Chapter 354
The subordinates moved with high discipline, receiving orders through methods they themselves did not understand, perhaps via sealed communications or signals drilled into them through training.
No one stood out.
There was no visible command tent, no figure issuing direct orders with a clear aura of authority.
The commander was a ghost among his own ghosts.
'They probably think they're safe within the crowd. Let's prove them wrong.'
Frustration and the awareness of time slipping away wrestled within Theo's mind, yet what emerged was a measured and strategic command.
His voice, though tense, came through clearly over the telepathic channel connecting him to Aldraya.
He stated that the mission to identify the leader and their deputy had to continue.
That was the primary target that could not be abandoned, because knowing the identity of the mind behind this operation could be the key to dismantling the entire plan.
However, he also realized that their limited time and the enemy's closed-off nature meant they could not remain fixated on a single objective that might prove difficult to achieve.
As a safeguard, a practical step to ensure their disguise mission could still proceed later, Theo introduced a parallel task that was just as important.
He instructed that aside from continuing to observe movement patterns and behavior in search of the leader, they also had to shift part of their focus to gathering more concrete and immediately useful data.
They needed to ensure that every face among these dispatched subordinates was recognized, remembered, and recorded in each of their memories.
This was exhausting but crucial detective work.
By recognizing enemy faces, they could later map the surveillance network within the Bathee estate, avoid certain individuals, or even exploit their identities if an opportunity arose.
Every facial feature, every scar, every distinctive expression had to be recorded.
In a future infiltration mission, this knowledge could mean the difference between slipping away and being exposed, between a successful rescue and a horrifying disaster.
"That's the 'sacrifice' we need."
Theo did not stop there.
His mind, always working several steps ahead, immediately wove the continuation of the strategy from his earlier instructions.
Through telepathy, he continued his explanation to Aldraya, revealing the highest strategic value they could gain if they succeeded in uncovering the leader's identity.
He stated that the most likely scenario was that the identities of the chairman and deputy assigned by the Bathee family were not merely ordinary intelligence, but an extremely valuable asset—one they were practically obligated to exploit.
According to him, the benefit lay in using them as the perfect medium for disguise.
That statement carried a very clear and dark meaning beneath it.
He was not talking about merely spying on them or avoiding them.
What he meant was a complete takeover of identity.
The identities of the chairman and deputy would become sacrifices, necessary offerings for their operation.
That signaled a bold and highly risky intention: to quietly eliminate or capture both targets, and then impersonate them.
By disguising themselves as the chairman and his deputy, Theo and Aldraya would gain nearly unrestricted access.
They could command or disperse subordinate forces, enter forbidden areas within the Bathee estate, and perhaps even confront the core members of the family directly.
This disguise would become their trump card, far more effective than posing as ordinary servants or guards.
However, the plan also meant they would have to carry out clean, traceless assassinations or captures, and flawlessly imitate every detail of behavior, knowledge, and voice belonging to both targets.
It was an extremely dangerous game, where a single small mistake would leave them trapped among hundreds of furious enemies.
'Take care of yourself, Aldraya.'
With a silent agreement formed through a brief exchange of glances—or perhaps merely through the resonance of shared resolve over the telepathic channel—they divided the monumental task.
Their mental surveillance map split in two, each of them bearing the immense burden of facial recognition.
Theo took over a broad and diverse sector within the academy's public areas.
His responsibility was to identify and remember the faces of two hundred men, an astonishing number, hiding with strict discipline across various strategic points.
These locations included dark, silent cafeterias, locked school gates guarded from within the shadows, security posts that might already have been compromised, and bushes and gardens that were usually deserted but had now become nests for dozens of infiltrators.
Every corner, every shadow, potentially concealed a new face that had to be cataloged.
It was an observational task demanding extreme patience and a reliable photographic memory, ensuring that not a single one of those two hundred faces slipped past his watch.
Meanwhile, Aldraya received a task no less critical and requiring extra caution.
Her territory was the sensitive area around the female dormitory, where Erietta rested—perhaps unaware that she was already surrounded.
She had to identify the faces of the remaining Bathee family envoys, whose numbers also reached into the hundreds, hiding and standing by around the building.
This environment was denser, with more overlapping observation points, and the risk was higher due to its proximity to the primary target.
Every face she managed to remember could become the key to avoiding detection or deceiving guards later when they infiltrated.
'Hours of observing, and all I get is a collection of grim, unkempt faces. Frustration is starting to gnaw at my patience.'
Fhooooh!
'Wait, isn't that—'
Sssssh!
'Aldraya, my search is over—the deputy has been found.'
Time passed without certainty, measured only by the number of faces successfully scanned and the aching pressure behind the eyes.
The search process felt painfully long, a silent investigation in the middle of a sea of silent enemies.
Theo repeatedly let out short breaths, not solely from physical fatigue, but from the nature of his subjects.
Most of the faces he observed from behind his disguise were thoroughly unpleasant to look at.
They were rough, unkempt faces, full of scars or trained blank expressions, reflecting harsh lives or deep indoctrination.
It was a bleak sight, a reminder of the kind of people families like Bathee typically employed for dirty work.
Yet that exhausting perseverance finally bore fruit.
At one point, among countless unremarkable faces, Theo's gaze lingered on a single figure.
There was something different in the way that person stood, in how their eyes occasionally swept the surroundings with hidden authority, in how nearby subordinates subtly made space or nodded their heads.
An instinctive confirmation thundered within Theo.
His heart beat a little faster, brushing aside all the disgust and exhaustion that had accumulated before.
A sigh of relief—this time long and deep—escaped his chest.
It was a release of the tension that had built up since their failure to find the leader earlier.
Within his heart, a small yet significant sense of achievement began to bloom.
Without wasting time, he focused his thoughts, aligning his frequency with Aldraya's presence on the far end of their telepathic network.
He sent a dense transmission of thought, tinged with victory.
The message was brief yet heavy with meaning.
Theo told Aldraya that their search mission was no longer in vain.
He had found him.
The identity of the deputy—the right hand of the mysterious commander—had now been revealed and locked firmly in his memory.
To be continued…