In Beika Town.
On a road near the park.
After the black Honda parked by the roadside, numerous gazes began gathering from dark corners.
Five or six crows preening their feathers on telephone poles, a brown tabby cat peeking from roadside shrubbery, and sudden eyes opening on the glass surfaces of surrounding buildings.
Countless stares focused on the black Honda, beginning silent communication among themselves.
"Very strong life energy, Elite Rank... no, most likely Hero Rank... and the aura feels quite special..."
"That white-haired woman seems like one of us, but not quite... the scent of blood is very pure..."
"The green-haired one has chaotic life energy, very violent fighting spirit, yet seemingly carefully arranged by an expert..."
"I don't think they're wild individuals."
"Is there an organisation behind this? Strange, how could little Asagi provoke a force capable of casually deploying Hero Rank individuals?"
"Did they discover you inserting personnel into East Asia under the guise of the American company?"
"That's impossible. The alias was created by those professional spies in the Empire. No matter what, being discovered just one week after establishment would be too exaggerated..."
"They seem to have detected us. Strange, how is their perception so sharp?"
Just as the three were secretly communicating, there was a click.
Takatsuki Izumi and Shizuka Hio both got out of the car, their eyes casually sweeping over the bushes by the roadside, the crow atop the telephone pole, and even the direction of the building.
Finally, Takatsuki Izumi scratched her head, directly took out her phone, and made a call to Ayato Kirishima.
[Moshi moshi?]
"Stop with the moshi, you fool. You've been discovered, withdraw on your own."
After saying this, Takatsuki Izumi directly hung up, then glanced at the brown stray cat that had just emerged from the nearby bushes:
"Not planning to meet?"
"Meow~" The stray cat cried out, raised its head, looked at Takatsuki Izumi with its vertical pupils, then walked towards the direction of the apartment's first floor.
Seeing this, Takatsuki Izumi turned to Tatara and said:
"Tatara, wait here."
As she spoke, Takatsuki Izumi stepped forward, directly following the stray cat leading the way, while Shizuka Hio naturally followed along at this moment.
The two entered the apartment without a word, but this didn't mean there was no communication - they had moved their conversation to the internal chat group.
[Already contacted the garrison. There's a clone of Miss Tokisaki in Ikebukuro, and she's already on her way.]
Ikebukuro is located near Shinjuku, and the Sakura Apartments in Ikebukuro could be considered the Hidden Management Department's second external garrison.
After all, Luo Shu's home was there, so naturally, there was ample protective force.
[You've done something unnecessary, Shizuka.]
Though she said this, Takatsuki Izumi actually had no objection to Shizuka Hio's actions.
She wasn't a fool - when the enemy was hidden while they were exposed, getting some backup wasn't a bad thing.
Even though it was just a clone, as the most veteran Demigod, Miss Kurumi Tokisaki's combat capability was still guaranteed.
If even her avatar couldn't handle the hidden enemy, then disturbing Luo Shu wouldn't be due to subordinate incompetence, but because the enemy was too cunning and powerful, requiring tactical guidance.
As the two communicated in secret, the pair and the cat entered the elevator, reached the fifth floor, and stopped outside room 505.
Upon arrival, the brown stray cat suddenly produced Krul's rather high-pitched voice:
"The door isn't locked, go in."
Hearing this, Takatsuki Izumi glanced at the stray cat, then reached out to grip the door handle, gently pushing it open as if making an ordinary visit, cheerfully saying:
"Pardon the intrusion!"
With these words, Takatsuki Izumi stepped into the entryway, directly removing her shoes and stepping onto the interior flooring. Shizuka Hio, who followed closely behind, suddenly frowned, her expression showing a hint of surprise.
Noticing her unusual reaction, the stray cat licking its paw nearby suddenly laughed:
"Realised it, have you?"
"The scent of blood... I see, vampires?" Shizuka Hio held the door, preparing to close it, as she said coldly: "You're not from the Council, are you?"
"The Council? Oh, that seems to be what the vampire alliance in this nation calls itself."
The stray cat narrowed its eyes, then looked Shizuka Hio up and down before saying:
"Come in."
Hearing this, Shizuka Hio said nothing, closed the door, removed her shoes and entered the living room.
It was at this moment that she saw the three Primogenitors sitting around the dining table, examining Takatsuki Izumi with varied expressions.
Meeting their gazes, Takatsuki Izumi scratched her head and said with an extremely peculiar expression:
"To be honest, before I came in, I was deluding myself that I might catch some big fish, but these really are big fish..."
At this point, Takatsuki Izumi said in a meaningful tone:
"Giada Kukulcan, the Chaos Bride, Krul Tepes, the Queen of Blood, and Evangeline A.K. McDowell, the Gospel of Immortality, plus that young girl over there..."
"If I report encountering you lot, the Director would probably give me a commendation, wouldn't he?"
Hearing this, Giada couldn't help but smile:
"Knowing who we three are, and you still think about reporting the information?"
"Quite bold!"
After saying this, Giada narrowed her eyes and said with a faint smile:
"But surely you don't think you can still get the message out in this situation?"
Hearing this, Takatsuki Izumi grinned, revealing a frenzied smile.
Seeing this, though somewhat surprised that conflict had arisen so quickly, Shizuka Hio prepared to take action.
But before she could do anything, she heard Takatsuki Izumi raise her right hand to stop her, saying:
"Shizuka, calm down first. Use that candidate detection function to check..."
Hearing this, Shizuka Hio paused, glanced at Takatsuki Izumi with a strange look in her eyes, and silently activated the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System's Familia candidate detection function.
The next second, Shizuka Hio looked at the four bright signals in the room shining like lightbulbs, glanced at the three Primogenitors by the dining table, then took a peek at the girl sitting by the computer desk who was watching them warily, and deliberately asked:
"Should we have Lord Luo Shu use Possession to come over instead?"
Subordinate has failed the mission, surrounded by four Familia candidates, and is requesting Possession support.
If these words reached Luo Shu's ears, he'd probably laugh and ask for this to happen every day.
Shizuka Hio was quite certain Luo Shu was that kind of person.
Just then, hearing that familiar name, Giada's expression paused and immediately turned subtle:
"Wait a moment? If I may ask."
"Which organisation do you belong to?"
As Giada's words fell, Evangeline and Krul immediately showed subtle expressions.
At that moment, Takatsuki Izumi scratched her head and said:
"What else could it be? The Hidden Management Department, of course."
Hearing that long-anticipated answer, Giada couldn't help but be stunned:
"No way? I only started having people attack your servers today..."
Attacking in the afternoon and getting caught by evening - what kind of efficiency is this from the Hidden Management Department?
Seeing Giada's reaction, Takatsuki Izumi and Shizuka Hio couldn't help but exchange glances.
There are unexpected gains from this?
Thinking this, Takatsuki Izumi chuckled and joked:
"Sorry, but your activities have been reported. So, will you come quietly with me to the garrison to see the Director, or shall we wait for the Director to come here and escort you all personally?"
Upon hearing this, Krul sighed deeply, while Evangeline beside her scowled and complained:
"I told you we shouldn't do this kind of thing. Look how quickly we got caught!"
"Wouldn't it have been simpler to just visit properly with the invitation?"
Giada shrank her head slightly, wearing an innocent expression as she said:
"But going to visit without even having one fight or understanding the situation at all - wouldn't that put us at a disadvantage?"
Evangeline slapped her forehead, completely exasperated:
"So what you're saying is, you just want to get beaten up, right?"
"Well, now you can be satisfied."
Evangeline chuckled coldly. "Caught red-handed while pulling tricks - I think this beating is unavoidable for you."
"While that may be true..."
Giada muttered, but before she could say anything more, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the room.
Turning to look, they saw a pale paper crane clutching a round object crash through the window and burst into the room.
The next moment, the round metallic object was dropped to the floor by the paper crane, landing with a thud and releasing copious white smoke mixed with red.
For a moment, everyone present was stunned.