infodatos Chapter 254 What does "Alice" have to do with Evan?
Chapter 254 What does "Alice" have to do with Evan?
Chapter 254 What does "Alice" have to do with Evan?
Seeing "Alice" extend her slender hand, asking him for information, Beckron felt a strange unease. He guessed this beautiful woman was using some kind of trick on him, gave a cold snort, and then said:
"Transactions are always based on a cash-on-delivery agreement. This is my biggest asset, how could I possibly hand it over to you now?"
At least wait until I safely arrive in 'Saint Milon City' and accept the letter of appointment before handing it over!
What do you mean now? Are you trying to manipulate me, wait for me to hand over the list of suspects, and then kick me aside?
In this deal, Becker was actually at a disadvantage; the only thing he could leverage was the importance the Fussac Empire placed on its internal rats.
Therefore, he was very worried that once he lost his usefulness, he would be directly abandoned. Alice's act of asking for the list in advance touched a red line and made him uneasy.
In response to Becker's stern questioning, "Alice" simply covered her mouth and smiled faintly:
"Mr. Beckeran, what are you thinking? Our Fussac Empire keeps its word and will never do anything like turning your back on someone after you've served them. Besides, General Kalinin greatly admires your talent and sincerely wants you to serve the Empire."
I didn't reach out to ask for a list to identify that high-ranking rat; I wanted a list of the Intis Republic's intelligence network in the Kingdom of Rune.
Now that Mr. Becker has decided to surrender to the Empire, he must understand the principle that a surrenderer should offer a pledge of allegiance, right? Is there a better pledge of allegiance than this list?
Moreover, there were actually some objections raised domestically regarding Mr. Beckeron's appointment, considering the very important position you had requested.
With many people watching from within the country, it won't be easy for General Kalinin to make proper arrangements.
You had objections before? Why didn't you say so sooner!
Alice didn't finish her sentence, but Beckeron still sensed the veiled criticism in it, which made him feel deeply humiliated.
At the same time, he also understood that Alice's words made sense. The condition he had previously discussed was that after arriving in the Fusak Empire, he would become the deputy commander of the Fusak Empire's Imperial Guard and directly control a portion of its intelligence forces.
He offered a very high price, expecting the other party to haggle, but to his surprise, "Alice" agreed without hesitation on behalf of General Kalinin.
He felt a little strange at the time, not expecting to be waiting for him here!
Beckron was certainly aware of the intelligence network established by the Republic of Intis in the Kingdom of Rune, which was originally his means of survival after arriving in the Fusak Empire, but now it seemed impossible.
Now everyone knows that Intis is replacing his ambassador. The next ambassador will arrive tomorrow by steam train. He had not received any accurate information from his backers back home beforehand, which means that his backers have already made deals with those who want to kill him, and he has been abandoned.
Beckron has no time to maneuver and has been forced into a corner. For him, there is only one option left: to defect to the Fussac Empire. Isn't this a case of being the prey of others?
Looking at the smiling, beautiful girl in front of him, Becker felt as if he were facing a spider with a web, constantly luring him into the trap she had woven.
While offering generous terms to lure him to defect to the Fussac Empire, she also used various means to spread the word that the Fussac Empire was already watching him, and even revealed some clues that made others in the embassy notice something amiss.
Intis highly values the rats lurking in the Fusak Empire and had always planned to eliminate Beckron.
Upon hearing that the Fusak Empire had its eye on him, they naturally expedited their efforts to bring him back to the country and eliminate any potential threats.
This woman only starts extracting value from herself after she's been driven into a corner.
Beckeron even suspected that the woman in front of him had other motives in mind, such as wanting to gain other benefits from him.
Although he desperately wanted to pin the woman beneath him and ravage her, Beckerang didn't show it on his face in order to save his life. Instead, he smiled and said:
"The conditions I initially set were indeed very high, but Lieutenant General Kalinin still agreed, so I should naturally show some sincerity."
Don't worry, I've already prepared everything, and I can get it right away.
However, Miss Nightingale, besides the conditions I just mentioned, I have another condition for going to the Empire. When will you fulfill it?
"Nightingale" is the code name that "Alice" uses for Beckeron.
Beckeron wasn't stupid; he knew that once his usefulness was exhausted, someone would eventually take a dislike to him and want to get rid of him.
No need for much; just relax the protection he receives a little, and the Republic of Intis, which he betrayed, will be happy to punish this traitor.
Therefore, when negotiating the terms, he demanded that a direct descendant of the royal family of the Fussac Empire—the Einhorn family—sign a notarized document he had drafted. This notarized document was of demigod caliber, and it was said that even angels who violated its terms would suffer severe consequences.
This was Beckeron's way of securing his own future; he didn't believe General Kalinin's promises at all.
Kalinin was renowned in the intelligence community, but how could his status possibly surpass that of a member of the royal family?
Beckeron wanted to insure himself with a demigod-level "notarized document" that even angels would find difficult to disobey.
Alice had already agreed to this request during their previous secret negotiations, promising to arrange it immediately upon arriving in the Fussac Empire.
Beckeron is bringing this up now mainly to dampen Alice's arrogance.
Because of the transfer order within Intis, he is now in a completely passive position, and today's meeting was even more challenging because he was completely controlled by Alice.
If this situation doesn't change, he suspects he will be endlessly blackmailed by "Alice" in the days to come, because if he were in her shoes, he would do the same.
Therefore, he could only bring up the matter of requiring the direct descendants of the Fussac Empire's royal family to sign the "notarized document" he had drafted, to remind "Alice" that their transaction had no real binding force and that she should be careful not to be too greedy and end up losing everything.
To his surprise, Alice simply threw her head back and laughed, then stretched out her delicate hand again and said:
"Bring me the 'notarized document' you've already prepared! I'll sign it for you right now!"
What does this mean?
Beckron, also a Sequence 6 "Conspirator," had his mind enhanced by a potion. In a flash, he realized the meaning behind Alice's words. He stopped and stared at Alice, speechless for a long time.
But Beckron, who could become a "schemer" and the ambassador of the Republic of Intis to the Kingdom of Rune, was no ordinary person. He quickly regained his composure, gave a very proper bow, and said in a humble tone:
"I never imagined that Miss Nightingale was a member of royalty! My apologies!"
Upon learning that "Alice" was actually a member of the royal family, Beckeron became unusually obsequious, since apart from the Republic of Intis, all other countries in the world still had feudal imperial systems.
The revered and special status of royal family members in people's hearts has not changed at all. Those who despise royal power are the odd ones out and abnormal. Even though the Republic of Intis experienced a century of political turmoil due to Rosell's death and the republic has lasted for more than a hundred years, the royalists still hold an absolute advantage internally.
The reason why Intis is still a republic is mainly because the royalists are divided into several factions. Some want to protect the "Solon family", some want to protect the "Gustav family", and some even advocate pandering to the royal families of various countries that have married into the "Solon family" - the driving force behind this force is the royal families of various countries.
The Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of Steam and Machinery, which had great interests in Intis, became the glue that held the country together.
Therefore, with no royalist faction holding an absolute advantage, the republican system became a new bottle for these old ideas, and thus, with some bumps and stumbles, it became the political system that Intis has maintained to this day.
"I didn't expect the Fursak Empire to value that high-ranking rat so much, actually sending a princess to infiltrate Backlund, especially considering Backlund just went through a major blockade!"
Even now, Becker still finds it hard to believe, and he even begins to wonder if "Alice" is actually him.
Alice, however, was fully aware of his thoughts and said directly:
"Weren't you going to get the list? Why aren't you going?"
All words spoken now will be doubted, so it would be better to let Beckeron go and get a notarized document and sign it himself, which would be more convincing.
As expected, when he heard Alice's impolite, even somewhat condescending, instructions, Beckerang felt no resentment whatsoever. On the contrary, he felt it was only right and believed Alice's identity.
If the Nightingale's identity is true, wouldn't this be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me?
As Beckeron turned to leave, his heart began to burn with excitement. After all, no matter what, he had betrayed Intis, and going to the Fusak Empire was a losing proposition anyway.
First, no one would believe someone who would betray their family to save their own life. Second, the Madan family's century-long accumulation in Intis would vanish in an instant.
Even though the Fussac Empire promised him a high position and delivered on that promise, he knew he had no future. Living a life of idleness and waiting to die was the best outcome he could hope for.
But the appearance of "Alice" was like a ray of light to him, illuminating his dark future.
Beckron, a promising Sequence 6 "Conspirator," once specifically researched the Einhorn family, who possessed the "Hunter" pathway.
Knowing that this family has a severe preference for sons over daughters, and that the members who hold important positions are all men, with very few women appearing in public, women are generally used as tools for marriage alliances, by the Einhorn family to arrange marriages with various noble families in the country in order to strengthen the royal family's control over the empire.
Therefore, the appearance of "Alice" is very special, which at least illustrates two points.
One point is that Alice is a very restless and ambitious person; otherwise, she wouldn't have taken such a big risk to infiltrate Backlund, wanting to get more from me.
Another point is that Alice has supporters within the Einhorn family; otherwise, she wouldn't even have the opportunity to do anything.
In this situation, Beckeron vaguely sensed an opportunity, and even felt that the position of deputy commander of the Imperial Guard that "Alice" had promised was not a promise that Lieutenant General Kalinin could make, but rather a promise made by "Alice," a member of the royal family of Fussac, to win him over.
It's even possible that Kalinin knew nothing about this from beginning to end, and that everything was done by "Alice," the princess of Fussac, under her guise.
If this woman truly has great ambitions, she will definitely need many people to pledge their loyalty. However, her status as a woman makes it difficult for her to attract others within the Fusak Empire. If I were to align myself with her now, would I be given an important position?
This also effectively solved the problem of my lack of a foothold within the Fussac Empire.
Of course, all of this is based on the premise that this woman is indeed a core member of the Einhorn family. Without this premise, everything else is in vain.
Thinking of this, Beckeron became increasingly anxious. He hurriedly went to a suite on the third floor, opened the safe in the bedroom, and pulled out a piece of intelligence.
Then they pushed the huge double bed aside, lifted up a floorboard, and revealed a safe underneath.
Turning the gears opened the safe, and a large square box covered with a spiritual wall was taken out.
After taking out the box, Becker restored everything to its original state, ignoring the people who had received news from back home and were secretly monitoring him, and went straight back to the room where "Alice" was.
"This is the 'notarized document' I prepared long ago. This is the intelligence network that Intis has set up in Backlund that you requested."
These are some notarized documents I've collected; please take a look at them!
Alice took the item from Beckeron's hand, without looking at the intelligence report he handed her, and gave Beckeron a playful glance.
Then he opened the large wooden box in his hand.
Inside was a piece of golden paper that emitted a faint glow, with raised black lettering. Even an ordinary person could feel the extraordinary nature of this "notarized document" by touching it.
The "notarized document" is covered with dense letters, all of which are clauses drafted by Beckerang to save his life and prevent the Fussac Empire from abandoning him after using him.
Looking at the details of the signatory on the 'notarized document', 'Alice' chuckled. After checking the contents and confirming that there were no traps or anything like that, 'Alice' took the 'notarized document' directly to the desk in the room, picked up the pen on the table, and signed her name—'Alice Einhorn'.
"Now you can rest assured!"
Upon seeing the 'notarized document' flash, Beckeron acknowledged 'Alice's' identity, breathed a sigh of relief, and then knelt on one knee, saying:
"Greetings, Your Highness!"