Chapter 691: We Spy with our Shared Mind’s Eyes…
“Burn marks?”
“I managed to smack the dude in the neck with an electrical attack,” Zhen Hai explained. “He managed to survive somehow, but I could tell I left some pretty nasty burn marks on his neck in the process.”
“Hmmm.”
Nepherage took on a contemplative look as she tried to digest all of the information Zhen Hai had given her in regards to this possible spy/traitor.
The most obvious solution, based on the information given, was to simply check the necks of all of the injured Zhen Clan soldiers and see who was suffering from a bad case of electrical burns. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
“Lemme consult the other…puppets…they should be in range of the guy and I can use their senses for this.”
“Sweet!”
Nepherage paused and became quiet as she consulted with her fellow kaijin about the possible traitor hidden among their lord’s clan…
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*Bing-Bong*
Note that while the following conversation is written like a phone transcript, it’s actually happening at the speed of a thought.
Thank you.
*Bing-Bong*
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Nepherage: Archanidame, you’re helping out with the medical supplies right now, right?
Archanidame: That is correct. I’ve been using my abilities to provide bandages when needed. Why?
Nepherage: Our lord’s cousin, the hot blooded shark one, said that he had just fought with a guy who had been the reason for the [Ghost Fire] bomb from earlier. During the course of fighting him, he had discovered that the man was wearing the armor of the Zhen Clan beneath his robe. We think this guy might a be traitor.
Archanidame: He didn’t kill him?
Nepherage: Unfortunately, he couldn’t. The guy apparently had some kind of aether treasure that took the mortal blow for him. Besides, that’s not a bad thing given our lord’s reputation/habit of wanting to handle things “properly” and “peacefully”. Either way, this means that whomever this traitor may be may very well have been someone we had interacted with without realizing it.
Archanidame: Well…that’s not good…any distinguishing features about him?
Nepherage: Not much, just that the man earned himself some wicked electrical burns on his neck. Zhen Hai managed to chop at the man’s neck with a trick he learned from Hurricroak. I’d say that would be a distinguishing feature, but I imagine there are at least several injured necks being treated at this time?
Archanidame: We just wrapped up our twelfth neck injury or so. Testament to the Zhen Clan’s training regiment or the quality of their armor, not sure which.
Nepherage: Figured.
Hurricroak: I heard my name, what’s going on?
Archanidame: Oh, hello Hurricroak. The hot headed shark boy you possessed not too long ago apparently found someone who might be a traitor to the Zhen Clan, and to a lesser extent, our young master. As such, Nepherage and I are trying to find and…possibly kill him, but I think our lord would prefer it if we find concrete evidence and drag his ass into the spotlight for “justice” to occur. Inefficient, I know, but that’s the law of the society we live in.
Nepherage: I…feel like I should be protesting that statement…isn’t your core dedicated to the idea of control? Aren’t laws and such related to that?
Archanidame: They are, but these laws weren’t made by me,so I have no compunction in regards to breaking them.
Nepherage: Huh…
Hurricroak: Mildly terrifying statement aside…you guys said he used a Lightning affinity move, right? Well in that case, I think I could probably find whomever this traitor might be then.
Nepherage: Really? How?
Hurricroak: Well, I didn’t notice this at first because I never really hung around the guy that often, but during those times he actually used lightning aether in combat, I could pick up small traces of my own energy being mixed in. More specifically [Chaos] that’s been attuned to me. If it’s as you said and this guy is running around with an electrical burn on his neck, I think I can just…detect them. Assuming I get close enough, I can’t pick this sort of shit up unless I’m like…ten feet away.
Nepherage: That’s…limiting, but not impossible…Lacerage, Razorstella, Spring Brawler. Did you get all of that?
Lacerage: Yup.
Razorstella: Yes.
Spring Brawler: Burn marks on the neck, possibly going to ditch their armor to blend in, most likely going to lie about how they got injured and probably smells like the same type of [Chaos] that makes up Hurricroak? On it.
Nepherage: Excellent, wait…should we also send out the zakos to help with the search?
Arachnidame: Let’s not. I recall reading an espionage novel that stated that the best way to capture a saboteur, a traitor or another spy, is to act as if you don’t know they are one until it’s too late.
Nepherage: Very well.
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“Hmmm…”
“Is everything good?”
“The information you’ve given me works to an extent. There are about a dozen or so people amongst the crowd with neck wounds, but only about half of them are also wearing Zhen Clan armor. Unfortunately, all of these people have already been treated so their necks are covered,” Nepherage answered while still pretending to be Zhen Liu.
The kaijin still had no idea where or when their Lord would return from his highly unusual meeting with the Zhen Clan’s matriarch, but they at least understood how their lord would want them to act…in theory.
They still leaned on the more violent end with their solutions, but they at least didn’t kill willy-nilly.
Trophies need to be delivered as fresh as possible, after all.
“Wait, does that mean we’ll have to harass a bunch of people to determine whether or not they’re the guy I almost fought to the death” Zhen Hai followed up.
“Not exactly. One of the other…puppets…can detect leftover aether signatures from attacks, even if a lot of time has passed. We just need to get them close enough to anyone of these possible suspects and see if there’s a reaction.”
“Oh. Cool.”
Zhen Hai honestly expected that this little search mission of his would be significantly more annoying and complicated than anticipated, so he was pleasantly surprised to find that there was such a simple solution.
“Wait, so should I go and join your puppets and grab people in order for them to-”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Nepherage answered.
“The thing about catching a saboteur, a traitor or a spy is that one needs to be able to act as if they don’t know that they exist. If we do something as obvious as search for a specific set of traits, they might get spooked and do something drastic.”
“Oh.”
“Plus…you mentioned that you were the only one in the hall when you caught him, right?”
“Yeah…”
“There’s a non-zero chance that if we do catch the guy and confront, he might just reverse the accusations against you. This is what we would refer to as a “he said, she said” moment. Unless you got undeniable proof that he was the reason for the [Ghost Flame], and possibly how they managed to sneak in so many Fallen warriors into this place, then you need proof.”
“Wait, like the time you came back from the dead and exposed grandfather’s butler as to being a traitorous murderer?”
“More or less, yeah.”
“Huh…alright,” Zhen Hai nodded in agreement. “So what do we do?”
“For now, we do nothing…in regards to finding this guy. If anything, we should go and make a good impression with all of the citizens and main clan members. Help clear rubble, suppress those escaped criminals and treat the wounded, that kind of thing.”
“So, what the rest of our family is doing as we’re having this conversation?”
“Bingo.”
“Huh…alright then. Let’s go.”
Having come to a consensus on a course of action, Zhen Hai and Nepherage stopped standing around and talking in order to make themselves useful, or at least, look useful.
“By the way, how come you didn’t tell anyone that you were apparently an Aether Grandmaster this whole time?,” Zhen Hai asked in an attempt to make small talk.
“Honestly? Because nothing paints a bigger target on one’s back then being someone our age, being as strong as the elders of an organization. I’d rather not stress test how tough my skin actually is.”
“Huh…you are surprisingly paranoid for someone of your abilities.”
“Yeah…dying does that to a guy.”
“Fair enough…”
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‘Good thing I chimed in when I did…were you seriously going to have him go up to every person y’all identify as being a suspect and see if his hand was at the right angle to chop at their neck?’
[It would’ve worked.]
‘Scientifically, yes. Socially, it’s suspicious as fuck.’
‘Hush you.’
[Wait, maestro, are you and Frosttusk back from the hot springs already?]
‘More or less.
<=More or less? How is it more or less?=>
‘Because while we could teleport to my ancestor’s hidden springs, we have to walk at least six flights of stairs to get out of it’s hiding spot.’
<=[Ah...]=>
