CHAPTER 887: CHAPTER 887: QUITE A FEW BIG FISH IN EVERNIGHT HARBOR

The development of events was not beyond Talan’s expectations, and the speed of development was much faster than he anticipated.

The guards of Evernight Harbor subjected him to a 48-hour surprise interrogation, asking him "where he got the information about the Enlightenment Society," and a series of inquiries about the society’s creed, objectives, philosophy, organizational structure, and so on.

Who knew these Vellante people were testing him? Having done his homework in advance, Talan wasn’t flustered at all, having memorized the information from the official website, responding fluently during the interrogation.

Even if the Vellante people rephrased the same question, he didn’t reveal any flaws.

It seemed they were moved by his sincerity, and the interrogators who interrogated him in shifts all believed him.

Especially the last interrogator, who was so excited that he couldn’t help but stand up and shake hands with him.

"Mr. Talan, thank you for your provision... I mean, thank you for seeing the light! A great cause has gained another just partner, the Enlightenment Society welcomes your joining!"

"For the great cause!"

Seeing that he had finally passed the assessment, Talan excitedly stood up, but then, since his hands were still cuffed to the table, he was forced to sit back down.

"I’ll unlock you!"

Seeing his embarrassment, the interrogator quickened his pace to come before him, used a key to open his handcuffs, and then enthusiastically shook both of his hands.

"You’ve been wronged these days! We hope you can understand us, we also have our difficulties... Reliable intelligence shows that the Alliance has already set their sights on us, we must be extremely careful."

"Compared to the grievances I suffered at the Alliance, this is nothing, I understand your caution... After all, what we are doing is not a game."

Talan looked at him with the same enthusiasm, a look of finding his organization and comrades, and continued with excitement.

"So, am I considered to have joined you now?"

The interrogator grasped his hand firmly, smiling as he nodded.

"That’s right! You’ve passed the assessment, tomorrow the colleagues from the personnel department will come to find you to discuss joining procedures."

Talan: "Personnel department?"

The interrogator said with a smile.

"It’s the department responsible for personnel management... After all, we are a tightly organized institution, dedicated affairs are managed by dedicated people."

Talan realized suddenly, then nodded and gave him an "I understand" look.

"Got it!"

"Glad you understand!"

Returning to the office desk, the interrogator gathered the documents on the table and quickly stuffed them into an envelope, then turned back to Talan with a smile and said.

"I will submit this information as soon as possible, sorry to trouble you, but you have to bear one more day here."

"You’re too polite, I’ve already said it’s no grievance... alright, you go quickly."

Talan smiled and nodded, even politely seeing the interrogator out the door, and then followed the prison guard with a face full of intriguing contemplation back to the cell.

As usual, he acted tired, lay down, and instantly fell asleep, returning to offline.

Taking off his helmet, he rushed to the keyboard, his index finger rapidly tapping away.

"Brothers! I’ve infiltrated the Enlightenment Society!"

Perhaps because it was still early morning in reality, most players were still in the game, and backseat drivers were asleep, so not many people responded enthusiastically.

However, upon seeing the title of his post, quite a few people rushed in.

Medical Miracle: "WTF? Is it true?!"

Sauerkraut Fish: "Commando Leader is awesome!!"

Angry Fatty Liver: "Wow, something’s going on."

Most of those popping in were members of the Desert Army.

Unexpectedly, their leader finally made a significant move, everyone was genuinely flattering him.

Especially those newcomers who were confused and ate time in jail as soon as they landed, they all started clamoring.

"Bro! I’ve been eating jail food for three days!"

"I’ve never been in lockup for this long in my life!"

"Quick, lend a brother a hand!"

"Or should we just confess for leniency?"

Seeing all that flattering praise, Talan felt elated, and extravagantly typed out another sentence.

"Brothers, don’t panic, I’ve just infiltrated the Enlightenment Society’s organization, I’ll have to trouble you to remain undercover for a bit longer!"

"But don’t worry, I asked the interrogator, they won’t keep you locked up for too long, you should be released in a few days, just hold on a little longer!"

That’s indeed what the interrogator told him.

And not only that, the other party also hoped he could recruit those travelers from the Alliance to become underlings for the Enlightenment Society, and after returning to the Alliance, help them continue gathering intelligence on the Alliance.

Hearing such a good deal, Talan immediately agreed, promised he would get it done.

What’s more, he pounded his chest and assured those big noses that these tourists, like himself, were fed up with the lies of the Survivor’s Daily and wanted to see if the real Army was as bad as the newspaper claimed, so they traveled to Evernight Harbor.

Allies of the Alliance who doubt the Survivor’s Daily are like Weilante people who doubt the Southern Corps Victory Report, they have already sold their souls and are no longer loyal.

Recruiting those disloyal folks into underlings wasn’t a hard task.

Just as Talan was vividly describing his plans of "deceiving heaven" and "substituting beams for pillars" on the official Forum, the interrogator responsible for him sat down in the black sedan parked at the gate of Carter Nord prison.

Watching the interrogator get into the car, Weilobi, the Chief Commander of the Guards sitting in the rear, leaned over and asked hurriedly.

"How’s it?"

Not daring to be negligent, the interrogator respectfully handed the file in his hands to the commander.

"He’s confessed everything. All the information about the Enlightenment Society is in this document. Most of the clues match those provided by Triumph City, and there are even some details we didn’t know about!"

After two days of testing, they had basically figured out all the details of the Enlightenment Society.

For instance, grassroots members are called Disciples, mid-level members are Guides, and above that are Elders.

As for the President, the top level, the codename is "Gui Xu."

With this intelligence, they could completely build a Cocoon Room called the Enlightenment Society from scratch and put this Alliance spy who thought he had infiltrated the Enlightenment Society inside it, thus extracting more clues about the Enlightenment Society and the Alliance from him.

This is the idea behind the "Wasp" plan!

If there’s no bait, create bait, don’t worry if the other side doesn’t bite!

Glancing at the file after breaking it open, Weilobi was overjoyed, then immediately handed the file to the Garrison Intelligence Department Chief sitting in the front passenger seat.

"The target has bitten! Arrange everything according to the file’s content immediately!"

The Intelligence Department Chief replied without hesitation.

"Yes!"

Watching his subordinates scurry around like ants, Commander Weilobi contentedly leaned back in his seat and leisurely took a sip of hot tea from his thermal cup.

At this moment, the Alliance spy still didn’t know that he had fallen into a trap.

By the time the guy finally realizes that this so-called "Enlightenment Society" is nothing but a setup intentionally created by Evernight Harbor’s Guards, it would be too late.

By then, they would have figured out all the clues to "No.0 Shelter" and the "Torch Plan" through this intentionally created setup, and would become the rightful owners of the secret weapons capable of rebooting the world!

He was simply a genius!

With the order given, an operation codenamed "Wasp" officially got underway.

According to the intelligence provided by Commander Weilobi, over a hundred staff members from the Intelligence Department immediately sprang into action, and within a day, established a base for the "Enlightenment Society" near Blackwater Alley.

The entire base was made to look authentic; it was even disguised as a hotel, with the office located between the 4th and 5th floors — that is, the ’4.5 floor,’ accessible only through a secret panel.

Moreover, the thirty staff members assigned to the "4.5 floor" were all trained operatives from the Intelligence Department.

They were to play his colleagues and seniors, going on missions with him, and extract every bit of intelligence possible from him during interactions.

All preparations were completed within a day.

Thus, the Enlightenment Society had a base in Evernight Harbor that it wasn’t aware of.

And to win the trust of the Alliance spy, the Garrison Intelligence Department staff even prepared a uniquely creative initiation ceremony for him.

All these elaborate arrangements were to make the fabricated Enlightenment Society seem as real and genuine as possible.

With one day elapsed, Talan was once again summoned to the interrogation room.

This time, he met the older guard who was initially in charge of interrogating him.

Unlike their first meeting.

The old fellow didn’t put handcuffs on him and greeted him with a handshake and a smile.

"Mr. Talan, we meet again. It seems you’ve passed my colleague’s assessment."

Talan secretly rejoiced inside, but outwardly he complained.

"I told you from the start, I genuinely want to join you, but you just wouldn’t believe me."

"Trust is something that needs time to build, and you’ve earned our trust with your sincerity."

The guard cleared his throat, continuing with a warm smile.

"Let me reintroduce myself: my name is Daniel, I’m the head of the Evernight Harbor branch of the Enlightenment Society, and also your ’Guide.’

Guide!

The big fish bit the bait, damn it!

Talan was thrilled inside but showed surprised respect on his face, acting as if he was flattered.

"A pleasure, a pleasure!"

As he was about to exchange some pleasantries, a detail suddenly struck him.

Rumor has it the Enlightenment Society only accepts Residents of the refuge, yet this guy’s nose clearly showed he was a Weilante.

How did this guy become a Guide?!

Seemingly perceiving his alertness, Daniel gently patted his shoulder and explained.

"To be honest, I joined the refuge only ten years ago, and it wasn’t until eight years ago that I found the organization... It was from that moment I found the meaning of life, not living just for the sake of living."

The heartfelt words instinctively convinced Talan halfway, and with the remaining half, his doubts dissipated entirely as the other revealed his identity proof—Vital signs monitor (VM).

"Shelter 68, this is my identification. I passed the assessment of that shelter, and its Manager recognized my identity, personally granting me this VM... At the same time, that gentleman is also my Guide."

Seeing the utterly speechless Talan, Daniel put away the VM on his arm and gave him a friendly smile.

"This is not the place to talk, I’ll take you to our base first."

Talan’s spirit lifted.

"Now? But I’m still under detention, don’t I need to go through some procedures—"

Daniel interrupted him.

"Don’t be so formal, my friend, you’ve already joined our glorious and great cause, how could we let you remain in captivity due to this small misunderstanding? The procedures for your release were completed yesterday, you are free."

As he said this, he lowered his voice.

"Our cooperation with the Army started long ago, not just here, including Yavente and even Triumph City... we have people everywhere."

Talan immediately showed an understanding expression, restraining the excitement in his heart, and gave a thumbs up.

"Impressive!"

Unexpectedly, the cooperation between the Southern Legion and the Enlightenment Society had reached such a close extent!

"Keep it low key."

Inwardly mocking "so easy to deceive", Daniel looked at the prison guard beside him, showing the documents in his hand.

"I’ll take the person away now."

The warden took the document from his hand, checked it from top to bottom, especially inspecting the signature at the end.

Once confirming there was no issue, he returned the documents to the guard in front of him.

"Alright, I’ll leave him to you."

Although he was the warden of Carter Nord prison, he wasn’t involved in the Guards’ missions, only knowing that the Guards seemed to have another big action up their sleeves.

This group is usually quite unreliable, he just hoped they wouldn’t cause another big mess this time.

Daniel nodded, preparing to leave with the Alliance spy, but noticed the gaze of the guard standing next to the warden fixated on him.

He lifted an eyebrow, looking at the man a bit more.

"Is there something wrong?"

Having been drifting off in thought, Andrew suddenly snapped back to reality, squeezing out an awkward smile.

"No... nothing’s wrong."

Seeing that unnatural smile, Daniel slightly furrowed his brows.

However, at this moment, the warden laughed heartily, helping Andrew out of the awkward situation.

"Don’t mind him, this guy’s always like this, clumsy and absent-minded, always lost in thought, or else he wouldn’t have been working under me for ten or twenty years."

He couldn’t quite remember the exact number of years, anyway, since he took office, this peculiar old man had been there, usually keeping to himself and not interacting with other colleagues.

Looking at that timid, head-down honest man, Daniel nodded, gradually dispelling his doubts.

Lone individuals have various reasons for their solitude, that stiff expression was perhaps just overthinking.

After all, an old-timer who could work at Carter Nord Prison for ten or twenty years was unlikely to be a normal person, most people couldn’t endure more than two or three years, and those who weren’t transferred to other departments mostly changed jobs.

The urgency was to first settle the "big fish" beside him.

Without further delay, Daniel took Talan and left hurriedly.

Lifting his buried head, Andrew looked through his bangs at the two figures leaving, his heart pounding heavily.

What a close call!

He almost got exposed!

The development of events made him increasingly unable to understand it. If it wasn’t for his duty, he’d want to follow to get to the bottom of it. Since when had Evernight Harbor had another base of the Enlightenment Society, even he, a disciple, was kept in the dark.

The warden standing aside knew nothing, just shaking his head at this sneaky guy.

The infamous Carter Nord Prison housed all the scum Evernight Harbor didn’t want. Typically, the Guards just threw people into the cages here and left them alone, but this time they actually conducted several rounds of interrogation, clearly indicating a significant case.

Having the rare chance to cooperate with the Guards, he specially brought some of the old-timers from the prison with him, hoping they’d show some cleverness and get noticed by those bigwigs, transferred to the Guards or other departments.

Unexpectedly, these old-timers gave him no face at all, and he ended up wasting his expressions.

"... Mud can’t be sculpted into a wall!" The warden sighed, shaking his head as he walked away.

...

On the other side, the two "big fish" biting each other’s hook had already gotten into the black car parked at the prison entrance.

Seated in the car, Daniel lit a cigarette, then offered one to Talan.

"Want a smoke?"

Talan smiled sheepishly, waving his hand to decline.

"Not for me, I’m not used to the taste."

Daniel didn’t insist, pressing the newly lit cigarette into the ashtray, then tucked the cigarette box into his pocket.

Unexpectedly, this newly acquainted "superior" took such good care of him, leaving Talan momentarily touched.

Of course, he couldn’t forget his identity and loyalty for such small favors.

The journey continued in silence.

About a ten-minute drive, the car stopped next to a hotel.

Talan deliberately took note of the sign hanging by the door; the name of this hotel was quite unique, translated into Chinese, it was called "Marshal’s Armory." People who didn’t understand might think it was a weapon shop.

Perhaps because of its peculiar sign, there were hardly any guests in the hotel, only a white-haired old man dozing off behind the bar counter.

If it hadn’t been for the old man raising half an eyelid when they walked into the hotel lobby, he might have thought the guy had passed away.

"You’re here—cough! Welcome, are you here to stay or dine?"

Daniel gave him a deep look, took out a silver room card, and tapped it gently twice on the bar counter.

The old man knowingly nodded, then continued to lean on the bar counter, dozing off.

"Follow me."

Calling Talan, who was still bewildered, Daniel led him straight to the back kitchen, then up a staircase hidden within a secret compartment, all the way to the end of the stairs.

As the door swung open, the scene ahead suddenly brightened, causing Talan to involuntarily widen his eyes.

A secret hideout hidden in plain sight!

A floor unreachable by ordinary means!

With décor rich in mysticism and a sense of technology, everything here perfectly matched his entire imagination of the Enlightenment Society!

Of course, maybe because it was so well hidden, he initially thought he was being taken somewhere he wasn’t supposed to go while still on the stairs.

Seemingly satisfied with the amazement on his face, Daniel smiled faintly and continued.

"Welcome to the Marshal’s 4.5th floor, this is our base in Evernight Harbor."

Looking around at the faces, Talan swallowed, it took a long grunt to squeeze a word out of his mouth.

"Impressive..."

Withdrawing his gaze from his face, Daniel turned his eyes to the bustling office beside him.

"Most of the disciples responsible for internal affairs work here, and a portion has been assigned outside to carry out missions."

"Even though we have cooperated with the Southern Legion, our information isn’t convenient to disclose, so we can only do this covertly... By the way, I hope when you’re outside, you try to avoid mentioning your identity."

"Understood!" Talan nodded excitedly, unable to hold back, he spoke eagerly, "By the way, you mentioned missions just now... I wonder if I can help?"

Feeling that speaking out right now might seem a bit too urgent, Talan quickly added a sentence.

"Please forgive my impatience, I just want to contribute my strength to the organization as soon as possible."

Looking at this person who volunteered to take the bait, Daniel smiled mysteriously and continued.

"I understand how you feel, most people who join us do... However, I hope you understand, before giving you a ’sufficiently important task,’ we need to test your ability first."

Which means starting with less glamorous tasks, right?

Got it!

Though a bit discontented, Talan nodded vigorously.

"No problem, I’ll prove my capability."

"Good, I’ve been waiting for you to say that."

Daniel nodded approvingly, took a file from an approaching staff member, and handed it to Talan.

As the latter was flipping through the file, he succinctly summarized its content.

"Recently, a new hallucinogen called ’Snake Oil’ has suddenly appeared on Evernight Harbor’s black market. But this stuff isn’t extracted from snakes, it’s refined from a plant called snake grass."

"Investigating the origin of Snake Oil was originally the duty of the Garrison Intelligence Department, but according to their subsequent findings, the waters run deeper than anticipated, possibly involving the Alliance’s ’toxic strategy dumping’ on us as retaliation for our frontline forces using chemical weapons."

Talan was bewildered after hearing this.

Since when did the Enlightenment Society involve itself in drug enforcement?

What’s this ’toxic strategy dumping’ nonsense, anyway? They never did such dirty work.

"Does this have anything to do with our grand plan?" Talan asked, raising his head from the file in confusion.

Daniel smiled and replied.

"It’s unrelated to our grand plan, but the Southern Legion is our ally. Occasionally, they’ll need us to utilize our grassroots organizational advantages and secrecy to address and investigate troublesome matters for them... In return, they will help our plan. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Snake Oil’s popularity in the black market has already caught the authorities’ attention, and whether it’s the Alliance’s strategic dumping needs further investigation."

However, considering that this stuff comes from Snake State, which Poluo Country effectively controls, he thought this possibility wasn’t low, perhaps even very high!

After all, Poluo Country’s army needs imported dinar ammunition for Legion-standard weapons, and smuggling weapons costs considerably more than the market price; only similarly lucrative addictive substances could fill this gap.

This case is currently under investigation by the Intelligence Department, which needs to be resolved anyway, so they might as well let this spy from the Alliance try his skills.

If the Alliance wants to infiltrate the Enlightenment Society, they surely wouldn’t mind incurring additional ’costs,’ would they?

He had already come this far.

With a cunning smile on his face, Daniel patted Talan’s shoulder.

"This job is yours, I’ll arrange for you to have an assistant."

Suddenly being entrusted with such a major task left Talan baffled, but he still nodded hard, bravely taking on this troublesome job.

"I’ll... handle it."