After bidding Eleanor farewell and promising to complete the task, Ace returned to the house leader's chamber and directly called Zaria.
After a few seconds, Zaria picked up, and her somewhat astonished voice rang, "Um… can you hear me? This is how it is supposed to work, like Spirit Transmission, right?"
"Yeah, I can hear you fine." Ace chuckled, "Where are you? Did you follow Eleanor? She was just here."
"Of course, I followed that vile Harlot!" Zaria instantly replied furiously, "And let me tell you, she's a useless libeler! You better cut ties with her if you have any integrity!"
Ace was speechless and couldn't help but wonder what happened between these two, but he knew if he made any comment, he would fall into a deep trap, so he quickly changed the topic.
He cleared his throat and said, "Where are you now, and why didn't you come back to tell me? Furthermore, if you knew Eleanor's plan, does this mean you've seen Ravencrown?"
"Yeah, I saw her, but I lost her when she used the teleportation hall to teleport outside the Runic Forge City. She could be anywhere now in the Great Crown Domain…" Zaria then revealed what transpired in the King's Anvil.
Ace's expression turned serious as he heard the entire story, and he was shocked when Zaria told him she had found Raveneye's traces and had tracked him down. Truth be told, he wasn't expecting Zaria to be so stealthy and capable.
But she was 9-Star Ascension Lord after all, so as long as she didn't encounter an Ascension Grand Lord, no one would be able to detect or escape from her. "This person is most likely Raveneye, but what is he doing playing an ordinary apprentice in that small shop? What are your thoughts?" Ace inquired.
"The White Roost Forge is actually a branch family of Hammer Out Clan. This clan is one of the top forger clans of the Great Crown Domain, and they have produced many disciples for the Runic King Crown Palace. They even have three runic marquises among them. You can say they have pretty close contact with Count Anvil.
"But their relationship isn't that deep, or they had I don't know the insider information since I never care about it. However, I can't make any connection with the White Roost Forge and Count Anvil at all. So, I have no idea why this sneaky bastard is hiding here. Could it be that he had some strange tendencies? As if he likes to suffer or enjoy being under other dominance?" Zaria couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.
'What is this woman fantasizing!?' Ace was again speechless, "Ahem, let's stay on the topic. I'm sure there might be a deeper purpose behind this. For now, we have few leads, like Eleanor being in the King's Anvil, Raveneye in the White Roost Forge, and Ravencrown freely able to enter and leave while using the tower's teleportation hall.
"Lastly, the Son of Count Anvil. This is all connected somehow. We'll know what they are planning if we can figure out the other Ravenhood members' positions. In any case, once I get in, it won't be long before I achieve my objective.
"So, do you know where Count Anvil's son is?" Ace asked seriously.
"How the hell should I know? I've told you I never took interest in these kinds of things." Zaria retorted fiercely.
Ace's expression fell, "Then we need to find him! I'll even give a new mission, but I want his location within this month!"
Zaria fell into silence before she replied, "How about I capture this Raveneye? You want something from Nightfall Ravenhood, right? I can easily subdue them all once we extract information from him. Why should we go through so much trouble?"
Ace sneered, "I can assure you, if we capture Raveneye, there are over 80% chances that he'll be able to alert the others. After all, that guy has strange abilities that are extremely effective in gathering and sharing information.
"Furthermore, what if there is a contingency plan in place? They are all bound by law contracts, and there might be some clause about being captured and then instantly getting their soul wiped out or something like that.
"These guys are ruthless and very decisive. They've been active for hundreds of years, and no one has ever been able to find any clues about them. Unless you can capture Raven, I don't think we would gain any advantage.
"But that guy should be even more difficult to deal with. After all, they are targeting a Grand Lord's son, so they should be confident enough to flee if things go awry."
A hint of thievish glint flashed past Ace's eyes, "Besides, it would be a sin to waste their preparations. Whatever they are going after has to be something very important. We'll take it for ourselves!"
"Tsk, tsk, so you want to steal from a thief? Heh, I should've guessed. But I plan; these guys are too arrogant, and they even dare to target my shop. Capturing them will be letting them off too easy. But if we rob them of their hard-earned rewards…hehe, I can't wait to see their faces!" Zaria's voice was filled with malice.
'Well, I should've seen this coming. After all, she's even more ruthless than me…' Ace was pleased with Zaria's state of mind.
"Alright, I'll release the rewards for this mission; you've earned it, and release the new mission…" Ace generously stated before he ended the call.
After he released the reward and issued a new mission, Ace was feeling relieved since everything was going smoothly.
At this moment, his expression changed ever so slightly as his eyes flickered with ecstasy, "I finally get them!"
Without any delay, Ace closed his eyes, and the next moment, he flipped his hand, and a storage ring appeared.
Ace instantly took out its contents, blinding lights filled the chamber, and the powerful spirit Qi sent tremors into the air. There were three items in front of him.
With elation, Ace muttered under his breath, "Soul Gold, Lighting Wyrm Beast Core, and Time-Space Segment! The avatar finally got them all!"