Liora quickly reined in her surprise, slightly lowering her body in a courteous bow. "I apologize for my rudeness.
"I have always acted with precautions in place—whether toward enemies or allies.
"If, by any chance, you were captured by a hostile organization, Vill-V, I could use these little devices to learn your location and condition.
"At the same time, I could determine whether you revealed any information under interrogation."
Liora was quite "honest," openly stating her reasoning.
As for her true purpose—probing for information about Mr. Mad Hatter—she didn't mention a single word.
What Liora didn't know was that these eavesdropping devices had originally been designed and manufactured by Vill-V's Expert personality.
Naturally, Vill-V was thoroughly familiar with how to counter them.
She could have pretended not to notice and discarded them later at a convenient moment.
But despite their tiny size, these disposable intelligence devices were extremely valuable precisely because of their precision.
When Vill-V first took on the order, she had spent a considerable amount of money building the specialized machinery needed to produce them.
No matter how wealthy Mad Hatter was, this kind of waste was unacceptable.
If Vill-V ever learned that Liora had already used up hundreds of these disposable nano-listening devices without the slightest hesitation just to track down clues about Mr. Mad Hatter, she would probably explode with anger and impose strict limits on future reimbursement requests.
But as a hands-off boss who only provided funding and didn't manage expenses, Vill-V naturally knew nothing about this.
So, considering that this alluring married woman had just exposed quite a bit of her spring scenery while attaching those little devices earlier...
Vill-V decided to forgive her.
Worried that Liora might feel embarrassed, the kind-hearted Id added, "No need to explain. Being cautious is a good thing. But I'd still like to keep some personal privacy, so I'll return these to you."
"I can compensate you," Liora said, giving Vill-V a seductive wink.
Compensate… with her body? Hmm, not impossible~
"Cough, cough—I'm a women of integrity!"
That eager expression of yours doesn't quite match your words.
Liora didn't expose her.
"Is that so? It seems you truly don't wish to accept my goodwill."
"Mm. When I become a Constellation, I'll use my salary to buy a villa island far from the Honkai. At that time, I'll invite you as an honored guest."
Looks like you and that island-obsessed bomb crow would have plenty to talk about.
Recognition from the island-loving bomb crow.
Hua had learned about the organization through Su, so she was somewhat puzzled. "Why do you want to become a Constellation? Wouldn't that mean more responsibilities?"
Hua had once considered becoming a Constellation herself to help Vill-V and Su, but after trying it for just a few days, she stepped down.
With her current level of education—barely a middle school graduate—she wasn't yet capable of managing an entire region.
And in terms of combat strength, she also hadn't reached the level where she could suppress a region single-handedly.
So Hua voluntarily gave up the position and chose to continue honing herself.
Liora smiled and explained to the heroic-looking girl, "Constellations are much freer than Poker cadres. Poker members are the backbone of Mad Hatter—wherever there's trouble, they're sent to fill the gap."
Inori scoffed at Liora's explanation. "Your real goal is to become a Constellation so you can contact Mr. Mad Hatter, right?"
And then, through that connection, trace the clues and find him—to do something unfavorable to him.
"So that's how it is."
Vill-V nodded in understanding.
She hadn't expected there to be so many hidden rules when working under Mad Hatter. It seemed she would have to be more careful as well.
Whether as the boss behind the scenes or as an employee.
Seeing the conversation drifting into a sensitive direction, Liora suddenly shifted the topic to something more important. "I believe you already know Barcelona's current situation."
"Although we've inserted several elite intelligence agents into the city—including myself—the numbers are extremely limited. Barcelona is like an impenetrable fortress right now. Even Red Cross aid can't get in. The only viable method that won't alert anyone is recruitment through the underworld."
"So we have to infiltrate through gang channels, then find an opportunity to break away and contact me."
Hua still looked confused. "By 'alerting the enemy,' do you mean Heliopolis Life Sciences, MOTH, National Boundary Guardian, or the gangs?"
"All four," Liora replied, her gaze flickering. "Possibly… even our own organization."
Inori was surprised. "We have to guard against our own Mad Hatter members too?"
If anyone understood Mad Hatter's internal situation best—aside from Su—it was probably this Queen of Hearts who obsessively planted listening devices on her own allies.
"Who knows?" Liora shrugged. "I'm not the one making the plans. If you want the truth, you'll have to ask Mr. Mad Hatter."
Hua, upon hearing this, shifted her gaze toward Vill-V.
Ignoring the others' confusion, Liora continued, "According to intelligence from our informants, the people from National Boundary Guardian are searching for something called a 'god' and a 'key.'"
"A god and a key?" Inori raised an eyebrow. Such abstract intelligence offered little to work with.
"That's right. Based on the information I've gathered, the 'key' is the crucial item needed to unlock Heliopolis Life Sciences' hidden treasure. Naturally, the key is currently in their possession."
"It's said that one of the four major gangs is guarding it. Our takeover of the Treasure-Stealing Gang earlier was also for the sake of finding the key."
Heliopolis Life Sciences was clever—they didn't keep the key and the safe in the same place.
If they discovered the key had been stolen, they could immediately heighten security around the safe, and might even use the time gained to change the key entirely as an emergency measure.
"But when the Taixu Gang took over the Treasure-Stealing Gang, we didn't find their leader, Crow. Even the cadres had vanished without a trace. The key's whereabouts are still unknown," Vill-V recalled.
Liora smiled indifferently. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't affect the plan. One of our objectives from the beginning was to eliminate the criminal gangs in this city. The plan to wipe out the Ghostfire Society is already on the schedule."
"And there's no need to worry that Heliopolis Life Sciences will become suspicious due to the fall of the Treasure-Stealing Gang. Gang conflicts and takeovers are extremely common in this city. In fact, the four major gangs have already rotated through several generations."
"On the contrary, regarding the 'god'—based on all the information we've compiled so far, we have no clues whatsoever. That's the biggest problem."
Liora's expression grew serious, and her grip on the folding fan tightened.
"In modern warfare, everything depends on intelligence. Information completely shrouded in fog can turn into a blade aimed straight at the heart at any moment."
"Moreover, something that can be called a 'god' must be extremely dangerous. Could it be related to a Herrscher?"
Liora had pondered this question for a long time but found no point of entry.
She could only speculate in the direction of a Herrscher—after all, in this world, only Herrschers could surpass human understanding.
However, what she could never have imagined was that this so-called 'god' was something far more terrifying than a Herrscher.