Yes, they needed to purchase living supplies in secret for a long time, and the amount consumed changed with the news of rebel activities, so the identities of these people were self-evident.
After listening to the baby-faced girl's words, a touch of embarrassment appeared on Leon's face.
After joining the Purification Bureau, he had somewhat fallen into a fixed way of thinking. Especially after experiencing the convenience of soul vision, his first reaction was always to use "abnormal" methods to find targets, forgetting all these basic techniques.
Rebels were people too! They needed to eat and wear clothes!
Moreover, they were quite a sizeable organization. Apart from those abnormal ability users created by the Aquarius Director, there were at least three to four hundred members and their families. The consumption of these people was not a small amount.
As for why these people gathered together instead of hiding dispersed throughout the Capital City... It could only be said that the risks and difficulties of dispersing and hiding might not really be smaller than gathering together.
There were no cell phones for instant message transmission here. Most people still communicated long-distance by letter. The wealthy could go to the communications bureau and use a device similar to a telegraph to send some simple messages, but these methods of message transmission were both difficult and dangerous for the rebels.
After all, the Secret Investigation Bureau of the Police Department was not eating dry rice; they could even track the passenger trajectory of steam carriages. If someone suddenly received a letter before each rebel action or directly became a mystery, it would be no different from announcing their identity.
Relying on code words or something to complete attacks was even more difficult. If one was caught, all the codes would need replacing, and in situations where opportunities were fleeting, it was almost impossible to ensure the action contents were communicated properly.
For those precise attacks, sometimes lasting seven or eight minutes, other times only thirty to fifty seconds, and withdrawn timely before the Police Department arrived, communication methods as primitive as codes simply couldn't support it. At least with the average level of the rebels, it was impossible, so there had to be places akin to gathering points!
"Thank you! Your information really helped a lot!"
After figuring out how to find the rebels' gathering point and tracking down those anomalous object holders, the overjoyed Leon first expressed his gratitude, then seriously instructed:
"Miss Amy, those people have very dangerous items in their hands. It's better if your family doesn't get involved in the following matters. Just tell me the stores where they habitually buy supplies!"
"Okay, I'll write down those stores right away!"
Hearing that she indeed helped with Leon's work, the baby-faced girl was also very happy. However, after searching her pockets and finding she didn't bring a pen and paper, she looked up at Leon again.
"I have a pen and paper here."
Comprehending in one glance what she was looking for, Leon originally intended to hand over the small notebook from his pocket, but after considering the contents recorded above, he hesitated a bit and instead only took out a homemade graphite pencil, then pointed to the bedhead:
"Move my pillow, then flip up the bedrest with the storage secret compartment; inside should be some scratch paper Melanie used."
"Ah, okay, I'll take a look."
Curiously glancing at the oddly shaped graphite pencil in Leon's hand, the baby-faced girl, following Leon's instructions, moved his pillow, preparing to flip up the bedrest with the storage secret compartment. However...
Seeing a rather boldly styled and unusually "mature" women's intimate garment lying beneath Leon's pillow, the two in the room both widened their eyes in unison.
Don't even mention the possibility of it being Anna's; putting aside that this purple-black lace corset didn't match Anna's temperament at all, just those two huge openings left for the southern hemisphere were absolutely not the "scale" that Anna could handle.
Amy knew at a glance that this belonged to a rather "remarkable" woman, especially considering the terrifying size gap between the southern hemisphere support and the waist, the owner of this garment undoubtedly had a "dominating" figure!
No wonder! No wonder I heard something about "papaya" and "size" as soon as I came in! No wonder!
Staring at this corset that noble ladies often wore to evening banquets for waist-constriction, especially focusing on those two surprisingly big "lower halves of bowls", the baby-faced girl couldn't help but pucker the corners of her mouth, her round, cute nose twitching twice as she felt a wave of inexplicable bitterness rush to the tip of her nose, her eyes slightly reddening.
"If I said I don't know where this thing came from... would you believe me?"
Interrupting Amy's teary moment, Leon walked over to look at the corset, checked his bedsheet and pillow, then frowned:
"It seems like someone has slept in my bed... Anna likes to tidy up the room every night, so probably someone came yesterday, and the clothes should have been placed under the pillow at that time. I didn't come home yesterday as I slept at the bureau...
Never mind, I'll just directly ask her."
To avoid being considered a pervert collecting women's intimate garments, Leon seriously explained a few sentences, and seeing the baby-faced girl's expression still unusually strange, he simply opened the door and shouted in the direction of the interior:
"Anna! Did anyone come to the house yesterday?"
Hearing Leon's shout, Melanie's loud crying from the interior paused slightly.
Shortly after, Anna, looking quite well after exercise, opened the door, glanced toward Leon, and then nodded with a somewhat complicated expression.
"Yes, Miss Veronica came by. We talked for a long time, right until the last carriage stopped running. I let her stay in your room for the night... Is there a problem?"
Miss Veronica? The Princess? No wonder...
Recalling the situation of that Princess and then looking back at the corset on the bed, Leon, realization dawning on him, replied:
"There isn't any big problem. It's just that one of her clothes was left in my room."
Hearing Leon's words, Anna blinked in confusion. What Veronica was wearing when she came was the same as when she left, how could it... Uh...
Realizing in a flash, she hurried over, looked at the bed in Leon's room, and then her pupils shrank sharply, presumably also shocked by the size of this garment.
"Anna, Miss Veronica will be staying at the bureau for a while. Please gather her things and pack them in a bag. I'll take them to her when I return to the bureau later."
While Anna went back inside to find a bag, Leon turned around and explained to the skeptical Amy:
"Miss Veronica is the one attacked by rebels this time. She came to our bureau for help this morning, and we are pursuing the rebels because of her... Um... Can you help write down the locations of those stores now?"
Taking out his small notebook, tearing off a page to pass over, and then looking at the sturdy old man climbing up the sixth floor little by little outside the window, despite being tied up with yarn, Leon couldn't help but urge urgently:
"If you can, it's best to write faster. It seems like I don't have much time left..."