Chapter 165: Cleanup Part 1

“Master, the guests have arrived!”

Lit knocked on the door and spoke softly.

“Alright, I know!”

Zimo’s voice came through the door. Although Lit could not see Zimo’s expression, he could feel Zimo’s excitement. For someone who had served Zimo for fifteen years, it was not difficult to sense such feelings. Furthermore, Zimo’s behavior over these past few days had confirmed Lit’s suspicions in his eyes.

However, Lit was wise enough to show nothing, standing quietly by the door.

For those of them who walked in the shadows, knowing too much was not necessarily a good thing.

The reason he could live smoothly until now was because he understood the measure of things.

Those who had come to Vauban County at the same time as him, whose status and position far exceeded his, and who were more capable than him, had long become white bones for various reasons.

Among them, the most important point was that they knew too much.

“Lit, tell the cook to prepare more food. I want the dining table to be sufficiently abundant!”

Stepping out of the door, Zimo, dressed in black formal attire, gave these instructions.

“Yes, Master!”

Lit bowed and agreed, then walked quickly toward the kitchen.

Zimo stood in place, filtering the entire plan in his mind. After confirming there were no omissions, he walked into his living room with his habitual smile.

There were five people sitting in the living room.

Although two or three were already familiar, all five wore cloaks and masks to hide their true faces.

For these spies, some habits had been carved into their bones.

“Good evening, welcome to your arrival!”

Zimo greeted them with a warm smile.

However, the effect of such a warm smile was clearly not very good:

“River Rat, how did you know my identity?”

One spy asked coldly.

“That’s right, our identities should only be known by the leader!”

The voice of another spy was equally cold and impolite, and the questioning tone in it was clearly audible.

“Leader? Do you mean Lord Madel? Unfortunately, he was executed by Lord Lone Wolf… The current leader of Vauban County is Lord Lone Wolf!”

Zimo answered with an unchanged smile.

Such words immediately made the five spies in front of him shift their bodies slightly in unease; perhaps they had already guessed Madel’s fate, but hearing it in a true sense still made them feel uncomfortable; especially the two spies who had a very good relationship with Madel, their bodies even paused for a moment.

Zimo stood there, taking everything in, the smile on the corner of his mouth inevitably becoming brighter and brighter—he knew these kinds of people, just like himself, too well; no matter what position they held or what role they played, their essence was greed for life and fear of death.

In fact, those kinds of people who were like Dead Soldiers had already become disposable pawns over and over again under Madel’s plan.

Those who remained were all characters who were easy to control.

And this was also the reason he dared to implement this ‘sideline’ plan.

Yes, it was ‘sideline’!

For power, Zimo had always been obsessed. He tried to extend his ‘tentacles’ into every corner of Vauban City, just for the day when he might replace Madel.

However, at ordinary times, he had hidden it well.

And this time, Dean’s appearance had given him a chance—not only to escape a life-and-death calamity, but also to implement a plan he had prepared for many years.

“Since Lord Lone Wolf has become the leader, then… where is Lord Lone Wolf?”

For the news of Goth ‘air-dropping’ a leader, the senior spies present in Vauban County also had such information.

“Lord Lone Wolf does not know about this gathering!”

Zimo said as if he were sincere.

“River Rat, what do you want to do?”

The living room fell silent for a moment. After a while, a spy asked.

“What do you think? This is an opportunity for me, for us!”

Zimo looked around at the five people present with a beaming smile and said slowly.

“Do you want to replace him?”

One spy asked very cautiously.

“No, no, I don’t have such thoughts… That Lord Lone Wolf is definitely not that easy to deal with—the Grand Knights around Madel were all killed by this Lord Lone Wolf. I don’t want to anger this Lord Lone Wolf!”

Zimo waved his hands repeatedly, acting extremely fearful and cautious.

“Then isn’t it angering him now?”

A spy present asked angrily, and the remaining four also turned their heads, staring tightly at Zimo—clearly, these five senior spies were frightened by the news Zimo had just said.

A leader who could easily kill Grand Knights…

This was simply a disaster-like news for them.

After all, such a leader, if he knew about such a gathering of theirs, they would definitely have a bad end.

As for being kind and lenient?

They definitely did not have such hopes.

“Rest assured, rest assured, this gathering is secret, and that Lord Lone Wolf will definitely not know… I can swear by my true name!”

Zimo comforted these panicked spies.

“So, River Rat… what do you want to do?”

The spy who had first questioned asked.

“I want to form an Alliance with you!”

Zimo said his purpose with a full smile.

“Form an Alliance? You want to sideline that Lord Lone Wolf?”

Although the spies present were greedy for life and afraid of death, they were definitely not fools. As soon as Zimo stated his purpose, they had already guessed what his plan was.

“What does it count as sideling? We will report all information truthfully to Lord Lone Wolf. Moreover, after our layered review, such information will inevitably be extremely accurate… And Lord Lone Wolf’s Strength will provide us with more security, making our work more efficient—it is a win-win!”

Zimo denied his intentions flatly, speaking grandiosely and respectably.

He looked around at the spies present again, slightly raising his voice, and asked again: “Gentlemen, our Alliance has a hundred benefits and no harm… Have you forgotten the wealth accumulated by Lord Madel? If we do not form an Alliance, we will never obtain such wealth in our lives. But once we form an Alliance… such wealth is within easy reach, and even more!”

As Zimo spoke, he clapped his hands.

Clap, clap!

In the crisp sound of applause, Zimo’s two subordinates carried out a box. Then the box was opened, and under the light of the living room, Gold Pulton inside the box shone brightly. A series of gasping sounds came from the mouths of those spies.

“Well? Are you willing to share with me?”

Zimo took in the appearance of the spies in front of him, the smile on the corner of his mouth full of pride—although some items obscured their faces, their heavier breathing and trembling bodies had already explained everything.

“What if we are not willing? Will we become Corpses in the moat tomorrow morning?”

The same spy who had first questioned asked again.

“How could that be? I am not a person who likes to use violence. This is just a private gathering of ours. If anyone is not willing, they can naturally withdraw. Then, we will pretend this matter never happened! Now, I want to hear your thoughts. Will you join or withdraw?”

Zimo shook his head slightly with a look of surprise, denying that spy’s guess.

Although his face showed sincerity, not a single spy present would believe such words.

Withdraw?

It was said too lightly.

Not to mention that coming here was already like boarding a pirate ship, but under the premise that some join and some withdraw, the former would naturally be of one mind, while the latter would become the target of public criticism.

Unless the majority withdrew, could this situation be reversed!

But…

The five senior spies’ eyes hidden under their hoods looked at the people around them—clearly, they could not confirm who would withdraw, or… were waiting for someone to withdraw?

After all, this looked like a good opportunity to remove ‘unnecessary people’!

Competition among spies was far greater than cooperation.

Even if they were all under one person’s command.

Zimo sat not far away, watching this scene with a smile—undoubtedly, this had not caught him off guard; it was even within his predictions.

After all, he knew deep down that Madel had selected the remaining subordinates not only for being relatively timid but also because there were grudges between each of them.

This was how Madel better controlled his subordinates.

But… now, this had naturally laid the foundation for him.

For a full five minutes, the entire living room was filled with an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust.

Zimo accurately timed the moment. When someone was about to lose patience, he stood up and casually picked up the wine glass placed on his desk—

“Since no one is speaking, then… I will take it as everyone’s tacit agreement. Now, please raise a glass to our Alliance!”

Zimo raised his wine glass high.

The five senior spies fell silent and hesitated for a moment again. Just as two of them were losing their composure and preparing to reach out to pick up their wine glasses, a gloomy voice suddenly rang out in the living room—

“River Rat!”

It was only River Rat’s codename, with no other sentences.

But, it was such a voice that made Zimo, who had been controlling the whole situation, tremble all over. He turned his head with difficulty, looking at the figure that had appeared behind him at an unknown time, and said with an extremely hoarse voice: “L-Lord Lone Wolf?!”

And Dean’s answer was a flying knife that had left his hand.