The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Then...brother, how should I introduce myself..."

"Oh, my name doesn't matter."

As Ye Xiao spoke, a smile curved his lips, and a strange, dark object slowly emerged from his open palm.

"Just give me a little time so I can introduce you to our savior and deities..."

"What is this thing...!? Ah... Ugh!!!"

As a soundproofing array opened up beneath Ye Xiao's feet, the gaunt player collapsed to the ground, frantically grabbing at the writhing tentacle ball that lunged at his face, his painful whimpers echoing through the room.

……

On the hillside, Li Cheng, whose eyes were still fixed on the village below, was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. He turned around in alarm and saw Ye Xiao waving at him, "It's time to leave."

"Holy crap!? Brother Ye, you scared me to death!?"

Li Cheng felt his heart skip a beat. Ye Xiao's elusive methods were terrifying even to his own people.

One minute I saw the other person go into a house 300 meters away, and a moment later they suddenly popped up behind me again.

"Mmm, I'll remind you in advance next time."

Ye Xiao shrugged. "But we need to hurry and slip away. The people on the other side have already started searching the area."

Just as Ye Xiao had said, a large number of guards had sprung up in the nearby village like mushrooms after rain, searching the surrounding area, presumably having discovered that their companions were missing.

Slight rustling sounds could be heard from the ground, and a cloud of dust rose from the east, suggesting that reinforcements were on their way.

Within two minutes of the anomaly being discovered, the area was filled with patrols from the duchy, demonstrating the speed of the other side's response.

Fortunately, there was Ella's portal, and Ye Xiao and Li Cheng vanished from the vast desert.

……

Back at Sandbar Fortress, Ye Xiao showed Holman and the Loren generals the strange machine he had brought back in the conference room.

"A cipher machine..."

Holman looked the thing up and down with surprise, and as Ye Xiao slowly explained its function, he suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, as if saying, "Sir, times have changed."

His more than thirty years of military experience, commanding numerous wars large and small in the Loren Empire, seemed utterly worthless in the face of this machine.

If those steam tanks and airships were merely advantages in the Duchy's military, then this cipher machine changed his understanding of military organization.

No wonder no matter how he tried to flank and intercept, he was always met with a swift response and failed to achieve any results.

Noticing the sadness in Holman's expression, Ye Xiao quickly comforted him, "Don't be too disappointed, Mr. Holman. These things... well, after all, we travelers from another world come from a different world..."

“I know, Mr. Ye, I’m just feeling a bit sentimental… but I’m a veteran of many battles, so I won’t be swayed by this.”

Holman shook his head. "With you and the Holy Maiden protecting the Empire, I remain confident about the future of this war."

"You flatter me, you flatter me. I am just an ordinary adventurer, merely following the orders of the Holy Maiden."

Ye Xiao waved his hand, saying that the glory and honor should go to Ella, he didn't need them that much.

"Getting back to the main point, intercepting the cipher machine does not mean that we have the ability to decipher the principality's military intelligence."

"Yes, you mentioned earlier that there is a book called the 'key' that comes with this cipher machine. The cipher machine must be adjusted according to the contents of the book to get the correct configuration, otherwise it will still be impossible to decipher publicly sent secret messages."

Although Holman's understanding was shaken, he quickly grasped what Ye Xiao had said.

"Moreover, this 'key' is redistributed daily by a special messenger within the Duchy's army, and even if intercepted by any means, it is only valid for one day."

Ye Xiao continued.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Spy Shadows of the Western Frontier

“I naturally took the key they used today. According to the translator’s instructions, I have basically mastered the rules.”

Ye Xiao continued speaking, placing a simple but sturdy leather notebook on the table.

"You should have already taken care of the task I asked you to complete, which involved selecting a few travelers from another world to form a decoding team, right?"

Holman nodded. "That's natural, and as you said, we copied and recorded all the special posts that have appeared on the forum recently, but unfortunately, there aren't many."

"Of course, they will delete it within eight hours after posting it, leaving no trace."

Ye Xiao tried his best to explain concisely, hoping to help Holman, an indigenous person, understand the existence of the "system".

"However, this is not the main problem we will face. The Duchy now knows that we have obtained a cipher machine and has made contact with their cipher machine."

"With war imminent, given the Duchy's caution, they will try to change the way information is exchanged. The translator I contacted will certainly be temporarily imprisoned, but not disposed of, because training a qualified translator is a very troublesome task."

"In addition, all key transmission channels will be strictly protected, and multiple different versions of keys will be used to ensure that if one version is intercepted, other versions can be used immediately."

"Multiple versions... how can they promptly inform all parties which version to use?"

"No need to notify, just use polling."

Ye Xiao explained, "Their secret messages will have a fixed prefix. The interpreters just need to try them one by one, and whichever one can decipher the prefix is ​​the correct one."

"Hiss... To decipher it, we need to make sure we get all the keys they issued at the same time, and even then, they're only valid for one day."

One of the Loren generals was feeling utterly overwhelmed.

However, he was relatively fortunate, as many nobles and generals still couldn't understand what Ye Xiao was saying.

"Don't worry, this also means there won't be too many versions of the key,"

Ye Xiao comforted him, "In less than three days, it's impossible for us to control all channels with just intelligence from the Western Frontier... But we don't need to control the transportation channels. No matter how different versions of the keys are transmitted, there will always be a fixed intersection point in the end."

"Does that mean we should try to find new translator locations? In any case, the keys will eventually end up in the hands of the translators."

Holman asked.

“The translator has already been identified once. Given the opponent’s style, they will definitely deploy more in multiple locations, creating a maze of truth and falsehood. This kind of thing has a time limit; if they are not found within a day, it’s all for nothing.”

Ye Xiao shook his head in rejection.

"Even if we manage to find it, once the principality finds out, they can cancel the existing key and resend it to translators in other locations through different channels, and the key we found will still become a piece of waste paper."

"Then what should we do..."

Holman was also a bit dizzy and confused. It turned out that getting the machine was only the first step, and the rest would be even more difficult.

However, Ye Xiao did not show any difficulty on his face. Instead, he smiled easily and tapped his finger lightly on the map.

"There won't be just one intersection point. If the end point of intelligence is hard to find, we can go find the starting point."

“Strom, as the last major city on their information route, is where the keys will be distributed in any case.”

……

Five hours later, in the evening.

Strømsgodset, East End.

In a dimly lit residential building, Ye Xiao stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, listening to the whispered reports from several players dressed in white robes inside.

These are players who were recruited by Loren and are now active in Strom. Two of them were even saved by Ella during the Pilgrimage Festival, so they are quite friendly to both Ella and Loren now.

In other words, they could be considered as spies from the Loren intelligence agency infiltrated into Strømsgodset.

"That castle is now the headquarters of the Eastern Expeditionary Legion of the Duchy of Tedeh."

A player pointed to a towering castle in the distance, surrounded by countless brightly lit buildings in the city center.

"That place was originally the lord's mansion of Strømsgod. After it was occupied, it became a fortress for the officers of the duchy."

Ye Xiao nodded knowingly, looking at the bustling street scene outside the window, raising an eyebrow, "Why does this place feel surprisingly prosperous?"

"At that time, the Imperial army suffered several defeats on the border. The lord of Strømsgod was terrified and surrendered to the enemy, refusing to open the city gates to the Imperial army. Commander Holman had no choice but to lead his troops to retreat by detour, so the buildings in the city were not damaged much."

"Damn, how can there be people like this?"

Ye Xiao's lips twitched, and she couldn't help but complain out loud.

However, the Principality of Tedeh is not the Hell Legion. It would be best for them to preserve the city's buildings and population. They wouldn't be so foolish as to blow up their own city to pieces.

Therefore, it is normal for the city to resume operation after some repairs. For the average resident, there is probably no real sense of war.

"The western district is a military supply point. We've discovered that at least twenty war airships are parked there. As for the steam tanks and steel golems, they're stationed outside the city. Several more waves have arrived recently, so the total number is probably over a thousand."

so much……

Ye Xiao felt a toothache just listening to it.

In the previous life, the army that finally stormed the Holy City and fought against the World-Destroying Witch only numbered around a hundred vehicles. Although that was partly due to the fact that Morning Star Ridge was surrounded by the sea and could only rely on ships for amphibious landings, Tedeh's military strength was simply too exaggerated.

All the magic crystals that Aslan had sold off to the Lockwood Merchant Guild over the years have probably ended up here.

It has to be said that Tedeh's country is really unlucky; they stole things from Aslan and then attacked our Loren.

"Let's get back to the city lord's mansion. I need some channels to get in there."

"The city lord's mansion is heavily guarded. The brothers tried to find a way to get in a few days ago, but they didn't have any good methods."

The player replied, "However, there's a banquet being held there in the last two days, with some lords from the Kingdom of Doum and the border regions attending. Perhaps we can find a way to sneak in."

"banquet?"

"The victory banquet for the officers served two purposes: to boost morale and to attract local nobles."

The player explained to Ye Xiao.

"Not all nobles in the Kingdom of Doum and the western border are loyal to the Loren Empire. The duchy is expanding its territory quickly, but to consolidate its rule, whether it is recruiting soldiers or developing and building, it needs the support of local nobles. So this banquet is also an invitation to select nobles who are willing to join them."

"Interesting. They're so confident they can win the battle three days from now."

Ye Xiao stroked her chin.

"Who knows? Anyway, a lot of important figures from the Duchy's army will be there to make a show of things."

The player shrugged. "However, we also got a list of several local nobles who will be attending the banquet. Perhaps we can use their identities to sneak into the banquet."

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Grand Party

The majestic castle was brightly lit, its brilliant lights contrasting sharply with the distant wisps of smoke rising from the sky.

In the center of the square at the entrance, a tall stone sculpture stands atop a circular fountain, with clear water jets changing rhythmically to the accompaniment of melodious music.

The wide roads around the city were lined with luxurious carriages, and nobles dressed in their finest attire walked up the magnificent steps into the city gate.

Just across the street, upstairs in a luxury hotel, a noble couple, bound hand and foot, stared in terror at the man before them, their bodies trembling, their mouths gagged with cloth, unable to utter a sound.

"Don't worry, you two, you'll be fine. Of course, I don't want you to remember what happened so clearly. Forget about it all, just think of it as a nightmare. When you wake up, you'll be back in your beautiful manor."

While comforting the noble couple, Ye Xiao wiped his hands with a handkerchief.

The rat perched on his shoulder stared at the couple, its wide eyes flashing with a silvery light. The couple's eyes immediately went vacant, and then their heads lolled to the side as they leaned against the wall and fainted.

Ye Xiao squatted down, took an envelope from the man's pocket, and took out a folded piece of paper from inside.

He unfolded it, and there it was—an invitation.

"Baron Kalon..."

He muttered the name on the invitation, his lips twitching.

The pronunciation of the name always felt a bit off, but he didn't have time to be picky, so he folded the invitation and placed it on the table.

This noble couple was one of the participants the players' spies had discovered would be attending the banquet at the city lord's castle.

With intelligence from spies, Ye Xiao found their residence effortlessly.

After subduing the two men, he threatened them and asked for their information.

The man was a baron, the lord of a small fiefdom in the border region of the Kingdom of Doum, who came to attend the banquet after receiving an invitation from the Duchy of Tedeh.

As for the woman beside him, to be precise, she was not his wife but his mistress, whom he brought along to pass the time on the road.

Having figured out the identities of the two, an invisible ripple spread slightly around Ye Xiao, and Ella, lifting her skirt, stepped into the house.

Since the border baron, Kalon, had brought a companion, Ye Xiao decided to have Ella fill in for him to avoid being noticed.

Ella put on the Ring of All Things and gently touched the unconscious girl lying in the corner. A pale blue magical power surged around her, enveloping the girl's figure and face.

Before long, Ella's original cute and charming appearance was replaced by that of a young girl. Her gorgeous silver-white long hair transformed into reddish-brown short hair, and her charming red peach blossom eyes turned into pitiful drooping eyes.

But whether it was Ye Xiao's imagination or not, even though it was the exact same face, Ella after the appearance change seemed to be much prettier than the original girl.

Afterwards, Ye Xiao used some materials exchanged in the system shop to create a simple disguise for himself, mimicking the appearance of Baron Nacharon.