"What?"
Mark, who had been listening from the side, looked surprised and turned his gaze to Gwendolyn.
Seeing this, Fang Zhen also looked at Gwendolyn. In fact, almost everyone present turned to look at the master.
"I've thoroughly investigated the legends about the Vampire Count in Ellick's town," Gwendolyn said. "I found a pattern to the creature's slumber. He enters a deep sleep at regular intervals, and just before he's about to reawaken, he suddenly demands a large number of 'offerings'."
Gwendolyn's expression was grave. "According to my information, once he starts demanding an unusual number of 'offerings', Ellick will officially awaken three days later."
Hearing this, everyone present grew grim.
A sleeping Ellick and an awakened Ellick presented two entirely different levels of pressure.
Fang Zhen didn't know what new changes an awakened Ellick would bring, but it was clearly a critical juncture. It would be best if they could stop the Vampire Count from waking up at all.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it! We'll charge in right now, rescue the townsfolk, storm the Ancient Castle, and finish that creature off before he wakes up!" Giant Stone Pat stood up, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
Karen, whose confidence had been shaken earlier, had recovered sowhat. He sneered, "You want to charge in now? Are you prepared? You want to rush the Ancient Castle rashly, but do you have a plan? Any arrangents?"
"And don't say you're going to save people. So of the n who just ca were Heavy Armor Soldiers from the Earl's Guard. They've likely already been corrupted by the creature."
"If you charge in, those guards won't just stand by while you rescue people. Their first reaction will be to threaten you with the hostages to make you stop. If you don't listen and charge anyway, the guard will kill the hostages without a second thought."
"If that happens, will you save them or not? Are you going there to save people, or to get them killed?"
"Have you thought this through before you act?"
"So we're just supposed to stand by and watch the Earl's Guard take the townsfolk away? They'll be used as sacrifices to power Ellick's official awakening!" Pat retorted.
"So your solution is to go get the sacrifices killed first? What's the difference between your reckless actions and killing them with your own hands?" Karen shot back.
Fang Zhen watched them argue without getting involved.
Karen had a difficult personality, but that didn't an he was wrong.
Given the current situation, he was more inclined to agree with what Karen was saying.
Seeing they were about to start fighting again, Gwendolyn stood up.
"Stop arguing," Gwendolyn said. "Karen has a point. A rash attack would disrupt our plans and alert the enemy. But we still have to save those people."
"According to the pattern from my intel, after the 'offerings' enter the Ancient Castle, they are held for at least three days. During this ti, they are bathed and made to purge their bodies of impurities until they beco 'pure' on the third day. Only then are they formally presented to Ellick."
"We will save them, but we have at least three days. Today, we'll make our battle preparations and arrangents. We will head to the Ancient Castle tomorrow night at the latest."
"Furthermore, soone will be bringing critical intelligence tonight that will help us in our assault on the Ancient Castle."
Gwendolyn's words were reasonable, and his prestige was enough to command their respect.
After hearing this, neither Karen nor Pat raised any further objections.
...
Ti passed, and soon it was evening.
The mbers of the Whig Society left Gwendolyn's courtyard and went off together to make so pre-battle preparations. The Whig Society had other safehouses in town. Fang Zhen's Holy Garnt case and plate armor were sent by Mark to an Alchemist's residence for so alchemical work.
Back in Gwendolyn's courtyard, Giant Stone Pat and Poisonous Jorent stayed behind. The forr was in his room lifting a stone stool as part of his daily physical training, while the latter was in Gwendolyn's Alchemy Room, preparing Alchemy Potions for the next day.
Fang Zhen prepared to make a trip back to the Light Gate.
But before he left, he called Gwendolyn aside to speak privately.
Gwendolyn and Fang Zhen walked out of the courtyard.
The streets were not crowded at this hour. Fang Zhen found a quiet corner and stopped.
"Master, I'm not a mber of the Whig Society, and I don't want to create a rift among you, but there's sothing I think I should ntion."
"I strongly suspect there's a mole in the Whig Society."
Fang Zhen cut straight to the chase.
He didn't mind telling Gwendolyn about this.
'Since the instance information ntioned it, there must be a mole.'
'But not everyone is a suspect. Gwendolyn, at least, can be ruled out.'
'Without Gwendolyn's push, the whole affair with the Secret dicine Blood Burst wouldn't have happened, nor would it have garnered the attention of the Whig Society's upper echelons.'
Fang Zhen had experienced the event firsthand. He could see that Gwendolyn was genuinely devoted to helping the Whig Society suppress the Eternal Night Council. He couldn't be the traitor.
Besides, if Gwendolyn were the traitor, he could have easily backstabbed Fang Zhen back in the Ancient Castle Caverns when they were fighting Maticvia.
Fang Zhen wasn't one to underestimate himself, but in that situation, if Gwendolyn had truly backstabbed him, the threat and challenge he would have faced would have been on a completely different level.
For these reasons, he could trust Gwendolyn.
And Gwendolyn was familiar with everyone who had co from the Whig Society. As a trustworthy ally, the two of them working together to find the traitor would be more efficient, more accurate, and have a greater margin for error than Fang Zhen working alone.
Gwendolyn fell into thought, his expression not particularly surprised.
Fang Zhen raised an eyebrow.
He had a feeling Gwendolyn had harbored similar suspicions.
"I don't know how you found out about this, but I share your suspicion."
"In fact, it's not just . The higher-ups in the Whig Society are also aware of it. There have been faint signs of intelligence leaks in several of the Whig Society's previous operations, but the leadership can't figure out who exactly is betraying the society."
"Everyone you t today is a mid-level or higher mber of the Whig Society. The society needs them, but it also needs to conduct an investigation to clear them of suspicion."
"Actually..." Gwendolyn let out a long breath. "Actually, I received a secret order from the Whig Society. Besides killing Ellick and verifying whether the Blood Burst Secret dicine is effective against high-level creatures, I am also to find the traitor hidden within the Whig Society during the course of the operation."
Fang Zhen suddenly felt a sense of support.
Although he had prepared to achieve the mission objectives on his own if necessary, Gwendolyn's declaration still relieved so of his pressure and made him feel supported.
He knew he was on the right track.
'Just like in the last instance in the Curse Seal World, where the key solution involved potassium permanganate and the Blood Burst Secret dicine, the key to finding the traitor in this instance is to find a trustworthy person to team up with. And that person is Gwendolyn.'
"You trust
that much, Master?" Fang Zhen asked with a chuckle.
"Heh, I've never doubted you. I could sense your intentions when we fought side-by-side. I don't know why, but you genuinely want to kill Ellick. The small details and reactions in a fight don't lie," Gwendolyn said.
"Even when Karen doubted you, there were tis I said nothing, mainly because Karen is such a talker that I didn't know how to argue with him. But in my heart, I never once doubted you."
"Besides, I need soone trustworthy to help
see these Whig Society mbers clearly. I'm too familiar with all of them, and we have many ties. My emotions could blind my judgnt. I need an outsider like you to help
make a calm assessnt."
Gwendolyn's words made Fang Zhen smile as well.
"An outsider sees things more clearly," he said.
"Master, what are your thoughts on each of them?"
Gwendolyn thought for a mont before replying, "Tos is a bit more junior than , but he's steady and hardworking. He takes on any task for the Whig Society without complaint and has never made any major mistakes."
"Pat has always been the impulsive one in the Whig Society. He's hot-blooded, straightforward, and rather single-minded."
"Jorent and I studied under the sa Curse Sealer master. We're the sa age. He has rendered great service to the Whig Society and was once severely injured. His body was damaged, preventing him from advancing further in the way of the curse seal, so he changed his focus to refining his Alchemy, specializing in various poisons. Personally, Jorent and I have the closest relationship."
"Karen... well, you've seen him. He's a bit arrogant, but his mind is sharper than most, and he's a smooth talker. His father is the vice-chairman of the Whig Society. But Karen wasn't coddled. His father trained him even more harshly than others. Karen is proud of his father, but he's under a lot of pressure, wanting to surpass him and step out of his shadow."
"Laura's parents were both veteran mbers of the Whig Society, so her status is similar to Karen's, but they both died in battle years ago. Laura is a calm person, but her love life has been tragic. All of her previous boyfriends have died."
"Oh, right. Karen has always had feelings for Laura, but Laura probably has so trauma and is unwilling to accept him."
At this point, Gwendolyn couldn't help but rub his temples.
"This is giving
a real headache. I know them all too well. I don't want to, and I hope I don't have to, see one of them turn out to be the traitor."
"Who do you think is the most likely traitor? Or rather, who do you suspect?" Gwendolyn asked.
After hearing all this information, Fang Zhen frowned and thought for a mont.
He had previously suspected Karen, and even Pat.
'Karen has a sharp tongue and seems to constantly stir up trouble, while Pat keeps suggesting a reckless charge, as if he's trying to lead everyone into a trap.'
'However, if their personalities have always been this way, then the suspicion on them is actually not that high.'
'Although Karen is annoying, Fang Zhen could distinguish between disliking soone and suspecting them of betrayal. Those were two different things. He wouldn't let his emotions cloud his analysis.'
'But it wasn't as if the two of them were completely free of suspicion either; the likelihood was just lower.'
'Karen still had so suspicious aspects, and it wasn't impossible that Pat was the one hiding so deep he was playing everyone for a fool.'
'The skill and effort required would be high, but it wasn't impossible.'
After thinking for a mont, Fang Zhen lowered his head and whispered a na.
"I think... we should be wary of..."
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