An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

Cui asked while yawning. Leonardo raised the corner of his mouth and replied:

"Yes. Finally found—Ross Byrne and his group."

"We need to hold a meeting for this. Everyone is waiting for you, so please hurry up."

"Don't be so impatient. Is it because of your age?"

"Do you believe I can beat you up?!"

It seems like they don't get along - no, Cui will probably become like this no matter who she gets along with.

Leonardo was used to facing things with the attitude of a mature adult, so he immediately shut down his senses, his eyes wandering in the air, not looking at anything.

A user of Age of Gods magic and the strongest knight of the Church.

Just how powerful is the force that was ordered to defeat such a master?

"In the past, the skirmishes were already fights to the death."

After exhaling the last puff of purple smoke, Leonardo rubbed the shortened cigarette with his hand. His clenched fist was strong and hard, and he didn't need to press it against anything to put out the cigarette.

then.

The three of them walked into the secret passage behind the secret door and took the elevator down to the secret base underground.

After entering, the three continued walking further inside, passing several desks piled high with documents. Branch staff and dispatched personnel from headquarters bustled about. Finally, they reached the back of the office, where a wooden round table sat in the center of a partitioned area.

Many people had already arrived, waiting around the round table. Among them was an elderly gentleman with gray hair and a curly mustache, a look that suited him perfectly. He was the restaurant's owner and branch manager—Reagan Nelson. Also present were the squad leaders from the "Rouse Protection Operation."

"You're finally here, you lazy bastard."

Seeing Cui hunched over and yawning, looking completely unmotivated, the first person to speak was an old man. His head was almost completely bald, but the white beard under his nose was very thick and impressive.

He looked to be in his seventies, but the arms sticking out from under the sleeves of his dark green work clothes were as thick as tree trunks.

They are short and stocky, with well-developed muscles, like the dwarves in fantasy literature.

He was the captain of the Esperade branch's execution force—Axel Brea.

Normally, he is a fireworks craftsman who makes and sells fireworks, but this old man possesses the inherent magic [Explosion], which allows him to arbitrarily designate coordinates to cause explosions during battle, which is very terrifying.

"Tsuei is simply exercising the rights granted to her."

"Xiao Cui, don't you know what 'limits' and 'concerns' mean?"

"How could I not know~ I hate it~"

"...Even I've never experienced being able to stay in a suite all day and enjoy myself..."

A woman in a black dress and a white cape slumped her shoulders helplessly.

She is the captain of the intelligence unit of the Esperade branch—Jinx Lenka.

This sister had very short black hair and droopy eyes. She was no more than thirty-five years old.

Incidentally, it was she who fell to her knees after witnessing Cui's intelligence abilities.

Jinx usually has an elusive and hazy temperament, and now she has even more catchphrases like "I'm sorry, I'm just useless...", which makes her seem even more fragile.

Together with Leonardo, the captain of the reinforcement force from headquarters, and Cui, the Republic's dispatched intelligence agent, all the participants in the cadre meeting were finally present.

Cui was looking around. Although they hadn't been together for long, everyone could tell what she was thinking.

There were no drinks. Her expression looked unhappy about it.

Everyone in the audience tacitly agreed to ignore it.

"Then let's have a quick meeting."

Reagan urged the crowd on, his voice as loud as clapping.

"Palantino's supporters sent a messenger bird, and there's news."

Reagan turned his eyes to Shirley, and she continued:

"Ross Byrne and his group will take the morning train and arrive in the evening."

The cruising speed of the magic-driven train is about 30 kilometers.

It is about two to three times the speed of a horse-drawn carriage. In addition, it keeps moving forward without stopping to rest. Considering the extraordinary amount of transportation, this speed is amazing.

Even so, it was still no match for the messenger bird used by the "Liberators". It was a strengthened Isonian bird that surpassed the train in an instant and delivered the message first.

"Finally found him. As expected of the strongest knight, he completely evaded our surveillance."

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault that I'm useless... I'm sorry, I shouldn't be alive..."

Sister Jinx's masochistic tendencies seemed to be getting worse, but everyone decided to ignore her for now. Shirley continued her report.

"Unfortunately, when the reporter spotted the group, they were about to board a vehicle, and were some distance away, so they were unable to make contact. However, it is said that when Knight Byrne was seen, he looked very exhausted and had lost his left arm."

“Hey, is this true?!”

Leonardo couldn't help but frown. For some reason, Lian Cui also showed a look of disgust.

"Yes. Also, consistent with the previous information, the only family member traveling with him is his son."

"I remember that besides him and his wife, the Byrne family members also include his mother and three sons, right?"

"There are other relatives, but this is definitely the composition of our main family. It's very likely that the one traveling with us is Moro."

"Is it possible that they deliberately arranged for the rest of the family to depart at a different time, or perhaps they brought their guards with them to make a separate move?"

"While it's possible, it hasn't been confirmed yet."

It seemed that he might have experienced considerable danger when he was escaping - thinking of this, Leonardo and the others looked at each other solemnly.

"Any movement from the subjugation team?"

"Similarly, several people will take turns monitoring the station building at Central Station."

"If Cui's report is true, the artifact they possess can detect Byrne's presence from a certain distance. If they continue like this, they'll be caught."

"Has the configuration conversion of the 'Black Gate' near the capital not been completed yet?"

Old man Yasel asked. Shirley shook her head.

"We also have to carefully select the location for the installation, so five days is not enough."

"That's right. Therefore, we should contact them as soon as possible and help them board the train to Orbius."

After hearing Reagan's suggestion, everyone turned their eyes to Cui.

The front of the drooping rabbit ears twitched suddenly. Cui turned her head and looked back, the movement was very natural.

"What are you looking at? It's you."

Captain Leonardo's precise comment was unmistakable. Cui turned around, not disguising her reluctance.

"You mean you want me to contact them as soon as they arrive and use light distortion and aura blocking to help them transfer, right?"

Although she always looks lazy, she is actually very smart.

Not only herself, but Cui's invisibility ability can also be used on others as long as their bodies are in contact with each other.

There was a time when Mei often clung to Cui to escape the harassment of the pervert (Lutilis), which shows how powerful her invisibility ability is.

"Exactly. Cui, may I trouble you?"

Reagan asked, his whole demeanor like a gentle gentleman.

"don't want!"

Cui firmly refused.

Suddenly, a vein popped on Shirley's forehead, and Leonardo pressed his hand against it, looking pained. Jinx and Axel sighed deeply at the same time.

I really want to hammer the concept of sociability into her head with a five-inch nail... Sensing this atmosphere, Cui's rabbit ears fluttered excitedly as she quickly explained:

"Wait, isn't this obvious!? Since the Church doesn't want the world to know about Ross's betrayal, they definitely won't attack in a crowded place. Didn't we say that before? If they discover that Cui has come into contact with them, they might alert them and resort to a forceful attack! Wouldn't that threaten the safety of the citizens!?"

"But, Tsui, they couldn't detect you when you were invisible. That's why we got the information, right?"

"That's true, but it's not absolute! Furthermore, the people guarding there have a clear intention to 'search', so it's not certain we can hide it from them."

Cui is right, that is indeed the case.

Moreover, this has happened before. Cui's invisibility couldn't be hidden from Mireidi and the others.

Since Rouse's power is equal to Meredi's, the forces sent to hunt him are likely capable of seeing through Cui's invisibility.

The reason they had previously been able to infiltrate the Continental Central Church and successfully steal intelligence was primarily due to Cui's exceptional hearing, which allowed her to overhear conversations from a considerable distance. The crucial factor, however, was that the Archbishop had demanded details, but the captain of the punitive force would only provide the bare minimum, even citing their position as a unit directly under the Pope as a pretext. This led to a particularly loud argument between the two.

"Don't worry, Tsui. I've prepared a second-best plan."

Reagan's tone was calm and gentle, but Cui's drooping rabbit ears drooped even lower.

From her own experience, she knew that the friendly attitude displayed by the organization's top brass was essentially the same as applying pressure through a smile. Ultimately, their rhetoric would block the opponent's escape routes and force them to submit.

She shrank her rabbit ears and refused to listen! However, she only dared to say such words in her heart.

With a "knock" sound, a key shaped like black crystal was placed in front of Cui.

Cui thought to herself, "As expected!" She understood what it meant just by seeing it.

"This is the 'Black Key' assigned to our branch. If the enemy detects you, please immediately take Ross Byrne and his group and evacuate."

Only a few people in the organization were given this "Black Key".

In this branch, apart from the leader Leonardo sent from the headquarters, the only one who holds the Black Key is Reagan.

This is so that if the branch is attacked, it can be evacuated to the outskirts of the city in an instant.

Now he lent the black key to Cui, which was equivalent to temporarily letting go of his life-saving talisman.

"Wait, Mr. Reagan, in that case, why don't you lend her my key?"

"No, Leonardo. If Jade escapes from the scene, you must immediately pursue her. Therefore, you must keep the key for yourself."

Although his tone was calm, it revealed an irrefutable pressure, which was proof of his determination.

Reagan's eyes turned to Cui again. His gaze was as calm as a calm sea.

"Guiding Ros Byrne to reunite with the leader is a mission more important to us than our lives. Do you understand?"

"But, but, I've said it before, those guys are really bad!"

"Yes, I heard that."

"It's really dangerous! Really, really, I can't explain it, but they're really, really bad! They might notice my invisibility before I even make contact with Mr. Rouse, say 'Invisibility is suspicious! Die!' and kill me right there!"

Indeed, the reason why Cui resisted so stubbornly was because the fighting qualifications that allowed her to become a warrior captain at such a young age were warning her with all her might.

When she first infiltrated the Continental Central Church, Cui saw the troops talking with the Archbishop. At that time, she really wanted to run away on the spot.

They give people a weird and abnormal feeling that is hard to describe.

It was just a group of about ten people in white robes, but Cui was frightened from the bottom of her heart.

That really won't work.

Can't conflict with them.

You will definitely die! — her heart warned her.

However, Cui knew that intelligence was needed regardless.

So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and risk her life to raise her rabbit ears to obtain information.

After returning safely, cold sweat broke out all over my body like a waterfall.

She was so exhausted that it was no wonder she wanted to live a luxurious life for several days and enjoy herself to the fullest.

"Tsui, I understand. However, you're the only one who could have hidden it from the observers and secretly helped Rouse Byrne and his group move."

"Why, why would you risk it like this..."

"That's right. Normally, at a time like this, we should wait until they leave Entris before joining up. If Rouse Byrne can handle it on his own, then going to join him might even hinder their progress. Under these circumstances, we should wait until he's defeated the punitive force before joining up with him."

“In that case—”

"However, I'm afraid that Ros Byrne is currently unable to cope. Although he has a guard knight accompanying him, his strength is unknown."

"And—" Reagan murmured, paused, closed his eyes tightly, and then continued:

"Your previous report mentioned two individuals with distinctive appearances among the expeditionary force... The contents of the report gave me a bad impression."

"Bad...imagination?"