Chapter 1464: Chapter 1458: Nowhere to Be Found

"’The Book of Exegesis’?"

Ronald’s expression turned to shock.

Receiving such news from Nicole, he almost thought he had misheard.

"How is this possible!"

"All their core force has left the city, yet they left such an important original text inside... Nicole, you’re not joking with me, right?"

Facing the doubt, Nicole widened her eyes, grabbed Ronald’s collar, and replied assertively:

"Ronald, don’t underestimate the capability of an ace investigator!"

"My investigation in the city these days has been meticulous. If I wasn’t completely sure, how could I casually tell you this information?"

"..."

Ronald and Nicole locked eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again:

"If it’s something this important, isn’t it more suitable for you to act quickly? You just mentioned the main members of the [Nine Commandments Secret Society] have already left yesterday."

Upon hearing this, Nicole released Ronald’s collar, stomped her foot angrily on the spot.

"I can’t just act the moment they leave, can I?"

"What if those guys come back, pulling a sneak attack on me, wouldn’t I fall right into their trap?"

Nicole’s reasoning was sound and trustworthy.

Ronald thought it over, felt there was no problem, and seriously promised:

"If it’s truly related to ’The Book of Exegesis’, I’ll definitely help."

"After all, I’m currently in a hostile state with the [Nine Commandments Secret Society], and there’s no reason to miss the opportunity to weaken their power."

"Great!" Hearing this promise, Nicole’s face lit up with joy, clapping her hands briskly before continuing, "Then the first problem now is how we find the location of ’The Book of Exegesis’!"

"..."

Ronald looked stunned, feeling the air turn a bit chilly, like a cold joke.

"What?"

"You don’t know the location of ’The Book of Exegesis’?"

Nikki came to Ronald for help, but she herself hadn’t figured out the target’s location, which was quite unreasonable.

Yet, the investigator girl was not flustered even when stared at by Ronald.

Instead, she cast a reproachful look at the ruins behind them, pointing to the wreckage:

"Because the person I got the news from was in that building behind you a few minutes ago. I was actually about to sneak in to get the necessary information for our next action."

At this point, Nicole put her hands behind her head, tilted her head, and asked Ronald rhetorically:

"Otherwise, this city isn’t small."

"Do you have any idea how I managed to get here so quickly?"

"..."

So it’s my attack that spoiled Nicole’s plan?

Ronald certainly wouldn’t take the blame so easily, and instead made another suggestion to Nicole:

"How about your prophetic spell now? Can it be used to find things?"

Nicole put on a look of ’I’ve already tried.’

"The [Nine Commandments Secret Society]’s protection is quite comprehensive. I tried using a spell for reconnaissance, but after the incident, there was no feedback whatsoever."

"..."

With this suggestion failing, Ronald could only turn his head back honestly.

What met his eyes was a charred ruins of a building.

Although he could use the [Precession] spell to restore the place to its original state, to say he’s specifically going to reverse time for one person...

The previous thunder strike and subsequent shockwave from the original text’s explosion.

The continuous destruction had thoroughly turned the whole site into complete chaos.

To pick a specific target from it for resurrection.

——It’s just a pipe dream!

As for restoring everything near the whole building, that’s not an option either.

Compared to resurrecting all the [Nine Commandments Secret Society] casters just slain.

Ronald would rather use his brain and find a way to locate ’The Book of Exegesis’ inside the city by himself.

With a decision made in his mind, Ronald immediately took action.

He called on Nicole and Costate to leave the crime scene first, discussing the next strategy on the way.

"Nicole, your intelligence source is definitely gone now. We can only think of other ways to find a new lead source. You’ve been in this city longer than us, perhaps you have other ideas in this regard?"

The investigator girl grinned and replied bluntly:

"Nope, absolutely none!"

"The lead I found with such difficulty is the only one I have, now how can I come up with another original text holder to spill the beans."

Ronald’s face turned a shade darker.

But Nicole had her own explanation and continued directly:

"Ronald, after all this territory belongs to the [Nine Commandments Secret Society]! I’m all by myself here and it’s truly inconvenient to operate, always needing to tread carefully. To be honest, finding such a breakthrough in just a few days wasn’t bad at all."

"If it weren’t for this uncontrollable incident, I wouldn’t be experiencing such a predicament right now."

"Right, Ronald?"

As they were walking, Nicole elbowed Ronald’s waist, expressing her displeasure.

"Fine, fine, my fault, I disrupted your plan." Seeing the girl’s demeanor, Ronald promptly apologized, assuring her he’d take full responsibility, "Don’t worry, I won’t run away; let me think of a solution."

The trio continued discussing as they left the ruins.

They soon entered a part of the city that remained intact.

Without direct lightning strike, the city’s infrastructure didn’t suffer significant damage, and due to proper planning, the fires that broke out didn’t spread to surrounding areas.

In contrast, the people’s mental state couldn’t remain calm.

After the terrifying thunder subsided, the city was filled with incessant cries and noise. Even if a few casters understood the situation, they could only protect themselves or their families, unable to aid the other panicking citizens.

The entire city was in chaos.

Witnessing this situation, Ronald silently apologized in his heart.

But this was his best option when facing an enemy, and Ronald felt no regret about it.

Walking from the first residential street to its end.

Amidst cries and occasional orchestration of order around him, a sudden idea struck Ronald. He immediately turned to Nicole beside him: 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Nicole, I have an idea."

"While flying overhead earlier, I noticed that apart from administrative units, there are other substantial buildings here. If I’m not mistaken, [Nine Commandments Secret Society] must have also deployed core members to guard these key locations, right?"

Nicole understood the meaning in Ronald’s words, clapped her hands, and reported what she knew:

"Of course, I know that!"

"Speaking of places where [Nine Commandments Secret Society] higher-ups are still present, there might only be the hospital and 6 Caselle Street right now."