45: Chapter 42 Earth Core Cult Assembly 45: Chapter 42 Earth Core Cult Assembly Isabella’s stomach seed like a bottomless pit, her appetite was vast, far exceeding the butler’s expectations.
The preparations weren’t sufficient, and the rhythm of serving dishes was erratic.
It had nothing to do with the stock of provisions in the kitchen warehouse.
The Randao family owned a bank and wasn’t short on money.
It was Butler Philark who hadn’t prepared enough chefs, and the speed of serving couldn’t keep up with Isabella’s plate-clearing, causing embarrassnt to the hosts.
That’s what Philark thought, his mistake in not entertaining the guest properly had resulted in a loss of face for the mistress and young master.
Wayne didn’t see it that way; he was too shocked watching Isabella clear plate after plate.
…
The living room.
Isabella sat on the sofa, sinking into it.
Wayne, the gentleman, ignored this scene and brought over the Earth Core Cult’s investigation report and propaganda brochures, handing them to her.
He first explained the identities of the two detectives: “Wesley cos from Lundan, he is a well-known detective who was secretly commissioned by a certain intelligence agency to enter Enrold and investigate the Earth Core Cult.
There he t the local Detective Hood…”
“When Hood contacted , Wesley had already gone missing.
Hood realized he was being followed, concealed the docunt, and established contact with …”
“I’ve been unable to get in touch with Hood, and both detectives have disappeared.”
Isabella listened quietly, not uttering a word throughout.
After reviewing the investigation report and brochures, she slightly frowned, “The information is insufficient, I cannot conclude the aim of the Earth Core Cult.
I don’t rule out that the gathering of followers in five days may be a decoy.
Do you have the residential addresses of the high-level officials at the Town Administration Hall?”
“I don’t have the addresses, but if you want them, I can have the butler prepare them.”
Wayne roughly understood Isabella’s intention.
It was clearly written in the investigation report that the Earth Core Cult might have taken control of the Town Administration Hall.
No one stopped them from handing out eggs on the street; all Isabella needed to do was to find a town official, apply a major mory recovery spell, and she might be able to extract more accurate intelligence.
If nothing ca out, she would move on to the next one.
If all of them knew nothing, then follow the vine to the lon, using the town official to draw out a senior mber of the Earth Core Cult, get chummy with them, and ask what exactly the Earth Core Cult was up to.
Only by knowing the opponent’s plan could they intervene and disrupt; otherwise, it would just be like headless flies buzzing around aimlessly.
“Make it quick; I plan to go out tonight,” Isabella said.
“That urgent?”
“Mm, the reputation of Windsor Kingdom’s intelligence agency precedes them.
I’ve heard plenty of jokes about them in Frank.
If they’ve noticed sothing off about the Earth Core Cult, it points to one thing only: that there’s been a problem with the Earth Core Cult for quite so ti,” Isabella stated bluntly.
Could this be a stereotype that you Frank people have about Windsor?
Wayne opened his mouth but reflected on the fact that although Isabella was subjective, there was objective truth to her statent; Windsor’s intelligence agency indeed left a lot to be desired.
It was reasoned and indisputable.
Wayne instructed the butler to collect the residential addresses of the key officials in the Town Administration Hall as quickly as possible, rembering not to alarm anyone and prevent the Earth Core Cult from being prepared.
For now, the Earth Core Cult was only aware of the two detectives investigating them.
Wesley had disappeared, and Hood had drawn the fire to himself.
Wayne and Isabella were hidden in the shadows; as long as they didn’t make an appearance, they would continue to hold the advantage.
Philark bowed and departed to begin the intelligence collection.
As a Windsor native, a forr senior agent for Windsor’s intelligence agency, he felt moderately fond of Isabella.
She spoke too directly, not at all tactful!
In the dead of night, Philark returned with five pieces of intelligence, including the mayor among the five key Town Administration officials, ranging from residential addresses, phone numbers, mailboxes to nas of family mbers, jobs, he provided it all.
Philark was well-prepared, seemingly trying to prove sothing.
Isabella scanned the information quickly, morizing the five addresses, and said emotionlessly to the butler, “Having the addresses will do.
The intelligence you’ve provided is excessively verbose; a large portion is aningless, wasting precious ti.”
Philark: (ಠ灬≖)
He didn’t like this Frank person!
Isabella stepped out of the villa that evening and began her secret investigation.
Disciples of the Nature Goddess had nurous ans at their disposal, especially when it ca to gathering intelligence.
A single hallucinogenic spore planted, and ordinary people couldn’t resist at all, spilling whatever was asked of them.
Veronica had used this magic before.
At that ti her magic powers had been sealed due to a curse, and she could only cast a rudintary version of the hallucinogenic spores through the creation of magic tools, that is, feeding mushrooms.
Isabella didn’t call Wayne to team up; she received a call from Hefei, and she got two tasks.
Task one, to protect Wayne;
Task two, to investigate the Earth Core Cult, judge the situation on her own, and either destroy the Earth Core Cult or take Wayne and leave.
The ti left for Isabella was not much.
She would collect intelligence that night, probe the inner workings of the upper echelons of the Earth Core Cult in the morning, and then, based on various pieces of intelligence, decide how to complete task two.
Without asking for Isabella’s help, Wayne wouldn’t actively seek to be involved.
One must have self-awareness; his joining the team wouldn’t be helpful, only a hindrance to Isabella.
…
The next day, Wayne woke up early with a full spirit, ready for ditation.
The process of ditation was tedious, but the process of becoming stronger was joyful.
To make himself happier, Wayne pretended to be a villain, stopping at nothing to plunder the Four Elents.
He found a guide, signaling through the Fire Elent, and discovered the Three Elents hidden near the villa.
Hands black, heart dirty.
The heart was quite normal.
The term “heart” was a pun, representing both the human organ and a pejorative adjective; it certainly wasn’t sothing that could be explained away as a coincidence.
This was the wisdom of the ancients, and you could always trust the wisdom passed down through history by the ancestors.
Wayne believed in the wisdom of the ancients.
Since everyone was “dirty-hearted,” he saw no point in pretending to be a noble gentleman.
He promised the Fire Elent that as long as it led him to the hidden places of the Earth, Water, and Wind Elents, he would reward them with wealth and honor beyond asure.
With this, the dull ditation imdiately beca joyful.
As for the Fire Elent, true to its nature as an embodint of desire, they outdid each other in their eagerness to betray their peers.
Isabella did not return the second night, nor the third, and continued to be offline on the fourth and fifth day…
“Could she have starved to death out there?”
Seeing more and more Earth Core Cult followers handing out eggs on the streets, and a maid who had gone out to gather information ca back with a basketful, Wayne began to feel unsettled.
Tomorrow was the day of the Earth Core Cult gathering, and there was not a whisper from Isabella.
With her significance, if she fell into the water, there should have been ripples.
Wayne was puzzled and made a call to contact the Glamor Lady teacher, Hefei, who reassured him to focus on his training and not doubt Isabella’s capabilities.
The latter, being an experienced mage, would surely have gone offline because she had discovered sothing and was lying in wait to strike the fatal blow when the ti was right.
Seeing Hefei’s full confidence in Isabella, Wayne didn’t feel it was his place to say more, asked a few questions, and continued on his path of ditation.
On April 2nd, the Earth Core Cult held a grand assembly at their headquarters.
The dignitaries of Enrold Town appeared at the ceremony, and the mayor delivered a passionate speech.
On the streets, thousands of followers sward, with cheers, applause, and acclamations vying with one another, and the enthusiastic atmosphere was heightened.
Many town residents who were not followers also joined the assembly; partly to join the crowds, and partly lured by the free eggs distributed at the event, the opportunity to freeload eggs drew in many housewives.
It was said that eggs were distributed per head, regardless of age or gender, with each person present able to claim five eggs, so many ca in families, in groups.
Outside the crowd, Wayne, wearing a black coat, looked at the Earth Core Cult headquarters teeming with people and adjusted his hat brim as he walked towards the administrative hall.
It was the last day and he was becoming sowhat impatient.
If sothing truly unfortunate had happened to Isabella, and he just foolishly waited, wouldn’t it be akin to sitting around waiting for doom?
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