Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 393 Intelligence Network
A street-facing apartment in Jinhui City, the capital of Saint Valen.

It was the weekly intelligence exchange day again. The Pioneer Territory "secret policeman" codenamed 007 leaned against the window and looked out at the street, quietly waiting for his independently developed intelligence subordinates to come and report on their work.

Since the outbreak of the plague a few years ago, Jinhui City has suffered a large exodus of the city's population. Not only have many people died and fled, but many city residents who originally had some wealth have had to spend all their property or even go into debt in order to pray to the church for a life-saving potion.

After finally bringing the epidemic under control, a conflict broke out with the neighboring country of Daeus. A group of princes and nobles, led by His Majesty the Grand Duke, launched a new round of temporary taxation and forced labor. The entire capital and surrounding areas were shrouded in a gloomy situation.

After the winter came, it was very common for the city residents to be short of food and clothing. Even though the gates of the royal capital were closed, many refugees suffering from famine in the surrounding areas still managed to sneak into the city by various means, causing the number of various crimes to rise sharply. Even the city guards, who had always been keen on extorting protection fees from merchants, had to muster up their energy and start arresting criminals.

The nobles and wealthy businessmen did not care about the lives of the common people. In order to prevent the spread of crime to the inner city where they lived, the closure of the inner city gates and the curfew were advanced to the evening before sunset after winter. This also forced 007 to gather his informants scattered in the lower city in advance.

After all, his current disguised identity made it inconvenient for him to appear in the streets of downtown where poor people and gangs were everywhere.

The first person to arrive at his rented apartment was a man named Jarl Austin, commonly known by his nickname "The Anvil."

"Anvil" was originally a native of Jinhui City. He was dragged to the north by the infected refugees who escaped from the city and was taken in and treated by the Pioneer Territory. When he encountered criminals and speculators mixed in with the refugees, he was the first to take the lead and report their shameless behavior, firmly safeguarding the vital interests of his "savior" and the refugees.

007 opened the apartment door, stepped aside to allow his intelligence to enter the room, and carefully looked at the other party again. He asked with interest, "Have you lost all your money?"

"I'm still trying..." Tiezhen rubbed his hands awkwardly, then hesitated and said, "Sir, I really don't understand. There are many ways to get information. Why do you insist on making me go to the casino every day and deliberately lose money?"

Every three days, his boss would hand him a heavy purse and order him to hang out in the city's major casinos, acting as a gambling addict and nouveau riche who spent money like water.

"Oh? Even something as simple as losing money, you find it difficult to do?"

"It's not that difficult, but for some reason these past few days, my luck has been ridiculously good. No matter how I bet, I always... always win." Tiezhen scratched his head, a bitter look on his face. "If this continues, my principal will exceed the amount of funding you gave me."

007 couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard that. He stood up and poured him a glass of warm water. "It's just a temporary change of luck... So, during this time in the casino, have you met anyone who took the initiative to talk to you or make friends?"

Tiezhen nodded and began his work report in detail. "On the nights when I lost a lot, the people who approached me were gang members. Some were loan sharks, and some were secretly trying to figure out my background... But the casinos I frequented were part of a certain baron's shady businesses. The more I lost, the more they cared about protecting my safety."

"Well, let's talk about how you've been killing it at the gambling table these past few days..."

Tiezhen said awkwardly, "I've been sitting in a box with a man who's clearly dressed like an aristocrat for two days straight. It's like that guy has sucked all my bad luck out of me. And every time he comes, he sits below me. I've lost everything."

As he spoke, he pulled out a solid gold pocket watch from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to his boss. "Here, this is the gold watch that guy pawned with me after he lost all his money last night. Before he left, he swore to me not to sell it and that he would win it back tonight."

007 took the pure gold pocket watch, opened the cover with a snap, and his eyes suddenly narrowed - on the inner shell of the pocket watch, a lifelike eagle head was clearly engraved.

"Find an opportunity to continue gambling with him at the same table tonight and try to find out his identity and background." 007 thought for a moment and made careful arrangements.

"I could just follow him, or sneak into his residence. Wouldn't that be more convenient?" 007 sighed and scoffed, "Don't take your life lightly. Tracking undercover agents... getting inside the enemy to gather information is dangerous, time-consuming, and laborious. The rewards are completely disproportionate to the effort."

He paused and said seriously, "You must remember that training a secret police officer is extremely difficult. What we have to do is bribe, infiltrate, and win over..."

"Not everyone can be bribed, especially those knights who talk about morality and justice." Anvil commented stubbornly.

007 took a sip of hot water and chuckled, "So... if you learn to gather information, distinguish truth from falsehood, and conceal your identity, you can be called a qualified secret police officer."

He opened the pocket watch in his hand and showed the eagle head emblem inside to Anvil. "If I say this gold watch represents important intelligence information, would you believe it?"

"Uh..." Tiezhen blushed and stammered, "Sir, I can't tell..."

"The Frostwing Eagle, the family crest of Duke Ralph." 007 pointed to the pattern on the inside of the watch cover. "The eagle's head faces left, representing the Duke's direct bloodline. Your gambling friend... is a descendant of Duke Ralph."

Tiezhen was so shocked that he immediately stood up from his chair and said in a trembling voice, "I'm gambling at the same table with the nephew of a founding Duke? No wonder... no wonder he's even more generous than me."

Come to think of it, it is quite common for gamblers of other aristocratic status to patronize a luxurious casino opened by aristocrats in the royal capital. When it comes to the bad habits of eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, there doesn't seem to be much difference between aristocrats and commoners.

007 returned the gold watch to the anvil, and patiently gave him a few words of advice before sending him out.

After closing the door for a while, he immediately locked the apartment door and the study door bolt, gently closed the open curtains, then carefully pulled out a suitcase from under the bed and took out a brass typewriter with an exquisite shape and structure.

[Codename 007: @091, 088, 085. A nobleman suspected to be the direct descendant of Duke Ralph has appeared in the royal capital. Please quickly determine whether the Duke is still in Fengyuan City!]

007 was not making random guesses. As the trade director of the Faros Royal Chamber of Commerce in Jinhui City, he moved among the upper-class nobles and wealthy businessmen in the royal capital and was extremely sensitive to all kinds of secret intelligence.

It is rumored that His Majesty the Grand Duke of Saint Valen is extremely wary of the family of the current Duke Ralph. As a result, although the Duke still stands on the side of the royal family on the surface, in reality the two sides rarely have close contacts.

The appearance of the Duke's direct descendants in Jinhui City undoubtedly provided him with a possibility - after suffering such a terrifying assassination from a distance, was the Duke himself also frightened and secretly came to the royal capital to seek refuge?

He didn't have to wait long before he saw two lines of words slowly appear on the crystal screen of the brass typewriter, perfectly responding to 007's guess.

[Codename 088: @007, Duke Ralph left for his hunting fort in the mountains ten days ago. We haven't yet determined his exact return date, possibly due to the assassination attempt. However, the Duke's family remains in Fengyuan City.]

As expected! He left his wife and children at his hometown as a pretext and secretly hid in the capital to save his life!

(End of this chapter)