Northveil was still covered in white snow.
The heavy snowfall from last night had yet to completely stop.
Thick piles of snow had accumulated along both sides of the roads.
Snow-clearing vehicles had already finished clearing the main roads.
Workers could still be seen along the streets, continuously transporting the remaining snow away.
The city continued operating at its usual rhythm.
The Pollution Processing Department began another normal day of work.
The Administrative Center remained busy.
The incident at the department store seemed to be gradually fading into the past.
Except for a few people involved in the investigation.
No one knew.
Another, far more secretive investigation had already begun.
Quietly.
Inside the hotel.
Lucian had already gotten up.
The map on the desk remained exactly as it had been when he left last night.
Several routes of different colors intersected across it.
Several observation points had been carefully circled.
Beside them were several sets of recorded times.
Rotation.
Observation.
End.
The three words were connected into one complete line of thought.
Lucian stood quietly in front of the desk.
His gaze slowly swept across the entire map.
Last night.
He had already organized all the information that could currently be confirmed.
Continuing to rely on visual observation.
Had little meaning now.
What he truly needed to wait for.
Was a new method of investigation.
The terminal on the desk suddenly vibrated softly.
There was no ringtone.
Only a single, extremely faint notification.
Lucian picked up the terminal.
The screen displayed nothing but an unfamiliar combination of numbers and letters.
No name.
No message.
Only a short sixteen-digit identification code.
He glanced at it calmly.
Then entered another verification code.
The terminal quickly completed authentication.
A line of text appeared on the screen.
Target has arrived.
Identity establishment complete.
Contact procedure proceeding according to the predetermined protocol.
Nothing else appeared.
Lucian quietly turned off the terminal.
Then placed it back on the desk.
Someone from the Jace Family had arrived.
There had been no advance notification throughout the entire process.
Nor had they left behind anything that could be traced.
This was also how the Jace Family had always handled intelligence operations.
The fewer people who knew.
The safer it was.
Lucian did not leave immediately.
Instead, he checked the room once more.
The map was put away.
The notebook was returned to his backpack.
The desk was restored to its original neat appearance.
After confirming that no investigative materials had been left behind.
He put on his coat.
And left the hotel.
The winter air remained cold.
Fine snow continued to fall.
Lucian walked slowly along the street.
He did not head directly to the meeting point.
Instead, as usual.
He first passed through two commercial streets.
Then crossed an office district.
Along the way, he entered a convenience store.
He bought a bottle of mineral water.
He then stopped by the roadside for a moment.
Nothing about the entire sequence of actions was unusual.
He looked more like an ordinary traveler heading out to take care of some business.
Only after confirming that there was nothing unusual.
Did he make his way to the other side of the city.
The area was not particularly prosperous.
But it could hardly be called secluded either.
A small coffee shop stood on the street corner.
The glass windows reflected the snowy scenery outside.
Quite a few customers were inside.
Some were working with their heads lowered.
Some were reading newspapers.
Others were simply drinking coffee in silence.
No one paid attention to Lucian as he pushed open the door and entered.
He swept his eyes across the shop.
He quickly found his target.
Near the window.
A man in his thirties was sitting alone.
He wore a dark gray coat.
A black scarf.
A laptop was placed in front of him.
Several business documents sat beside the table.
No matter how one looked at him.
He appeared to be a businessman who had just finished work.
The man did not look up.
He continued staring at his computer screen.
Only after Lucian sat down across from him.
Did he slowly close the laptop.
The movement was natural.
As if he were simply preparing to take a short break.
Neither man shook hands.
Nor did they introduce themselves.
The man simply spoke calmly.
"Lucian."
Lucian nodded slightly.
"Thank you for coming."
The man gave a faint, polite smile.
"It's my job."
His voice was steady.
There was no unnecessary emotion.
Lucian could tell.
The man was not a combatant.
His palms showed none of the marks left by long-term combat training.
His posture was also more characteristic of someone who spent long hours working at a desk.
His attention was focused more on the computer and terminal.
Rather than his surroundings.
This matched the information provided by the Jace Family.
Professional.
Calm.
Skilled in data analysis.
But not involved in direct action.
A waiter approached.
The two men simply ordered a cup of hot coffee each.
Then the silence returned.
Only after the waiter left.
Did the man open his laptop again.
The screen lit up.
There were no company documents.
Only an electronic map of Northveil.
Along with an analysis interface that had already been prepared.
He looked at Lucian.
His tone remained calm.
"Let's begin."
"Tell me everything you know so far."
Lucian did not waste any time.
He took the paper map he had organized last night from his backpack.
Then carefully spread it across the table.
He lightly pointed at the location of the Pollution Processing Department.
"Here."
"This is where the observation begins."
The man's gaze fell on the map.
He did not rush to ask questions.
He simply listened quietly.
Lucian picked up a pen.
Then slowly traced the first route on the map.
"Observation target."
"Irina."
"An official member of the Northveil Pollution Processing Department."
"So far, I have not found any other long-term observation targets."
The man nodded slightly.
He recorded the first piece of information on his computer.
Lucian continued.
"The observation network activates every day."
"The timing is basically fixed."
"Once she leaves the Pollution Processing Department."
"The observation begins immediately."
"When she returns to the department."
"The observation ends."
The pen moved slowly.
Connecting several circles one after another.
"These locations."
"Are all fixed observation points."
"The personnel rotate constantly."
"But the locations never change."
The man finally spoke.
"Rotation interval?"
"About ten to fifteen minutes."
"It is never exactly the same."
"But the margin of error is very small."
The man recorded it again.
Then continued asking.
"Do they interact with one another during the observation?"
"No."
"Eye contact?"
"None."
"Communication devices?"
"Nothing detected."
The man lightly tapped the keyboard.
Several markers began appearing on the electronic map.
"So."
"You can confirm the observation behavior."
"But you cannot determine how they exchange information."
Lucian nodded.
"That's why I stopped following them yesterday."
"They have received counter-surveillance training."
"Continuing to follow them."
"Would not produce any results."
The man did not comment.
He simply continued analyzing.
Several seconds later.
He slowly turned the laptop toward Lucian.
On the screen.
Another diagram had already been created.
There were no connections between the various observation points.
"If there is no communication on site."
"Then there are only two possibilities."
He spoke calmly.
"First."
"Everyone receives the complete assignment before departure."
"Throughout the entire observation period."
"They do not need to communicate again."
"Second."
"They have remote communication."
"Only the method of communication."
"Has not been detected."
Lucian stared at the screen.
He said nothing.
The man continued.
"The first possibility."
"Would work for a short-term operation."
"But you have already confirmed."
"This is a long-term observation network."
"It repeats every day."
"And circumstances are different every day."
"When Irina leaves."
"When she returns."
"Whether she temporarily changes her route."
"All of these things affect the observation deployment."
"If there is truly no communication."
"It would be difficult for them to maintain this level of precision."
Lucian nodded slightly.
This was also the problem he had been considering all along.
The entire observation network.
Was far too precise.
It did not seem to rely on predetermined arrangements.
It seemed more like something capable of adjusting at any moment.
According to changes in the field.
The man turned the laptop back toward himself.
His fingers quickly entered several commands.
Then he opened another analysis page.
"So."
"What we really need to find."
"Is not the observers."
"But the communication."
Lucian looked at him.
The man continued explaining.
"People can hide."
"Communication is much harder to hide."
"As long as they need to report."
"Need to change shifts."
"Or need to receive new instructions."
"Even if it is only for a few seconds."
"They will leave data behind."
As he spoke.
He circled several areas on the map.
"We don't track people."
"We track signals."
"There are millions of communications throughout Northveil every day."
"Of course."
"We can't analyze all of them."
"So we need to narrow the range."
He looked at Lucian.
"Your records."
"Are the best filtering conditions we have."
Lucian immediately understood what he meant.
"The observation start times."
"The observation end times."
"The personnel rotation times."
The man nodded.
"Exactly."
"We only analyze those time periods."
"Then combine them with the corresponding areas."
"The amount of data will drop significantly."
"After that."
"We eliminate ordinary civilian communications."
"Commercial communications."
"Public networks."
"What remains."
"Will be worth investigating."
The coffee was brought over by the waiter.
The two briefly stopped talking.
Only after the waiter left.
Did the man continue.
"There is one more thing."
He slowly enlarged the electronic map.
Several observation points around the Pollution Processing Department gradually appeared.
"What is truly fixed."
"Is not the people."
"But the locations."
"You judged that correctly."
"If the observation points are fixed."
"Then."
"The locations where signals appear."
"Will most likely repeat as well."
"After several consecutive days."
"The pattern will naturally emerge."
Lucian stared at the map.
A new method of investigation had already begun taking shape in his mind.
Before.
His attention had always been focused on people.
Now.
The focus of the investigation had finally changed.
The observers.
Were merely executors.
What was truly worth finding.
Was where all the information ultimately converged.
The man slowly closed the laptop.
"Starting today."
"You will still be responsible for the field."
"Continue recording."
"The more detailed, the better."
"I'll handle the rest."
Lucian nodded slightly.
"How long until you can get the first results?"
The man thought for a moment.
"If they continue operating today."
"Tonight."
"I can complete the first round of filtering."
"But there won't be a final answer."
"A surveillance network of this scale."
"Cannot be cracked in a single day."
"At least several days of data will be necessary."
Lucian was not disappointed.
Instead, he felt that this was more reasonable.
If an organization that had remained hidden for years could be found in a single day.
That would actually be too unrealistic.
The man put his laptop away again.
His tone remained calm.
"One more thing."
"From now on."
"Do not actively follow any observers."
"What they are truly good at."
"Is dealing with people who follow them."
"Since we already know that."
"There is no need to enter the field they know best."
"Let them continue believing."
"That no one has discovered them."
"That is the best way to investigate."
Lucian nodded slightly.
"That suits me perfectly."
The two did not continue discussing the matter.
They each finished their coffee, which had gradually cooled.
Then they left the coffee shop one after another.
They did not walk together.
Nor did either of them look back.
After leaving the shop.
They merged into crowds moving in different directions.
As if they had never met.
Snow continued to fall slowly.
The streets remained as busy and peaceful as usual.
No one knew.
Around that observation network hidden within Northveil.
Another, even more secretive intelligence analysis network.
Had quietly begun to take shape.