The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Due to Ella's previous arrangements, Li Cheng and the Seven Stars Society were ultimately tasked with handling the matter in Shabu Town. Although the incident was sudden, it was a pity that the Dark Shepherds that the company wanted to rescue were not left behind. After all, only two of the five were left, and if they were not brought back to the Kingdom of Doom, it would be difficult to explain Ye Xiao's undercover operation.

As for the gray-robed girl and Miss Lo, Ella is currently in a weakened state after the great battle, and her own high-end combatant Gretia is also recuperating in her cat form. Only Julius is left to guard the front line, so Ella is not confident that she can take down a dragon and a chosen one.

Moreover, if the duchy knew about her current situation, they might pull some unexpected tricks. To be on the safe side, Li Cheng should only be allowed to appear after the other side has finished fighting.

Of course, there was no chance of finding a bargain. After a huge fight outside the town, the two men disappeared, leaving behind a messy battlefield and unconscious townspeople and imperial soldiers.

However, Li Cheng still brought a few manipulated townspeople to Ella to study why they would self-destruct, but that's another story.

Back at Ye Xiao's place, the group had already arrived at the foot of the walls of Sotetokounmpo.

Miss Maple was waving goodbye with great emotion to the flock of chocobos that had seen them off, while Raymond was handing over his travel pass to the guard at the gate.

"I don't quite understand how you managed to bring this group of monsters over here in the end."

Ye Xiao watched the flock of birds disappear on the horizon and turned back to ask.

"Well?"

Miss Mo Feng put one hand on her hip and frowned.

"Boss."

Ye Xiao had no choice but to add another respectful address.

The girl then beamed with joy, her orange-haired face resembling a plump, juicy peach.

"I was standing by the roadside thinking about where to find transportation when I saw a group of chocobos wandering around and harassing merchants on the town's bounty board. I immediately realized that this must be the most suitable means of transportation for us."

"Following the clues given in the bounty, I found their nest, and then used illusion magic to create an illusion of a green chili pepper in front of them, easily luring them out."

"Well, how about your boss's intelligence? Watch closely and learn from him."

"awesome."

Ye Xiao nodded. "I'm just a little curious, why not just go to the stables and find a few horses?"

"..."

As soon as Ye Xiao finished speaking, Miss Mo Feng's bright smile suddenly froze.

The two stared at each other for about three seconds before the girl's face visibly flushed red.

"No questioning the boss's decisions!"

……

After entering Sotetokounmpo, the group didn't spend much time resting and immediately rushed to the lord's mansion in the town center.

This place is currently occupied by the Duchy's army and serves as the frontline command post. Naturally, the group's mission will be handed over here.

Outside the magnificent manor, sentries patrolled everywhere, armed with muskets.

Ye Xiao and the others followed the gatekeeper into the manor and arrived at a secret reception room inside. There, he finally met the secret agent he had previously agreed to meet, "Little Master" Zhou Lixun.

Chapter 85 The Secret of the Theft

"Thank you all for your hard work. The task rewards will be credited to your accounts shortly. However, I'm afraid you'll have to make another trip next time."

Upon meeting, Zhou Lixun didn't exchange many pleasantries. After listening to Raymond's report, he skipped the small talk and immediately began to announce the next steps of the mission.

"The fighting on the front lines is at a stalemate, and the situation in Sottobang is also very complicated. It has been heavily infiltrated by the Empire, so we can't give you much time to rest."

"These two figures from the Dark Shepherd are quite important. There will be an airship heading to Lionheart City this afternoon. Please continue to escort them back home."

"Understood. Traveling by airship should be fine; there shouldn't be too much risk."

Raymond scratched his head, rubbing his messy red hair. "But, Manager Zhou, what exactly is the situation with the enemy in Shabu Town? Could you let us know so we can be prepared?"

“My entire squad is gone, and Miss Luo’s squad lost one member as well. She herself is now missing… I can understand what the higher-ups are thinking. As an intelligence agent, I know I shouldn’t ask too many questions, but at least, it would be acceptable for us to know information about the enemy, right?”

Raymond's tone wasn't particularly aggressive, but it was clear that he was being quite restrained.

Human joys and sorrows are not shared, and Ye Xiao didn't feel much for the few company players who were torn apart by the gray-robed girl.

After all, he wasn't familiar with them, and these were soldiers from an opposing force, not civilians. Once on the battlefield, they should be prepared to face death.

However, Raymond is different. You can tell that he still has some feelings for her. Of course, it's also possible that he's mainly concerned about Miss Luo.

"Ah."

Zhou Lixun frowned slightly, paused for a moment, and finally sighed softly.

"Logically speaking, I shouldn't reveal too much information to my subordinates, as it could have unforeseen consequences for the mission or the plans made by higher-ups."

"But now that you are in charge of this task, if morale is low, it would be too much to ask you to give it your all."

That statement makes perfect sense, and his expression did indeed show a sense of helplessness.

However, Ye Xiao knew that Zhou Lixun was a cunning old fox. He could vaguely sense that the "frankness" he exuded was just a performance he was putting on after waiting for Raymond to ask the question.

"What I'm about to say is top secret. I hope you understand what you should and shouldn't say next."

"no problem."

Raymond nodded emphatically upon hearing the other party's serious tone, then looked at Mo Feng and Ye Xiao beside him.

"And those two..."

"It's alright. Since we're all going to be working together, transparency will help you stay united. Besides, I recruited this Mr. Kalon, so you don't need to worry about his credibility."

"what?"

Raymond glanced at the unassuming Ye Xiao with some surprise; this was the first time he had heard of this.

Miss Mo Feng stood proudly next to Ye Xiao with her arms crossed, as if to say, "Awesome, right? I brought her here!"

"Alright, then Supervisor Zhou, please go ahead."

Raymond didn't think too much about it and turned back to continue.

Zhou Lixun nodded slightly, then lowered his voice and said, "There is a traitor within the company."

As soon as he finished speaking, the group was stunned. Raymond's eyes widened in disbelief. "A spy planted by that witch?"

Ye Xiao was initially shocked, but upon hearing Raymond's exclamation, he immediately lost his composure, turned his gaze away speechlessly, and glanced at Raymond.

Dude, why are you immediately trying to pin this on me?

"Based on our overt investigation, we have not found any connection with Ella Hevie. Of course, it is hard to say whether she may have secretly instructed us to do so."

Zhou Lixun continued, "But I think you must have heard about the widely publicized theft of the Holy Box."

"Thanks to Ella Heville, the whole world knows that the Sanctuary lost the Holy Regalia."

Raymond responded, "But I don't quite understand what this has to do with traitors?"

"We stole the Holy Regalia."

"Forehead……"

Raymond's gaze darted around. "Actually, everyone guessed this already. After all, there are only a few possibilities who would dare to steal holy artifacts from the Sanctuary."

He was too embarrassed to say it directly, but everyone had long assumed that doing such petty theft was a tradition in the company.

"But the research institute didn't develop much of the Holy Casket's capabilities. In fact, a month after the Holy Casket was transferred to the company, it was stolen from within the company again."

"……what?"

This was truly unexpected for Raymond. "What kind of person could steal something from inside the company?"

Hearing this, Ye Xiao almost lost her composure. The company was really messed up; they were getting their comeuppance for stealing from others every day.

"I think you probably already guessed the answer."

Zhou Lixun said in a deep voice, "Do you perhaps still remember that member of parliament whom the Principality previously wanted?"

"Windesatu...?"

"He was once the director of the research institute, and in addition to the Holy Casket, he also stole several extremely important experimental results from within the company."

“The girl you met last night is one of them. She has the blood of a dragon and is proficient in both human and dragon magic.”

Zhou Lixun spread his hands and said, "Her appearance was also unexpected. We specially arranged for secret agents to carry out the rescue mission to avoid this situation, but obviously someone leaked the news."

Tsk, no wonder that guy was so hostile towards the company's players. Ye Xiao recalled the murderous aura emanating from the gray-robed girl last night; anyone would probably be filled with malice if they were captured and used for experiments.

Ye Xiao had indeed met Councilor Wendt a few times on the ship. Now that he thought about it, he remembered that Wendt was accompanied by a quiet, short girl. Thinking back, he had even seen Wendt's dragon eyes unintentionally.

"This group of traitors had been hiding for a long time, operating in the shadows and acting very cautiously. We have been focused on dealing with the World-Destroying Witch for a long time and have not found an opportunity to deal with them. Now, it seems that their power has expanded quite a bit in secret."

Zhou Lixun sighed again, "With the help of the Holy Box, it is said that many small countries in the central part of the continent already have a lot of followers of that guy, calling themselves 'disciples', and even some of the Dark Shepherds have been poached by him."

"The corrupted beings you encountered last night that could explode on their own were perhaps the work of traitors on the side of the Dark Shepherds."

Wow, that's outrageous! They can even undermine the walls of cult members? Ye Xiao was secretly amazed.

"Hmm... so what exactly is their purpose?"

Miss Mofeng, standing nearby, seized the opportunity to ask a question.

"Nobody knows the answer to that."

Zhou Lixun shook his head. "They've always been elusive, and even the company's top management finds them difficult to deal with."

Chapter 86 The Airship to the Duchy

"I see."

After hearing Zhou Lixun's words, Raymond was filled with emotion and nodded gratefully to Zhou Lixun, "Thank you for telling us these things truthfully, Manager Zhou."

"It doesn't matter."

Zhou Lixun patted Raymond on the shoulder solemnly, "I'm saying all this mainly for your safety."

"Aside from this senator who has clearly defected, I suspect there are still hidden enemies within the company. Remember not to be careless after arriving in Lionheart City."

"clear."

With the conversation over, Raymond had his answer and then told everyone to prepare for departure.

But Ye Xiao had other thoughts in mind.

Zhou Lixun said that, but based on Ye Xiao's understanding of the company, those words were probably only half true and half false, and a lot of them were probably made up by Zhou Lixun.

Judging from Miss Luo's sudden outburst last night, it would be a miracle if the company didn't know that the gray-robed girl would come.

What a coincidence that a powerful chosen one was assigned to carry out a raid on a small border military camp? That means they must be at least a high-end combatant above the extraordinary level. Are there really that many manpower available?

Ye Xiao speculated that the more likely scenario was that Raymond and the other players were probably used as cannon fodder in a fishing operation, and now Zhou Lixun had managed to dismiss him with just a few words. He should be grateful that Manager Zhou was willing to risk leaking information and be honest with him.

Even the leak... it seems like it was said to Raymond, but Ye Xiao always felt that the other party was more likely saying it to him on purpose.

More importantly, Zhou Lixun didn't mention a word about the significance of the Dark Shepherds they were escorting.

This is clearly the core of the mission. Deborah and her gang aren't that strong; a group of soldiers could have easily captured them. So why would those meticulous traitors risk exposing themselves to rush over and arrest them?

Companies always like to play this game, guiding people to know what they want them to know, while keeping the truly crucial things hidden.

However, Ye Xiao also knew that even if he directly asked Zhou Lixun and the other two Dark Shepherds what the situation was, he would probably be fooled.

If someone doesn't want to talk about it, they'll always have a million excuses.

……

After leaving the mansion, Ye Xiao and his group found a hotel to rest temporarily before rushing to the airship landing field in the north of the city at the agreed time in the afternoon.

At this time, a large number of warships were still parked on the open ground for maintenance and repair. Following the instructions, they quickly found the number of the airship they needed to board and lined up outside the cabin door.

In the group, the vast majority of passengers waiting to board the airship were officers and generals in uniforms of considerable rank, while the few who were not in military uniforms were mostly nobles in fine robes.

Ye Xiao and his group, dressed in particularly simple clothes, moved among the glamorous crowd, making them stand out from the others.

"Captain, are you sure this is the airship we're going to board?"

The burly player who manipulated gravity magic asked somewhat awkwardly.

"This is the earliest one; I couldn't possibly have gotten the number wrong."

Raymond, with his hands in the outer pockets of his mage robe, said, "What are you so nervous about? Stand up straight. We didn't come here without a ticket."

The burly player scratched his head, but his strong physique still seemed a little restrained.

"By the way, you were on Miss Luo's team before, right? Now that Supervisor Zhou has put us all on the same team, let's all briefly introduce ourselves so we can look out for each other later."