Chapter 699: Chapter 230: A Leisurely Day with Music at Flood Gang
“So that’s how it was.”
Leonard Churchill looked at the decrypted cipher in front of him, his expression changing from surprise to enlightenment.
When they had met before, his intuition told him something wasn’t quite right.
Although he didn’t mind taking risks for his friends,
it didn’t mean his friends were willing to let him take such great risks.
This understanding was mutual.
If it had truly been “Old Bible” himself, knowing the danger was too great, even if he had seen the information Leonard had posted at the Hunter’s Association, he wouldn’t necessarily drag his friend into it.
The trouble involved with the “Spell Clay Pot” was so great, it could almost be said that no one could handle it.
Even knowing that Leonard would not be contaminated, he would still consider it carefully.
But he had come anyway, which was a small doubt.
Before, Leonard had only had slight suspicions, but now it became clear: he had been contaminated.
“No wonder Noah Wright didn’t show up for the rendezvous…”
Leonard had previously thought Noah wasn’t in Sinless City,
or that he had been delayed for some other reason.
After all, Reuel Bible was his old team captain and would likely help out despite the danger.
Now it appeared the problem was not so simple.
It was very possible that Noah had realized it was a conspiracy by the X Bureau, which was why he chose not to show up.
“The contaminated Reuel Bible” didn’t wait for the outcome.
It was by chance he saw Leonard, a familiar face suddenly entering his view, and changed his plans.
Through his relationship with Camilla, he would be more likely to achieve his goal.
Leonard thought harder and remembered that when he was in Upper State Prison, he learned a big secret from Barre Shepherd that others didn’t know.
It was that the previous “Pursuer of Light” went to investigate a major event at the X Bureau, only to have an accident.
And as the current Pursuer of Light, Noah certainly knew the ins and outs of the matter.
Being undercover in the X Bureau before, he was likely targeting the same issue.
The previous Pursuer of Light had perished because of it, so he would surely be more cautious.
But Noah must have been fairly confident he could “handle” the situation.
Otherwise, the X Bureau’s higher-ups wouldn’t have used Reuel to set up such a clever trap, eagerly trying to lure him in.
Considering this, Leonard couldn’t help but internally exclaim, “The people at the X Bureau sure are cunning…”
If he had not seen the cipher left by Reuel, this would likely have gone in the direction they had planned.
Unfortunately, there are no ifs.
Under these coincidental circumstances, what Leonard saw was some kind of “inevitability.”
Aside from the Pursuer of Light, the only person Reuel could entrust with this was Leonard.
That’s why he used the method of altering his own cognition and memory to leave a message.
And he was certain that Leonard would definitely see it.
This seemed like a flaw in the plans of the X Bureau people.
But Leonard saw the brilliance of another strategist.
That was Noah Wright!
At this moment, the situation seemed to be a gamble between Reuel and the higher-ups of the X Bureau,
but in fact, it was a long-time game between the Pursuer of Light and the X Bureau!
“So the plans had already been in motion that far back, huh.”
Something occurred to Leonard, his eyes deepening.
Mushroomhead could’ve kept hidden his identity as “Pursuer of Light” all along.
At least if he didn’t want to be exposed, no one could guess that a small assistant beside Reuel would be the leader of the Thirteen Knights.
But now that he’s been exposed, there must be other considerations at play.
It may even be that from the moment the Pursuer of Light infiltrated Reuel’s side under the identity “Noah Wright,” he began to lay out his plans.
Understanding all this, Leonard also realized that both he and Reuel were pawns in this game of chess.
The level of planning involved was too intricate.
So intricate that… it is something understood intuitively, not expressible in words.
Just like the historical truth recorded on the stone tablet in the mine tunnel of Upper State Prison, “certain entities” must not be pointedly mentioned, even should not be known to the world.
Therefore, at the start, the strategist had to use very clever means to conceal his motives.
To let the “pawns” make the choices at the appropriate time, choices that are inevitable in the plan,
In order to achieve the goal.
Leonard had experienced it once before.
That’s why he immediately understood.
It was like when he had gone to the banquet where the Queen of Orlan was murdered.
From start to finish, it seemed he was just casually there to watch the excitement, only to encounter unexpected situations.
No one told him he needed to participate in the assassination, needed to win a game, or needed the Weeping Angel Soul on him to suppress the remnants…
But after going there, he realized that he would inevitably play a role on that stage.
As if a channel had been dug in advance, and once the water arrived, it would inevitably flow along the channel.
It’s a kind of foresight akin to “fate,” an extremely clever technique.
If Leonard couldn’t see through it, he would even believe that it was destined.
But that’s not the case.
Now it’s the same with Reuel’s situation.
Before, his decision to return to the X Bureau’s headquarters certainly wasn’t made with knowledge of the plan.
But perhaps Noah had already hinted and guided him on some key information.
And perhaps from the very first moment they met, he was already preparing.
Based on those hints, Reuel then step-by-step investigated the internal problems of the X Bureau’s upper echelons.
And after that, he stole the key item, the “Broken Spell Clay Pot,”
which led to him being wanted and pursued…
With Reuel’s intelligence, he might not have known before,
but gradually, he must have realized that he was becoming a “pawn” in this grand game.
Yet he willingly continued on, even betting his life.
This is the strategist’s ingenious move.