Expert

As the energy points were slowly consumed, a mysterious and powerful stream of energy particles, like nimble sprites, lightly swept over the potion in Lizer's hand.

In an instant, the potion seemed to be endowed with life, rapidly turning into specks of illusory fluorescence that leisurely dissipated into the air.

At the same time, deep within Lizer's mind, a door to knowledge seemed to open. The formula and refinement method for the Spirit of Swiftness flooded in like a tidal wave.

The formula detailed twelve raw materials:

Lizer had long heard of eleven of them and knew their general origins like the back of his hand.

For example, the Wind Whisper Grass grew at the peaks of high mountains with strong gales; under the blowing of the fierce wind, its leaves could capture the messages of the wind, containing its nimble power.

The Phantom Flower grew in mysterious, secluded valleys. Its petals flickered with a dreamlike radiance, said to induce brief illusory hallucinations.

There was also the Swift Vine, which often clung to ancient giant trees. The vines were tough and elastic, capable of granting the user the ability to climb as swiftly as a vine.

However, among these twelve raw materials, one known as the Silver-Ringed Trout left Lizer stumped.

It was highly mysterious; even the formula only mentioned it briefly, without much description regarding its origin or characteristics.

It was as if it were deliberately hidden in the mist, waiting for Lizer to uncover its mysterious veil.

But no matter what, Lizer had already made up his mind to gather all twelve raw materials and successfully refine the Spirit of Swiftness.

Lizer planned to have Felina, who had a broader network of contacts, help him inquire about it.

Speaking of which, throughout Lizer's journey of growth, Felina had truly been a massive help to him.

If it weren't for Felina's contributions, Lizer might not even be a junior wizard apprentice right now.

Let alone becoming some mechanical alchemy genius and an unprecedented perfect-score top scholar.

As for the first-place rewards from Gele City and Monte Province, they had not yet been delivered, possibly affected by the recent reports in major newspapers.

Since it was already a sure thing, Lizer wasn't in a hurry; rushing wouldn't help anyway.

However, while the rewards hadn't arrived, the communications expert for the Feiting Federation mission arrived first.

Gloria also sent a message to Lizer that the technical expert from the Gele City Police Department had arrived as well.

A new round of missions revolving around the wiretapping technology finally began...

The expert from the Feiting Federation was brought over personally by Rice.

Because according to a sleeper agent's code, other than Rice, Felina could not trust a second person, nor could she let anyone else know about this mission.

Rice looked hurried, as if a vicious ghost were chasing him from behind...

He unceremoniously shoved this exceptionally strange, taciturn fellow to Felina, and then disappeared without a trace like a gust of wind.

To him, the mission might have a chance of failing, but his own identity absolutely could not be exposed; that was something more important than his life.

This so-called expert was thin, with a face as pale as paper, as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time.

He always kept his head lowered, his eyes evasive, as if afraid of having any contact with the outside world.

His hair was a messy nest, his clothes were wrinkled, and his whole body exuded a stale, decaying aura that made people instinctively want to stay away.

Felina looked at the weirdo before her, muttering in her heart. She really had no desire to communicate with this expert.

She simply pointed indifferently to a hidden residence Lizer had prepared in advance and said coldly:

You'll stay here. Someone will arrange your meals every day, so don't run around.

When the time is right, follow along to complete the mission, and then leave.

Her tone was as if she were speaking to an insignificant object.

The expert kept his head down and didn't speak, only nodding slightly with movements as stiff as a marionette.

After that, Felina paid no more attention to him, as if this person didn't exist at all.

Meanwhile, after carefully observing the routines of the communications center's personnel, Lizer and Felina quickly formulated a mature action plan and informed Gloria; even the action plan for Gloria at the police station was properly arranged.

Throughout this entire process, that bizarre expert remained like a ghost, quietly huddled in a corner...

Unnoticed by anyone, yet exuding an indescribable eeriness that made one's heart tremble.

That night, the other staff at the communications center had already gotten off work and gone home. The empty communications center quickly became silent and pitch black.

But Felina, positioned not far away, knew from her recent observations:

Inside the communications center, there were actually five Internal Affairs agents hidden in the dark, protecting the core device of the wiretapping technology.

She carefully took the silent expert, hiding in the distance and waiting quietly.

A short while later, a black silhouette stealthily slipped into the communications center through the back door...

About six or seven minutes later, lights suddenly flared up inside the communications center, and someone roared:

Damn it! Someone entered the equipment room! Catch that guy quickly!

That black silhouette was naturally Lizer. According to the planned time, he quickly fled toward the outside of the communications center.

For this mission, his agility had been upgraded to 5.0.

Coupled with the inferior potion he had taken beforehand and the bonus from holding his sword in his left hand, his agility reached 6.0.

In the dark night, he was like a ghost.

The two figures chasing from behind pursued Lizer relentlessly, vowing to catch him, but they couldn't keep up with his speed at all.

The three of them quickly faded into the distance as the chase went on.

About a minute later, Felina cast a Lesser Illusion spell on herself and the expert.

Through days of intelligence gathering, she had finally obtained the exact appearances of the five guards.

This finally paid off. She and the expert instantly transformed into the two people who had just chased after Lizer, and they swaggered back through the front door of the communications center.

Someone inside the center saw the two returning, looked closely, and seeing they were their own people, asked, Didn't catch him?

The expert and Felina shook their heads. The person cursed, then said no more and returned to his hidden position.

The expert and Felina also returned to the hidden positions previously occupied by the two guards, based on the intel acquired earlier by Ghost Bobby. The communications center plunged into darkness once again.

Taking advantage of the communications center falling into darkness, Felina stealthily led the expert into the equipment installation room.

The silent expert was seen pulling a bizarre piece of equipment out of thin air.

He must have been equipped with a precious spatial item; the Feiting Federation had clearly placed a heavy bet on this mission.

This bizarre device quickly scanned the apparatus in the equipment room, acquiring key information.

The entire process took no more than five minutes. This was the time the expert had agreed upon beforehand, and it was the key to the mission's success.

If they had to stay in the equipment room for a long time, Felina would have had no confidence in completing this mission quietly.

Having completed the task, Felina and the expert prepared to leave quietly, but exactly at that moment, the two men who had chased after Lizer returned to the communications center.

Damn it! Did someone sneak in using a disguise just now!?

The person letting out the roar felt his acting skills were simply off the charts as he led his other teammates to launch an attack against Felina and the expert.

Thus, Felina, along with Lizer who had hurried back to support her, and the expert—the three of them—engaged in a fierce battle with the guards of the communications center.

They fought as they retreated. Unsure of what Felina and the others had actually done during their infiltration, the center's security personnel wanted to arrest them and decided to dispatch four people to pursue and kill them.

Intent on stalling for time, Lizer and Felina led their four pursuers in circles...

Meanwhile, Gloria, who was leading a patrol near the communications center, happened to hear the commotion of the battle.

So, she led the nearby squad to surround and secure the communications center, while she communicated with the sole remaining security guard to record the incident report.

Behind her, a patrol officer slipped unnoticed into the communications center along with the crowd, under the guise of searching for any remaining dangerous individuals.

With Gloria stalling the last remaining guard, this technical expert from Gele City easily and smoothly entered the equipment room, using a similar device to steal the core technology of the wiretapping equipment.

He felt quite smug about completing his mission...

...completely unaware that at this very moment, Gloria and the sole remaining guard were casting meaningful glances at the window of the second-floor equipment room.

"Finally... it's done."

Gloria and that member of the Flame Fox Squad simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

On the other side, among the four people pursuing Felina and the others, two were actually not from the Flame Fox Squad. Believing they were doing their utmost to protect the principality's core, they attacked with exceptional vigor, making things truly miserable for Lizer and Felina.

The four doggedly trailed behind the trio. In order to successfully escape, Felina and Lizer had no choice but to use a powerful witchcraft item to severely injure one of them.

Seeing someone severely injured, the other three realized that if they split their forces to tend to the wounded, their pursuit strength would be insufficient, and they might even be counter-killed.

After a brief discussion, the three had no choice but to give up the pursuit, picking up the injured man and slowly making their way back to the Gray Mist Mountain communications center.

Burdened with a wounded comrade, their return journey was even slower.

By the time they returned to the communications center, all they saw was the facility heavily surrounded and guarded by the Gray Mist Mountain patrol officers.

As for that expert from Gele City, he had long since left...