Free Web NovelChapter 410: Chapter 410 Challenge Letter_1
After ordering Sera to be escorted out, Aiden immediately had the prison guards bring Sophie Carter over. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Yes, the business in Gistars Royal City was managed by other receptionists; I’m not very familiar with it, but I can confirm that Heinz Hofmann is on our client list," Sophie answered Aiden’s question with conviction, "Smiling Scales surely left him a channel of contact. The Royal Secret Police is also a kind of espionage department, and since he’s a man who knows authority, he wouldn’t easily cut off a channel of intelligence."
"So, if he knows I have the Words of the Gods, it’s very likely he will contact Smiling Scales?" Aiden asked.
"If he’s smart and cautious enough," Sophie nodded.
Aiden found this somewhat troublesome; it meant that Heinz Hofmann could obtain quite specific information after inquiring with the information dealer about the Words of the Gods "Order" and "Existence" that he had exposed.
Furthermore, he would try to inquire as much as possible from Smiling Scales about the cards he held in the realm of authority.
"Then, how much of my information does Smiling Scales have?" Aiden asked, "And have you reported any of my information to the organization during your imprisonment?" ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"This..." Sophie looked troubled.
"Seeing you like this, there is indeed something," Aiden’s gaze sharpened.
The letters that Sophie sent from the prison and the people she met were all under the surveillance of the prison. However, it was impossible for information dealers not to have their own cipher systems.
"I haven’t revealed too much new information, mainly just confirming some things they already knew and suspected. Although I am no longer loyal to the organization, I at least cannot break ties with them openly," Sophie said as she raised her hands, "Besides, this way I can be of use to you, Warden."
If Sophie lost her position in Smiling Scales, she wouldn’t be able to obtain shared information from Smiling Scales as a receptionist, and Aiden would have one less reliable source of information. After all, intelligence does have a shelf life; information that is not updated for too long becomes much less credible.
"You information dealers sure are smooth talkers," Aiden remarked, "So, what did you reveal to them?"
"Two important things: one is that you were pursuing Mr. Blood Coat, and the other is that you have the Wordless Code," Sophie replied.
"So now your organization is certain that I have the Wordless Code?"
"After all, we knew about the Wordless Code being circulated at sea quite early on, and three years ago in the Empire’s jailbreak case we were convinced that the Red Shark Pirates got the Divine Artifact, but they were just a bunch of outsiders who didn’t understand its true worth," Sophie explained with a shrug, "Then... you caught Navi Derrick, and quite conspicuously at that."
"Alright, alright... but not as conspicuously as your solo concert stealing the headlines," Aiden raised an eyebrow, "Given that, the information about the Divine Artifact in my hands must also have been shared with the other receptionists in your organization?"
"Such information should be shared, but please be assured, the organization is still unclear about the Words of the Gods you hold, especially those I’ve imparted to you."
"That’s no longer important," Aiden smiled bitterly, "Thank you for the information, my superstar. Back to your cell now."
After Sophie left, Aiden began to deal with the remaining work at hand while pondering his next move.
Though he had anticipated it, the situation was indeed a bit complicated.
Heinz could know about the Words of the Gods he possessed and also that he had the Wordless Code—Aiden believed that the Gestapo chief wouldn’t lack the funds to buy information from information dealers.
In other words, it would be quite difficult to use information superiority to take out Heinz directly as he had done the previous two times.
Fortunately, he knew about this situation in advance, so he wouldn’t rush in blindly only to be caught off guard by a countermeasure pulled out by the other side.
Aiden’s plan was to get Heinz Hofmann to agree to Sera’s request, to become her supporter, and then he could use Sera’s favour to ask Heinz for Words of the Gods and gain an intelligence network within the borders of the Gistars Kingdom.
Although Sera vehemently claimed that her feelings for Heinz were strong enough to sway him to switch sides, Aiden, as an outsider, couldn’t simply take her word for it and put all his eggs in one basket. If Heinz were to fake a defection and then betray them, Aiden felt he couldn’t take that risk.
His plan was to thoroughly crush this group of secret police and make Heinz realize that the assassination mission was almost impossible to complete, leaving him with no choice but to join Sera’s camp—only on such a basis could his change of sides be considered trustworthy.
Luring out Heinz wouldn’t be difficult; as soon as he left the prison, the Royal Secret Police would take action. Heinz must also realize that without personally taking the field, it would be nearly impossible to capture him.
In other words, he himself was the most suitable bait; the main problem was how to respond to the moves once Heinz took the bait.
Thinking so, Aiden casually opened a letter from the mailbox and suddenly froze.
The seemingly ordinary letter contained just one sentence: "You may be interested in the Words of the Gods passed down through the Hofmann Family, and you know what we are interested in. If you’re interested in a trade, please come to the specified location on the back of this paper, where I will personally await you. If you’re not confident enough, you may bring a guard, but please make sure not to alert the police."
The signature was Heinz Hofmann.
Aiden flipped over the paper and found a map, with a location specified by the secret police on the outskirts of the city, a place not suitable for an ambush, but perfect for escape.
He had set a location, allowed guards... was he planning to settle things there?
Aiden was somewhat surprised—this head of the Gestapo had actually sent him a letter initiating a duel.
But he quickly understood the other party’s intention; after collecting his information through Smiling Scales, Heinz probably realized the possibility that he would be interested in the "Punishment" held by the Hofmann Family—of course, this was indeed the case, which was why Heinz used it as bait in the letter.
The trade may be sincere; imparting a Word of the Gods wouldn’t constitute a substantial loss for Heinz, while his assassination mission had hit a bottleneck despite extensive resource consumption. However, the compensation for the Words of the Gods would most likely be paid on Aiden’s side, that is, after killing Sera.
Moreover, like the last time, they were probably prepared for a tough confrontation should the negotiations fail. Heinz mentioning he would be waiting there personally was actually using himself as bait in exchange for a home ground advantage for the Royal Secret Police.
An audacious risk, but Aiden could understand; this band of Royal Secret Police probably didn’t have much time to waste.
Focused on the letter, Aiden fell into thought; the bait was worth biting, but it must be done with utmost caution.
