Chapter 354

Chapter 354: The Infiltrators.

Nemo Wilkins suddenly felt a faint dizziness, as if some invisible force had brushed across his mind. It was as if he had just woken from a strange, shallow dream. In that late moment of alarm, he jerked his head up and looked, tense and wary, at the elderly Mr. who always wore a gentle expression and seemed cultured and harmless.

Morris gave this informant a friendly, polite smile.

But Nemo suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Only now did he remember that from the moment they had entered the secret passage, the old man’s gaze had almost never left him. A power that felt as if it were rifling through his mind and combing through his memories had been wrapped around his thoughts the whole time. He had been unconsciously answering every question these uninvited guests asked, and had almost exposed the situation at the other contact points in the city-state!

Even if these uninvited guests held Captain Tyrian’s token and knew the passphrases, he still should not have been so careless! After all, these people had appeared out of nowhere today. By the rules, he should have tested them more.

The rapid changes on the informant’s face did not escape Vanna’s eyes. She stepped forward, her solemn expression carrying a touch of earnestness as she said: “Mr. Wilkins, relax. We are not enemies— The token and passphrases we carry do indeed come from Mr. Tyrian. We only ran some tests on you just now out of necessary security concerns.”

“Tests… what tests?” Nemo stared at the people before him, full of wariness. “Who exactly are you people?”

“In short, we suspect that a large-scale Cognitive corruption has begun to spread through the city-state. This corruption makes people unknowingly form false memories, lose an accurate understanding of the Mortal Realm, and even become accomplices of heretics without realizing it. We cannot be sure whether the informants Mr. Tyrian left in the city are all still reliable, so we have to run tests,” Vanna explained seriously, then shifted the topic. “As for who we are… you did not receive any message from Mr. Tyrian?”

“The captain did not explain in detail. He only said you were a few people he could trust,” Nemo answered cautiously. “Forgive my doubts— He never made such baffling arrangements before.”

Morris thought for a moment, then understood and looked at Duncan: “Oh, then it might be because he did not have your explicit permission. He probably did not dare reveal who we are.”

Permission? Captain Tyrian did not dare reveal their identities?

Hearing Morris’s words, Nemo’s expression instantly turned a little strange. He instinctively looked at the bandage-wrapped, black-clad weirdo. Nemo clearly wanted to ask something, but did not know how to begin.

Duncan did not dwell on it. He only nodded lightly: “Since we have confirmed this informant is fine, there is no need to hide it.”

As he spoke, he looked at Nemo and pointed at himself: “I am Tyrian’s father.”

The Sea Mist covert agent named Nemo Wilkins froze for a few seconds. Then his thoughts seemed to scramble in some strange way, and he suddenly glared: “Do not insult the captain!”

Duncan: “……”

The air turned awkward for a moment. Vanna and Morris both could not help pressing their hands to their foreheads. Only Alice glanced left and right, as if she still had not caught up. She looked very serious as she said to the informant: “It is true.”

Nemo clearly still wanted to speak, but this time, before he could open his mouth, Morris stepped forward and patted his shoulder: “Young man, think it through before you talk— The great ‘Steel Vice Admiral’ Tyrian also has a father.”

Only then did Nemo Wilkins finally notice the subtle shift in the mood and catch up with the earlier conversation. At once he recalled the old tales about the Abnomar family, about Captain Tyrian’s family, about the Vanished, about that Restless Soul wandering Subspace. When he lifted his head to look at Duncan again, his eyes were clearly different.

“I came back from Subspace,” Duncan said, watching him, his voice calm. “I am here to help Tyrian deal with a bit of trouble.”

Nemo stared for a moment. His eyes rolled back, and he toppled over.

But Vanna seemed ready. Before the informant hit the ground, she grabbed his arm with one hand. With the other, she pulled out a whole bottle of Mind-Clearing Essence Oil, flicked off the stopper, and poured it straight into Nemo’s nostrils.

The informant practically shot straight up.

“Ah… ah… ah-choo! Ah-choo!” Nemo was fully awake now. His nose was full of the fierce smell of the ointment. He sneezed several times in place before it finally eased. With snot and tears running down his face, he lifted his head, sniffled, and said nervously: “I… I…”

“Sorry— I forgot ordinary people are not as tough as Guardians,” Vanna said, a little embarrassed as she hid the glass bottle in her hand. “But do not worry. This stuff will not harm your body.”

Nemo took a handkerchief from his pocket. As he wiped the tears and snot from his face, he forced himself to calm down. With eyes full of fear and hesitation, he looked at Duncan: “It… it is really you? Then… then what can I do for you…?”

“You are already working for me,” Duncan waved his hand. “Do not be so tense. Just tell me more about Frostholm.”

“Al… alright,” Nemo nodded again and again, then sneezed a few more times before settling down. “What else would you like to ask?”

“Are you currently in contact with the other informants in the city?” Duncan asked. “How do you usually communicate? Do you gather in this sewer system, or use more hidden channels?”

“We seldom gather,” Nemo said as he rubbed his nose. “It is mainly for safety— Many of our members have close ties with the Upper City, so they need to stay hidden. Most of the time, we trade information through various secret channels, like coded messages in newspapers, specific meeting spots, or by relying on ‘couriers’ for one-way contact.

“In fact, even we do not know how many of ‘our own’ there really are in the city. Most informants only know their direct superiors and subordinates, or a few ‘fellows’ in the same area. The full list is only in the hands of Captain Tyrian and Mr. Aiden. I count as the ‘handler’ for my tier, so I hold a few more names than most, but even so, it is no more than ten people…”

Listening to Nemo, Vanna could not help nodding slightly: “A very cautious and efficient way to stay hidden. Most cultists who play games with the Guardians are not this professional.”

“After all, it is the result of Tyrian’s work over half a century,” Duncan said offhand at the side. Then he looked at Nemo again. “Are you the only one stationed at this contact point?”

“There are two more,” Nemo nodded. “One has the nickname ‘Crow’. He should be patrolling the nearby tunnels right now. The other is an old man who spends most of his time in the abandoned pipe crew room. I do not even know his real name. We all call him ‘Old Ghost’.”

Duncan exchanged a look with Vanna and Morris.

Nemo Wilkins did not seem affected by any cognitive interference, but the same might not be true for the people around him.

“Let us go say hello too,” Duncan nodded. “Where is this pipe crew room?”

“Right over here,” Nemo said, raising his hand to point to the right side of the fork ahead. “It used to be the temporary rest area for the maintenance workers on the Second Waterway. I will take you.”

The informant strode ahead, and on the way he began to tell Duncan and the others about this “Old Ghost”.

“…He is already over seventy this year, almost the oldest among us. My grandfather used to work with him, back in the Queen’s era…

“Old Ghost’s head is not very clear, but when it comes to gas pipes and the connecting sections of the Second Waterway, he never makes mistakes. The extra gas line we added here was done by him and his crew. They secretly tapped a branch off the main line above. It had to be safe and also not be discovered. That is not the sort of job just anyone can handle…

“Old Ghost rarely goes up to the surface. He spends most of his time down here. Sometimes, after he drinks, he boasts to us about the old days. He says that decades ago he was the engineer for the Second Waterway, and the Queen even gave him a medal in person— But to be honest, very little of what he says is believable. I have seen that medal of his. It is just a piece of iron with nothing on it. It is obvious he picked it up from some dark corner…

“Ah, most likely he breathed in too much toxic gas when they retreated into the Second Waterway back then— Did I tell you? Fifty years ago, when the last Queen’s Guard Corps pulled back, they sealed the Second Waterway. The vertical shaft collapsed, and some of the poisonous gas drifted down from above. A few Artificers loyal to the Queen rushed in to plug the leaks. Old Ghost seems to have been one of them. They say his mind has not been quite right since then.

“If he suddenly starts shouting about the Queen later, do not mind it… He does not mean anything by it.”

With Nemo Wilkins chattering the whole way, Duncan and the others soon walked past the fork and reached a rusty iron door near the sewer junction.

Nemo stepped forward, knocked on the door, called inside, and then pushed it open: “Old Ghost, we have guests.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a hoarse but very loud voice came from inside the room—

“Ah, the Queen has come to inspect!?”