He felt that at least an attempt to sound out the situation or even to sway things in his favor was possible!
Not saying a single word—really just having a simple meal—was he treating himself like the Flower God?!
What kind of decent person eats a meal just to eat?!
Fuming, he hailed a cab and returned to his hotel, where Bai Zhi had already woken up. Fang Ze briefly relayed the intelligence he had gathered the previous night and then began, with Bai Zhi, to reassess the council members they were to meet today.
His primary goal was to identify the other four traitors. Only with the identities of all five traitors confirmed would the Security Bureau and the Special Service Department take action.
Acting prematurely would only alert them.
Currently, he had three pieces of information in his possession.
First was that the 15 council members they met on the first day were largely cleared of suspicion.
Second was that the names and codenames of the four traitors were: Old Xu, Number Four, Wind Sound, and Bao.
Third was that Councilor Huang had drawn him a line. On one side of the line were council members who had served in the Security Bureau, Investigation Bureau, or Federal Defense Team ten years ago. On the other side were the rest. The four of them were likely to be distributed on either side, although the probability of them being concentrated on one side was very low.
With this in mind, Fang Ze began to systematically investigate each one.
First was Old Xu. Identifying his target was quite easy because among the 60 council members plus the 12 Executive Councilors and the Chairperson, there was only one with the surname Xu. Additionally, he was not young; he was about the same age as Councilor Huang, which fitted the naming convention.
Therefore, unless Councilor Huang and the others were some kind of sadists who intentionally chose confusing nicknames, it was very likely that Old Xu was indeed Councilor Xu.
Next was Bao. When analyzing this identity, Fang Ze paid close attention to the word "Bao". Council members were equals, with no hierarchy or distinction of rank.
Unless there was a significant age or experience difference, and the relationship was not close—for instance, if they were related, or if one had directly promoted the other—nobody would address someone as "Little x".
Fang Ze checked the ages and tenures of all council members and found one to be very suspicious. This council member was a First Commissioner of a major city.
He had become a council member two years ago, when his city entered the top 20 of Xida State, catapulting him into his current status.
The rapid development of his city was because the state construction department, controlled by Councilor Xu a few years earlier, had included the city in a major project. This led to a booming growth.
Thereafter, during the council member elections two years ago, he was fortunate enough to be nominated and garnered more votes, securing his election.
And prominently in the voting pattern was the figure of Councilor Huang.
Given these circumstances, it was highly likely that this council member was brought up by Councilor Xu. With his younger age and shorter tenure, being called "Bao" by those in Councilor Huang's circle seemed very plausible.
Having narrowed down these two targets, Fang Ze also had a clue about the other two: both Old Xu and Bao had never worked in the Security Bureau, Federal Defense Team, or Investigation Bureau.
Their paths were exclusively through commissioner roles, gaining experience in various departments of the Governing Hall and gradually working their way up. Hence, they weren't in the group defined by the line drawn by Councilor Huang.
So, considering this, at least one of the remaining two traitors—Number Four and Wind Sound—had a high probability of being within the group Councilor Huang outlined.
With a night's work, Fang Ze had not only confirmed Councilor Huang's identity but also narrowed down the range of the other three traitors. This gave him ample confidence that he could solve the case swiftly!
With that in mind, he handed over the list of council members' names to Bai Zhi to start confirming appointments one by one, preparing to meet these people to verify their identities!
As Fang Ze swiftly filtered through the traitors, an undercurrent began to stir among those few traitors....
Today, Councilor Huang had breakfast as usual, got ready, and then drove to work at the Supervisory Department.
But unbeknownst to most, except to a keen observer, was that the last digit of the license plate of his car today was "1". After all, the Huang Family had many cars, and Councilor Huang drove different cars every day, so no one noticed.
However, to those with intent, this was a significant matter!
In the Ministry of Construction, the Director's office.
Councilor Xu sat behind his desk, his brows furrowed.
As spies for Dahei Garo in the Real World, they all knew better than anyone the severity of their actions. Thus, to ensure their comrades' safety, each one of them had a set of secret codes for contact in emergencies.
For example, he liked flowers, and his home's balcony was always adorned with various kinds of blooms. To avoid suspicion, he wouldn't use any particular flower to denote "danger" but would signal with "a flower that definitely won't be displayed on a certain day".
For instance, he might display 100 kinds of flowers on Monday, but he would never display "peony". Consequently, if he displayed peonies on Monday, it meant that trouble had arisen.
This could extend to more detailed messages. One peony symbolized that he was suspicious of a problem and should temporarily cease contact, not reaching out nor being reached out to by others, yet there was no need for others to panic.
Two indicated that he was sure he was being tracked or was under suspicion. Three conveyed that the situation was extremely urgent and advised his comrades to flee immediately.