Full-Time Public Enemy

Marcus didn’t beat around the bush. "Based on my many years of experience, an organization as mysterious as the Order of Saints would never truly leave important pawns like Lyle unattended. They would only issue orders when needed."

The old comrade’s words served as a wake-up call to everyone.

While the Order of Saints needed to maintain its air of mystery, it didn’t mean they had no control over their members. Otherwise, the Saint tasked with giving orders wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of implanting that encrypted thought structure in the minds of Lyle and his companions.

Melincha, the puppet, asked, "Are you saying that...?"

Marcus continued, "The more secretive the organization, the more it needs to appear omnipotent and omniscient—especially when it comes to controlling its own members.

"Even if we assume that each Saint is important to the organization and they come in person to give orders, what if these three have already been secretly controlled by the enemy, and they come crashing into a trap without any idea?

"That’s why, next to every important peripheral member, there must be an eye of the Order of Saints watching them!"

Marcus speculated with the expertise of a seasoned special agent, "This eye might seem inconspicuous to Lyle and his two companions, but it must stay close enough to observe them unnoticed, providing ample intelligence support for the Saint behind the scenes."

Even Gong Shuxu couldn’t help but nod. "That makes sense. Indeed, an elder in the family is a treasure!"

Chen Gu glanced sideways. Aren’t you flattering yourself with that comment?

Chen Gu didn’t dawdle and stood up right away. "I’ll make another round to thoroughly check the servants around these three."

The servants were the perfect candidates for the "eyes" identified in Marcus’s analysis. All three were royals, and each family employed hundreds of servants. However, not many had frequent enough contact with them to facilitate surveillance, only about a dozen or so per household.

In this round of inspection, Chen Gu was extra careful, wary of those "mental traps."

But after a busy night, as dawn approached, he found nothing. These servants were all ordinary people. Although their hearts were full of envy or resentment towards their masters, none exhibited any suspicious behavior or seemed to be secretly passing on messages.

As Chen Gu contemplated with furrowed brows, Marcus suddenly interjected, "Check their concubines as well."

Chen Gu laughed and immediately set to work.

The matrimonial system in this world was extremely chaotic. Simply put, those with power could do as they pleased.

For instance, Lyle had sixteen concubines, and Michel had nine male courtesans.

As for the third person, Clerinsa, another member of the royal family with even more wealth and power, was truly impressive—she had four wives and three husbands!

From Clerinsa’s memories, Chen Gu had even unintentionally seen the extraordinarily large bed in her home.

Time was running out for Chen Gu, but he quickly made a discovery. One of Lyle’s concubines would shop at a clothing store in the city every three days.

During these visits, she reported Lyle’s movements over the last three days to a tailor in the shop while trying on clothes.

The concubine had always believed that the owner behind the clothing store was the City Lord, the highest ruler of the entire city-state.

She thought she was helping the City Lord by monitoring all actions of the royal members under him.

She didn’t even know about the existence of the Order of Saints.

Chen Gu quickly took control of this concubine. By now, daylight had broken. Chen Gu brazenly woke up Lyle and the two others, keeping them under control with his ’Brain Domain Hacker’ abilities.

The three—two men and one woman—emerged from a room early in the morning, accompanied by a concubine. Lyle’s servants and guards quickly lowered their heads, pretending to see nothing, though their hearts filled with deep admiration. Royals sure know how to live it up! How enviable! If only I could join them!

Chen Gu kept these four close because he couldn’t yet control them remotely. Thus, he hid in the shadows, controlling the four as they headed straight for Michel’s house. Sure enough, he successfully identified another ’eye’ among Michel’s male courtesans.

This informant’s reporting location was an arena in the city. After every gladiatorial game he watched, he would meet with a popular and powerful gladiator, his lover, and casually report the information during their intimate moments.

What a mess.

Clerinsa’s case was a bit odd. Chen Gu caught two ’eyes’ in one fell swoop—a man and a woman. The man reported his information at a bank, receiving a sum of money after each report.

The woman, on the other hand, went home, where the old butler was her contact.

Gong Shuxu said calmly, "Alright, you need to appear before your followers today. Leave the rest to me."

So, Chen Gu, with all the high-ranking clergy of the shrine, including Lyle, by his side, spent the whole day racing through various mines to bring blessings to the faithful. Of course, he did not miss showing off some miracles and concocted several large barrels of "Holy Water" mixed with antibiotics.

By the time he returned in the evening, Gong Shuxu had already discreetly taken care of everything.

Gong Shuxu informed him, "Although they reported to different places, all the intelligence ultimately converged, ending up in the hands of an unremarkable small merchant in the city.

"This merchant has three trade caravans frequently traveling between cities, evidently to facilitate message transmission."