Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 248 Intelligence Gathering

"If you keep talking nonsense outside, I'll spank you, you hear me?"

Caesar pinched Ita's cheek hard and said.

"It's done, it's done."

Ita quickly begged for mercy.

Caesar snorted and then released Ita.

Ita rubbed her sore cheek and looked at Caesar with a pitiful expression: "So, you're going to spank me?"

"Then what else do you want?" Caesar asked, staring at her.

"No, it's nothing," Ita muttered softly, shifting her gaze.

"I thought Caesar came to find me because you missed me, but I didn't expect it was for this," she said softly, pouting.

Caesar looked at Ita, sighed, and said, "I have something important to discuss with you. This weekend, come with me to Baghwu City. We might have to stay there for a day or two."

Ita's eyes widened slightly: "Just the two of us?"

"Ah."

"Is it...is it a vacation?" she asked expectantly.

"The Maple Leaf Market in Bagu City is very popular. I saw their signature Fire Wheel Grilled Meat before and have been wanting to try it ever since."

"You think of playing with everything."

Caesar tapped her on the head. "I have important business to attend to, something His Majesty instructed me to do."

"Oh, oh, I understand," Ita immediately became more composed upon hearing His Majesty's words.

“We have intelligence that something related to the Empire has appeared in Bagu City. His Majesty has ordered us to retrieve it. We are heading to the Eighth District, where you are aware of the situation. We may need your help to establish arrangements,” Caesar said.

“No problem, leave it to me. Fethullah’s influence extends to every corner of the country,” Ita said confidently.

Having just been reprimanded, Xiaolong was eager to prove himself. Moreover, he was going on a business trip with Caesar this week, so this should be considered their first business trip together.
You'd better do well.

"Is there anything else you need to tell me, Caesar?" Ita asked.

"Wait here for now. I'll go out and gather some intelligence in the next few days, and I'll give you an update later," Caesar said.

During this time, he had to go to the home of that Restoration Society member to find out information about Wendy Carroll.

Thursday night, Horseshoe Street.

As a former affluent area, Matikou Street lost its location advantage after the overall commercial center was relocated, and housing prices plummeted. Most of the wealthy people moved away, and those who remain are mostly unable to sell their properties.

Under the cover of night, Caesar arrived at a street lit by dim streetlights.

The surrounding area is lined with rows of duplex villas with small courtyards, but only a few of them have their lights on.

Based on the information he had located using the spell, he arrived at number 24.

"Jos Philard".

This is the name of the house owner in the sect.

He rang the doorbell, then climbed over the wall at the main entrance.

He cast a concealment spell and his body disappeared into the night.

"Who?"

Jos, who was half-bald, ran downstairs, only to find the courtyard gate empty when he opened it.

He frowned, muttered about who was so bored as to play a prank, and then closed the door.

Just as I closed the door, a cracking sound of a plate shattering came from the living room.

He was startled and stood there, too afraid to move, until he heard a cat meow. He then walked over, cursing, and saw that the vase by the window in the living room was broken on the floor.

While he was tidying up, Caesar went upstairs and entered the study of the house.
Only Joss lives in this house. Apart from the study, the other rooms are rarely used. Even the bed is placed in the study, seemingly to save effort in cleaning the rooms.

He went to the desk, which was a mess, with a half-finished article lying on the front.

However, in the upper left corner, there is a landline telephone. Nowadays, such communication equipment is considered a high-end luxury item, and only large companies or government agencies install it. It is very rare for individuals to install telephones.

It seems that Jos still has a very important need for communication.

He activated the command and searched for anything useful. Soon, he found a letter hidden in a drawer of his desk. Unfolding it, he saw that the sender's name was written in cursive script, which he could barely make out as Wendy Carol.

The letter contained only two or three short paragraphs, which he unfolded and began to read.

"Friendly Joss, I hope you will be able to help me out of some trouble recently. I hope you can help me out of our past friendship. I will pay you a sufficient reward, enough to cover the Restoration Society's affairs. If you are willing, please go to the tavern in District 8 where we used to meet, find the bartender Martini, and tell him that Unicorn sent you. He will lead you to me."

After reading the letter, Caesar put it back in the drawer.

Intelligence gathering was easier than he had imagined, and he decided to continue searching for any useful information.

Then he sensed something and his gaze fell on the safe in the corner of the room.

There seems to be a magical aura emanating from this place.

It was just an ordinary safe, which he opened with a simple lock-picking technique. He pulled open the safe, and inside there were no valuables, only a stack of documents and a square iron box.

I glanced at the documents briefly; they all belonged to people with vested interests in the Restoration Society, and they were evidence of them engaging in illegal business through the Restoration Society.

However, these seem to be lists from a long time ago, indicating that business has been difficult in recent years.

He put it aside, then picked up the small metal box, clicked open the clasp, and Caesar was slightly taken aback.

Inside were tiny, jelly-like pellets, and when opened, they emitted a sweet aroma.

"This is."

Caesar's memories suddenly returned, and a word appeared in his mind.

"A genius drug."

Yes, this stuff tastes remarkably similar to the genius drug he'd seen as a child, and this one is an even more sophisticated hallucinogen with a purer, more potent effect.

He learned later that this kind of thing was 100% contraband in Fein, yet he could still see it here.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Joss had already tidied up the living room and gone upstairs.

He immediately picked up a pill and put it away, then put the tin box back and closed the safe.

Although he really wanted to arrest Yoss and question him about the origin of the thing, he knew too little about it and decided not to alert him.

He stood up and moved to the side.

Joss returned to his study, unaware that there was another person there. He looked exhausted and sat back down at his desk, supporting his back.

"Ok?"

He seemed to notice something was wrong with his desk, as if it had been tampered with, but he missed it by a second and didn't think about it any further. He lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair to smoke.

The phone rang, and he sighed wearily as he picked up the receiver.

"I am Jos, please speak."

Caesar heard the voice coming from the microphone very clearly.

"Both will organize a major meeting after the harvest festival to discuss future development issues."

"They're probably going to talk about that matter, aren't they? Transformation? Or are they going to make us mere supporting characters for the Cultural Bureau?" Joss said.

"I didn't say it explicitly, but it's pretty much the same. I just came to let you know, so remember to come over sometime."

"Sigh, fine, fine. At my age, sitting on the train for several days in a row makes me feel like I'm going to fall apart," Joss complained.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he hung up the phone, leaned back in his chair, the cigarette between his fingers burning silently, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"hiss"

He let out a trembling sound that he could hardly suppress, and rubbed his neck vigorously with one hand, as if he was trying to suppress something.

He looked at the safe in the corner, hesitated for a moment, but still went over, entered the password, and took out the small metal box.

"The last time."

He muttered to himself, poured out a few pills, went to the desk, took out a special tray, threw the pills into it, ground them into powder, then lit a match, igniting the powder in the tray, and a wisp of smoke drifted out from it.

He leaned closer, took a deep drag of the smoke, and then his whole body began to tremble and spasm. After a shudder, he collapsed into the chair, his chest rising and falling slightly.

Caesar gazed at the decadent and depraved man, then turned and walked away.

(End of this chapter)