"Have you met with the former Mayor?" Seated in the passenger seat of the sports car, He Ao flipped through the data on his bracelet and casually asked. Vili nodded from the driver’s seat, her hand effortlessly switching the driving mode to automatic, "He gave me a lot of material, including books he wrote himself, as well as a considerable amount of investigative data on Wint City, which he annotated extensively," Her voice paused slightly, "Uncle Endir... he actually put a lot of effort into trying to change the city." "Looking at the data we have, he did seem to always be trying to make some ’changes’," Hearing her words, He Ao gently nodded, then pondered before asking, "Does the former Mayor still have the power to intervene with the City Defense Army?" Before they were undermined, the City Defense Army had been one of Endir’s staunch supporters. "There should be some influence," Vili thought for a moment, as He Ao had just shared his general deductions with her, helping her to grasp the current situation briefly, "Maybe we can use Uncle Endir’s influence to have the City Defense Army do something?" "Then I’ll contact him." Vili lifted her hand, opened her bracelet, and sent out a message first. Meanwhile, He Ao bent his head back down, continuing to read the data. After a series of actions, Vili looked up curiously at He Ao, who was still immersed in the data, "Did you find anything?" "In the recent six months, the number of caravans that came to Wint City might have increased a lot compared to the same period in previous years." "Really? Does it say that in these materials?" Vili was a bit surprised, looking at He Ao. "He didn’t write it out directly, but you can actually infer this conclusion," He Ao raised his bracelet, transmitting some of the data to the main screen of the sports car, "Look, according to the information collected from various Wilderness Wanderer Camps outside the city, many of the camps have had a certain amount of food reserves consumed, and many have mentioned buying food from grain-transporting caravans. "And they haven’t mentioned any natural disasters this year, nor have any large Wilderness Wanderer Camps been destroyed." Vili blinked, "What’s that got to do with the number of caravans?" "Under usual circumstances, due to exotic beasts and food issues, the population of the Wilderness Wanderer Camps doesn’t grow significantly," He Ao slowly explained, "And one important source of income for the Wilderness Wanderer Camps is to provide supplies to caravans passing through. Most times, food produced by their own factories is enough to meet the basic needs of the camp and to sell to the caravans passing through. "Because buying food from grain-transporting caravans is usually very expensive, most of the time, Wilderness Wanderer Camps with a need to sell food would figure out how to set up a secondary food production line themselves, while buying the carcasses of wild beasts or naturally grown food from neighboring wanderers to ensure adequate food production. "They maintain self-sufficiency and basic sales needs, and without special circumstances, they wouldn’t buy food from caravan merchants." Vili started to catch on, "The food reserves at the Wilderness Wanderer Camps haven’t been enough in the past six months? That’s why they had to buy expensive food from passing grain-transporting caravans?" "If the production capacity hasn’t been greatly affected, the likely reason for insufficient food is that consumption has significantly increased. Usually, due to resources and environmental factors, the total population of Wilderness Wanderer Camps generally doesn’t grow much," He Ao remarked offhand, "And apart from their own consumption, the only other ’expenditure’ of the Wilderness Wanderers’ food reserves would be ’selling it off’." "So, it’s ’merchant caravans’?" Vili looked up at the streets under the night sky, pondering before replying, "Because the number of merchant caravans coming to Wint City has increased, so too has the demand for food, breaking the original balance, causing the Wilderness Wanderers to have to buy food at high prices from the grain transport caravans?" "You catch on quickly," He Ao nodded, "Your thinking is not bad." Vili proudly puffed out her nonexistent chest, then she slightly furrowed her brows, feeling that something was not quite right. She was clearly the older sister, so how had it come to be that she was the one being ’taught’? But before she could ponder further, she heard a voice continue near her ear. "In theory, the price of food near the Wanderer Camp should be higher than in previous years, and those gathering intelligence have also noticed this phenomenon," He Ao flipped through the data on his wrist device, "However, it doesn’t mention exactly how much the prices have increased. If we knew the specific increases, maybe we could build an intelligent data model to estimate the approximate number of people in the increased merchant caravans based on the price hikes." Vili snapped back to attention, looking at He Ao beside her, "Shall I contact them now to gather more data?" "It may not be in time," He Ao shook his head, "But it mentioned the price increases are significant. If those ’extra’ people have caused such clear price fluctuations, there probably aren’t just a few of them." "Why have so many ’merchant caravans’ popped up?" Vili was somewhat puzzled, "It doesn’t seem like the amount of goods in the city has increased, and the prices haven’t gone up either. Moreover, according to our data, the per capita consumption of food and industrial goods has actually decreased in both the Storm Zone and the Aka District, while consumption in the Cloud District has remained stable." She began to sense that something was amiss, her brows knitting slightly, "If we don’t need so much supply, why has the number of suppliers increased?" "These people might not be transporting supplies," He Ao continued to browse through the information in his hand, "It could also be ’themselves’." On hearing this, Vili was momentarily stunned, then realized the implication, "Are you saying that these merchant caravans are not truly merchant caravans, but rather ’people’ disguised as merchant caravans entering the city?" Then she paused, "Wint City doesn’t have any entry restrictions, so why would they disguise themselves to enter?" "Perhaps they don’t want certain people to know," He Ao glanced at the data on his wrist device. The Wilderness Wanderer Camps, which consume the most food, are located right on the trade route that connects Wint City with Rockville Energy Group. Normally, people without any threat wouldn’t be ’shielded.’ Those who are ’shielded’ are most likely able to cause some people ’concern.’ Various thoughts flashed through Vili’s mind, then she cautiously speculated, "Who are these people? Wilderness Wanderers? Wanted criminals?" "It could also be ’mercenaries.’" He Ao pondered, "A large number of ’mercenaries.’" Vili’s pupils contracted slightly as she quickly grasped what this implied. A vast Mercenary Corps had been surreptitiously delivered into Wint City under the guise of merchant caravans. In such a dangerous and sensitive time, this Mercenary Corps could potentially change the entire situation in Wint City. Was there a force that had such power to shift the entire situation, yet had remained hidden? "Which force might it be?" The girl subconsciously lowered her head, asking softly. "Which force do you think it is? What forces in Wint City could do this?" He Ao raised his head to look at her. There are only two powers in Wint City capable of pulling off such a feat. "Eternal Secret Teachings currently hold the absolute advantage. If it were them, they would have certainly made their move already and eradicated United Industries." Under the young man’s ’inquiry,’ Vili pondered and spoke. The self-driving system steered the speeding sports car around the corner. The dim, broken streetlights cast their light into the middle of the windshield, shining on the drooping golden twin ponytails of the young girl and on the face of the young man as he tilted his head slightly upwards, gazing at her profile. "So, is it United Industries?" Vili’s thoughts expanded further, and she mused, "So far, except for the Sky Behemoth, United Industries hasn’t shown particularly strong power. After the Sky Behemoth was destroyed, their overt power has become even weaker, and United Industries has been secretly plotting against Eternal Secret Teachings. "But the dominantly powerful Eternal Secret Teachings haven’t made a move against United Industries, so do they actually know of this mercenary force’s existence? "Is the reason for this current stalemate because Eternal Secret Teachings aren’t confident enough to defeat this mercenary group and deal with United Industries?" The girl paused, as if asking or questioning herself, "So in this ’standoff,’ has United Industries won?" Her ’Uncle Vincent’ ultimately came out on top. She knew all too well that United Industries’ rule wouldn’t be any better than that of Eternal Secret Teachings, perhaps even more brutal as the sole power. The young man sitting in the passenger seat gently shook his head. Vili lifted her head, looking at He Ao with surprise. Cloud District · United Industries Building The massive champagne bottle had hit bottom, and scattered documents covered the entire observation table. "If you could, Captain Lutz, sign your electronic signature here, and from now on all security operations of United Industries will be under your and your Mercenary Corps’s responsibility. Before dawn the day after tomorrow, all United Industries security forces will follow your orders, and all the weapons and ammunition in the warehouse will be at your disposal," Vincent calmly handed the tablet to Lutz, "Now, the entire safety of United Industries is in your hands. Hold out until tomorrow night, and we’ll pay you the agreed reward. If you hold out the day after, we’ll throw in an extra half of the ’reward.’" Lutz laughed loudly, "I like your straightforward way, Mister Vincent!" He lifted his hand, his wristband touching the tablet. After verifying his biometrics, he stamped his electronic signature on the tablet. "Pleasure doing business!" Vincent also stamped his own electronic signature and United Industries’ electronic seal and then extended his hand towards Lutz. "Pleasure doing business!" Lutz reached out and shook Vincent’s hand, "Your decisiveness and generosity, Mister Vincent, are impressive." "Sometimes, prolonged hesitation can cause even greater disasters." Vincent spoke calmly, "That’s what Skone taught me back in the day." Lutz laughed, then asked, "Now that this place is in my hands, do you want to leave Wint City, Mister Vincent, and avoid the limelight?" Vincent shook his head and sat back down, watching the city under the night sky, "I’ll be sitting right here until it’s all over. If I lose, I’ll die in this chair." Unbeknownst to him, dark clouds had already begun to float across the sky, concealing the bright moon. Lutz smiled, "Indeed, Mister Vincent, you’re too good for Wint City." He sat back down, squinting his eyes slightly, "What a pity." Vincent watched him, his mouth slightly ajar, but before he could speak, the middle-aged man who had been standing behind him leaned in closer, whispering, "Mister, we’ve surrounded the Mayor’s Mansion and blocked all communication signals. That old man Endir can’t send out any messages." He paused, lowering his voice, "The old guy’s just a regular man, should we take this chance to deal with him? We could push all the blame onto Eternal Secret Teachings amidst the chaos." Vincent stared at Lutz sitting in front of him, as if he were watching the seat beneath Lutz, the seat once occupied by a man full of confidence. That seat used to belong to Endir. The old man paused for a moment, "Surround it, just don’t let him leak any information but—" He cut himself off mid-sentence and looked down at his chest. A sharp golden dagger had been thrust into his back, piercing his heart. Bright red blood trickled down the blade’s edge, dropping onto the table and the long chair. "Mister, I’ve received your opinion." A calm and cold voice came from behind him. Vincent didn’t struggle or cry out in pain; he merely lifted his head to see Lutz’s indifferent face watching everything unfold, giving a hoarse smile, "So this is how it is... What Skone said was right... you insatiable wolves..." His voice faded until it disappeared completely. He died, right there in that chair. The middle-aged man with an indifferent face withdrew his hand, leaving the golden dagger inside Vincent’s body. He took off his jacket, and the neatly folded Golden-Threaded White Robe naturally draped down. "Give my regards to the Holy See, Archbishop," said Lutz as he stood up, bowing to the middle-aged man with a smile. An old picture frame fell to the ground, automatically bringing the sensor lights to life. Within the frame was a photograph that appeared to have weathered many years. In this old photograph, four young men were gathered around a small square table, engaged in a heated discussion. The young man on the far left had his left hand raised as if making a point. The young man opposite him pointed to the table, seemingly in argument. Sitting between them was another young man taking notes in a book. And in the corner of the photo, another young man leaned against the desk edge, listening intently to the debate. Four names were marked above the individuals. The one speaking passionately was Skone, the fierce retort came from Endir, the note-taker in the middle was Vincent. And the attentive listener in the corner was Jeko. A hand reached out from beneath the bright light and picked up the old picture frame.