The moment Jeanne heard Tom mention an "Ursus Duke," the image of Kashchey—whose IQ had been significantly diluted by a certain "silly dragon" and who had been acting quite abnormal lately—popped into her mind.
Logically speaking, if any Ursus noble had left secret sleeper agents in Lungmen, the "Black Snake" Kashchey, who had once fought Wei Yenwu for control of the city, was a 1000% certainty!
"What is that Ursus noble's name?"
Jeanne intended to confirm the specifics. She wanted to see if the person she knew had finally lost his mind completely and was trying to take her down with him.
"I don't know... I never inquired about that noble's status. I didn't dare ask about things that could get me killed... I only saw his subordinates during handovers. I remember them mentioning something about a 'snake'..."
That settled it. There was no washing away the suspicion now. Later, she'd have Alina perform a "Baptismal Chant" for Talulah to just purify that guy out once and for all.
Jeanne looked up at the ceiling. She hadn't expected to be screwed over by one of her own, nearly falling into a death trap.
The good news, however, was that Kashchey likely hadn't betrayed them. Based on Hoshiguma's earlier assessment, this man hadn't just arrived in Lungmen; he had been here for years. Back then, it was uncertain if Kashchey had even parasitized Talulah yet or been weakened by her "Wisdom Drain" skill. Sending a few inconspicuous spies into Lungmen at that time would have been trivial for him.
"Related to a snake?"
A mental alarm triggered in Ch'en's mind, the warning bells ringing incessantly.
When it came to Ursus and snakes, her first thought was the arch-enemy her uncle had respected for so many years. But she figured this must be a leftover product of his collusion with other nobles before his death. According to Jeanne, that man was dead—stone-cold dead, his ashes scattered to the winds. A man like that shouldn't have the ability to kick open his coffin lid and continue causing trouble from the shadows.
"Those secret lines left by that noble—can you still find their tracks? Or do you have some sort of contact information?"
Ch'en knew the chances of this being true were so low that she and Swire might as well shake hands and become best friends, but she still doggedly questioned the man.
Initially, Tom had no intention of answering Ch'en. After all, Jeanne's command didn't include a requirement to "answer questions for others." But seeing how close these two groups were, he guessed that if he didn't answer, a direct command from Jeanne would follow immediately.
"Impossible. The other party approached me through the Baron's contact. He was wearing black clothes; I have no idea who he was, I didn't even know his race."
Before Jeanne could even issue a command, Tom was quite sensible and answered Ch'en's question honestly. Regardless, this was information he "voluntarily" gave them. Even if it was useless, it was a proactive disclosure rather than a forced one!
Because of Jeanne's command, he was incapable of lying, so Ch'en believed him. However, his initiative actually surprised Ch'en. She thought she'd need Jeanne's help, but she got an unexpected harvest instead. Clearly, this man had entered a state of resignation. Under Jeanne's control, the once unyielding hardman had been reduced to this...
"No way at all? You people have been rooted in this city for so many years. Can't you find them?"
Ch'en still didn't quite believe him. He was an old hand who had been in Lungmen for years with plenty of subordinates. How could there be no information at all? She knew he couldn't lie under Jeanne's order, but the order was simply "don't lie." When disclosing things voluntarily, he could still use vague language to gloss over details if he wanted to hide something.
Perhaps out of embarrassment or some reason he found hard to mention, the Vouivre brute looked quite dejected. He said nothing, only slowly shook his head to indicate he truly knew nothing more.
Despite his combat prowess and the reputation he'd built in Lungmen, in the eyes of the one he served, he was nothing more than an insignificant pawn. Such classified secrets were reserved only for the noble's trusted inner circle. A "high-level thug" who was clearly an outsider, no matter how useful, would never receive full trust.
"Then, who exactly sent you to assassinate me yesterday? And who were those crazed motorcyclists?"
Jeanne saw that he had entered a state of extreme depression, sitting there in silent isolation. She wasn't concerned with his mental health. He looked dejected as if he regretted his stupidity, but that was only because he'd been caught. His noble backer wasn't coming for him, and his secrets were exposed.
His future was gone. Had he not been caught yesterday, his life would have been so comfortable that he'd love this lifestyle. He wouldn't think of himself as "just a thug." He probably enjoyed the feeling of being a hired hand—getting paid well with no one to restrict him as long as the job was done. Who wouldn't love such a free working environment? Besides, he was a sleeper agent, not a lunatic sent to destroy Lungmen; how many missions could there be?
"The person who ordered me to lead the team to kill you... was a superior who contacts me frequently. Usually, it's a one-way line to give me assignments."
Well, it seemed he really was quite useless. That noble clearly viewed him as a convenient weapon and never intended to give him a shred of trust. This guy didn't even know who his boss was, yet he dared to follow them for blood money. One couldn't tell if he was just thick-skinned or brainless.
"As for the specifics... I only know he might work in a pharmaceutical company. The drugs that made the motorcyclists abnormal were a product of him and that company."
Seeing the disappointment on the faces of the three women, Tom blurted out a piece of information he hadn't been able to confirm until now. This was a detail he wasn't 100% sure about! If he misled the LGD officers, he might end up in the training room as a punching bag for "impact resistance" training. He might be stuffed into a sandbag as a teaching tool for LGD rookies—getting beaten to the point of heavy injury wouldn't matter; the medical team always needed a living "teaching tool."
While the LGD wasn't as terrifying as the military police back in his home of Ursus, who "ate people without spitting out the bones," who knew what would happen if he angered them?
"Hmm... a pharmaceutical company? There are at least five hundred registered pharmaceutical companies in Lungmen, and countless unregistered ones. Don't you have any more precise information for us to reference?"
Ch'en thought for a while and realized that checking them one by one would be too vague, even with this clue. By the time they visited them all, it would be too late. Pharmaceutical companies were the most likely to destroy evidence and leave no witnesses. To handle this, they had to be fast!
"Jeanne, what do you think about this pharmaceutical company business?" Ch'en turned to Jeanne.
"A pharmaceutical company? I know very little about them. In fact, you could say my knowledge is effectively zero," Jeanne said, spreading her hands helplessly.