Chapter 108 108: The Forgotten Alliance Part 1
When you have money, many things become much simpler, whether it's thinking about others or being thought of by others.
Eileen and Renji are currently in the old city district of the Sealed City, in a warehouse area cordoned off with barbed wire, seemingly long-abandoned. But delve a little deeper, and one finds many patrolling sentries, hinting at some hidden secret.
So...
"How did you find this place, old timer?" the girl asked, perplexed. It was only their second day in the Sealed City, yet the young man beside her seemed to know everything.
"If you encounter a rich, foolish investor and make a deal with them, and then they don't return for a second deal, you might get a crooked idea under the temptation of profit. You might think of showing them some 'color' with the help of the underworld, to remind them not to be ungrateful and to keep coming back as a cash cow. Sounds reasonable, right?"
Renji's explanation helped Eileen understand. She was surprised: "Old timer, are you saying the real estate and slave traders from yesterday? They contacted these fake revolutionaries and are planning against us?"
"Exactly. They had the idea but lacked action, still hesitating. So, I had 86 give them a little push to advance our plan."
"Eh!? When did this happen? I didn't know about it" Eileen said with widen eyes, having been beside him almost all the time except for when she was asleep.
"Remember last night when you asked where 86 had gone?"
"But didn't you say you sent 86 to withdraw money?"
"And isn't that what withdrawing money is?"
Renji showed Eileen the account balance with the returned millions of Ashen Coins. She felt a silent sympathy for the real estate trader, especially after thinking about how they had traded the mansion at an exorbitant, inflated price.
"So, are we sneaking in or storming in?"
"No need for that. Remember to use the new tools we acquired, don't let them gather dust."
Renji, while speaking, took out a stone pendant, known as the 'Hearthstone Tear'. The pendant emitted a faint glow, and in the next moment, their figures began to flicker repeatedly with several short-distance "blinks" easily avoiding all the guards and directly reaching the top floor of a warehouse in the rear.
"Looks like we're right on time."
Looking down from the top of the warehouse, they could see many demi-humans, all silently lined up on both sides. At the forefront appeared to be a jackal-type demi-human, and next to him was another figure—a human.
A prominent figure in the Sealed City.
Having bought all the newspapers available earlier that afternoon to catch up on current affairs, Renji and Eileen immediately recognized him as the equivalent of the city's mayor, a high official who frequently appeared on newspaper covers, Mario.
As Renji had suspected, the rogue faction of the fake revolutionary army definitely had official backing, but what he hadn't expected was the extent of this support.
The conversation below quickly shifted to a topic of Renji's interest.
"So, what about the promise you made? When can I see the heads of those demi-humans on the wanted list?" The mayor, Mario, didn't look pleased when he brought up this topic.
"Don't worry, Sir Mario. I had everything planned, but they changed tactics at the last minute, so I had to adapt."
"A change in tactics?"
"Yes, remember the young wealthy man named 'Renji' I asked you to investigate yesterday? It seems they've now focused their attention on him."
The jackal demi-human's words made Mario frown. He quickly responded:
"I've used my connections to look into it, and I'm sure that young man's identity is fake. He's either a foreigner posing as a citizen of the Dragon Nation, or possibly the illegitimate son of some bigshot. In any case, I couldn't find any official record of him."
"That's perfect. We won't even have to prepare the bait ourselves. We just need to wait and reel them in. Once my inside man in their group tells me their exact plan, I'll notify you immediately. Then, we can encircle them all at once. We'll catch all those wanted demi-humans who don't know their place in one fell swoop!"
Eileen, listening from above in the warehouse, gasped. This was a lot to take in.
So...
'Inside Ashe's revolutionary army, there was actually a mole? And this mole was leaking all of the army's movements to these pseudo-military forces in collusion with the government?'
And now, Mayor Mario and the jackal demi-human were plotting to ambush the revolutionary army during their operation, turning the tables on them!
'This...!'
Eileen turned anxiously to say something to Renji, but he shook his head, signaling her to keep watching.
The mayor, who obviously couldn't stay long in such a place, soon left the warehouse with his guards. After confirming that Mario had indeed left, the jackal demi-human gestured towards the shadows behind him.
And then...
A serpent demi-human emerged slowly from a hidden corner.
"How about it, Leng? I didn't lie to you. I let you listen to the entire conversation from the back without missing a word. This is an excellent opportunity for our demi-human race, isn't it?"
Seeing the serpent demi-human remain silent, those familiar with 'Cold Snake' Leng knew this was his way of agreeing. A smile appeared on the jackal demi-human's face.
"That arrogant human, thinking he can make us demi-humans fight each other, is laughable! When they come, the ones who will be wiped out will be the Dragon Gate army!"
"Once we jointly annihilate these human elites in the Sealed City, the city will return to our demi-human hands! Then..."
The jackal demi-human snorted coldly.
'Wow, what a revelation!'
Eileen, watching from above in the warehouse, was almost dizzy with the complexity of the situation.
'So...Was the mayor actually the one being deceived? The two revolutionary factions, seemingly enemies, were actually in cahoots, all to stage a play for the Dragon Gate army in the Sealed City?'
And from the jackal demi-human's words, it was clear that their ambitions and targets were not small—they aimed to take advantage of the situation to overturn the rule and let the Sealed City fall completely!
The plan was only one step away from execution.
"We can be your bait, but how can you guarantee that we'll be able to annihilate the Dragon Gate army with our strength? Among Mario's subordinates, there is a 'Relic Wielder'! If we can't deal with that 'Relic Wielder', all our scheming is just a joke!"
Leng, especially when mentioning the "Relic Wielder," showed a gritting expression.
After all, in terms of combat power, demi-humans were slightly superior to humans. However, humans, with their ability to use 'Relics', had created the current low status of demi-humans.
Faced with Leng's question, especially his classic demi-human fear of 'Relic Wielders' that had persisted for centuries, the jackal demi-human laughed crazily.
He suddenly asked a strange question.
"Leng, have you ever heard of... The Old Alliance?"
"The ... Old Alliance?"
"Yes, I only recently found out about it. The members of that organization have another name they prefer."
"The Forgotten."