Free Web NovelChapter 468: Chapter 468 Express Train Ticket_1
The next day, Aiden arrived at the Queen’s Hotel at the agreed time and took a seat at a double dining table as guided by a waiter.
Across from him sat a young man whom he had never seen before.
The young man looked up, stood up, doffed his hat in greeting, and then spread his hands to indicate Aiden should sit down.
No sooner had Aiden taken his seat than an envelope was passed to him from the young man’s hand, all without the young man saying a word.
Aiden tore open the envelope, glanced at its contents, and found it was nothing more than a note resembling a leave request form.
"Is this the train ticket you prepared?" Aiden frowned and looked at the young man opposite him.
"The Director himself urged us to prepare it. The signature on it is actually irrelevant, the important part is the hidden code in the text. The time written in the third line is when the train will appear at the station. Present this note to the conductor, and he will let you board. It’s a special express train prepared for you to take you directly from the autonomous state to the southern part of the Kingdom, and you will be able to reach your destination in just one day. There will be no inspections during the journey, so you can rest assured," the young man replied in a low voice. "Tell me which day you specifically need to leave, and I will arrange it for you."
"An actual private carriage, you are... quite efficient," Aiden said, pulling up the corners of his mouth in a smirk.
The young man was one of the Heinz Hoffman’s contacts left in Silvertown. Just yesterday, he had inquired through telegraph whether there was a way to quickly reach Sunset City through unofficial channels.
The contact had scanned the reply into Aiden’s mailbox the same day, stating that everything was taken care of and asking Aiden to come to this hotel today to collect the items.
The secret police showed an unusually high level of efficiency in this matter. Not to mention providing a precise date, Aiden hadn’t even openly stated he wanted to go, and they had already sorted out most of the details.
Heinz’s attitude was clear; he obviously supported Aiden’s personal handling of the issues in Sunset City. When Aiden hoped the royal secret police would act on his behalf, Heinz was only willing to contribute partially, even shirking some tasks. But when Aiden was ready to act personally and only hoped for a bit of assistance, Heinz turned quite proactive, immediately urging his subordinates to complete the preparatory work.
Aiden guessed that the other party aimed to conserve their forces as much as possible for supporting Sera’s ascension. Engaged in political struggles for many years, Heinz naturally couldn’t lack such cunning.
Aiden didn’t particularly care anyway; even if Heinz treated the matter seriously, they didn’t have the capacity to resolve his current problems.
"How many identities do you need to operate within the Kingdom, and how many people do you plan to bring?" the contact continued to ask.
"Quite considerate," Aiden nodded his approval. "But I don’t need it; I’ll figure it out myself in this respect."
Apparently, the secret police had thoughtfully prepared several false identities for him to operate within the Gistas Kingdom, and he could even take a team with him.
But to be honest, he didn’t need such a fake identity. Using one prepared by the secret police, his subsequent actions might be tracked by them. Although they were nominally allies, Aiden still preferred fewer people knowing his whereabouts.
Utilizing the "substitute" power of the "Authority of Existence," it was easy for him to forge an identity.
"Alright then, since you say so..." The contact didn’t insist further, and then handed over a stack of documents. "Here is the material you requested."
Aiden took it and gave it a glance. It was a list of suspects the secret police had found over the past few days, suspected of being Harrison Dodge.
Many of those on the list were nameless, identified only by temporary addresses and investigative records of nearby residents. Professor Dodge possessed the Hand of Oblivion, and it was likely that he held the divine word of the "Authority of Void." Therefore, his activities in Sunset City may not have involved any clear forged identities.
Aiden flipped through it and counted; there were only about twenty-something people.
"The number of suspects is much fewer than the last report you gave," Aiden remarked with some surprise.
His request was to sort out the most suspicious fifty individuals from all suspects and compile a list for him.
"These are individuals whose details we couldn’t immediately verify, and they are among the most suspicious," the contact replied. "You can start your investigation with these people."
"Even you can’t find their details?" Aiden asked.
"These people have doubtful identities, and they are not at the registered addresses all year round; we simply can’t find them," the contact explained. "But by visiting the surrounding people, we can confirm they indeed exist. Moreover, according to eyewitness descriptions of their appearance and age, they are quite close to the target."
"That’s indeed suspicious," Aiden nodded.
Professor Dodge had been active in Sunset City for two years, possibly with his son, and even if they could completely hide their presence, considering their living necessities, they couldn’t be continuously invisible to everyone in the city for two years, even without an identity.
Aiden thought that maybe it wasn’t that the secret police couldn’t find the details of these people, but rather they weren’t willing to expend so many resources on this matter.
Relying on his own abilities, Aiden couldn’t possibly do better in intelligence gathering than the local secret police, but having some knowledge was better than none at all.
He would have to try and find them one by one.
The contact carefully observed Aiden for a moment before speaking up, "We’ve also prepared to provide some personnel to support..."
"No need," Aiden rejected without hesitation, "Just provide a way to contact each other. If you have spare manpower, better spend it on gathering intelligence."
The "comprehensive assistance" from the royal secret police clearly meant surveillance, and although allies in cooperation, Heinz still had reservations about him, a foreigner with the power of Authority. Even after fostering good relations, the royal secret police were still not to be trusted, and working with them required mutual caution.
With the contact so openly making requests, Aiden was blunt in his refusal. Sera was still in his prison, and Heinz still needed him, so Aiden had the right to make his own demands in the cooperation.
After a moment of silence, the contact conceded, "Alright, I understand. Then how many people are you preparing?"
This concession only indicated they wouldn’t watch him openly; it didn’t mean they wouldn’t do so secretly, but that was enough for Aiden.
"Just one person, but I need to ship a fairly heavy box. No issues, right?" Aiden answered.
"As long as it’s not dangerous goods like explosives..."
"Good," Aiden smiled at the contact. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
With the transportation and route to Sunset City settled, what remained were the date and specific itinerary.
