Chapter 308: Off to Silver Province
Chapter 308: Off to Silver Province
Chen Dao was smoothly tricked into joining the sixth regiment before Xiao Lin left for the New World. The process could be likened to using a lollipop to deceive a little girl. Xiao Lin had not even explained the detailed composition of the regiment to Chen Dao, but the guy did not seem too bothered about it. All he cared about was going to the New World and meeting beauties of all races.
Yu Mei was not joking when she said she gave Xiao Lin direct permission to conscript members for the regiment. Once Xiao Lin sent the relevant information to Yu Mei, he received a reply in just over half a day. However, it would take some time to settle the officer ID.
"Officer ID? Are you saying that the sixth regiment will only consist of officers in the future?"
"Would you want our rank in the military to be lower than that of the natives?"
Xiao Lin suddenly had a realization. It probably signified that the regiment was some kind of a special army, one that was composed entirely of real elites.
Chen Dao's officer ID was sent along with information about the Silver Province Yu Mei mentioned earlier. Although she later learned that Xiao Lin went there because of a diplomatic mission, she still repeatedly asked Xiao Lin not to miss the opportunity to make money.
Before her appointment as the Major of the sixth regiment, Yu Mei used to work in the Intelligence Agency before, so the information sent over to Xiao Lin came in thick stacks. All of them contained background information on Silver Province's various forces. To put it bluntly, it was to ensure that Xiao Lin paid attention to those he could apply pressure to and those he should not provoke.
During that period of time, the student union president brought Xiao Lin to meet many people, from the military, the Intelligence Agency, and the Foreign Affairs Department. According to the president's teasing words, Xiao Lin was considered to have somewhat of a reputation, as even the president would not ordinarily have the opportunity to interact with those people.
The college management and the colony itself belonged to two completely different administrative organizations, but because they often handled things with each other, the president was still relatively familiar with those people.
Due to the diplomatically cooperative nature of the mission, many of those people had full of doubts and were even puzzled about Xiao Lin. Although Dawn Academy had no interest in Asabanor, the secrets hidden behind that high priest were so secretive that practically all the colleges viewed it with great curiosity.
Had it not been for Lilith's unequivocal request for Xiao Lin, those departments would never consider sending a rookie who had just been in the academy a few months into Silver Province. That kind of attitude was precisely why they were not that friendly when explaining specific matters, and the atmosphere only improved when the president was mediating beside Xiao Lin.
The mission was completely different from Xiao Lin's previous assignment in New Washington. What he did in the past was nothing more than lending a little help, but the upcoming mission involved many interests, especially since the investigation was conducted secretly by Judge Academy and Dawn Academy. Other academies had so far not been privy to any news. Of course, Judge Academy was initially reluctant to bring along Dawn Academy, but their hands were tied because Xiao Lin was someone who had actually met Asabanor.
"Behind each department is a complicated mess of benefit-driven relationships. The dean has too many things to pay attention to and there are some things even he can't manage."
The president also patiently explained to Xiao Lin in private, "But you can rest assured. I brought this up with the dean and he'll make the arrangements. "
After preparations had been made, Xiao Lin set out with a specially formed investigation team. That particular aspect left Xiao Lin feeling a little uncomfortable, because although the so-called investigation team was said to assist in the investigation, it was quite certain that they were there for reasons of supervision and because they were concerned about him.
There were four members in that special investigation team, namely Zhao Mancheng of the Foreign Affairs Department, Qin Zuo of the Intelligence Agency, Ruan Feiyun from the military force, and lastly Xiao Lin. Due to the secrecy of the operation, too large a group would easily attract the attention of other colleges. They disguised themselves as a merchant group entering Silver Province, hired a certain number of local natives, brought with them a few large carts of goods, then set off for Silver Province.
The caravan's starting point was from the colony closest to Silver Province. They walked along the road for about five or six days and entered Silver Province's territory after crossing a rather low hill.
The group did not talk much along the way and only had a few simple exchanges. Xiao Lin was not familiar with them and the others were not well-acquainted with among themselves either.
"When it comes to Asabanor, we have actually been cooperating with Judge Academy all this while, chasing leads and tracking clues based on the undead aura. Although it's like finding a needle in a haystack, our luck has been pretty good..." The Intelligence Agency's Qin Zuo was the first who spoke. He was a man who sported a gloomy face all the time.
The group was sitting in a large unicorn-drawn carriage. Although the elves loathed the use of unicorns as tools, they were powerless to prevent such creatures from becoming the most convenient means of transportation.
When Qin Zuo talked about death energy, Xiao Lin—who had been leaning against the window to watch the scenery outside—retracted his gaze a little, and asked in some surprise, "Major Qin, have you learned necromancy? "
Qin Zuo's rank was that of a major, but it went without saying that he was dressed only in plainclothes at the moment. He glanced at Xiao Lin blankly, "We need to address each other by name out here... You're right, I did learn necromancy. Due to the uniqueness of our job in the agency, intelligence is of utmost importance... No intelligence can be more concrete in this world than that of a dead person."
Qin Zuo's tone was cryptic, and although the other two people did not like him very much, Xiao Lin's interest was piqued. He asked and listened carefully, as he had just learned about necromancy and was still very curious about that aspect.
Unfortunately, Qin Zuo did not say much anymore, only that he did not learn necromancy when he was at Dawn Academy.
"In fact, it doesn't matter how the Judge Academy deals with that dead soul. Our military only wants to determine whether he had any contact with the orcs or the elves." Ruan Feiyun, from the military, was also a major and had Silver-level strength. He did not seem interested in the little excursion because he felt that the possibility of that happening was not very high. The only reason he followed along was because he was ordered to do so.
"Hah! Looks like I'll be having the least work to do. I'm only responsible for dealing with Judge Academy. Say, this mission is probably going to be a breeze, otherwise else it won't be just the few of us here," Zhao Mancheng from the Foreign Affairs Department finally found a chance to interrupt. One could see that he was more easygoing than the others, and it must have been uncomfortable for him to keep quiet during the journey.
The investigation team's original intention was simply to get the information they needed, and at the same time, supervise and ensure that Judge Academy did nothing out of the ordinary. As for Asabanor, Judge Academy had the freedom to handle him as they saw fit.
"The news I received is that Xiao Lin had been in contact with Asabanor before, hence his participation in this operation. Now that you mention it, what kind of person is Asabanor?"
As the conversation gradually opened up, they finally moved to Xiao Lin. Although they had received information about Xiao Lin before they came, it contained far too little data. When they asked for more, their query came back saying that they had no authority to view further details on Xiao Lin.