438 A Silk Embroidered Shoe

When Ye Qingxuan's carriage arrived, the Judgement Tower was already split into two. The fire had been extinguished. Smoke rolled out in plumes and scattered in the strong wind. One half of the tower had crushed the surrounding walls as it crashed into a department building. It was like a sword that had sliced the building into two.

The Knights Templar had arrived and isolated the place.

In order to prevent riots, the Church even sent out a Gospel Armor squad. The sixteen hung in the air. Their swords were already dyed red. The unrest was squashed before it could start but when Ye Qingxuan saw the scene, he still gasped. The Revolutionaries could make such a mess?

"What's going on?" Wolf Flute looked to the panicking prison warden. Under scrutiny, the warden's face was extremely pale. He stuttered but could not speak. Even if it was not his fault, he would probably be fired after this disaster. A member of the Silent Authority in black uniforms walked over and murmured something to Wolf Flute that made his face darken.

"Those f*ckers!" He clenched his jaw. "They hijacked the new aircraft we were testing and crashed into the Judgement Tower! Thankfully this is a martial law area so there aren't any civilians. Otherwise…"

Silent, Ye Qingxuan looked toward the city. If those guys had crashed there… Thinking of the consequences, Ye Qingxuan could not help but gasp.

Soon, a warped black ship was taken out of the rubble. Under a roaring melody, the iron plane, dozens of meters long and sixteen tons heavy, hung in the air. It was unrecognizable.

"What about casualties?"

"Forty-four died," the investigator replied. "As for the wounded…they're everywhere. Most prisoners had been transferred to the other two prisons. Some tried to take advantage and escape. More than thirty have died." Here, he looked up at the Gospel Armor in the air. The blood on the sword had not dried yet.

After a long silence, Ye Qingxuan looked to Wolf Flute. "Is this worth it?" he asked. Was it really worth it to clear out of the Revolutionaries if there were so many sacrifices made in the beginning?

"Even if we didn't investigate, they would still do this." Wild green light flashed past Wolf Flute's eyes. "Those *ssholes are so brave…they created such big news."

Ye Qingxuan held onto the cracks and stepped onto the broken tower. He gazed at the tower in the distance through the still-dissipating smoke. To be honest, he did not care about the Sacred City. He was worried about something else…

Soon, Wolf Flute tossed a pass into his arms and they went past the rings of guards to the Judgement Tower. The more they moved up, the worse the sight. When they reached the location of the crack, the stairs were covered by dried blood. Stepping on it, they could feel the nauseous stickiness. There were seven bodies not buried by the fallen walls. They had frozen from the icy wind and even their blood had frozen.

A silent musician squatted by a body and touched the wound. "It was a quick killer. His throat was slit in an instant and the killer was someone he did not suspect. He did not know what happened up until his death."

"A mole?"

"Perhaps." The silent musician nodded. "We also can't exclude the possibility of an illusion."

Ye Qingxuan stood beside the broken door and looked inside the crude cell. This had been Charles' cell. Now it was a pile of rubble. He bent down and picked up some scraps of paper from the cracked bed. They were doodles that Charles had drawn when he was bored. They were ugly and casual, without any value.

Someone stopped him. "That's evidence. You can't take it."

Ye Qingxuan did not move and just looked up. Wolf Flute blocked the man. "It's not anything important. Just let him take it."

After hesitating, the man nodded.

Ye Qingxuan carefully put them in his notebook.

The silent musician beside them opened his eyes. "I've finished reading the aether but there is too much white noise. They've brought interference equipment and covered the records."

Wolf Flue waved. "Play whatever you can find."

Soon, the cello played and aether converged. A projection replayed. In the chaotic and unclear video, they could only see a few blurry figures. Bits and pieces flashed by. They could make out a group rush in and start killing.

Constantine walked out of a cell and put on black clothing. Finally, he reached out and said something to someone. As if sensing eyes from the future, a figure in the corner suddenly looked up. The face was blurry but the pair of purple eyes was unnerving.

"Practically nothing was left behind." Wolf Flute sighed. "How did they leave? Don't tell me that we don't even know how those motherf*ckers left."

"…There's worse news." The musician with white gloves handed over a shoe. The size forty shoe was old-fashioned and ugly. The Amnesty Ministry's mark was printed on it. This was given to all prisoners for the winter but it was not warm at all. The prisoners had to add layers of tissues to make it comfortable.

Stunned, Wolf Flute took the shoe. Using a dagger, he lifted the sole. A thumb-sized metal piece fell out from the slit. It landed on the ground with a chilling clink.

Wolf Flute fell silent. It was Charles' shoe. The Silent Authority had put a tracker in Charles's shoe so they could locate him in the future. However, rather than being with Charles, it was here now.

Every second counted in a prison break. How could he have time to change his shoes? Or did he only change one? If the shoe was found out, then what about Charles?

"It might not be as bad as you think." Ye Qingxuan took the shoe. Rather than being angry or panicking, his eyes were deathly calm. After a long while, he said, "There's only one shoe. He may have thrown it here purposely."

"Huh?" Wolf Flute furrowed his brow. "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe to send a signal." Ye Qingxuan fell into deep thought. "Maybe he discovered something and to tell us, he could only take…take…" He trailed off. Soon, he looked up at Wolf Flute. "Search through the ruins! Check if there's a corpse with only one shoe!"

Ten minutes later, the fallen wall was flipped over, revealing the crushed body under it. Its left foot was bare. Ye Qingxuan reached out and measured the foot with his hand. It was a perfect size forty.

"As expected…" Ye Qingxuan murmured, his expression darkening. His guess had come true. Charles had voluntarily took off his shoes because he realized that if he kept it, he would blow his cover.

Ye Qingxuan looked back at Wolf Flute. "There are two possibilities." His voice sounded directly in Wolf Flute's mind. "There was a Revelations musician within the rescuers. He wiped all records and found the medium inside the shoe so Charles was forced to throw it away."

"And the other possibility?"

"The other is worse." Ye Qingxuan said coldly, "Charles had to change his shoes to save himself. Maybe the Revolutionaries already knew that the spy's shoes are suspicious. Which means…the Silent Authority has a mole."

Wolf Flute fell silent, his face darkening. "We're not sure if there's a mole yet. For now, we must find where Charles is. Otherwise, the mission will just be a joke."

Ye Qingxuan asked, "Does the Silent Authority only have that plan?"

"There are others." Wolf Flute nodded. "Before he entered prison, I personally injected Charles with a tracking drug just in case. Within a few months, he will have some endocrine problems. He'll have more sweat that remains for longer. As long as he's still in the Sacred City, my wolves will be able to find him. But it'll take time…"

After a long silence, Ye Qingxuan nodded slowly. "That's all we can do now. Hopefully, nothing will happen to Charles."

No one had expected that the spy mission would be in trouble from the start. With all contact and traces gone, they could only wait passively. From that day on, Charles and the Revolutionaries disappeared off the face of the planet.