Chapter 383: Chapter 383: Han Dong’s Plan
No middle-man profiting from the spread.

If there are insiders infiltrating the upper ranks of the Holy City.

It would naturally be more prudent to have Abe report directly to Captain Kaimon, to avoid the risk of intel being intercepted halfway through.

However…

The person pulling the strings has power equivalent to the Regiment’s Captain if he can order the withdrawal of the knights from a specific area so swiftly, Han Dong speculated.

“If the plot is revealed, the high-ranking official acting covertly might willingly abandon this demon,”

“Or rather, he has already abandoned the demon and uses this secret stone invasion merely as a test to assess the security level of the Holy City… to facilitate his genuine invasion plan next time.”

Although human nature inherently embodies wickedness.

Internal conflicts were rare under such apocalyptic circumstances… but currently, there’s a ‘significant insider’.

Perhaps this high-ranking official hidden within the Holy City didn’t become an insider of his own volition… it could be because he uncovered something and was forced into this role.

Just like Viscount Alexis, Cass’s father, was once.

On account of his writer’s vagabond consciousness, he was targeted by the mysterious Huang Yi…

After all, nearly two centuries have passed since the establishment of the Holy City. Life outside the City Wall wouldn’t just let us—creatures of lower status—maintain our autonomy and simply sustain our existence.

Stealth invasion tactics are confirmed.

I hope Mr. Black White can bring this prominent insider to justice sooner.”

Through this incident, Han Dong quickly deduced the situation regarding the high-ranking officials involved.

Although Han Dong was unable to touch on the matters of the high-level officials, he could still handle the low-level affairs.

“Such a person of high importance, who has the power to control the Knight Regiment, would undoubtedly not place all his ‘bets’ on a single [Demon]… there’s a high possibility that this invasion is merely an experiment.

As long as Abe transmits the information back to the Behemoth Knight Group, the ‘Secret Stone incident’ would be wholly exposed.

This puppet-master will inevitably discard this chess piece.

Then… our opportunity will come.”

…(The above text shows Han Dong’s mental activity)

When Abe left.

The stone box containing the coin was given to Han Dong for safekeeping.

In this way, everything was proceeding according to Han Dong’s plan.

“Before dismantling all the ‘stone walls’, we must ensure the Array Eyes are not activated.”

Going by a simple discerning of the map.

There are a total of four Array Eyes scattered in different areas of the common district.

“Which one should we head to?”

“Any of them will do… now that our affair is brought to light, we don’t need to actively search for them. The [Demon] will surely seek us out voluntarily.

Wait a moment. Once Vino receives a message from the Knight Regiment requesting comprehensive action, it will mean that Abe has relayed the intelligence.

Only then should we carry out our operation. This will minimize our risk.”

“Cass, come here.”

During this free interval of time, Han Dong grabbed Cass’s hand and pulled him into the bar’s compartment… apparently, they had some private matters to discuss.

…

“Nicholas, you!!”

Upon hearing Han Dong’s plan, Cass shook with surprise.

In Cass’s hand was the intelligence that Han Dong had just written about [Adelaide Rubble (Demon)]… It includes attributes deduced from practical battle simulations and a detailed analysis of its weaknesses.

“So… can you do it?

I think you, Cass, are capable. If you seize this opportunity… your ‘Path of the Knight’ could become much smoother.

We will have chances to cooperate in the future.”

It was obvious.

Han Dong wanted Cass to challenge the demon alone and accomplish the Breaking the Breed.

“How could I confront the [Demon], which needs a whole Knight Squad to subdue?”

It was not that Cass lacked confidence, but rather that the whole proposition was simply unrealistic.

Even a few of the unparalleled geniuses in Han Dong’s cohort would find it immensely difficult to Kill a demon during the Seed-Breaking Phase.

If demons were so easy to defeat, there’d have been no need for humans to merely subsist within the Holy City for two hundred years.

“Knight Vino, in collaboration with our squad, will deplete a significant portion of the [Demon]’s energy, inflicting severe injuries on it.

At that point, I will separate the battlefield, allowing you to engage the wounded demon in an one-on-one battle.”

“But… the rules of Breaking the Breed are that it must be wholly one-on-one. This seems…”

“Seems like we can’t proceed with Breaking the Breed? I disagree.”

Although the textbook explicitly stated that [Breaking Seed]requires a ‘sole one-on-one’ killing of a life outside the city, with no assistance from any individual during the process.

Moreover, there were many instances where the intervention of others during the process led to failure.

Han Dong continued: “The failed instances didn’t involve[Demons]… they were just ordinary outside life creatures.

In my view, the Breaking Seed energy a ‘wounded demon’ could contribute to should be greater than a ‘healthy Evil creature’… After all, the occurrence of an isolated demon is rarely seen.

It’s rare for an Apprentice Knight to confront a demon alone.

This stone attribute demon matches your attribute, Cass.

If you successfully Break the Breed and generate the ‘Overlord Tree’, you will certainly become one of the main pillars of the Holy City.

Since there is a demon at our doorstep, we naturally need to seize this opportunity.”

“Alright!”

Cass clenched his fists.

He had an unwavering belief in the ‘Path of the Knight’.

The reason Han Dong did this was simply because he had once glimpsed the pure ‘Justice’ emanating from Cass’s… He wanted to amplify this ‘Justice’ as much as possible to inspire more Knights in the Holy City.

Thus, humanity might have a greater chance of survival.

“Just don’t die…”

Han Dong spread his arms and hugged Cass with a forceful pat on his solid back.

There are no shortcuts in Breaking the Breed.

Even an injured demon still possesses a considerable degree of corruption, and its overall strength is definitely stronger than an ordinary life outside the city.

If Cass was corrupted deeply during battle and failed to kill the target within the given time, he would fall.

Even though Cass had undergone an entire year of special training and had fundamentally improved, according to Han Dong’s calculation, his odds of winning were only 30%… or even less.

Once Han Dong sensed that Cass couldn’t win, he’d interfere.

…

Just like that.

When Knight Vino received the information, the team immediately moved towards the nearest Array Eyes.

Located in a larger market within the civilian zone.

Like other locations, the market was surrounded by newly built stone walls.

But there was a difference…

When Han Dong’s team fully entered the market, all the civilians trading here stopped their transactions and turned to look at the group.

All the civilians had a rapidly splitting stone inside their bodies.

At the same time, several traces of contamination from pure monsters were emanating from all directions.

Han Dong chuckled to himself, “The abandoned chess piece seems rather angry… Did it decide to meet us this quickly?”