Chapter 689 - Skynet Plan (1/2)

Chapter 689: Skynet Plan

The first thing that Rhode saw when he entered the room was a fluffy, swaying tail that he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Ah… Master, I’m back~!”

The fox-eared young lady threw herself into Rhode’s arms. She rested her head on his chest. Her soft body trembled in comfort.

“Boohoo. This trip has been really hard, Master. I’ve been to so many places and met with a lot of dangers… You have no idea how many baddies eyed me. I was almost kidnapped and sold away by them. Not only that, but I’m also no longer pure. Mr. Old Walker… Boohoo. He looks to be a decent man, but he’s a terrible, crafty pervert at night. My body has acclimatized to a promiscuous slave even without him around. Along the way, Mr. Old Walker sold me for my body more than once and I was manhandled by the filthy men. Master, sorry… I’ve been stained. From now onward, my body and heart belongs to Mr. Old Walker…”

Rhode listened with an emotionless face. On the other hand, Marlene and the others raised their heads and looked dubiously at the old man sitting in the corner. Old Walker stood up hurriedly with the alcohol bottle in his hand and waved his arms in denial.

“Hey hey hey, don’t listen to that little rascal. I’m already so old. Where do you think I’d find the energy to mess around? Also, she would’ve been burned me to death if I tried to do anything!”

Gillian unrolled a vibrant smile on her beautiful, tear-stained face. “Heh heh. Sure enough, it’s still the most fun to do this when I’m back. But Master…” she paused and gazed meaningfully at Anne. Then, she gave a chortle. “It seems that you’ve found the solution to help little Anne.”

“Alright, that’s all for the jokes.”

Rhode patted on Gillian’s head. Of course, he knew that this sly, little fox was kidding. She was his Core Card, and if she were to get into any trouble, he would be the first to know. Besides, she had a crafty personality and she might even be the one bringing trouble to others.

“Welcome, Miss Gillian. Long time no see.”

Everyone returned to their senses from Gillian’s characteristic greeting and sent their regards to her. But they were dubious about her return as they weren’t aware of what she had been up to. All they knew was that Old Walker and her left together shortly after the end to the Paphield battle. Rhode didn’t provide further explanations on their departure and all he said was that they were off to execute a special mission. Now that the duo was finally back, it was time to know where they had been to.

“Alright, let me in on the results of the Skynet Plan.

Rhode sat by the table and said. He also beckoned to Marlene and the others.

“Join us. This is essential to us.”

“Alright, Master. Leave it to me.”

Gillian stuck out her chest, lifted her head proudly, and swayed the fluffy tail behind her from left to right. She retrieved a map from the fold of her clothes and unrolled it above the table. Marlene and the rest had gathered around curiously. It was a map of the Dragon Soul Continent, drawn with several circles in scarlet and labeled with all sorts of symbols.

“Following Master’s orders, Mr. Old Walker and I have settled our preparations in most regions of the Light Mainland, which include the Country of Light. Currently, there are about 30 pubs in this area… Meh. Even though we weren’t able to set up pubs in every region, we’ve picked out the traffic hubs. The scale of the pubs aren’t huge. In terms of the manpower we’ve recruited, Mr. Old Walker has a name list. They appear to be trustworthy and were mostly born in Munn Kingdom, as per Master’s request.”

Gillian took over the name list from Old Walker and handed it to Rhode. Rhode scanned the names and included them into his system data. Most of them didn’t have high prestige. They were mostly hovering between ‘Friendly’ and with some minorities in ‘Respectful’… But this was within Rhode’s expectations.

“Did you attract any unwanted attention?”

Rhode scrutinized the map and said. Gillian shook her head.

“Don’t worry. As most of the pub owners that we’ve gotten were honest chaps, there were no major problems apart from having some local ruffians and rogues coming to their doorsteps and asking for death.”

“Pub?”

Lize gazed at the map with suspicions. She looked at Rhode and couldn’t figure out the meaning behind them.

“Mr. Rhode, I don’t understand… Why do we need to run so many pubs? Besides… What is that Skynet Plan…”

“Aiya, Little Lize, those pubs weren’t opened for nothing, okay?”

Gillian revealed a sly smile. Then, she extended her finger.

“Master has decided to use the pubs to form an intelligence network. With the pubs in place, we can easily obtain intelligence no matter from within or outside the Munn Kingdom as long as there is any activity. The intelligence will be sent to us using the long-distance transmission device produced by Little Lapis. We’ve divided the entire Light Mainland into ten regions and there is a person in charge in every region who collects and collates all the intelligence before sending it to us.”

“How often will he be sending us the data?”

“This isn’t the Internet age, after all, Master. As long as you’re willing to put up with it, I will get him to send a report once every three days. It would be another matter if there are any emergencies.”

“I will need more manpower, Kid.”

Old Walker interrupted.

“I’m getting old. Perhaps my weary old body will give way soon if you don’t provide more manpower for me.”

“Don’t worry about that, Mr. Walker. I will get the candidates ready.”

“In other words, we’re gonna have an intelligence network in future?”

Joey jumped up in exhilaration. As a Thief class, he knew how crucial an intelligence network was.

“Boss, since that’s the case, we are gonna be the first to receive news if anything happens on this continent. That’s awesome!”

“That’s only a small part of it, Joey.”

Rhode swept a glance at Joey.

“Gathering intelligence is only the start. Our ultimate goal is to disseminate the information with purpose.”

“Send out?”

Everyone looked in astonishment while Rhode nodded firmly.

“That’s right. You guys still remember the behavior of the civilians in Golden City after we defeated Liberty Wings in the Midsummer Festival, right?”

Many of them nodded in agreement. Among the high-ups around Rhode, most of them had participated in the Midsummer Festival and they were aware of the civilian’s reactions in Golden City. Rhode spread his arms apart and shrugged.

“Back then, most of the crowd who witnessed the competition hurled abuses at us, accused that we had an unfair advantage, and called us scheming, right?”

“That’s because they are sore losers. Hmph. Leader, those scaredy-cats only dare to hide in the back and find excuses for themselves!”

Anne grumbled and let out a snort. But Rhode shook his head in denial.

“In fact, what they said were true. You guys still remember my plan before the battle commenced, right? I had intentions to diminish Rosen’s battle desires through Lize, Joey, Anne, and Randolf, while I took him out on the battlefield. As long as Rosen was dead, the Liberty Wings would be down without any threat. Therefore, they weren’t wrong about their accusations in this aspect. Honestly speaking, even our supporters didn’t deny this. But unlike the opposition, our supports didn’t see that as being scheming and shameless. Instead, it was a well-planned strategy. Besides, you guys may not know it, but there weren’t too many of our supporters who witnessed the competition personally and yet, they supported us unwaveringly. On the contrary, those who witnessed the competition hated us to the core. Hmm… Of course, perhaps some of the overly brutal scenes were one of the causes.”