Arken Port City

Time passed

Guide Billy showed me around the important places of the city. The city is so vast that it’s impossible to visit all the places in one day.

There are crowds in all the places, so it’s taking time to explore them. I’m busy collecting intel.

During that time, the system reminded me of the actions of the driver. Guide Billy and the driver seemed to have some understanding.

To find out, I hid inside the Gregor Mansion when they were not around. I’m standing in front of the control mirror and waiting for the two people to talk.

Outside,

It’s a central plaza. It’s also an important attraction for visitors. There are many shops and markets here. Visitors can buy exotic items from here.

Guide Billy met some acquaintances, so he was talking to them. Similarly, the cab driver met other drivers and they were having a conversation.

Both of them thought the customer was exploring the plaza right now. They could chat here in the meantime.

Guide Billy had given one hour of time for the customer to explore the place. After one hour, they would return to the cab.

One hour later,

Guide Billy and the cab driver returned to the cab. They didn’t see the Guest Frank. Billy frowned.

He said, "What is he doing?"

"Did he find anything fancy here?" he added.

The cab driver, who was silent earlier, spoke.

"He doesn’t seem to be suspicious. Still, I have sent reports to the higher-ups. If anything is wrong, they will know," the cab driver revealed.

Guide Billy simply nodded his head. Then they made the decision to look around the place first.

Swoosh!

The next second, I appeared in the back seat of the car. I sat down comfortably, my eyes filled with seriousness.

The system reminder was useful. An ordinary driver is an intel agent. He must be reporting my moves to his higher-ups.

Fortunately, I didn’t act suspiciously. They didn’t find anything wrong with me.

A 10 minutes later,

Both of them came back. Upon seeing me, they were shocked. Yet they didn’t ask anything. They pretended everything was normal.

Guide Billy sat next to me. The driver sat in his seat. He then glanced at the rearview mirror before starting the car.

...

Black View Hotel

That evening, the cab driver dropped me off in front of the hotel. I paid the fare to the driver. Then I paid the fee to Guide Billy.

"Guide Billy, you are a professional. I’m happy with your guidance," I said with a smile.

Billy was happy with the praise. Apparently, who doesn’t like praise? Because of it, his vigilance reduced.

Then we talked for a few minutes before he left the hotel. I turned around and walked into the hotel.

I saw other people in the lobby. I simply made my way toward the hotel room. After reaching the hotel room, I shut the door.

I used the system to probe the room. The system results came back negative. No abnormalities were found. I sighed in relief.

To think a cab driver is an intel agent. I don’t know whether he is the only one or if all the drivers in the city are the same.

But the reactions of Guide Billy suggest otherwise. Either he knew the person before, or he knows all the drivers share information.

A cold sweat appeared on my forehead. I can’t openly roam around the city. If I do that, then the information about me will be dug up.

I have decided to go to the Black Monk City sooner. But today I will release the zero puppet. It’s time for the zero puppet to act.

Then I collected my thoughts and went to take a bath.

Time passed

That midnight, I entered the Gregor Mansion. I put the super-grade mana stones inside the core.

The next moment, the zero puppet activated. It came back to life. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Master," the puppet greeted me.

The whole body of the puppet was covered in red and black smoke.

"Zero, I’m no longer in the Magic City. I’m doing a special mission right now. The current place is called Arken Port City."

"I want to go to the Black Monk City next. Find me the transport services which are sending their vehicles to the city in one or two days," I said to the Zero Puppet.

"You have time until the morning," I added.

"Master, I will do it. I will have the information ready before sunrise," Zero said.

"Here, take the pouch," I said to the puppet.

Zero accepted the pouch filled with super-grade mana stones. It will be useful during a time of emergency.

The next second, the zero puppet turned into red smoke. In the blink of an eye, it left the room through the window.

A hint of relief flashed in my eyes. I’m sure the zero puppet will do the job. No one below a Magic Lord can find it.

I have trust in its intel-gathering abilities. It will avoid the eyes of the Magic Lords and the Forbidden Wizards.

Meanwhile,

The red smoke found a huge restaurant next to the hotel. It lingered on top of the hotel in the form of red smoke.

No one could sense anything here. The zero puppet began to gather information. There were many cabs parked outside.

Its primary goal was to gather intel on the Black Monk City.

Time passed

It left the place 20 minutes later. From the conversations, it collected more information. It filtered them out and found some important locations.

One of them was the location of the transport company. An employee of that place had dinner here and let some information slip from his mouth.

The puppet recorded it, but it didn’t have the map of the place. As time passed, it went around a few more places to find that location.

It was also mapping the whole area it had traveled so far. It marked the Black View Hotel as the main point.

Next, it reached the transport company and infiltrated the place easily. It easily slid inside the gap.

The transport office had everything, including the map of the city and, most importantly, the map of the Skycrest Kingdom.