Chapter 450: Chapter 450: Survivors of the Cult_1
Aiden pondered for a while, then asked another question, "If Professor Dodge wants to stop Gistas’s project, why not make it public? Or just kill everyone involved in the project?"
With the Hands of Erasure at his disposal, along with the dark magic controlled by Professor Dodge and the possible command of the divine word, assassinating a political figure should not be difficult for him.
"Perhaps he wants to completely prevent the project from being restarted," Heinz speculated, "The Empire has set a precedent, and the military sector of the Kingdom has given the research progress. As long as conditions are met, many forces would be interested in this project."
"But he has been there for at least two years, did he make any major moves during these two years?" Aiden asked.
"Indeed, he seems to have a lot of patience, which is a bit hard to explain," Heinz agreed with Aiden’s confusion.
Aiden fell into thought again: was Professor Dodge actually planning a time-consuming grand scheme to completely eradicate this demon research project, or did he have another purpose?
This, perhaps, only he knew. For the time being, the intelligence channels Aiden controlled could only touch on Harrison Dodge indirectly.
Heinz looked at him for a while, then suddenly said, "Harvest Mother Cult."
"What?" Aiden was stunned, completely not understanding how this cult’s name had sprung out abruptly amidst the topic of Professor Dodge.
"I remember that when the Harvest Mother Cult was active in the autonomous region, it was you, the warden, who participated in the suppression, right?" Heinz said.
"There was such an incident, but why bring it up all of a sudden?" Aiden was a bit puzzled.
"They might know something we don’t," Heinz answered seriously.
"What’s going on? Explain it clearly," Aiden immediately furrowed his brows in concentration.
"Actually, even before we knew of the project’s existence and began infiltration from Gistas’s side, we discovered that the Harvest Mother Cult had suddenly intensified their sabotage activities against the Empire’s military construction," explained Heinz, "In the two years that the Central Intelligence Agency infiltrated the Empire’s research project, the Harvest Mother Cult launched two terrorist attacks against the project’s military base. At that time, we speculated—"
"That the mystery person who leaked the information to you also gave it to the Harvest Mother Cult?" Aiden continued.
The Harvest Mother Cult was a remnant force of the Old Lese Kingdom, a cult established with the aim of restoring their former kingdom. Their enemies were the Dragon Spine Empire and the Gistas Kingdom, which had annexed the Old Lese Kingdom. Given the right circumstances, they had reason to throw a spanner in the works for the Empire.
"During those years, the Harvest Mother Cult launched several attacks on key military locations of the Empire, not just the research base of the project. Based on what we know, it is highly unlikely that the Harvest Mother Cult had the infiltrative ability to understand the Empire’s military secrets in such depth. The possibility of an insider or a highly capable intelligence agency deliberately leaking information to them is quite high."
"They were probably being used as pawns by someone else, but not by you guys. Because in their eyes, you and the Empire are both their enemies," Aiden understood.
The military intelligence department of Gistas would probably not think of exploiting the Harvest Mother Cult. Hatred for both the Empire and the Gistas Kingdom made the Cult risky to use - one misstep could backfire spectacularly.
"If someone truly did leak information to them, even making use of these terrorists against the Empire, that person must harbor considerable hatred towards the Imperial Army," said Heinz.
"This does fit the character profile we’ve speculated for Professor Dodge," Aiden noted.
Ten years prior, Professor Dodge had been arrested and imprisoned, and then he escaped. At that time, he must have completely fallen out with the Imperial military.
"Before we began investigating the Empire’s project, the Harvest Mother Cult was already carrying out sabotage operations. That leaker had been in contact with them even longer, so maybe someone from the cult knows something," Heinz looked into Aiden’s eyes, "You probably have a better chance of learning the details. If I recall correctly, there should be some survivors from the cult."
Aiden nodded, "Father Bales, he’s currently serving his sentence in Thorn Iron Prison in Silvertown."
Aiden also had some connections with the leadership at Thorn Iron Prison. Even if Father Bales refused visitation, he could use investigation as a pretext to meet the other party for questioning.
"One last thing, based on our investigation, from after when Professor Dodge escaped to when the Intelligence Bureau took out that base - a span of five years - we listed a number of military officers related to the project, and around five high-ranking officers disappeared under mysterious circumstances," Heinz added another clue.
"Wasn’t it done by your intelligence bureau?" Aiden inquired, "Even if it involves your own people, you probably can’t fully grasp the military intelligence agency’s actions, right?"
"As far as I know, this isn’t their style. Their plan at the time was to infiltrate and lie in wait, to take them all down in one fell swoop from the inside out. Why would they do something so conspicuous and startle the snake before making their move?" Heinz said, "The Harvest Mother Cult also never seemed to have displayed such efficient assassination capabilities."
"Was it done by Professor Dodge? He certainly has the capability," Aiden mused, "But this is entirely different from his style of action in your country. Have any Gistas officers been assassinated?"
"There was a military officer who committed suicide when the project was just established, but no similar events occurred afterward," Heinz answered.
"It sounds like this assassin is more lenient on your side," Aiden remarked.
"You could try to continue the investigation - I swear I’ve told you everything I know," Heinz said.
"I’ll take your word for it," Aiden raised his teacup in response.
"The visitation time we agreed upon is almost due; I should take my leave," Heinz glanced at the wall clock.
"Is the progress going smoothly?" Aiden casually asked.
Heinz’s expression relaxed a bit after hearing the question: "The King can’t do much about us for the time being, but handling those few old foxes in the opposition is not easy. Each one is setting terms for Sera’s title, but these are difficulties we anticipated."
"If Princess Sera really gains power, she should be able to stop the military’s project, right?" Aiden said.
"That’s the case if we succeed. But I think... probably before we make it through, the bomb buried in Sunset City will be detonated by someone," Heinz said meaningfully.
"Let’s hope we all come out of the explosion unscathed," Aiden replied.
Heinz nodded silently and left the office.
Aiden leaned back in his chair, quietly thinking for a while.
Heinz was off to visit the prison... so he should also prepare to visit another inmate.
