yes." Richard replied.
"Good to et you, Lord Gray Crow; I am Water Bird from the Laisi City stronghold. We received news of your arrival not long ago. If there’s anything you need help with, please don’t hesitate to ask." The man said with a smile.
"I will." Richard chuckled lightly, continuing with his inquiry, "By the way, I’ve heard through various channels that the situation within the Soma Alliance is sowhat turbulent, and I just saw heightened security on the street. What’s going on?"
"Well, about that." The man known as Water Bird relaxed his expression slightly and said, "There’s really not much to say; it’s just the Sika Kingdom in the west causing trouble along the border. Ever since the founding of the Soma Alliance, those rigid and annoying Sika people have been harassing the border, several tis each year, almost like a routine. But this ti, for so reason, they seem to be acting as if they’ve consud gunpowder, and it’s more considerable compared to before. They’ve even threatened to attack with organized military units.
Although hardly anyone believes such claims, the upper echelons of the Alliance remain vigilant, and precautions must be taken to prevent deeply rooted exiled power factions from taking advantage of the situation to cause disruptions. As a result, the capital issued orders to strengthen security in various cities, leading to the current situation."
I see... Richard ca to an understanding and nodded, "In that case, will there be any problem for to look for so rare minerals now?"
"There might be for others, but not for you, my lord." Water Bird smiled and said, "Our organization, in the Soma Alliance, is considered a semi-official force. As long as it’s not blatantly breaking Alliance law, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Of course, since our work requires us to remain as hidden as possible, we can’t assist you directly. However, we can provide you with a list. You can contact the people on the list, and they will help you achieve your goal. Trust ; they will do this job with utmost enthusiasm because it’s a matter of honor for them."
Speaking, Water Bird pulled a list from the drawer of the table and handed it over.
Richard took it, quickly glanced at it, and saw seven nas written on it, with a simple introduction and residential address following each na.
Raising his eyebrows, Richard noticed that one of the nas on the list overlapped with the information provided by Pompeii Town. Pompeii Town’s information indicated that this individual, a jewelry rchant, possessed an unspecified amount of sweet green stone resources, which refers to tallic Beryllium.
Originally, Richard considered whether to use the resources of the Spider Web to contact the person for a transaction, but now it’s straightforward.
Carefully putting away the list, he made up his mind to go straight to the person, looking at Water Bird and saying, "The list is a great help to , thank you."
With that said, he turned around, preparing to leave.
At this mont, Water Bird spoke up from behind, calling out: "Um, Lord Gray Crow, please wait a mont."
"What is it?" Richard asked, looking at Water Bird.
"There’s sothing I need to ntion to you." Water Bird said, "An old mber from our organization who once stayed in Saint Louis City might co here in a couple of days. They wish to talk to you; do you have ti?"
An old mber who once stayed in Saint Louis City?
Richard blinked, quickly recalling the thin old man, Garcia, from their eting in Saint Louis City.
After the rebellion in Saint Louis City succeeded, the person presumably was credited and got transferred, thus coming here to et him. However, what does this person want to discuss?
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