When Li Rui arrived at the designated spot as described, he saw Cheng Mingyue covertly blending into the crowd, eating melon seeds.

Not far away, a motorcade was parked at the street side, or more accurately, at the entrance of the large cathedral. A red carpet extended from inside the cathedral, stretching all the way to the car below.

"What the hell, is it a wedding?" Li Rui squeezed next to Cheng Mingyue and asked.

"Tsk, take a closer look at who that is."

When Li Rui looked up again, he saw a young man with a gentle face getting out of the leading car and walking along the red carpet towards the cathedral.

Of course, he was very familiar with this person; it was Vons, the Divine Son of the Polar Cathedral.

"Huh? What’s going on? Their beliefs are different too, right? Are they here to debate theology?"

Cheng Mingyue whispered in his ear, "Of course, it’s the same as our purpose, except he is coming openly because the Holy Judgment High Court and the Polar Cathedral hold an exchange conference every year, or something like that, anyway, he’s using that as an excuse."

"Yo, quite tolerant, huh? Aren’t they supposed to see each other as heretics?"

"Can’t be helped. The Polar Cathedral has its own dirty history; they annexed countless heretical groups back in the day, so one more doesn’t make a difference."

The two engaged in a casual conversation, back and forth.

"This is an open conspiracy."

Li Rui said, "The exchange conference happens every year, and the Holy Judgment High Court has to accept it. If they cancel only this year, it would indicate they have something to hide. But if they don’t cancel, the Polar Cathedral can take the opportunity to gather intelligence."

"Quite true," Cheng Mingyue realized. "What should we do then?"

Li Rui said, "Ignore it; we should just focus on our own tasks. It’s not like we’re here for confrontation now."

"Right, I’m still not over the mindset of the Secret Realm battlefield. I was even considering taking the opportunity to get rid of him."

Cheng Mingyue stuck her tongue out, "So how should we go about our own business then?"

Li Rui rolled his eyes, "Let’s find a place to stay first."

Then the two went to get a room, literally, to book a room.

Just like the time they executed missions with Guan Gui, the two operated separately; it was safer than sharing a room, and since they were playing a couple, they had to make do.

The first time they stayed after crossing the border, it was a bit awkward, but later they got used to it, and it was no longer a big deal.

After confirming the safety of the room, Li Rui said, "It’s just past five now; we can rest for a bit and head out after dark to avoid the patrols of both cathedrals on the streets during the day. I’ve already found a way to gather intelligence."

"I’ll listen to you, Advisor Li," Cheng Mingyue said lazily, kicking her slippers onto the floor and flopping onto the bed to sleep.

Li Rui, not to be outdone, lay his head down on another bed and closed his eyes to rest.

As the sun set and night fell, around eight or nine in the evening, the two left their hotel.

To avoid drawing attention, they stayed in a relatively peripheral area, but the stronghold provided by the Snake brothers was in the city center. The two walked along the road towards the middle, encountering a gang of robbers and two groups of thieves along the way.

Cheng Mingyue found it odd, "It’s expected for security to be poor in a chaotic place, but isn’t this a bit too much? This is supposed to be under the Holy Judgment High Court’s control, better than other places."

Li Rui cleared his throat, "Probably because recently, a lot of things have been happening."

Following the address left by Snake Eye, he found a large bar located in the city center. It was in the most bustling part of town, outside was a huge screen with several AI figures dancing on it.

This place wasn’t a property of the Snake brothers, just a location where their contact would meet them inside.

"Take this letter, and when you go inside, find the bartender, ask for red tea, then just hand the letter to whoever you see, and as we discussed, have the person you meet gather intelligence," Li Rui instructed.

"You’re not going in?"

"Yeah, there’s a particular situation; I’ll explain later. You go first," Li Rui said.

This kind of place might be somewhat risky for a girl, but if the girl was Cheng Mingyue, the danger shouldn’t be much.

She walked lazily into the bar, took a careful look around, and then asked the bartender, "Do you have red tea?"

The bartender, with several rings on his mouth and ears, stared at her for a moment, "What for?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Maybe... to drink?"

Cheng Mingyue wasn’t fazed, staring back stubbornly.

"....."

The bartender was silent for a while. According to protocol, he should lead the person to the back upon hearing the question, but seeing such a young girl using the code word felt odd to him, so he couldn’t help but confirm again.

"Come with me."

He placed the cleaned glass on the shelves, walked out from behind the bar, and pushed open a small door beside him.

Under unfriendly glances from around, Cheng Mingyue followed him inside, finding a dimly-lit corridor behind the door. When the door closed behind her, the noise of the bar was instantly shut out.

The bartender walked past three doorways, about fifteen meters ahead, and then stopped at the last door.

Knock knock knock.

"Someone needs red tea."

The bartender said through the door and nodded towards the inside with a gesture.

He didn’t leave but stood by the door, waiting for the guest to head inside.

Getting closer, Cheng Mingyue immediately saw the situation inside the room, several burly men were puffing on cigarettes, the room filled with tobacco smoke.

She wrinkled her nose, "Could you please put out your cigarettes?"

The bartender originally wanted to see if this young girl would be scared by the scene inside, as he had already subjectively judged that she was probably misguided by some lousy friend’s words, investigating some matter such as whether her boyfriend was cheating, only to stumble into this place.

Unexpectedly, not only was she not afraid, she spoke a line that took him completely off guard.

The men inside couldn’t help but laugh at her words.

"What did you say? Say it again, I don’t think I heard it right."

It’s common knowledge that these people are backed by the Gold Digger Association, which has risen swiftly recently, not just some hooligans messin’ around in the bar. Not many dare to come here and make such a request.

But Cheng Mingyue had already started fishing around in her pocket earlier, at this point, she pulled out an envelope folded twice, smoothed it out, and tossed it into the room.

The envelope spiraled through the air, landing accurately on the glass coffee table in the room.

As those inside saw the style of the envelope, they instantly stood up, their second action hurriedly putting out their cigarettes in the ashtray.

"S-sorry, please come in."

Seeing the sudden switch in their demeanor, the bartender knew he had misjudged her. Still, he was smart, even if he’d had thoughts earlier, he hadn’t shown any disrespect, so now he just invited her in with regret, quietly closing the door behind, pretending he hadn’t witnessed anything.

Thinking that Li Rui had found someone quite effective, Cheng Mingyue swaggered inside, sat in a spot near the exhaust fan, put on a mask to block the lingering smoke, and then said, "Read the letter; once you’ve finished, get your team ready. I have a mission for you."