Chapter 719

Spy and Counter-Spy

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After reading the information panel of the Light Sea Sovereign, Ji Chen was pleasantly surprised.

From Tier 4 to Tier 6, wouldn’t the combat power of this unit increase by more than tenfold?

Perhaps individually their strength might be just that, but thanks to their fusion skills, the upper limit of this unit has been raised to an extremely high level.

From the outside, the Guardian of the Light Sea Sovereign looked like clusters of golden lights about half the height of a person, emitting golden light that resembled sunlight in the dark night, extremely dazzling.

As their master, Ji Chen could see through the light and discern within each cluster, transparent floating humanoid ghosts with blurred faces. From them, he could feel a sense of submissive affinity.

One hundred Light Sea Sovereigns floating around resembled large fireflies or light bulbs, giving off a peculiar sensation.

He was very satisfied with this new unit specialized in demon assaults and had high expectations for them, instructing the Light Sea Sovereigns not to expose themselves to the outside world to avoid alerting demons.

He hoped to give the demons a big surprise later!

Feeling quite pleased, Ji Chen returned to the Lord’s Castle, only to find Wilus waiting at the city gate, his honest face illuminated by the light, showing a hint of anxiety, evidently something urgent.

“Wilus, is there something you need to report?”

Upon hearing Ji Chen’s voice, Wilus nodded, speaking hurriedly, “My Lord, Miss Monica has sent a message. The Deep Sea Church has become active again in Lienhardt.”

Ji Chen furrowed his brows. Ever since the last time they besieged the followers of the Deep Sea Church, those human-hybridized beings who sought to infiltrate human society had hidden away like rats in the sewer.

He hadn’t expected them to start causing trouble again at this time.

“In addition, news has just arrived from the Maple Principality and the Elven Empire. The Deceiver has once again appeared on a large scale in the Northern Continent, disrupting war workshops and launching terror attacks on military camps and important facilities.

Mountain trolls, troll warlords, and other troll groups have also shown signs of activity almost simultaneously, beginning large-scale mobilization of soldiers and assembling armies toward the border.

Coincidentally, goblins, gnomes, and even dungeon races are also stirring, intending to attack other human kingdoms and orderly races.

Ji Chen’s expression finally turned serious as he said in a deep voice, “This doesn’t sound like a coincidence.”

“Yes,” Wilus said with a solemn expression, “They seem to have received some kind of instruction, agreeing on a specific time to launch simultaneous attacks, and the targets of the attacks are all forces of the orderly fraction.”

At this point, Ji Chen had already formed an answer in his mind.

—Demons.

This was obviously the work of demons, and the purpose was also clear, to distract the attention of the orderly fraction, weaken the war potential, and create favorable conditions for their attack.

But what surprised him a bit was that the Sea Heirs and the Deceivers turned out to be on the side of the demons, or rather, on the side of the evil fraction.

The former gave the impression of a bunch of twisted tentacle monsters with distorted thoughts, clamoring about glorious evolution and blessings from their master, making people feel spiritually contaminated.

The latter was just a group of fanatics who, though not as neurotic as the Sea Heirs, were no better, talking about hating gods and wanting to slay gods, but at first, Ji Chen thought they were some formidable organization, but after a single encounter, their true colors were revealed instantly. Oh well, they’re just a bunch of paranoid lunatics and noobs.

Aren’t you supposed to be hostile to gods and their believers? How come you’re in cahoots with demons who worship dark gods? Where’s your professional ethics?

Ji Chen secretly expressed disdain for them.

After pondering for a moment, Ji Chen said in a serious tone, “Since the demons’ minions and accomplices are no longer concealing their evil deeds, we, as their archenemies, may perhaps be their next target for attack Spread my orders, increase patrols immediately, especially to guard against deceivers like those who have hidden hearts of demons infiltrating the New Moon Islands!”

The enemies weren’t frightening; what was truly terrifying were those who looked just like ordinary people but harbored dark intentions, for they caused the greatest harm from within.

This incident served as a reminder to Ji Chen that it wasn’t only the evil forces that needed to be guarded against, but also certain humans and races, because no one knew if demons had already begun corrupting them in secret.

just like Lainekel being transformed, if the Dreadlord Balzama could alter a human into a half-demon, half-human creature obedient to it, there was a possibility that humans could be turned into puppets with hearts as dark as demons, outwardly indistinguishable from humans but completely under the demons’ control.

Ji Chen lightly patted Wilus on the shoulder, speaking with gravity. “Wilus, make good use of the residents of the Crown of the Ocean. The power of the masses is formidable.”

A look of confusion flashed in Wilus’s eyes, but then he seemed to realize something, his eyes brightening.

“My lord, I understand.”

Ji Chen nodded approvingly, pleased that his teachings had not been in vain. Although Wilus was a native of the region, under Ji Chen’s guidance and influence, his thinking had progressed towards higher levels and directions. Such high levels of public support were also undoubtedly due to his efforts. With the condition of high public morale and a solid mass base in the territory, the Crown of the Ocean could easily establish an intelligence-gathering and counter-spy system akin to that of the morning sun aunty. Those troublemakers, no matter how much they wanted to cause trouble, wouldn’t be able to do so without leaving a trace.

Thus, launching a “people’s war” was also in line with the specific circumstances and conditions.

The so-called specific circumstances called for a specific analysis, nothing more than being truthful.

The next morning, Wilus began this work, and by the afternoon, several residents had used a specially set-up reporting channel to expose the suspicious activities of certain merchants and servants who had arrived from the outside world, behaving in a furtive manner.

– – -In fact, to outsiders, there seemed to be nothing unusual, but in the eyes of the residents of the Crown of the Ocean, the behavior of these individuals appeared extremely suspicious and abnormal.

After understanding the situation and collecting reliable evidence, Wilus, upon consulting with Ji Chen, immediately issued the order for their arrest.

In an inn, an ordinary-looking merchant was enjoying his meal in the lobby when suddenly, a dozen soldiers from the Crown of the Ocean burst in and arrested him in front of everyone.

A bare-armed sailor was walking down the street, appearing to be leisurely strolling, but his eyes never stopped observing the surroundings. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, his face turning pale, as a squad of lizardmen soldiers surrounded him.

The lead lizardmen captain, with crimson eyes, coldly stated, “We are guards of the New Moon Islands. Based on reliable evidence, you are suspected of engaging in espionage. You are under arrest. Please cooperate with us.” A merchant ship about to depart was intercepted. Soldiers on alchemy airships boarded the deck and rushed into the cabins to drag out a well-dressed merchant, escorting him onto the deck

Before leaving, the soldier captain in charge of the arrest loudly explained to the bewildered passengers on board, “This individual is a spy infiltrating the New Moon Islands, gathering intelligence for the Crown of the Ocean. We are acting on orders from Lord Ji Chen to apprehend him. You need not worry! The Crown of the Ocean welcomes all who abide by the law, but will not tolerate those with malicious intentions seeking to spy and sabotage!

With that said, the captain waved his hand, instructing the team to escort the pale-faced merchant onto the airship, ascending into the sky towards the mainland.

Similar scenes unfolded across various parts of the New Moon Islands. Those apprehended included merchants, sailors from merchant ships, craftsmen aboard ships, or ship guards.

Some chose to surrender when surrounded by soldiers, while others attempted to resist, only to be subdued by the dozens of heroes in the green elite tier, blue excellent tier, and even purple rare tier who were already on standby, forcefully apprehending them.

Dealing with them didn’t require the involvement of high-ranking heroes. Regardless of their identities, at this moment, they all became prisoners under the Crown of the Ocean.

In the Lord’s castle.

Ji Chen sat at the head of the conference table, leaning back in a soft chair, listening to Wilus report on the situation regarding the spy captures. “According to the clues provided by residents and our investigations, a total of thirty-eight spies have been discovered and successfully apprehended.” Wilus reported, “With the assistance of Lady Alice, we quickly extracted important information from them. Through preliminary interrogation, these captured spies are mainly from different nations or hired by various races. There are spies from the three countries along the northwest coast, Maplewood Principality, as well as other races and factions.

The three countries along the northwest coast refer to Lienhardt, the Thorey Kingdom, and the Pelan Kingdom. Originally, there were four countries, but since the Kingdom of Bass was annihilated, it naturally became three.

While he could understand why spies from the Thorey Kingdom and the Pelan Kingdom were sent, why would Lienhardt also dispatch spies?

Addressing this issue, Wilus’s expression was somewhat subtle as he explained, “According to the interrogation results, the spies from Lienhardt are not sent by the underlings of Duke Julius or Monica Valencia, but by other nobles of Lienhardt. Their purpose in sending these spies is not to gather military intelligence, but rather to ascertain Your Excellency’s preferences… urn, regarding your preferences in the opposite sex, to send over suitable young heirs in the hopes of gaining your favor.”

Ji Chen was momentarily stunned, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation. Wilus had phrased it quite tactfully. These indigenous nobles were quite shrewd in their calculations. However, using family descendants for marriage alliances was a conventional tactic for them.

He had seen some indigenous nobles on the chat channels employing marriage alliances, sending young descendants from collateral branches to players with decent power, and continuously providing resources for investment.

While decadent in some aspects, these indigenous nobles were not stingy when it came to investments, discerning the potential of players to some extent.

Of course, it could also be that they simply had too much money to spend. Nevertheless, experiencing such a situation himself felt somewhat surreal. “..After confirming their true intentions, if they are indeed only seeking such favors, detain them for a few days and then release these relatively harmless spies.”

“Understood.”

“Continue.”

Wilus nodded. “Apart from the aforementioned countries, we also discovered spies hired by the Light Church.”

Ji Chen raised an eyebrow. What was this about now?

He recalled that the Crown of the Ocean had absolutely no dealings with this faction. So why would they send spies to infiltrate the New Moon Islands?