infodatos Chapter 179 Robert's Judgment
Chapter 179 Robert's Judgment
Chapter 179 Robert's Judgment
When Evan arrived at the Earl of Ahova’s mansion in Queens, it was already late at night, and there were hardly any people on the streets.
Evan casually assigned his men a task to gather intelligence, and then he and Mr. Hope took a carriage back to Queens.
A lot happened tonight. The Rune intelligence department held another meeting overnight to study the case and assign tasks. In two hours, it will be dawn, and Evan is already feeling a bit hungry.
Thinking that her brother might be waiting for her, she didn't say anything and went straight to Robert's study.
Evan entered Robert's huge study and found him indeed looking at documents and making annotations from time to time.
Robert glanced up at Evan as he entered, then buried himself back in the documents and said:
"You should already know about Duke Negan's situation. What are your thoughts?"
"The motives of the Witch Cult are unclear! The official forces have never given up on eradicating secret organizations, and even carry out a major operation every few years."
But the Witch Cult reacted very strongly this time, choosing to assassinate Duke Negan directly, which is illogical!
Evan had already prepared his answer before he arrived, so he answered Robert's question directly.
"Even though it doesn't make sense, you still believe it was the witch cult that did it, right?"
Robert didn't stop writing, and asked a question without looking up.
Evan couldn't help but frown. This was different from what he had expected, and it was also different from the assessment of Robert relayed by the head of MI9 during the previous meeting.
Robert had already made his position clear in front of important figures like Duke Negan, concluding that the Witch Cult was responsible, and that a formal order had been issued to hunt down the Witch Cult. Robert then asked what that meant.
Robert seemed to hear the question in Evan's mind, and without looking up, said:
"I have dealt with the Witch Cult before, and today's assassination was definitely not their doing. It's just that someone wants to frame the Witch Cult for these things!"
My main reason for pushing for the Witch Cult to be listed as the prime suspect was to stabilize the political situation and quickly find a target for the Church of Storms and Duke Negan, so as not to let the political situation in Backlund fall into endless suspicion.
Besides, the witch cult isn't exactly a good thing anyway, so I'll just go with the flow.
The Duke of Negan and the Earl of Hall, who were present, had both noticed this, but they did not want any chaos to occur during the upcoming implementation of the Government Employees Recruiting Act.
So you've accepted my approach; otherwise, you should be conducting a massive manhunt right now, instead of sitting here talking to me like this.
Evan nodded; he had anticipated this, but then he asked, feigning ignorance:
"If you don't think it was the Witch Cult that did it, then who did it?"
I heard that a guest suddenly fell ill at the scene of the assassination, which diverted a lot of people's attention. Moreover, the assassin's abilities were similar to those of a witch. If it wasn't the witch's cult, then what other force could it be?
It couldn't possibly be the Göttingen, could it?
The Gnostic Order is weaker than the Witch Cult, so it's possible they might risk orchestrating such an operation to frame the Witch Cult, but the risk is too great! They could easily be targeted by both sides!
Evan was actually implying that someone within the Rune organization was collaborating with the Witch Cult, but Robert didn't catch it.
"It's not the Gnostic Society either. Judging from the fierce fight between the two demigod witches at Red Rose Manor, the witch cult and the Gnostic Society have been fighting each other intensely for some reason lately."
They should be focusing their attention on the other side; the sudden assassination attempt on Duke Negan is not in their interest!
Furthermore, you overlooked one point: those who can use witch abilities are not necessarily extraordinary individuals who have achieved the witch pathway.
Finally, Robert looked up at Evan, giving him a meaningful look. Evan couldn't pretend to be confused now, or he'd be lowering his own intelligence, so he continued the conversation:
"A shepherd? Mr. A?"
"Yes, it's Mr. A. Many people were drawn to the two demigod-level witches outside the Red Rose Manor, but they forgot about another key character among them."
We don't know why the two witches fought, but Mr. A must have played an important role in it. So he may now be facing not just the pursuit of all official forces, but a massive manhunt by almost all the extraordinary forces in Backlund.
We also know that the Aurora Society has parishes, and they all have a fervent belief in the true Creator. Mr. A cannot easily leave Backlund.
In this situation, if he didn't want to flee, he needed to find a way out. Nothing could divert attention and break the pressure from all sides more effectively than a seemingly random assassination.
Evan admired Robert's meticulousness; he had pieced together a mostly accurate truth using minimal information.
"Based on your analysis, Mr. A might actually be willing to take the risk and plan this assassination. Brother, did you have Mr. Hope call me back so I could track down Mr. A?"
Robert shook his head and said seriously to Evan,
"I just wanted to tell you this so you'd be more careful about the aurora. Those lunatics are capable of anything, especially since everyone knows you're my brother. Many people might try to find a way to exploit you, so you have to be very careful."
Hearing Robert's concern, it was impossible for Evan not to be moved, but he could only smile and say:
"Brother, don't worry, I'm not the same person I used to be. I won't easily fall into someone else's trap."
"I also have something I'd like to make clear to you. When you reshuffle MI9, don't easily threaten Jonas's position as Deputy Director."
"Oh? Why?"
Robert was also surprised, because he understood that Evan's biggest pressure in MI9 came from Jonas, so why was Evan pleading for Jonas instead?
"When I received the news of Duke Negan's assassination at MI9 today, I happened to be chatting with Deputy Director Jonas and his secretary, Miss Trish, in his office."
Upon learning of Duke Negan's assassination, Miss Trish's legs went weak. Then I learned that Deputy Director Jonas had received a vaguely written whistleblower letter about the assassination of a high-ranking official.
Deputy Director Jonas clearly didn't take it seriously, and instead shifted the blame to Miss Trish when Duke Negan asked him about it.
So I gave her an idea: shift the blame to Captain Wade's secretary, saying she was an undercover agent of the Witch Cult. Well, according to your analysis, she should be an undercover agent of the Aurora Society.
That effectively removed Miss Trish from my fold, so I've essentially planted a thorn in Deputy Director Jonas's side.
Deputy Director Jonas, with his spies around, no longer poses much of a threat to me; in fact, he's more useful in his position.
Robert looked at Evan in astonishment. These things had just happened at MI9, and he was unaware of them yet. He never expected that his brother would use a little information gap to directly turn Jonas’s closest secretary against him and break his arm.
"I understand. However, Jonas has made a mistake again in the open this time. I will still adjust his scope of authority, but I will not take him down completely."
By the way, after this adjustment, are you interested in taking on the corresponding position?
Evan had actually planned this for a long time; otherwise, he wouldn't have prepared several letters of complaint and sent one to everyone he disliked, just to leave room for future trouble.
"Brother, you can make the arrangements! At least let me be able to attend the meeting, right? Otherwise, it will be like last time, where I was put in a meeting to take the blame without even knowing it, and it will be very difficult to get out of the situation afterward."
Robert understood, nodded, and then said:
"I understand. I'll make the arrangements. It's so late, you must be hungry. I've had some late-night snack prepared. Eat it before you rest!"
Evan felt a warmth in his heart and left Robert's office.
However, after Evan left, Robert's expression became somewhat puzzled. He had warned Evan to be careful of the Aurora Society, but Evan didn't react much. This made Robert wonder if his previous judgment was wrong. Was Evan not related to the Aurora Society, but rather to the Witch Cult or the Gnostic Society?
But as far as he knew, the Witch Cult did not train any extraordinary individuals other than assassins, and the Gnostic Society only trained extraordinary individuals such as "apprentices" and "arbitrators." He had never heard of training "hunters."
At the same time, Robert was certain that his younger brother was "The Hunter," so he was momentarily confused.
As Evan sat in the first-floor restaurant, eating "Yuanxiao," a court pastry that had been passed down from the time of Russell, he lamented to himself that he couldn't tell Robert the truth.
Because if he told the truth, the secret of the mysterious city would be exposed, and even the secret that Evan might be a time traveler might be exposed. Therefore, he could only pretend not to see Robert's hints.
Just as Backlund was in turmoil due to the assassination of Duke Negan, in a luxurious villa in Queens, the "ageless witch" Katarina Pelle was meeting with a man wearing a golden mask.
"We didn't plan this operation. The turmoil at Red Rose Manor hasn't subsided yet. Assassinating Duke Negan now would just be asking for trouble. Surely you didn't even think of that?"
Katerina Pelle gave a cold laugh, mocking the person in front of her.
"We also don't think you did it, but we still have to ask. After all, you actually placed the vessel for divine descent in Backlund for cultivation. Who knows if you've lost your mind again this time?"
The man with the golden mask didn't back down and immediately brought up Triss's matter in response.
Katarina Pelle was speechless, because they had indeed not consulted with their allies before arranging for Triss to go to Backlund, and they were indeed in the wrong this time.
The main reason was that they knew the next step was to detonate the Backlund smog at the end of the year, which would generate a lot of resentment and many people die on pillars. This would be very beneficial for Triss's development, so he had to change the subject:
"This incident was probably orchestrated by the Aurora Society. The Gnostic Society is in the same situation as us and won't cause any trouble right now, while the Aurora Society is determined to do something big and has contacted us several times before."
"They always admitted to doing it themselves before, and they were even quick to take responsibility for things others did. Why are they trying to pin this on us?"