Chapter 44: 36. Situation Analysis
Translator: 549690339
Hehehe…
Noland Lee watched Sergeant Pim, who was grinding his teeth at him, and quietly laughed.
This whatchamacallit investigator from Division Intelligence Unit Two is an arrogant, fallacious, and smooth talker, with inexplicable hostility towards him, Noland Lee.
Accusing him of being contaminated by the doctrines of the Undead Cult, labeling him as an accomplice of the Death Notice assassin, and warning him of betraying the Imperial Army at crucial moments…
It was unclear what was going on between Intelligence Department 4 and Division Intelligence Unit Two which caused an investigator from Intelligence Unit Two to harbor resentment towards a Sin Soldier.
This really made Noland feel perplexed, and for the time being, he had a hard time making sense of it.
But there were two things Noland could confirm.
The first:
The investigator before him, named Pim, had a serious obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He combed his parting meticulously so that it was perfectly symmetrical on both sides. He also neatly folded his documents and glasses cloth into perfect squares and arranged them in different pockets on his left and right side, respectively.
All symptoms of OCD.
Noland might not rank as high as Pim, nor did he hold a higher status, but he could still use some tricks to make this guy burn with anger.
Don’t underestimate the power of making someone tick.
Some people could rage for an entire day in the heat of anger.
Others would lose their composure when they couldn’t vent their anger, inadvertently exposing their weaknesses.
If they could make this Pim lose his temper to the point of irrationality, it wouldn’t be a bad way to probe his inner thoughts.
The second thing Noland could confirm was related to himself.
As expected, he had probably become the centerpiece of something passively.
That something was masterminded by Intelligence Department 4, with the aim to test whether they could destroy death-related magic devices that rely on Undead Runes by modifying the Runes.
For example, destroying the Undead Runes of the Soul-binding Stone Tomb, causing it and its Soul Bindings to “crash”.
Or destroy the Undead Runes on the Magic Protective Cover to make the shield disappear, so the Grave Vault could be cleared faster and Eternal Essence could be obtained from the Spirit Pivot more quickly.
The idea of Intelligence Department 4 was simple: to use the method of modifying Undead Runes to complete military tasks faster and reduce combat losses more significantly.
But there was a hidden danger that couldn’t be ignored.
The exchanges between Alvin and Pim indicated:
Exposing ordinary people to Undead Runes—even if it’s just memorizing the translation presented by the ancient Tatis language—is a “high voltage circuit”
Anyone who touches this “high voltage circuit” could potentially become the enemy of the Empire by understanding the doctrines and texts of the Undead Cult and getting tainted by their wicked ideas, consequently facing the inevitability of death.
Moreover, the Death Herald Guild has a high likelihood of proactively reaching out to such people, trying to lure them into joining the guild, making them a member of the Death Herald Guild.
As Noland Lee played with the cleaning cloth in his hand, his eyes slightly squinted, realizing that this matter wasn’t easy.
From his earlier deductions, as a Sin Soldier with access to the Undead Runes, he was highly likely to be tempted by the Death Herald Guild once Intelligence Department 4 abandoned him.
In that case, the goodwill Sergeant Alvin Stafford had blatantly shown and the hostility from Pim could be explained.
Sergeant Alvin Stafford, a military officer subordinate to Intelligence Department 4, voluntarily promised to award a Sin Soldier a medal.
This could be seen as a way to placate the Sin Soldier and aimed to keep him stable, not to be swayed by others’ whims, and faithfully fulfill the mission assigned to him by Intelligence Department 4.
Sergeant Pim, an investigator from Division Intelligence Unit Two, was responsible for security matters within the Empire, similar to Phoebus before crossing.
He viewed everyone who could have potential ties to illegal forces as his suspects to scrutinize and observe.
His hostility towards Noland stemmed precisely from this.
Noland Lee stopped his actions, balled up the cleaning cloth and randomly stuffed it in a pocket, intentionally leaving half of the cloth hanging out.
With one glance up, he saw Pim’s rigid face, hiding a layer of coldness beneath.
He had the intuition that Pim’s hostility towards him was not merely limited to suspecting his betrayal of the Empire. It seemed to hide a deeper reason.
This was Noland’s intuition.
His intuition had always been rather accurate before his crossing, it’s as if he possessed some strange mental power like “malice detection”.
“Sin Soldier No. 888… I will keep my eyes on you.”
Sergeant Pim suppressed his anger, took his eyes off him, and turned to the guard next to him:
“Sergeant Piggs.”
“Yes, Chief Officer.”
Sergeant Pim stared at Noland Lee and gave an order in a deep voice:
“You keep a close eye on this guy for me, don’t let him out of your sight for a moment. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Chief Officer.”
The one called Piggs, just like his name, was slightly fat and had a turned-up nose.
He stepped over to stand next to Noland Lee and started his close surveillance.
Lieutenant Grett gave a nod to Alvin Stafford and then waved his arm to signal everyone to do what they needed to do.
People dispersed.
Sergeant Alvin Stafford led the team to the first underground level to rest for a while.
Sergeant Pim took his men towards another staircase, planning to set up a temporary camp on the first underground level.
Noland Lee glanced at Sergeant Piggs who was following him like a shadow, then looked at Sergeant Pim’s back, casually tossing a Deconstruction technique his way.
[System Message: You’re about to cast Deconstruction on “Sergeant Pim”.] [Estimated to cost 700 Energy Points, this can increase the deconstruction completion level to 100%]
[Your current Energy Points are 15. Do you confirm to proceed with the deconstruction?]
Noland Lee paused for a half second, muttering to himself.
Sergeant Pim’s strength was a bit beyond his expectation.
Truthfully, he was quite strong.
It required a full 700 Energy Points to be able to fully deconstruct him.
Consider this:
Lieutenant Grett was a First Order “Imperial Fist”. For Noland Lee to completely deconstruct him, it only took 1000 Energy Points.
And to deconstruct people like Sergeant Alvin Stafford or Corporal Mars, it only cost 500 or 200 Energy Points respectively.
The consumption to deconstruct Sergeant Pim was 40% more than that of Sergeant Alvin Stafford.
It seemed that Pim did indeed have some skills, hiding a deep strength, which is why he was so arrogant.
Noland Lee frowned slightly, feeling a hint of pressure for having provoked such a person.
The next second, he steadied his mind.
Touching the Undead Runes, memorizing the doctrines of the Undead Cult, although these actions were indeed dangerous and could lead to suspicion and attention.
But Noland Lee believed that as long as he was extra careful, considering three steps ahead for every step he took, he could still survive.
If Intelligence Department 4 really planned to eliminate witnesses after the plan succeeded…
Then they couldn’t blame him, Noland Lee, for taking the unusual way.
At that time, feigning death at the hands of the undead to escape from Sergeant Alvin Stafford’s army could be a method.
As Noland Lee walked, he thought about his future and how to deal with all kinds of dangers.
He wondered if the medal mentioned by Sergeant Alvin Stafford was a solemn promise or just an unattainable pie in the sky…
To be safe, let’s regard it as an unattainable pie in the sky.
Speaking of which, was it really okay to let intelligence personnel participate in direct combat?
Noland Lee muttered to himself.
This Tatis was really chaotic..