Chapter 471 - 31. Madman Mechanism

Originally, she had thought that Captain Alagina and she herself were the type of ladies who weren’t good at romance, but now it seemed that was not the case.

She did not know when this lady, who never associated with other men from the Female Country, had become so experienced; Ossie felt she should learn more from her... about how to save money and how to date.

"What’s wrong?"

Fisher had certainly noticed Alagina’s subtle movements, but now was not the time to deal with it. Moreover, her hands were cold and soft, and they felt comfortable to hold,

"No, this matter is not as simple as he said..."

He shook his head, observing the company employees from the exploration company who were still vigorously discussing as they left the market, and quickly connected the bits of information he had received. He soon noticed something amiss,

"The Nali Exploration Company is quite ostentatious in its public dealings, but it still hasn’t reached the point of stupidity, especially not under the current circumstances."

"In the past, when I was in South Continent, I saw them secretly sell weapons and supplies to city lords of Schwali and Kado. It was, in a sense, treason, but for the sake of money they didn’t care. At that time, their activities were very covert, and not just anyone could discover them."

"But now, ever since the largest shareholder of Nali Exploration Company was tragically killed by Elizabeth, the company hasn’t been able to flow as smoothly as before. To still be so blatant now, it’s hard to say there aren’t members of the Nali Official... Moreover, they’ve stolen something from the Northern Realm’s territory, the Turand Family wouldn’t fail to notify the local government..."

"The most likely scenario is that the Nali people knew that the North Realm people... or someone else would be interested in this item. They used the employee filled with magic power as a decoy, and their real backup hasn’t shown up yet. There could be two types of people from the Nali Official here, one could be a formal member of the Nali Secret Bureau and another could be from the Nali Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau... If it’s the latter, it could be troubling."

Alagina wasn’t aware of the specific details of Nali’s internal intelligence agencies; she only knew that Nali had a Hidden Affairs Bureau dealing with national security behind the scenes, but had never heard of the "Nali Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau," so she appeared somewhat confused and asked,

"Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau... are they dangerous?"

As Fisher idly browsed the Magic Materials stalls in the market, he quietly explained to Alagina walking behind him the various components of Nali’s political agencies,

"Dangerous? No matter how dangerous, they are only humans after all, not because they are exceptionally powerful, but because this organization is particularly uniquely structured."

"Nali’s waste recycling system is famous in the Western Continent, the Council always squeezes every last bit of value out of any affair, and humans are no exception. Otherwise, they wouldn’t propose sending prisoners from the prisons to South Continent for colonization. Their rationale is based on the experiences gained from building the Nali Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau."

"There are quite a few dangerous criminals in Nali, including gang members, Magic Madmen, and steam engine maniacs. These criminals, who ought to receive capital punishment for their severe crimes, are given another way out by the Council-approved ’Redemption Charter’: to contribute to Nali’s overseas operations. Working abroad for the Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau and upon completion, they are released, free to return to Nali or go anywhere else. Hence, the Nali Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau is also called the ’Madman Mechanism’."

"Of course, the hope found in desperation is often a deeper despair."

"Unless they accomplish something extremely significant, many of them will work for the Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau till death. Moreover, to ensure they don’t attempt to escape their crimes, the Magic Association was invited to design a Communication Magic—a tattoo-shaped Magic Emblem that enables location tracking, control, and message transmission. I saw the Magic Association’s call for designs but didn’t participate; I just know what that magic looks like..."

While walking, Fisher gestured with his hand, drawing a broken circular ring tattoo, his expression deeply etched with the impression of that object,

"Even more outrageous than the regular members of the Hidden Affairs Bureau, based on this real-time connected messaging magic, if my whereabouts are detected by them, Saint Nali would immediately receive information about my appearance on Patulshen Island or aboard the Iceberg Queen. Even eliminating me won’t help... And for those madmen longing for freedom, I, or Isabella, would represent a key to unlocking their shackles; they wouldn’t easily let go."

Alagina quickly realized how serious the situation described by Fisher was. She unconsciously used her slightly taller stature to completely shield him as if afraid Fisher would be discovered by others,

"How... high is the likelihood it’s someone from the Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau?"

"It depends on the situation, but if someone dies, it’s probably the Overseas Hidden Affairs Bureau’s responsibility."

"Then... I’ll take you to Pirate Harbor, where officials from Nali wouldn’t easily come."

Fisher glanced at Captain Alagina, who was seriously looking at him. Her ice-like blue eyes were filled entirely with his reflection, and even the muscles near him tensed slightly, obviously worried about him.

He deeply looked at the captain before him, always feeling that the uncontrollable burning within him was growing more intense. It had been a long time since Elliog had left.

But facing Alagina now, Fisher struggled to suppress the wild fire that spread everywhere within him. He opened his mouth, refrained from sucking on her fair skin, and merely inhaled the cold air between them before stepping back to maintain a distance, "There’s no need to be too nervous, they haven’t discovered us yet. But staying on the island and being found later is just a matter of time. Let’s quickly leave after finishing shopping, and avoid getting mixed up in the troubles between the Northern Realm and Nali."

Alagina looked at him with reluctance as he stepped away from her embrace. She wanted to reach out to grab his sleeve but lacked the courage to be so direct. Watching his retreating fingers, she never dared to take decisive action.

"Right, I’ll go inform them."

She nodded and said so.

"Ossie, you and Fisher stay here, you have to protect him as if I am protecting him, do you understand?"

"Okay..."

"No problem, no problem..."

Since there was no docking space for a huge ship like the Iceberg Queen at Patulshen Island’s port, it always anchored a bit further from the coastline. If she had to go and notify it to return, it would take some time, and even before that, the Iceberg Queen needed to prepare all the necessary materials; otherwise, they couldn’t get far after leaving.

For safety, after buying the magic materials, Alagina rented a room in a roadside hotel for Fisher and had Ossie and Fisher stay there while she handled everything before immediately leaving the island.

Fisher knew that showing himself rashly was likely to backfire, so he could only obediently stay in the room of this hotel.

If only he had brought the "Veil of the Face Changer" that Renie had given, then he could have disguised himself and not been recognized, but there was no time to go back to his rental to retrieve it since he was being chased by Elizabeth, and even without wearing it, it would constantly absorb magic power.

Fisher, with his arms crossed, leaned against the window and watched Alagina place a boat cap on her head and walked out of the hotel, heading in the opposite direction of the street, and soon disappeared from his sight.

He was just about to close the room’s window but caught sight, from the corner of his eye, of a well-decorated store at the intersection of this street and another.

The all-glass facade, the wooden square panels, and creatively painted with two cute black cat ears patterns...

Fisher’s gaze moved downwards and soon read the text on it,

"Cloud Peak Cafe"

His expression turned somewhat strange, but when he turned his head and saw Ossie, the Second Officer who was holding a parrot and obediently sitting on the bed staring at him, his expression became even stranger.

Although what he had said to Alagina just now wasn’t intentional, at the moment, it was just him and Ossie in the room, and Alagina would take a while to return...

Did that mean that now was the perfect opportunity to study the Grey Bird Species, Ossie?