"Somebody has already been here," John said, his expression turning particularly grave, while Archibald seemed somewhat confused.
"Isn't it normal for someone to have come? We've reported the matter, so surely someone would have come to clean up the related mess," Archibald replied.
The mission released by Hidden Stars meant there would definitely be ongoing surveillance on their situation.
It was only natural that someone had come to investigate and left traces.
Isabella looked at Archibald with a hint of a different emotion in her eyes.
"I really don't understand why House Sterling would end up in your hands."
Her tone was indifferent, yet it struck Archibald like a harsh slap across the face.
Archibald's face turned beet red, and he instinctively wanted to retort, but the sight of Isabella's icy countenance made him swallow his words.
He consoled himself silently.
Forget it, forget it, she's notoriously tough, better not to speak up.
Leopold chuckled quietly to himself on the side.
Lucky he had kept quiet, or he would be the one getting scolded now!
"Do you sense that someone else has been here?"
Unlike Archibald, Amelia seemed much calmer.
She turned and asked John, who simply nodded.
"Do you all remember that peculiar smell we noticed in the basement?"
John looked at the traces on the ground and frowned slightly, "If it were people from Hidden Stars, they wouldn't leave these kinds of walking traces."
John carefully examined the traces on the ground.
When transporting items, there are usually some dragging marks, so it was inevitable that some powder would be scattered on the floor.
People from Hidden Stars typically favored practicality, so their footwear was mostly designed for easy walking.
But now, among these marks, there were traces of two pairs of high heels...
One pair of high heel tracks was roughly size 36, and they were stilettos.
None of the women present today were wearing high heels, and neither had any of the previous Hidden Stars members.
This meant that someone had come here after they had left—someone in high heels, someone who knew this place very well!
The landlady!
John immediately thought of the legendary landlady.
Despite having spent so much time in the Rose Bar, now there wasn't a single person who could recall her face!
This fact alone was eerie enough.
Moreover, it was likely that the people from Rose Bar were aware of their investigation.
A wide-brimmed hat slightly obscured half of her face, her striking face adorned with meticulous makeup, small red lips painted a bright crimson, exuding a captivating allure.
Her fair and slender legs crossed over each other, with dainty toes peeking out from her sandals, gently swaying in a manner most enthralling.
The woman held a cigarette holder in her hand, the mouthpiece carved from fine white jade.
She took a gentle drag, then exhaled a puff of smoke into the air, her lips curling slightly.
"It seems they are not too foolish after all."
Another woman, clad in a black tight-fitting outfit, watched her with great respect and spoke.
"Boss, now that they have discovered the Rose Bar, what should we do next?"
These two were none other than the proprietress and the manager of the Rose Bar.
The Rose Bar has been a covert operation set up by the Dusk Sect in the Imperial Capital for many years, serving as a crucial venue for recruiting new members to their sect.
However, they hadn't anticipated their operations being exposed, and even the Rose Bar itself being discovered.
"Since it's been discovered, why not just let it go? What can we do?"
The proprietress of the Rose Bar said with a light laugh, her tone sultry and enticing, as if she were merely a coquettish young girl throwing a tantrum.
But the manager knew that the proprietress was far from simple.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have ascended to such a position at her age.
A sect leader in the Imperial Capital—second only to the high bishop of the Dusk Sect!
"And the Immortality Organization..." the manager began, but halted mid-sentence, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
He could distinctly feel the sect leader's anger rising; the air pressure around them seemed to drop—a testament to the aura of a powerful being.
If John were here, he would undoubtedly realize that the proprietress of the Rose Bar was a transcendent-tier powerhouse!
Even the manager, who nodded meekly beside her, was a diamond-tier fighter!
"Jasminette, you've been rather talkative lately," the proprietress said with a smile, yet her words sent chills down the manager's spine.
Called by her name, Jasminette fell to her knees with a thud.
"I am at fault! Please forgive me, my leader!"
Despite the commotion, the other patrons in the coffee shop seemed oblivious to the scene, each absorbed in their own affairs.
The proprietress remained silent for a long while, yet the cold sweat on Jasminette's forehead only increased.
Drip... drip...
Sweat trickled down her chin and splashed onto the floor, dampening a small patch of it.
A diamond-tier fighter reduced to such a state of fright highlighted the terrifying strength of the proprietress.
Just when despair began to creep into Jasminette's heart, she finally heard the proprietress's voice again.
"Stand up. I didn't really say anything to you. Look how scared you've gotten."