The pitch-black night shrouded Initial City's West Port.

Connected to the Olive Grove district, it was filled with warehouses storing goods, patrolled by dedicated port guards.

Terrence hadn't expected that shortly after sending a telegram, he would receive a call from Zhang Qu-bing, requesting a meeting at West Port's Pier 3 at 10:30 PM tonight, without any entourage.

This barely gave him any time to breathe or prepare.

The corpulent, burly, brown-haired, blue-eyed gang leader and cult member, following the instructions of Qian Bai's team, stopped his black sedan before entering the Portside Avenue and proceeded to the meeting point on foot.

He had obtained the registration information and mission records of Shang Jian-yao and others from the Hunter's Guild through his "Black Shirts" connections, confirming that they were a rather powerful and mysterious team.

Terrence glanced left and right, suspecting that one or more of Zhang Qu-bing, Xue Shi-yue, and others were in a building along Portside Avenue or high up in a warehouse at the pier, or somewhere in the container yard, silently watching him, observing if anyone was secretly following.

Fortunately, Terrence had no ulterior motives this time and walked with a clear conscience.

With his weight, such a long walk inevitably left him a bit breathless. He finally managed to avoid the patrolling port guards and arrived at Pier 3.

He looked around but didn't find the target. Suppressing his impatience, he began to wait.

About seven or eight minutes later, two figures approached along the road Terrence had taken.

It wasn't until they were only forty or fifty meters away that Terrence noticed and turned to look.

Under the moonlight, the familiar faces of Zhang Qu-bing and Xue Shi-yue came into view.

"Happy cooperation," Shang Jian-yao said, immediately confusing Terrence.

It took him a dozen seconds to regain his composure and respond with a smile:

"Hopefully, we will have a happy cooperation."

"You're a top-tier gang organization in Initial City, and you're members of a hidden cult that serves the Year Overseer. What do you need to cooperate with us on?" Jiang Bai-mian didn't immediately ask what Terrence wanted to cooperate on, but instead raised a question.

Terrence returned the smile:

"Your various performances, your mission records, your willingness to deal with our 'Black Shirts' and your initial success all indicate that you are not only powerful but also have a deep background. I guess you were sent by one of the major forces dominated by the Ashlanders?"

"You guess whether we guess," Shang Jian-yao, who had some knowledge of Old World entertainment materials, finally found an opportunity to say this.

Terrence didn't ask about their origins. Instead, he said:

"You're investigating the 'Anti-intellect Church', aren't you trying to participate in the current infighting in Initial City? I can sell you some information."

"What kind of reward do you need, or rather, what are the terms of cooperation?" Jiang Bai-mian asked with a smile.

Terrence smiled and said:

"We don't expect you to cooperate in doing anything. Just knowing that information itself might bring us some help.

"Our only request is that when you deem it necessary, you share the information you have with us."

He spoke a bit awkwardly, but his posture was very humble.

"Is there such a good thing?" Shang Jian-yao voiced Jiang Bai-mian's thoughts.

The latter pondered for a moment and said:

"Speak, what information?"

Terrence habitually looked around, confirming that there was no one else at Pier 3.

He considered his words and said:

"We have always known the identity of a member of the 'Most Holy of Desire' cult, but we have never exposed her, only secretly observing her.

"Her name is Cynthia, a descendant of nobility, a socialite in Initial City's upper class, with close ties to many powerful figures.

"She recently went to three places and met three people, one is Christina from the Hunter's Guild, one is Inspector Alexander..."

Jiang Bai-mian listened quietly to Terrence's words, her eyebrows moving almost imperceptibly.

A member of the "Most Holy of Desire" cult met with Inspector Alexander, one of the two giants, at this critical juncture?

Terrence didn't immediately reveal who the third person was, instead introducing other things:

"If Cynthia only went to see Inspector Alexander, it wouldn't be surprising. The 'Most Holy of Desire' cult has many supporters in Initial City's upper class. Many nobles, although they won't admit it openly, secretly participate in some 'Celestial Gatherings'. This is very much the style of the 'Most Holy of Desire' cult.

"Heh, many nobles in the upper class are indulging in pleasure, addicted to desire."

The upper class? Jiang Bai-mian scoffed inwardly.

How many years has it been since the Old World was destroyed? How many years has the New Calendar begun? And yet, they've already created an upper class?

Terrence continued:

"But two days before Cynthia had the opportunity to visit Inspector Alexander, she met another person.

"That person is named Sutton. On the surface, he is a painter, but according to our investigation, he is very likely a member of the 'Anti-intellect Church.'"

"What does he look like?" Shang Jian-yao asked urgently.

Terrence frowned in confusion:

"Less than 1.7 meters tall, thin, with his hair dyed gray, looking like he's indulging in excess."

Shang Jian-yao sighed in disappointment.

"You suspect that the 'Anti-intellect Church' and the 'Most Holy of Desire' cult have come together again, with Inspector Alexander as their target?" Jiang Bai-mian asked thoughtfully.

This was consistent with their judgment that the "Anti-intellect Church" wanted to further escalate the conflict.

Could their next target not be General Focas, but Inspector Alexander? And the ones taking action were not the people from the "Anti-intellect Church," but members of the "Most Holy of Desire" cult? Would this allow them to bypass the security forces around Inspector Alexander? A series of thoughts rose in Jiang Bai-mian's mind, making her feel like she was surrounded by a fog.

Terrence said solemnly:

"I can only say that there is such a guess. I hope you can use this information to verify it.

"To show our sincerity, we will let go of the 'Wolf Den' and not cause them any trouble. But you have to release Auger and the others."

"We might need to borrow them for another two or three months," Jiang Bai-mian said, noncommittally about the previous sentence.

In two or three months, Su-na and the others should be able to have simple conversations with the Red River people, and their marksmanship would be more proficient. With the help of the translator, they wouldn't need the "services" of Auger and the other "Black Shirts" members.

Just as Jiang Bai-mian finished speaking, Shang Jian-yao expressed his opinion:

"They've done too many bad things. They should serve for at least ten years."

Looking at Shang Jian-yao's energetic eyes, Terrence rationally gave up the argument and said with a smile:

"Ten years it is then. Just don't ask me for their living expenses."

He was just mentioning Auger and the others incidentally, as the last bit of dignity for a "superior."

After stopping Shang Jian-yao from asking something like, "So, we can ask for living expenses?" Jiang Bai-mian nodded and said:

"If we gain anything or have any other information to share with you, we'll call you."

"Good," Terrence said, relieved.

Watching him leave Pier 3 and gradually disappear, Shang Jian-yao asked:

"Are we going to monitor Alexander?"

Jiang Bai-mian pondered for a while and said:

"We don't have that ability. Without being able to get close, we can't stop the 'Most Holy of Desire' cult from taking action.

"Moreover, in that case, the real 'Father' might not appear.

"Well, let's report it to the company and let the minister and directors worry about it. They can mobilize the intelligence personnel here to handle it. We'll continue to monitor General Focas."

"Okay," Shang Jian-yao said with a smile. "I still have something unfinished there."

"What is it?" Jiang Bai-mian asked vigilantly.

…………

The next morning, they replaced Bai Chen, Long Yue-hong, and Genava, who had been monitoring all night, and entered a room on the top floor of the building.

Shang Jian-yao went out for a walk and came back with a piece of paper full of icons and writing.

He said with a smile:

"This is a distribution map of public toilets in the surrounding blocks. Most of them are free, and the environment is pretty good..."

Jiang Bai-mian looked at him with a complex expression:

"Well, pay more attention to these places later and see if anyone matching the characteristics of the real 'Father' appears."

Each of them took a telescope and began to observe the people coming and going around the General's mansion.

In the middle, they took turns eating.

Around five or six in the afternoon, as the sky gradually darkened, Jiang Bai-mian saw a dark green off-road vehicle with a black license plate with white characters drive into the monitoring area.

She subconsciously focused her attention on it and, with the help of the telescope, discovered that the driver was a person wearing black clothes and a baseball cap pulled down low.

The license plate belonged to the Council of Elders and allowed entry and exit to the Golden Apple District without temporary inspection.

Jiang Bai-mian was stunned for a moment, then said to Shang Jian-yao:

"Look at that car. Isn't it the one that was following us before?"

The only difference was that it didn't have a license plate before.

"It is," Shang Jian-yao quickly gave a definite answer.

Jiang Bai-mian immediately laughed:

"The real 'Father's' puppet appeared in this area, which means they still want to deal with General Focas."

And that was the opportunity for the "Old Task Force."