Even then, she couldn’t help but frown slightly. ‘What if that woman doesn’t want to speak? Although the questions we prepared are rather basic, there are some people who are fanatically loyal.’
This was always a problem in these operations. She, naturally, would not want to hurt even a single hair of Luniere. After all, any singur injury was giving others the chance to pin down extremely fierce accusations on her head.
As she waited, her sharp senses noticed a few people hurriedly coming toward her office, and she slowly stood up. When the doors swung open, she asked. “Is it done?”
However, as she asked, she noticed that something was wrong with her secretary’s expression. All of them were trained to be cold-faced and rational, so seeing the flusteredness and slight eye-twitching made Virelya’s heart skip a beat.
“Did something go wrong?”
The secretary nodded. She didn’t want to linger, so she was curt and to the point. In these situations, efficiency could save oneself. “The group failed miserably. Instead, they were reverse captured. We don’t know where they were sent, as all of them have been transported to the underground ant empire.”
Virelya’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. Her matte-bck skin seemed to absorb all light, and together with her ember-red fissures tracing across her skin, her current tense mood gave a sense of suffocation.
“What happened? Expin in detail.”
The secretary spoke swiftly. “We have yet to uncover the process, as the people that we sent to keep an eye were pushed out by Governor Flor’s wind currents when she isoted civilians from the battlefield. If they had resisted, they would’ve been in danger of being exposed. The battle was swift, sting not more than 20 seconds. By the end of it, all 30 of our people were either captured or dead. Instead of moving them through usual means, the ants created a hole and transported them underground on site. We know nothing else.”
Virelya nodded, her brain spinning quickly. “How are the leads that connect us to them? Did we clean up everything?”
“We did even before the strike. Nevertheless, it’s somewhat useless.” The secretary sighed, looking at some documents. “In the entire Golden Sap Empire, there are not many groups who had the strength to gather such a group. Hence, we will fall under suspicion straight away. Even without leads, everyone will understand in their hearts that it was us who did it.”
Virelya paced back and forth, her lower half changing from human legs to bck fog constantly, showing her stress. “How… How did they even fail? The objective is a small Level 140 Sylvan from a backwater empire. Does it have anything to do with the blessings of the World Tree? Speaking of them, any news?”
“Nothing.” The woman sighed. “We have not been too forceful yet. Therefore, everyone keeps their lips shut. If you don’t know the blessings, then they won’t speak of them. The deterrence is that no one wants to lose those blessings. Their effects are seemingly life-changing.”
Virelya snorted. “Life-changing? What can these people know about high-level World Tree blessings?” Still, she could understand that for such a young empire, Liu Shu’s current status was nothing less than divine. Someone could betray their parents, but betraying Liu Shu for outsiders was out of the question!
Even among the “slightly corrupt” officials in the Golden Sap Empire, no one wanted to lose these blessings. Without them, their peers would quite literally devour them whole. Ironically, these people with somewhat selfish intent were the ones who most fiercely protected the information about the blessings, fearing that the World Tree would strip them away.
Virelya slowly calmed down. “Alright, nothing to do. Either way, there is no true lead that can expose us. From now on, we might be pressured from their side. However, they won’t deal with us directly. Just keep a low profile and obediently accept whatever punishment they decide covertly.”
Suddenly, Virelya received a communication. “Lady Virelya, Lady Flor and Lady Ignatia are here. They are demanding your presence.”
Virelya blinked.
***
A few moments earlier, after the battle was done, Luniere was approached by Ignatia and Flor. “Luniere, are you okay? How is the child?”
Luniere’s intelligent mind spun, quickly piecing things together. She asked, somewhat confused. “We are okay. However, what happened? Why were we suddenly attacked?”
She understood that there seemed to be a pn going on which she was unaware of. So, her question was broad, giving a chance to Flor and Ignatia to expin.
Flor flew over with a slightly apologetic face. “Sorry, child. You were the target of a kidnapping attempt. We couldn’t reveal it to you because we were unaware of the methods these people used to gather information. So, we used this chance to understand their methods.” Flor further crified. “Also, don’t worry, Liu Shu was overseeing everything, and we also knew that the kidnapping was not malicious in essence. They just wanted to ask you a few questions without hurting you.”
This calmed Luniere down slightly. Even then, she was far from happy. No one liked being used as bait, after all. “Grandma Flor, Grandma Ignatia, I know that things were under control. However, I still hope for compensation.”
Flor flew over, hugging Luniere’s face and giving her a kiss. “Of course, child. Tell Grandma. What do you want?”
“I want a batch of the rarest flower seed batches to be sent to Sylvia’s flower shop,” Luniere demanded. “Free of charge, of course.”
Flor chuckled. “That’s no problem. I will even give you one of my personal seeds. The little Fairy that grows from that seed will be your attendant from now on. What do you think?”
Luniere pondered and nodded. She could take this fairy as a new child who would help in the shop in the future. Seeing Luniere’s expression ease up, Flor sighed in relief and smiled widely. “Alright, child. We need to go knock on someone’s door now. You can take your leave today; we’ve already filled it in for you.”
Luniere’s eyes lit up slightly. “Alright, then go. I’ll go back to spend some time with Sylvia.”
The peerlessly beautiful Sylvan turned around after giving Ignatia and Flor a goodbye kiss on the cheek.
After she left, Flor and Ignatia flew over to Virelya’s information headquarters. Once there, their expression became cold and aloof. “Guide us to your president.”
The man at the main receptionist post frowned deeply, looking at Flor and Ignatia coldly. “Who are you?” He wouldn’t jump to conclusions quickly, so it was best to crify who these two overbearing women were.
Flor’s red eyes fshed as she released a hint of her pressure. The Level 120 receptionist was quickly overwhelmed, feeling as if the petite fairy could squash him with a single thought.
“You are not qualified to know. Just tell her to get here quickly before we storm inside.”
The man’s forehead began perspiring. However, he was not entirely intimidated. After all, the information network was a behemoth. “You two, while I am no one, you'd better know your pce. In the Golden Sap City, who dares offend our information network?”
Flor’s lips arched, but her eyes showed no amusement. “So, you lot have already become this overbearing? It hasn’t even been a year since your arrival, but you think you are some kind of overlord?”
She looked around, and soon she found someone who was looking at her with wide eyes. Clearly, this person knew who she was. “Call Virelya now before I uproot your entire information network. Am I clear?”
The female of the umbra species quickly nodded and left to inform others.
Flor and Ignatia didn’t bother with anyone else, standing in the middle of the pce. Flor flew and sat on Ignatia’s shoulder, waiting patiently.
Those around gossiped, but they didn’t care.
Soon, a gorgeous woman with matte bck skin and red-flowing fissures floated down the stairs. The woman’s aura was vast and powerful, making Flor and Ignatia somewhat wary. This woman’s strength was no less than their own, even after buffs. After all, she was a Level 190+ expert.
“Lady Flor, Lady Ignatia, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
Her face was calm, a smile on her lips. Ignatia took the lead in the conversation. She looked at her and smiled. “If you don’t want your little information guild to lose face, I’d prefer to move before we start any discussions. May we?”
“Of course.” Virelya nodded and motioned toward the stars. “Please.”
The three women moved toward the stairs, Flor remaining seated on Ignatia’s shoulder.
Once they left, the man asked one of his companions with a bewildered expression. “Who were those two? How could there be anyone who can ask for Lady Virelya’s presence?”
“You are really… No wonder you can’t move up from your receptionist position.” The companion sighed and shook his head. “How about you first memorize the top influential people’s faces before you become arrogant again? Today, you didn’t kick a steel pte. You almost threw yourself headfirst into a burning furnace! Those two are Lady Flor and Lady Ignatia. While Lady Ignatia’s position is mysterious, Lady Flor is the de facto ruler of Golden Sap City. Below Lady Heavenly Willow and above everyone else!”
The man’s bck face turned grey in shock.
Meanwhile, three of them arrived at a VIP room and sat down on opposing couches. A few secretaries carried refreshments over, and once the table was full of them, they left them alone.
Virelya started, her legs crossing over as she smiled professionally. “I was not expecting a personal visit from Lady Flor and Lady Ignatia.”
Flor flew down, popping one of the berries on the table into her mouth. She was not worried that they had been tampered with. Virelya did not have the courage to do anything to them after her little stunt.
Ignatia spoke up, her tone rather blunt. “Virelya, we don’t mind an information guild spreading in our cities. It is a proper business, and it doesn’t infringe upon any rules. As long as the information was obtained through legal means, there is naturally no problem putting it out for sale.”
Just those starting lines already made Virelya sure that they knew. ‘How did the information about the kidnapping get leaked? How did they manage to react with sub-Level 150 people? Is there a mole? Even then, the strength they showed is not normal…’
The Ant Queen leaned back, her posture nguid. She didn’t care much about what Virelya was currently thinking. As her compound bck eyes locked onto Virelya’s red ones, her smile turned a few degrees colder. “Did our ck of action get to your head? Did you really think that you lot can act as you please in our domain and we will look away like spineless bastards? If we looked that easy to bully, forgive us for being too open-minded until now and wanting fair competition. From now on, we promise to change our methods and crush you pathetic little lowlifes that think you can strut under my Liu Shu’s canopy with impunity.”
Virelya’s smile faltered, her eyes fshing coldly for a moment. After all, for them, the Golden Sap Empire was nothing but a backwater pce. If they were city dwellers, the Golden Sap Empire was a remote town in the middle of nowhere with no contact with the outside. ‘This woman is not stupid, and we’ve already met before. Does she really have the resources to be this arrogant in front of me?’
Virelya squinted for a moment before recovering her expression. She probed. “I wonder, what do these methods you speak of consist of?”
Ignatia spoke lightly, her tone ft. “We will stop pying merchants and start pying predators. War, death, combat. Full-on assaults and destruction of your fleets. You name it, I dare to do it.”
Virelya froze for a second, and Ignatia’s lips arched further, almost mocking. “Now, are we clear on what will happen? You touched our bottom line, and we will get back to you. So, you'd better prepare while we are pying by the rules, because once we aren’t, you are not going to be prepared for the consequences.”