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Chapter 405: Chapter 405: Target Locked

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Abigail reached the end of the corridor, gazing through the glass curtain wall at the dazzling world beneath the night sky. Though the curtain only blocked the most direct capture of light by the naked eye, she was still able to construct the image of a steel forest in her mind.

She took out her phone and pressed Honglian’s number.

"Hello?" It was quickly answered on the other side.

It was clear that the other party had been waiting by the phone as well.

"Thank you, I caught the mole." Abigail said genuinely.

It was true. Without calling Honglian to New City, and without the help of that Wanderer, she couldn’t have suspected the head of the intelligence group. Even more exaggerated, even with all the evidence in hand... she still couldn’t unravel the path of the other party’s betrayal.

"Really? How many?" Honglian asked.

This was an internal secret of the organization, something that shouldn’t be disclosed to non-members, but Abigail paused only for a second before responding, "Just one. Fermi Naren, head of the intelligence group."

"How could it be him?" The other party exclaimed in surprise.

"Do you remember him?"

"Of course, when I came here to learn and observe, he was the one responsible for the intelligence lectures." Honglian recalled, "He isn’t an Ability User, is he? How could the Evangelical Association have recruited him?"

"Honestly, the situation is indeed very strange."

It had been about an hour and a half since they took down Fermi, and a lot of intelligence had been decrypted. The intelligence group found hard evidence of his contact with the Evangelical Association on his phone and obtained a list of Evangelicals entering New City. These contacts were operated through a specialized encryption program, with a very unique unlocking method: the system was modified from a blood glucose pen that Fermi carried with him. It would only send the decoding signal to the program when it detected the leader’s own blood.

Personnel searching Fermi’s residence also found many new clues, such as how he had used his personal computer to send large amounts of the organization’s confidential documents overseas, with the most recent transmission record being five days ago. He also stored many files detrimental to the organization, or scandals... if these contents were ever spread to the public, it would undoubtedly deliver a heavy blow to the organization’s reputation.

Many members of the intelligence group actively confessed that the leader held great hostility towards visits by the disciplinary inspection group and had smeared Abigail on numerous occasions behind the scenes... For example, he claimed she was sent by higher-ups to suppress the chief, that the safe house incident was irrelevant, and that it was all about power persecution, etc...

Although these rumors temporarily circulated only within the intelligence group, once they became widespread through word of mouth, agents from other groups were bound to catch wind.

Abigail finally understood why the area’s "icy blue ocean" blended with so many mixed colors the closer it got to the intelligence group.

The person quietly stirring trouble behind the scenes was Fermi himself.

Once it was discovered that the source was a traitor, the rejection and hostility against Abigail diminished significantly.

However, tracing back the thread ended there.

No clues led to Fermi’s superior contact, nor was his motive for betrayal found. When he was corrupted and for what reason he turned to the Evangelical Association, all these remained unknown.

He hadn’t received any additional financial aid, and all information was sent one-way. Judging solely from the information currently grasped, Fermi’s behavior didn’t seem like betrayal at all; it’s as if he was an earnest adherent of the Evangelical Association from the start.

After hearing this, Honglian simply sighed deeply.

"You don’t seem... very surprised?" Abigail asked keenly.

"How should I put it," there was a moment of silence from the other end, "I indeed didn’t expect Fermi to be the mole, but I’m not surprised at what the organization has eventually turned into. Before I came into contact with Shixin and the others, I, too, thought the Dimensional Limit Mechanism was the hope of this world, but after seeing more, it’s not as indestructible as I imagined."

"I understand. Your answer is very enlightening." Abigail replied with pleasure.

"How do you plan to deal with the traitor?"

"I don’t have the authority to pass judgment, so he’ll be sent back to headquarters." She answered simply. This wasn’t the truth, of course; Fermi had already become a shell, and headquarters knew of her abilities, so Fermi would be used as experimental material for a detailed dissection.

"And next, is it capturing these Evangelicals?"

"Yes, you don’t need to worry about this part. After all, it was the intelligence group that caused this mess, and everyone else is holding back a lot of frustration, ready to take action."

"Wait." Honglian suddenly grew alert, "You aren’t planning to cut us off after dealing with the mole, are you?"

From any angle, this was the most appropriate choice.

If it were her from two days ago, Abigail would have done the same. It was both protecting herself and her peers—if the organization learned she was collaborating with a defector, they would be in a terrible position.

But now her thinking had changed.

"Rest assured, I promise to let you see Rodiya, provided she can return to the organization alive."

"No way." Honglian was still dissatisfied, "I don’t trust the people from the New City branch. You have to send me a copy of the action plan and capture targets. Shixin and I can stay out of sight, but we must watch from the shadows. If anything goes wrong, it’s at least a backup measure."

Abigail thought for a moment before agreeing, "Alright, my deputy will deliver the information to you—"

Just then, she noticed a group of people approaching quickly from behind. Even without looking, she knew that Reid was leading them.

"We’ll talk later." Abigail hung up the phone and turned to ask, "What’s going on?"

"Ms. Abigail, we just received a message sent to Fermi by the enemy!" A member of the intelligence group hastily reported, "They say they have confirmed the traitor’s location and require Fermi’s cooperation!"

"This is outrageous!" Reid was furious, "A bunch of Evangelical Ability Users instructing the head of an organization branch. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes!"

"Oh?" Abigail immediately realized the value of this information, "Where is the location?"

"New City Port, Second Loading Area."

She glanced at the time; it was now precisely 10 PM.

"Is there a more specific location?"

The intelligence group member shook his head, "The other party didn’t say, and we didn’t dare to reply to the message easily."

Ms. Abigail walked towards the Chief’s office, "Prepare the map."

Soon, an electronic map of the area was projected onto the office screen. It was apparent that this was an exceptionally large area, containing four storage yards, two piers, and three street blocks to the east, west, and north, roughly estimated to exceed five square kilometers.

Randa had also learned of this matter, "The escaped Ability User is hiding in the port? What is she planning to do... sneak onto a ship and slip overseas?"

"If she believes the organization is incapable of protecting herself, escape is naturally the last resort." Reid mocked.

The Chief, knowing his guilt, didn’t talk back, "This place is too large; even if I send everyone out, it’s impossible to find her in a short time."

Reid, aware that mocking would not solve the problem, didn’t pursue the matter further, "Had Fermi not been exposed, how do you think he would have cooperated?"

"He wouldn’t be able to command the Execution Team, but he could apply to me for an investigation order. If it were merely a suspicion about that area, I would probably send a logistics team to handle it, and I would also notify the police, asking them to temporarily ignore any alarms from the area."

"Block the alarms?" Reid frowned.

This meant the other party wouldn’t wait until tomorrow; they would act tonight.

In the worst-case scenario... the enemy might already be on their way to the port.

"What is this place?" Abigail pointed to the western street block, "I see organizational facility markings on the building."

"Ah... that’s the logistics warehouse of my department, part of the organization’s assets." The Chief said, "These streets mainly belong to the shipping companies, either office buildings or business centers."

"Is there anyone stationed there?"

"Yes." Randa replied, "A Black Steel guard squad is stationed there, on duty 24/7."

Black Steel appears on the surface as a security company, but it’s actually organized by the agency, recruiting and training armed private soldiers for the organization.

Since Rodiya briefly joined the organization, she might know about this logistics warehouse. If she truly intends to set sail, then hiding in a heavily armed and guarded place might be a good choice before leaving.

Abigail wasn’t entirely confident, but there was no time to ponder further now, "Reid, call the warehouse and ask if there have been any unfamiliar visitors recently."

"Yes." The deputy immediately complied.

Then she looked at the Chief and said solemnly, "Mr. Randa, please gather all the Execution Team agents and head to the port area now."