Chapter 340 Prepayment_1

Chapter 340: Chapter 340 Prepayment_1

"You’ve been exposed?" Aiden asked.

"Yes, strictly speaking, this was my fault." Sophie sighed, "The organization’s plan was for me to conceal my identity, get close to him to gather his intelligence, and then either Susan or I would change into someone else’s appearance to deal with him as a receptionist and draw business from him. But this mistake ruined all our plans."

"Because he’s determined to kill you?"

"Yes, he came to kill me that day, and I managed to use my powers to escape," Sophie replied.

"So, approaching your idol was actually just to spy on your own intelligence, he felt betrayed, hence the fury..." Aiden nodded thoughtfully, "It’s possible. That surveillance magic... Was it because he started to suspect you that he put it on you?"

"No, I guess... At first, it was just simply to monitor my private life," Sophie shrugged.

"A stalker? A dangerous individual prone to extreme behavior, the motive for murder seems consistent," Aiden nodded, "But you said before that he wanted to kill you to keep you quiet? I had forbidden you from lying."

"What I said was he didn’t want his secrets to be known by me—as a person in intelligence." Sophie spread her hands, "So strictly speaking, I wouldn’t really say I was lying."

Just as Aiden had thought earlier, there were still a lot of loopholes to exploit with the "no lying" rule. Apart from silence and changing the subject, the respondent could also provide incomplete truths.

The leakage of intelligence to the intelligence organization meant that even post-mortem silencing of the intelligence personnel couldn’t prevent the spread of the information. This former witch Heretic Inquisitor named Joey Lawson mainly wanted to kill Sophie out of personal vendetta.

"It’s impressive that you could continue the tour under these circumstances. Normally, shouldn’t you have gone into hiding or changed your identity?" Aiden asked.

"The organization didn’t want to easily abandon the value of ’Sophie Carter.’ They trained me as a star, so they will try to continue to utilize me as a star. But as long as Sophie Carter is alive, that man will keep pursuing, even if I were to change my appearance, he would keep investigating..."

"So you prepared a body double, and once he kills the double, his grudge would settle, and you could then start over with a new identity," Aiden understood the plan of the Scales of Smile.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"That’s the worst plan, the organization is also planning to eliminate this threat. But... I think they don’t care whether Susan lives or dies," Sophie said, looking down, "To them, Susan’s life is cheap, nowhere near as valuable as the divinity within her."

"Your organization is already planning to kill him, so even if divinity is taken by the other party, you’ll still have the chance to recover it with interest in the end, while the maid’s life is just a one-time consumable," Aiden raised an eyebrow, "Indeed, a very low cost for your organization. I’ve heard that the Scales of Smile would choose some vulnerable clients as targets, sell their intelligence to other clients, collaborate to eliminate the target, and finally share the spoils... it seems that it’s true."

Sophie looked down, silent, without speaking.

"You told me that the smile of the Scales of Smile is for any client, always remaining cheerful, but you didn’t say that behind that smile there’s a hidden blade. You said there’s no ill intention towards me, which should also be true... but that’s just for now, you don’t plan any ill will. Later... who knows?" Aiden stared into Sophie’s eyes and said, "Now, you’re planning to use me, a new client, to deal with your old client, isn’t this also instructed by your organization?"

"I admit that this method is something I learned from the organization... but it really is just a personal request, unrelated to the organization!" Sophie suddenly lifted her head, "You can ask the policewoman with The Codex to verify with me!"

"Can you pay the fee first?" Aiden narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, I can teach you the divine words first," Sophie replied promptly, but then her tone shifted, "But how are you going to ensure that you’ll keep your promise?"

"What do I have to ensure? It’s your friend who’s about to die, and you should be the one in a hurry, not me," Aiden spread his hands, "It should be your job to make sure I keep the promise, right?"

"Is this... bargaining with me?" Sophie was taken aback, "I thought you were the kind of person who had a strong sense of justice..."

"Did you really think I’m a superhero?"

"When I said I was your fan, I wasn’t lying," Sophie spoke slowly, "You’ve helped exonerate the wrongfully convicted and caught so many dangerous criminals..."

"But none of that is a reason for you to guilt-trip me," Aiden replied calmly, "I would say I have some sense of justice, but I’m not the kind of person willing to rescue someone from a well without a second thought, and after all, you can’t say that you’re entirely innocent, right? Do you really want to save your friend?"

Sophie fell silent for a moment, then said, "I will teach you the divine words first. If you save Susan, any intelligence that you want to know, as long as I know it, I can tell you! Plus money, I... you can name your price!"

"Suddenly becoming generous, are you?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t want to have regrets," Sophie said earnestly.

"Really, are your relations as good as people say?" Aiden asked casually.

"Actually, it’s just okay... We don’t have much in common and often can’t find much to talk about. But we are companions in misfortune, both of us were pledged to the organization by our parents," Sophie explained.

"Human trafficking?" Aiden frowned.

"Strictly speaking, it’s debt repayment. The organization has quite a few legitimate businesses for making money, one of which is usury. Our families were unable to pay back debts, so we were pledged to the usurers as apprentice laborers, and some were unable to pay their own debts and had to pledge themselves as laborers—in turn, the organization occasionally picks a few qualified individuals from these people to train, to work for the organization."

"It sounds like... you’re trying to play the sympathy card?"

"No, we are actually quite fortunate. Becoming the organization’s receptionists was a desirable opportunity for us at the time." Sophie gestured toward herself, "Just look at me and you’ll see."

"I understand, compared to slaving away for usurers, it’s naturally better to be a celebrated singer," Aiden nodded.

"But such opportunities aren’t that plentiful, the organization’s training will filter out quite a number of people, and only a small part can truly become intelligence operatives," Sophie continued slowly, "Don’t be fooled by how I look now, I was almost filtered out before, and it was Susan who figured out a way to help me."