Chapter 151: Leon: I'll Handle Escorting Aha
Stelle and Caelus tilted their heads in perfect sync, watching the figure before them. It was Aha, wearing the face of Sampo, putting on an exquisitely arrogant display. The Aeon skillfully rubbed his fingers together, making the universal, undisguised gesture for "give me money."
Holy crap.
My fists! My fists are clenching.
Were they actually being robbed? Right here?
Stelle and Caelus rolled up their sleeves, their movements a mirror image of each other, and brandished their baseball bats. In all their lives as Trailblazers, they had never encountered someone so brazenly audacious.
Aha just grinned. "Hey! Well, you're seeing one now."
"If it's too much trouble, then we just won't bother!" Stelle and Caelus declared in unison.
Before the words had even faded, their figures shot forward like cannonballs. Their baseball bats whistled through the air, aimed squarely at that incredibly punchable, smiling face.
Leon, still disguised, merely smiled and began filming. `[Light Cone: Stelle and Caelus Beat Up Aha]` which he mentally retitled to `[Light Cone: Akivili and the Demon Lord Beat Up Aha]`.
'Stop fighting, you two, stop fighting,' he thought with a chuckle.
After a "fierce" clash filled with clattering impacts and clouds of dust, Stelle and Caelus brushed the non-existent dirt from their hands. They looked down with satisfaction at "Sampo," who had been trussed up like a glutinous rice dumpling with hemp rope they'd found somewhere. Despite his predicament, the man was still giggling uncontrollably.
Caelus crouched down and began an unceremonious search, patting Aha down from head to toe. He didn't find so much as half a Strale.
"You're this broke?!"
He stood up, his face a mask of disbelief and deep disappointment. "No wonder you had to scam us for money; you're a pauper yourself! You're a pretty pathetic excuse for a Disciples of Sanctus Medicus branch manager..."
While Caelus was complaining, Stelle hadn't forgotten to search the other Disciples of Sanctus Medicus members who had been taken down nearby. To her delight, she actually managed to find a respectable amount of credits on them.
Her eyes lit up. She decisively scooped up the coins and stuffed them into her pocket. "Confiscating illicit funds!"
"Hey, hey, hey! How is putting them straight into your own pocket 'confiscating'?" Caelus immediately protested. He hadn't managed to get any loot, but Stelle had. Didn't that mean he'd lost again?
"You're wrong. This is called robbing the rich to help the poor," Stelle said righteously, patting her now-heavier pocket. "And I am the poor."
"No, that's not right. It's not robbing the rich to help the poor, it's confiscating illicit funds," Caelus argued, pointing at himself. "And I am the 'public' here."
Stelle rolled her eyes at him. "Listen to yourself. Are those even human words?"
Just then, the rhythmic sound of hurried footsteps and the clanking of armor echoed from the doorway.
"Open up! Cloud Knights, official business!"
A man in officer's armor led a squad of fully armed Cloud Knights into the stronghold. The scene that met his eyes was... somewhat chaotic, yet bizarrely structured.
Stelle and Caelus seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument over the "distribution of illicit funds."
A fellow colleague wearing Cloud Knight armor was holding a strange camera-like device, filming the entire affair with rapt attention.
A masked man, tied up so tightly he resembled a piece of luggage, was laughing so hard that tears were about to stream down his face.
And in the corner, a woman called Purple Rose and several others, tied up in the exact same manner, looked utterly hopeless.
"Ahem!" Stelle and Caelus immediately snapped to attention, their expressions instantly switching to one of serious professionalism. Caelus even subconsciously tried to stuff the loose change he'd just found back into his pocket, but Stelle gave him a swift, subtle kick.
"Jingzhou..." Stelle cleared her throat and pointed to the pile of 'dumplings' on the ground. "We've caught them for you."
The two gave a brief report on how they had infiltrated the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, encountered Sampo, were forced into a duel, and ultimately decided to eliminate the threat for the good of the people. Of course, they omitted quite a few details, such as Leon's genius plan and their own internal sparring match.
"I see," Jingzhou said, nodding with approval after hearing their report. "Don't worry, your undercover operation was a great success. Although your identities were eventually exposed, the intelligence you've gathered is of immense value, and you managed to escape unscathed. To possess such ace-spy-level qualities is truly surprising."
His gaze fell upon the ashen-faced Purple Rose, and his tone softened into a sigh. "It's just... unexpected. Zhixin, to think that you would actually walk down this evil path."
Purple Rose snorted coldly, turning her head away and refusing to communicate.
"The Plaguelord is just like that..." Jingzhou shook his head, explaining to the Trailblazers. "Using power and the illusion of immortality as bait, it lures countless people who originally had bright futures, like Zhixin, into an abyss from which there is no return."
"The first-hand information you've brought back is crucial. With the enemy in the shadows and us in the light, this intelligence will allow the Seat of Divine Foresight to respond more precisely. This is the agreed-upon reward; please accept it."
He signaled to the Cloud Knights behind him, who handed over two heavy money bags.
"You're too kind!" The corners of Stelle's and Caelus's mouths turned up in perfect sync as they happily accepted the reward. Another hefty sum of Trailblaze funds had been added to their account.
"Oh, right, there's also this," Caelus remembered, pulling an ancient-looking medicinal formula from his robes. "We found it on them."
"And this..." Stelle also hurriedly took out a book titled The Hundred-Faced Jester's Guide to Spreading Joy. "The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus insisted we copy this introductory scripture."
Jingzhou took the formula first, examining it carefully. His brows furrowed slightly. "This medicinal formula... is beyond my range of knowledge."
"There are currently a few reliable Alchemy Commission scholars staying in the Exalting Sanctum," he continued. "I'm afraid I must trouble you two to make another trip and ask them about the key details of this prescription. Only then can the Seat of Divine Foresight act with purpose and prepare an antidote."
"Given that the Disciples have been alerted to your operation, it is time for the Seat of Divine Foresight to close the net. Once you have clarified the details of the prescription, you are welcome to seek me out at any time."
After dealing with the prescription, Jingzhou's attention turned to the garishly colored manual. He took it, and the exaggerated smiling face on the cover made a muscle in his jaw twitch.
Jingzhou was silent for a moment.
"This is vastly different from the 'Thousand-Handed Merciful Medicus's Salvation Scripture' mentioned in our intelligence reports..."
He silently flipped through the pages, his eyes quickly scanning a few lines before he snapped the book shut with a little too much force.
Is this... is this really a scripture of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus? he wondered. Or is it just a promotional flyer for some Masked Fool tavern? Could this branch have been infiltrated by the Fools?
"Maybe... different branches distribute different study materials?" Stelle offered, trying to sound reasonable.
"Regardless of which it is..." Jingzhou steadied himself, working hard to maintain a professional tone. "In my opinion, this item itself is not a major concern. It merely uses a twisted perspective to whitewash the actions of the Plaguelord and its creations."
"The scriptures themselves have no power to bewitch people; it has always been people who bewitch themselves. The scriptures... they just happen to provide them with seemingly reasonable lies and false hope."
Despite his words, the slightly forceful way he closed the book betrayed the subtle fluctuations in his heart.
"Take everyone away and interrogate them thoroughly in custody," he ordered with a wave of his hand.
"Let me do it!" Leon, who had been quietly watching from the side, still wearing his Cloud Knight helmet, raised his hand enthusiastically. He strode forward and picked up the dumpling-tied Aha with a grin. "I will handle the escorting of this prime suspect!"
Jingzhou glanced at him. Although he felt this colleague was somewhat unfamiliar and his behavior was rather erratic, manpower was tight at the moment. He nodded. "Thank you for your trouble. Take him to the Shackling Prison, and be very careful."
"Leave it to me!"
Leon's voice was light and cheerful as he dragged the still-giggling Aha outside, his camera already having been turned on again at some point.
`[Light Cone: Open Up, Cloud Knights!]`
`[Light Cone: Leon Escorts Aha]`
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