Upon seeing Song He, Jiang Bai Mian roughly repeated the conversation her team had with Han Wanghuo.
After listening, Song He sighed with emotion:
"In my eyes, he is a true person.
"Unfortunately..."
Jiang Bai Mian didn't know whether he was regretting Han Wanghuo's final decision to leave or regretting that he didn't dare to go further, unable to serve as a bishop and offer weighty enough promises to keep Han Wanghuo, so she could only sigh along.
After sighing, Song He shook his head and smiled:
"No wonder I always told Han Wanghuo to find a Hongshi Gathering girl and settle down, but he was unwilling, saying that the sheriff would definitely offend many people, putting his wife in danger. He wanted to wait until he had truly built a town guard, established a set of security laws that everyone was willing to acknowledge and abide by, and saved up a substantial amount of savings so he could resign from the sheriff's position before considering it."
Obviously, Han Wanghuo was afraid that the scales on his body would be seen by those close to him, so he preferred not to marry.
"Liar!" Shang Jianyao exclaimed with feeling.
Jiang Bai Mian knew why Shang Jianyao said that—he had previously regarded Han Wanghuo as a kindred spirit because of his ideal of "How can one have a family if the peace isn't maintained?"
Of course, this was just a one-sided kindred spirit.
Thinking of this, Jiang Bai Mian casually offered a comforting remark:
"At least Han Wanghuo is very serious and diligent in maintaining order in Hongshi Gathering and fulfilling his duties as sheriff and town guard captain."
At this moment, Long Yuehong suddenly thought of a question:
"Then why didn't he marry a Subhuman before coming to Hongshi Gathering? In the Ashlands, two people who can help each other are always better than one person who is alone."
This would eliminate the problem of being discriminated against.
While the others were pondering the answer, Bai Chen calmly said:
"He probably looks down on other Subhumans."
Jiang Bai Mian was taken aback and deeply agreed:
"That's true."
Although Han Wanghuo was a Subhuman, he always regarded himself as a true human being in his heart, so he naturally looked down on other Subhuman groups, at most harboring sufficient sympathy, friendliness, and understanding towards them, but marriage was out of the question.
In a sense, he was also a racist, except his position was on the human side and he had a natural pity for other races.
Long Yuehong thought about the appearance of Fishmen and expressed understanding of Han Wanghuo.
If he had to find a Fishman girl as a wife, he felt that it was better to be single.
As for Mountain Monsters, he could barely accept them, at most not kissing them much.
Seeing the topic getting increasingly off-track, Song He promptly brought it back to the main subject:
"So, your final conclusion is that Han Wanghuo did not sell intelligence to the Subhuman Allied Forces?"
"Preliminary conclusion." Jiang Bai Mian didn't give a definitive answer. "We can only say that, based on the current situation, judging from his motives and position, Han Wanghuo had no reason to betray Hongshi Gathering. However, as the investigation deepens, some new clues may emerge, and at that time, there may be different answers."
This statement was watertight, leaving Song He stunned.
He pondered for a few seconds and suddenly laughed:
"Why does what I say sound so familiar? Isn't this what often appears in my reports to headquarters?
"You, it seems you also come from some organized force..."
Only forces that have reached a certain scale and have a sound internal organization will have this kind of "official style."
Jiang Bai Mian didn't expect to reveal so much and could only force a dry laugh:
"Relic hunters also have to be cautious when dealing with clients who have a certain background."
The two exchanged a few words on this topic, but they both tacitly avoided mentioning the question of whether to restrict Han Wanghuo's movements, acting as if he had already been cleared of suspicion.
"I'll talk to Han Wanghuo again later to see if I can dissuade him from leaving." In the end, Song He stated his position.
If you don't use your "Friendly" ability, it's unlikely to work... Jiang Bai Mian said "Mm" and then changed the subject:
"Alert Song, we have a suspect and would like to request contact with them."
"Request?" Song He thought for a moment and then asked, "People from the 'Underground Ark'?"
What a clever person; so many years of life have accumulated true wisdom... Jiang Bai Mian candidly replied:
"Yes. It would be best if we could directly contact Mr. Dimalco."
Song He hesitated and then said:
"The 'Underground Ark' has a high status in the Church, so I can't force them.
"Well, I'll first try to invite a few of Mr. Dimalco's butlers to the church to chat with them. If I find any problems, I'll report them to headquarters."
"Do you need our help?" Jiang Bai Mian was eager to try.
Song He gave them a suspicious look:
"Not for the time being.
"You guys just wait here."
Their current location was a small living room with sofas, coffee tables, and chairs in the corridor behind the hall.
The walls here were also painted red, interspersed with gold.
After watching Alert Song He leave, Jiang Bai Mian sighed:
"Too bad, I shouldn't have mentioned this matter. I should have gone directly to the elevator entrance downstairs and contacted the people from the 'Underground Ark'.
"Act first, report later!"
As long as there was non-video phone contact, there would be endless possibilities.
——After many experiments, Shang Jianyao confirmed that 'Reasoning Clown' cannot expand its range of influence through overly complex electronic products; currently, it can only use megaphones.
"Exactly." Shang Jianyao indicated that he thought so too.
Bai Chen glanced at them both and reminded them:
"Isn't the original intention of doing this to maintain a good relationship with the Vigilance Church?"
Thinking of the "Gaze Behind the Door," Jiang Bai Mian nodded with a "painful" expression:
"When facing this kind of church, we still can't be too willful."
Fortunately, she was wearing a mask, and no one could see her expression.
"You once hit a fake 'Father'." Shang Jianyao pointed out.
Jiang Bai Mian "huffed" and said:
"Can the Anti-Intellectualism Church and the Vigilance Church be the same?"
At least the 'Last Men' don't like to 'gaze' at their own territory like the 'Nether Hags'.
Moreover, the 'Old Task Force' has never broken into a formal Anti-Intellectualism Church.
After laughing and joking for a while, Jiang Bai Mian suddenly looked up and looked towards the vents in the small living room.
"I found you!" Shang Jianyao quickly became excited and said loudly.
Soon, the grille of the vent was removed, and Viell stuck out his face with a few freckles, looking down with green eyes:
"Do you want to investigate the 'Underground Ark'? I heard Alert Song contacting Dimalco's butler."
Jiang Bai Mian responded with a smile:
"Do you have information you want to sell to us?"
Viell revealed his signature smile:
"Beg me, and I'll tell you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao suddenly jumped up and rushed over.
Then, Shang Jianyao used a chair to leap up and grab the baffles on both sides of the vent.
This frightened Viell into retracting his body and retreating a long distance.
He angrily asked in a hurried voice:
"What do you want to do?"
Shang Jianyao looked up and said with a smile:
"Catch you, tie you up, and then beg you."
"..." Viell frowned at this guy, unable to understand this logic.
Jiang Bai Mian and the others had no intention of stopping the interaction between the two, seeming to enjoy it.
Viell quickly retreated until he was about to enter another section of ventilation ducts before stopping.
Looking at the entrance with light shining in, he hesitated for a moment and said loudly:
"The guards of the 'Underground Ark' mentioned something while chatting:
"Dimalco is a very brutal person. No matter what mistakes the servants make, as long as he bumps into them or discovers them, they will be executed. Sometimes, if he's in a bad mood, they'll be killed even if they haven't made a mistake."
Hearing this information, Jiang Bai Mian frowned slightly while also resolving a previous question:
Why does the "Underground Ark" regularly buy and train servants?
Based on the scale shown by the "Underground Ark," getting a batch of servants every eight to ten years would be enough.
Because Dimalco is brutal, so the attrition rate of servants is alarming, and they need to be replenished regularly? While Jiang Bai Mian's thoughts were racing, she motioned for Shang Jianyao to come down.
Then, she asked towards the vent:
"What about the bodies of those who died?"
It was impossible for so many bodies to be piled up in the "Underground Ark's" cold storage, right?
Viell's voice echoed from the ventilation ducts:
"The 'Underground Ark' also has an exit near the mountains. It seems that the bodies are buried near there."
Another exit means another entrance... Just as Jiang Bai Mian was about to continue asking, Viell shouted again:
"That's all I know, cheap for you!"
His voice faded away, seeming to have used the ventilation ducts to move to another place.
The "Old Task Force" looked at each other and waited for a while before Alert Song He finally returned.
Song He said with little change in his expression:
"I have met with all three of Mr. Dimalco's butlers, and it has been preliminarily determined that they have not revealed the matter of Bishop Renato to the Fishmen or Mountain Monsters.
"And throughout the 'Underground Ark,' apart from them, only Mr. Dimalco knows about this matter. As for whether Mr. Dimalco has told other people, they don't know."
Jiang Bai Mian said cautiously:
"Is it possible to chat with Mr. Dimalco via video call?"
"No." Song He shook his head. "Unless the new bishop arrives."
This disappointed the "Old Task Force," so they could only turn to investigating the other people on the list.
At noon, they returned to the hotel campsite and cooked food with the ingredients they had purchased.
While they were busy, Lehman, the smuggler from "United Industries," visited them again.
This merchant, who looked like a Red River farmer with a prominent wine-soaked nose, rubbed his hands and said somewhat awkwardly in broken Ashlands language:
"I heard from a friend that you seem to be investigating Dimalco of the 'Underground Ark'?"
"We had a mission that was related to Mr. Dimalco." Jiang Bai Mian replied tightly.
Lehman smiled slightly and said:
"Perhaps you don't know, but the thing I want to entrust to you is also related to the 'Underground Ark'."