Fang Li did not participate in the subsequent combat meeting. No, it should be said that Fang Li did not have the authorization to participate in such meetings.
In the decisive battle for the survival of the Russian Branch, only high-ranking officials and combat experts who determined the direction of the war attended this combat meeting.
Soldiers like Fang Li, who couldn't play a decisive role, didn't even have the qualification to participate.
But this was exactly what Fang Li wanted.
Originally, Fang Li didn't come to participate in the combat meeting; he came to investigate the reason for the Aragami attack. So, Fang Li discreetly moved around, striking up conversations with the soldiers of the Russian Branch, trying to glean some information from them.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the Russian Branch personnel had become wary of Fang Li's entire group, and no matter how Fang Li tried to lead the conversation, he ultimately gained nothing.
No, that would be a misunderstanding to say that he couldn't find anything.
Rather than saying he couldn't find anything, it was more accurate to say that these ordinary soldiers didn't know any important secrets and had nothing to share. However, Fang Li did manage to learn one thing from a slip of the tongue from one of the soldiers.
That was the information about "That" that the captain had mentioned.
The soldier's words were as follows: "There is indeed something quite special here, but we don't know what it is. We only know that the Captain attaches great importance to it and has deployed a large number of troops to guard it. He has repeatedly instructed us that no one can enter without his permission. Even after the intruder appeared last night, the Captain went in to investigate alone."
And it seemed that this matter had started a long time ago.
So, the place where "That" was kept had been heavily guarded for a long time. Over time, a rumor even spread within the Russian Branch.
The rumor is that "That" might be something that could save the world.
Precisely because of this, even though there was a strong curiosity about "That," no soldier dared to defy orders and catch a glimpse of its true form.
In regard to this, Fang Li had only one thought.
"That is way too suspicious."
No matter how one looked at it, it was an extremely suspicious matter.
"And it's too deliberate." Although he didn't know what "That" was, the captain's arrangement undoubtedly indicated that this thing was extremely important.
"Could it be that they intentionally spread such rumors?"
In other words, rather than completely hiding the secret, it would be better to reveal some unverifiable information to guide those around.
After all, there were no secrets in the world that could be completely hidden and if that were the case then it would be better to use a little secret as a decoy and keep people at a distance from the true contents of the secret.
It was like a haunted house. The residents around knew that there was a big secret inside, but if there really were ghosts inside, there would only be a small number of people brave enough to enter there.
Furthermore, with strict military orders and well-trained soldiers around, the probability of the secret being exposed would be greatly reduced and a small number of people wouldn't come here due to this.
"Is the captain creating such a haunted house?" Fang Li silently thought. However, as a spy who wanted to uncover these secrets, this was a very worthwhile clue to investigate.
Therefore, Fang Li immediately wanted to ask the soldier about the whereabouts of "That."
However, at the most inopportune moment, someone who shouldn't have appeared suddenly arrived.
"What are you doing here?" When such a stern voice resounded, Fang Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately closed his mouth.
The soldier looked at the person and immediately saluted, saying, "Captain!"
The person who arrived was precisely the captain.
Suddenly, the captain walked slowly from the front, first glanced at Fang Li, and then reprimanded the soldier, saying, "We are currently at a critical moment in the Russian Branch. If you leave your post without authorization, it won't be solved by punishment. Pay attention!"
"Yes!" The soldier immediately responded and quickly left without turning back.
It was only at this moment that the captain turned his head and looked at Fang Li, his gaze becoming stern and a sense of tension instantly permeated the surroundings.
Fang Li raised his head slightly and looked at the awe-inspiring captain. Like yesterday, he smiled lightly and said, "Captain, do you have any instructions for me?"
The captain wasn't provoked by Fang Li like yesterday.
It seemed that he had determined something so the Captain solemnly began to speak, "Amamiya Rindou sent you to gather information, right?"
Fang Li raised his eyebrow immediately. As mentioned before, in the end, the captain suspected that the intruder from yesterday belonged to the Far East Branch.
However, after the face-to-face confrontation yesterday, the captain seemed to believe that it was impossible for the intruder to be an ordinary soldier like Fang Li. Instead, he thought that the intruder was definitely someone from the God Eater group led by Amamiya Rindou.
As for Fang Li, he seemed to be regarded as a subordinate of the entire Amamiya Rindou group, following their orders to gather information.
Fang Li didn't specifically correct this and pretended to be ignorant, saying, "Captain, I don't understand what are you talking about?"
Seeing Fang Li pretending to be clueless, the captain squinted his eyes.
In that instant, Fang Li clearly sensed it.
In the captain's eyes, there was a fleeting glimpse of true hostility.
However, the captain soon laughed as he spoke. "No matter if you understand or not, you better remember that it's better not to inquire about things you shouldn't know." The captain spoke with a serious tone and continued, "Otherwise, when a big problem arises, your superiors won't hesitate to sacrifice you for self-preservation."
Leaving these words behind, the captain patted Fang Li's shoulder and shortly afterward, turned and left.
Watching the captain's gradually receding figure, Fang Li's expression was somewhat strange. "Is this an attempt to sow discord?"
It could be considered as such.
At least, the captain's intention seemed to be to make Fang Li distrust the entire Amamiya Rindou group, thereby dispelling his intention to gather information about "That."
One had to admit that this approach was quite clever. However, the captain's thoughts were wrong from the beginning.
"I'm not helping Amamiya Rindou, I'm just completing a Quest. As for other matters, can you understand them better than me, who knows the original work?" Fang Li chuckled as he thought of this before he shook his head, and then turned in the same direction, heading back to the conference room.
Since the captain had appeared here, it meant that the combat meeting had already ended, right?
Indeed, the combat meeting had ended. Moreover, all the arrangements for the subsequent actions had already been made.
However, that wasn't a good thing.
At least for the people of the Far East Branch.
Amamiya Rindou, who came out of the conference room, said this.
"We hit the jackpot."
...