One-Eyed Monster

Some pieces of news are like pestilences, spreading at a speed beyond your imagination and covering an area that takes your breath away.

The death of Mayor Babasha was such news, silently and almost imperceptibly beginning to spread at the foot of Guru Mountain.

Such incidents should rightly be suppressed. After all, news of a senior City Administrative Office Politician's death could cause unnecessary trouble if disseminated. Various factions, ready to exploit the situation, might choose to strike, potentially causing unimaginable damage to those unprepared.

Yet, Governor Rostellum of Gaga County, where the incident occurred, did not choose to clamp down on this news. The way this governor handled the incident seemed hasty and reckless, as if he hadn't considered the negative effects of the news spreading.

This went against conventional wisdom and was something Wizard Reed hadn't predicted.

At the Lubin Tavern, Wizard Reed was resting in his room. Before his mission was completed, he couldn't exhaust too much of his Spirit Power. As Willem had once said, behind every major concealed secret lies a formidable Soul Guardian, and in a place like Guru Mountain, there was more than one.

The Soul Guardians, widely dispersed, had left their footprints in every corner of the continent. Reed had once tried to unearth this organization's secrets, but no matter how much information he collected or how many suspicious leads he tracked, he ultimately failed to grasp even a single strand of a Soul Guardian's hair.

Wizard Reed sighed softly. The failure to uncover their secrets was like a scar on his heart, so he was always particularly careful in any interactions with the Soul Guardians.

To Reed, the Soul Guardians were always lurking in the dark, impenetrable. Moreover, Guru Mountain seemed to house another faction in addition to the Soul Guardians. This faction had given the Black Crows a hard time two years ago, although Reed hadn't participated in that operation.

Willem hadn't given them much information. They only knew that Willem was once a member of the Soul Guardians, so he was aware of a sealed secret hidden in Guru Mountain. But Willem didn't say what exactly this sealed secret was. They had only gleaned from Willem's casual remarks that this secret was related to power.

Wizard Reed, through his own information gathering, discovered that this seal was also related to death.

Perhaps the secret sealed in Guru Mountain is some Forbidden Spell concerning death...

Speaking of death, Wizard Reed couldn't help but recall the news he had overheard in another tavern. Although he was in the Lubin Tavern, his ears could reach any place within his range of control.

Reed mastered a Forbidden Spell called Splitting. This spell could split off any of his sensory organs. As long as they were within the range of his Spirit Sensing, these split parts would relay any perceived sensations back to him, allowing him to know everything without leaving his house.

Although the death of Mayor Babasha didn't help him much, it somehow solved his problem of not having a catalyst.

This truly defies logic, Wizard Reed thought. The news brought strange feelings. Mostly because the development of events was so different from his past experiences; his expectations had been challenged. At least, he couldn't believe the news of a City Administrative Office leader's death being broadcast so unrestrainedly.

It was an accident, something not in Wizard Reed's plan. This forced him to recalculate his strategies.

Originally, Wizard Reed only intended to silently obtain the catalyst and then reunite with other members of the Black Crows on the mountain. The Alchemy Workshop was firmly under his control, and the information he released could make the people at the Alchemy Workshop obey his commands. In his original plan, he intended to use the Alchemy Workshop to deal with the other faction on Guru Mountain.

If the Alchemy Workshop could keep that faction busy, he himself would have enough energy to deal with the Soul Guardians.

All of this was supposed to happen unnoticed...

But now, with the mayor's death and the County Administrative Office not suppressing the news, things had become a bit tricky.

If this continued, every detail on Guru Mountain would be watched by the Crows in the dark. These Crows would sell the information, and soon the entire continent would know about every move on Guru Mountain. The item the Black Crows wanted to take would then be coveted by many.

Wizard Reed's concerns were indeed logical. But perhaps because he was too accustomed to his unique ways, he failed to realize that the situation had already changed and was not as he imagined.

Although the Black Crows' nefarious intentions for Guru Mountain hadn't spread throughout the entire continent, in Luona, it was no longer a secret. Governor Rostov of the Luona City Administrative Office had already begun to dispatch personnel to Guru Mountain. Even if they couldn't arrive in time, the Black Crows were at least on the radar of this influential figure in Kayne Empire's political circles. Moreover, another mercenary organization in Luona, the Hounds, though not entirely clear on what had happened, generally guessed there was a significant opportunity on Guru Mountain. Consequently, they had also sent a few vigilant members—their 'hounds'—to investigate. As for the Luona Wizard Alliance Branch, Yonder Travel Academy, and others, they were all anxiously worrying that some major incident might occur on Guru Mountain.

As for Guru Mountain itself, Kuyi Tulan of the Alchemy Workshop had been alert for some time, and Elder Rostellum had also been warned by a mysterious Witch Spirit.

It seems only Wizard Reed naively believes their Black Crow operation is secret.

While Wizard Reed had the resources to act independently, he overlooked the simplest principle: knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to winning every battle. Strength alone is never enough. If you don't understand your opponent, you will always be overly cautious and waste too much energy.

Wizard Reed clearly didn't understand what kind of person Governor Rostellum was. Reed only saw Elder Rostellum's apparent haste and simplicity in handling Babasha's death; he failed to see Rostellum's decisiveness and confidence.

Rostellum chose not to suppress the news because, in Gaga County, there was no need. Everything in Gaga County was under Elder Rostellum's control, including the Dark Organizations. Even the most cunning Crow, upon obtaining information, wouldn't dare sell it without permission. Elder Rostellum had countless minions.

Moreover, suppressing the news this time wouldn't have much effect because Guard Goding would definitely send the news out via Mail Birds at the first possible moment, so there was no need for suppression.

"The die is cast, and now all that needs to be done is to let the current guide it," Elder Rostellum would always tell his subordinates. Thus, when faced with Lord Babasha's death, he acted competently, swiftly bringing the matter to a close. Subsequently, the public's attention should shift to whether the murderer had been apprehended.

Unfortunately, Reed failed to see this far. He had no choice but to scrap his previous plan and start recalculating.