Chapter 69 The Shadow Messenger seemed to have been born for this purpose.
In-depth magic theory class.
Having learned her lesson, Ms. Isabel deliberately avoided Ancia's row as she walked around the classroom. "In the lower grades, you should all have learned sound transmission magic. But there are many variations of sound transmission magic. For example, there's object transmission magic, which is a modification of sound transmission magic and can deliver small, non-magical items. Or there's military sound transmission magic, which still transmits sound but has extremely high stability, making it difficult for magic to detect. However, its structure is more complex, and it consumes a lot of magic crystals..."
Ancia was idly playing with Heligaluo's fingers, and Heligaluo let her do as she pleased, his eyes indulgent. Gradually, Ancia became attracted by the course content, and suddenly let go of his fingers, focusing intently on taking notes on the paper.
The Dark Night Guild used to communicate using badges, which employed teleportation magic. Now, they need a completely new method of communication, perhaps similar to military teleportation magic, but more covert. Military teleportation magic doesn't conceal its magical fluctuations; it's just that its complex structure prevents the message from being deciphered by magic.
Even after class ended, Ancia hadn't come up with a solution. Everyone in the classroom had left, but she was completely oblivious, staring at the paper filled with drawings.
Heligaluo gathered her dark hair behind her ear and asked softly, "What's bothering you?"
Ancia sighed, "I want to design a new magic spell, but I don't have any ideas yet."
Heligalo: "If you can't figure it out right now, wouldn't it be better to discuss it with others? Bishop Isabel is free today, shall we go and ask her? She's a Light Mage, she should be able to give you some pointers."
Ancia's eyes lit up. "That's right, Light Mage! I can go talk to the mentor! Thank you for reminding me!" She gave Heligaluo a light kiss on the cheek, put away her notebook, and hurried to the Tower of Light.
The soft touch on Heligaluo's cheek was still there when Ancia had already run out of the classroom. He looked at the empty desks, chuckled, and shook his head helplessly.
Ancia ran up to the top floor and hurriedly pushed open the door, only to find Cheryl inside the Light Dome. "Mentor! Cai Cai, save her!"
Cheryl: "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?"
Ancia truthfully recounted her slump in her magical research, looking at Cheryl with expectant eyes.
Cheryl pondered for a moment, then picked up her apprentice. "I have some ideas. Let's go back to the mage tower and study them."
With a flash of golden light, Cheryl teleported Ancia back into the mage tower and headed towards the research lab. The Dawn Parrot Abby greeted them repeatedly, but the master and apprentice, engrossed in their research, ignored them. They were still discussing things as they walked up the stairs.
Ancia: "I want to design a communication array that has extremely strong concealment and cannot be detected by other magic at all."
Cheryl: "For long-term concealment, the key is not the level of the fluctuation, but the consumption of the magic itself. The higher the consumption, the greater the magic fluctuation. If you want to avoid being detected, you need to significantly reduce the magic consumption of the spell and hide the fluctuation in the everyday environment."
Ancia: "Reduce consumption... but the number of runes required for magic is fixed. How can we reduce consumption?"
They had already reached the underground research lab, where Ancia constructed circuits for both telepathic and military telepathic magic and began to study them diligently.
Holding the two pieces of paper in her hands, Ancia was racking her brains. She held them up in front of the lamp on the table, and the soft, bright light shone through the paper. The two pieces of paper were stacked together, and two identical inscriptions overlapped perfectly.
A sudden inspiration struck Ancia, and she stood up in delight. "Mentor! Inscription nesting! Inscription nesting can reduce resource consumption!"
Cheryl suddenly looked up and gazed at Ancia across the long table. Her heart pounded, and she was far more excited than Ancia. On her serious and calm face, only her eyes shone brightly.
Her apprentices were exceptionally talented in formations, as if they were born for it.
Cheryl smiled and encouraged her, "Give it a try."
A few days later, the "Shadow Messenger" formation was created.
Ancia contacted Franka using a one-time communication device and arrived at the temporary safe house. As soon as she entered, she tossed a small mirror to Franka.
Franka caught it with lightning speed. "What is this?"
Anxi smiled slightly and said with some pride, "In a one-way communication array, the superior node can send encrypted information to the subordinate node, and the subordinate node can only receive it, but cannot contact or locate the superior node in the reverse direction."
Franka looked shocked. "What kind of war-level weapon is this?"
Ancia: "There are limitations. A superior can only control a maximum of five subordinate nodes. One-time communication tools are not secure enough. We'll use this to contact guild members from now on."
Franka exclaimed, "That's impressive." She handed Ancia the current list of intelligence personnel in the Eternal City. "Here's the list, but the royal family is conducting a massive manhunt for guild members. Under these circumstances, it's uncertain which personnel are reliable right now."
The list contains basic information about intelligence personnel, including past performance, interpersonal relationships, and home addresses.
Ancia tapped her fingertips lightly on the table. "Could you take me to observe them from a distance?"
Franka nodded, and after the two disguised themselves, they chose the nearest intelligence agent, newsboy Donis, who sold newspapers on First and Second Avenues during the day.
A group of guards were on a pursuit mission in the street; their eyes were sharp and their demeanor menacing.
Ancia remained unfazed, naturally stepping aside to let them pass. Her gaze lingered in the air, where a bunch of yellow names had just appeared.
Yellow represents a vigilant or neutral force, indicating potential conflict, but not yet a fully formal hostile relationship.
As expected, after appearing with Franka, the system assumed that she and Franka were teammates. The guards who were chasing Franka were also identified by the system as enemies of Ancia's teammates. Since their disguises were not exposed, the guards did not recognize them, so the guards' names were still yellow instead of the directly hostile red.
After the guards had gone far away, Ancia slowly walked to the newsboy and handed him three gold coins. At this distance, Donis's name was still green.
Donis: "Thank you, miss. Today's headline is..."
Ancia took the newspaper, as if it were just casual conversation, "I heard the flowers in the east of the city are blooming quite nicely?"
Donis was a little nervous and replied in a low voice, "Yes, but the ones in the west of the city are more resistant to the cold."
Ancia glanced at his calm gaze and the green name on his card; his responsiveness suggested he was reliable. She returned to Franka's side with two newspapers. "Who's next?"
Franka: "Old Jack, the grocer."
Ancia and Franka continued strolling around. When they came to the general store, they went in to buy two candies. Ancia glanced up and saw that Old Jack's name was yellow. She became wary and didn't say anything, slowly picking out the candies.
As Old Jack received the gold coins, he kept glancing outside the door; even the slightest sound would make him tense.
Ancia asked no questions, calmly left the grocery store with the candy, and as soon as she stepped outside, she whispered to Franka, "Mark this grocery store and keep a close eye on old Jack."
According to the system display, Ancia had met all the intelligence personnel in the Eternal City. One-tenth of them were displayed in red, and the rest were half yellow and half green.
Back at the temporary safe house, she marked the names on the list with colors. "Franka, make arrangements. I need to summon the people marked in yellow on the list individually."
These intelligence agents were divided into three levels: red, yellow, and green. Franka hesitated and asked, "Do we need to meet with the yellow agents too?"
Ancia said calmly, "Yes, they may be wavering, or they may be being monitored. If we give up directly, we may lose our current valuable support. Of course, I know there are risks, so the location must be absolutely safe, and the timing must be staggered to ensure that they are unaware of each other's presence."
The color determined by the system is only a reference. People's hearts can waver in complex situations. Yellow represents risk, but it does not necessarily mean that someone has already betrayed them. She must test them further to confirm the loyalty of the intelligence personnel.
Franka chose another temporary safe house as the meeting place. The list of people to be summoned was divided into several groups. Those who were unwilling to come were first crossed off the list, and then they were allowed to meet with Ancia alone. Franka stood guard outside the safe house, not eavesdropping on the conversation inside. She only entered the room after the last person had been seen.
Ancia looked tired. "Franka, let's go somewhere else and talk as we walk."
She held an updated list in her hand, with some names crossed out. After looking at it, Franka asked softly, "Are the rest reliable?"
Ancia raised an eyebrow slightly. "I don't know, but I'll find out soon. Have people keep an eye on these temporary safe houses. If the location is leaked, everyone who has been inside the safe house should abandon it. If the location isn't leaked..."
A slight smile curved her lips. "That depends on whether the information I released has been leaked. Keep an eye on the royal family's search activities during this period."
Franka was taken aback. "President...did you include false information in the message you gave them?"
Ancia shook her head. "It's not just including, it's all, and everyone has different information."
Franka's eyes widened slightly. All fake news? And all different? Her mind raced. Did that mean she could judge which people were unreliable by following the royal family's movements?
Ancia handed her a bunch of small mirrors. "These are newly made Shadow Messengers. Send them to the core members I've confirmed first, and let each of them manage five intelligence agents."
With the Nightingale Salon gathering intelligence first and the reactivated intelligence network second, the Dark Night Guild's vast intelligence network now resembles a fragile spiderweb, trembling slightly in the autumn wind of the Eternal City. However, this network is not passively waiting; different baits are wrapped around each thread.
Ancia: "Next, we'll see which thread will alert the prey first and expose the vulnerable spot on the web."
"Whether to close the net or reinforce it, the answer lies in the direction the royal family will take in their next search."
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