Above The Sky
Chapter 494 - 494 463 Label Effect 13

494: 463 Chapter Label Effect (1/3) 494: 463 Chapter Label Effect (1/3) The Sublimator caught up with the speed of the train very quickly.

Within minutes, Ian and his companions were back on the Alchemy Train with “Colonel.”

At this moment, the many undercover agents who had revealed their true identities found themselves in an awkward atmosphere for a while…

Or rather, a remarkably awkward atmosphere.

According to the statistics gathered later, in this small twelve-person team, there was a mix of undercover agents from the Knight Order of Inspectorate, Supervisory Court, Mirror Sea Guard, Safety Bureau, Hazardous Alchemy Items Administration, and Religious Affairs Bureau…

with the total number exceeding half of the group.

The terms ‘Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix’ and ‘young talents’ were inadequate; it was truly a gathering of elites!

They did not know each other’s intelligence, operated independently, and to hide their undercover status, their disguises were as good as real.

Even if they didn’t bully men and women on a regular day, you might say they were no longer normal Humans.

If there had been just one undercover agent, it could be considered bearing a burden in silence, but now that they realized the others they had been disguising themselves against were colleagues…

the feeling, placed on someone with a strong sense of shame, could very well awaken Spiritual Power.

This was the consequence of the lack of inter-departmental communication within The Empire—but undercover activities indeed couldn’t be too exposed, so in some respects, it was an inevitability.

Also, this organization did have a few real members besides the leader, otherwise, the level of embarrassment for this mission would have escalated several notches.

With such a group of professionals handling the situation, Ian didn’t have to bother, contentedly sipping tea and enjoying the spectacle.

At the moment, he sat in a passenger seat, keenly using Foresight View and the Silver Chip to listen in on the interrogation taking place in the carriage ahead.

“Fiery Flame Land?”

With his eyes closed, he discerned meaningful words amidst the screams and incoherent speech, “They are actually people from Fiery Flame Land?

Hm, real or false, or just passing the blame?”

Since Fiery Flame Land had been used as an excuse too often, Ian wasn’t able to determine immediately whether it was true or false.

But he soon let go of his doubts, “It doesn’t matter, since they all said so, it must be Fiery Flame Land, no other possibility.”

As for why Fiery Flame Land would disguise themselves as the Dragon Worship Cult to hijack the Alchemy Train and steal the so-called ‘Earth Pulse Source Crystal’…

Ian thought of several possibilities.

For instance, they wanted to terminate some of the cooperative projects between the Dragon Worship Cult and The Empire.

Ian knew that South Ridge had a cooperation with the Dragon Worship Cult regarding the Canaan Moore Ancient Dragons.

Or perhaps, they simply chose an organization that seemed to have recent conflicts with The Empire.

Also recently, the Dragon Worship Cult was sternly criticized by the official news of South Ridge.

Another possibility was that they wanted a disguise identity to steal the treasure and would deny any involvement in diplomatic matters.

That was the norm.

There were too many possibilities.

After all, Ian knew that any organization planning an event near the Imperial Capital was definitely not going to succeed without a hitch.

Even this time, these people who claimed to be from Fiery Flame Land might have managed to hijack the train because these undercover agents were doing their job too well.

As for why it was this particular train he was on…

“Wait a second.”

Thinking of something, Ian couldn’t help furrowing his brow.

He murmured to himself, “Could it really be…”

“To think, brother, you infiltrated so early.”

A voice interrupted Ian’s speculations, but the young man didn’t mind.

Ian turned his head, looking behind him.

The tall man who had just hung the Medal of an Inspector Knight on his chest seemed to have just finished summarizing the situation.

After communicating with his superior, he came directly to converse with this young ‘colleague’.

The knight with light brown hair had a carefree smile on his face and was biting a pipe in the corner of his mouth, looking at the white-haired youth before him with some sentiment: “I originally thought I was the only operative here, and it might be somewhat difficult to take action, but I didn’t expect headquarters to have dispatched you here to support me, proactively offering an opportunity to intervene.”

He extended a friendly hand to Ian: “I must say, your appearance is quite deceptive; even I failed to recognize your true identity—who would have thought a young kid who travels with a fae could actually be a Sublimator who has already received the qualification of an Inspector Knight?”

Although Hua’an and Frost Butterfly did not understand the specifics of what was said, they both nodded with pride.

—Of course!

Ian stood up and shook hands with the other.

Both he and the Inspector Knight noticed the fae’s reaction, and they both smiled.

The tall knight continued: “Let me introduce myself.

My real name isn’t Colonel; it’s Tres.

Tres Belinger.”

“My young colleague, whom do you serve under?”

At this question, Ian didn’t answer immediately but instead glanced around and exchanged looks with Hua’an and Frost Butterfly.

(In the coming interaction, I need to lie, don’t blow my cover)

(Understood completely!) (Alright, m’lord)

Ian and Tres found a vacant seat, sat down to converse, and also asked the attendant to bring them some food.

The meals on the train were mostly reheated frozen food, and overall the taste was quite acceptable.

Soon, a dish of stewed lamb, sweet and sour plum sauce shrimp, pork ribs, and lettuce salad was placed before Ian and Tres.

The stewed lamb, pork ribs, and lettuce salad were rather ordinary, but the sweet and sour plum sauce shrimp, despite its peculiar name, was quite delicious.

Each shrimp was coated with a thin, crisp layer of fried batter, with the shrimp flesh inside extremely tender, and it was enveloped in a thick layer of sweet and sour plum sauce, offering both texture and flavor in every bite.

The two conversed while eating.

Tres was a relatively young knight, probably just over twenty-five or twenty-six years old—for someone at the Second Energy Level, while not exactly a ‘prodigy,’ he was certainly full of potential and worth cultivating.

As a Magnetic Light Knight at the peak of the Second Energy Level, he was probably in his thirties, and with the right materials and lineage of the Bloodline True Form Elixir, he was ready to advance at any moment.

Tall, with light brown hair, Tres seemed composed and serene, with bright, clear blue eyes, looking like the typical handsome guy from a small town.

He wore a side sword at his waist.

Even though his behavior still somewhat resembled that of an uncouth country adventurer (quite similar to the disguise Ian wanted to maintain), from Tres’s undisguised tone, Ian could tell that he was indeed a professionally trained elite.

“Marquis Barton?”

At that moment, Tres repeated the name that came out of Ian’s mouth with interest: “Ah, General Barton, yes.

He is also the Chief of Military Intelligence for our Knight Order of Inspectorate; undercover in Fiery Flame Land for so long, I had forgotten about that.”

“To think that you are under General Barton’s command… as expected of a seedling valued by the General himself, truly a young prodigy!” he exclaimed.

“No, I’ve said before, I’m not one of Marquis Barton’s men,” Ian corrected somewhat helplessly: “I was merely replacing Marquis Barton in delivering a secret message…sigh.”

Now, Ian was starting to catch on—Marquis Barton asking him to deliver a secret message might not be only about luring out the traitorous Magnetic Light Knight, but also marking him as ‘one of his own.’

Look, the South Ridge Governor, one of the Emperor’s most trusted generals, Marquis Barton, actually sent a fifteen-year-old Patrol Knight Apprentice to deliver a secret message to the Imperial Capital… No matter how one looked at it, this was an indication of the utmost trust and value placed on someone!

No matter how much Ian denied it, he couldn’t shake off the impression that ‘General Barton has already declared this young knight as one of his own.’

“Thank goodness I encountered Tres ahead of time,” the youth thought.

If it weren’t for this early encounter with an undercover from the Inspector Knights, which alerted him, he might have actually gone through with delivering the secret message openly.

Actually, it wasn’t such a bad thing.

Being labeled was the best way to conceal oneself for Ian.

But he preferred to have everything under his own control.

Moreover… according to the youth’s conjecture, there were plenty of others who wanted to tag him as theirs.