After making all the necessary arrangements, Renith stepped out of Senavar’s office. Before leaving, she gently placed several magic scrolls on his desk.
These scrolls might not necessarily come in handy, but having them on hand offered an extra layer of security. Whether for protecting subordinates or for self-defense, they were a good choice.
Back at the law firm, Renith saw Vistah busy helping out, while Antina stayed in her room, head down as she drafted documents.
Antina had visited Rogani, trying to persuade her to make a decision, but Rogani remained hesitant, unable to settle on a choice.
Of course, if she couldn’t decide, Antina and Renith would still send her away.
After all, Mobius City was now unstable and turbulent, with gunfights likely to break out at any moment. It was no longer safe here.
“The first court hearing is the day after tomorrow. How are the preparations going?”
Renith asked a few simple questions. Antina looked calm and confident, assuring her there were no problems. Even after learning that Boriet’s father had hired a lawyer for his son, Antina showed no fear.
Now, the streets were filled with rumors of Boriet’s wicked deeds: kidnapping women, murder, arson, pillaging—every kind of evil imaginable.
Sometimes, one really had to marvel at the power of public opinion.
Most of these things Boriet had never done, nor did he have the courage to do them.
The police department had also issued a public statement, strongly condemning the misconduct of some nobles and declaring that Mobius City was in urgent need of reform.
What Antina had to do now was achieve a decisive victory in court. She not only intended to slam the nonsensical imperial law on the table and denounce it but also planned to make a clean escape under police protection after winning the case.
Mobius City was now a mixed bag, with undercurrents of various forces at play. Antina keenly sensed that the city’s resistance fighters were like scattered sand, desperately in need of a “leader” to unite them.
Since no one else was stepping up, she decided to take on this responsibility herself.
She planned to deliver a passionate declaration of resistance at the highly anticipated trial, giving direction and clear goals to these fragmented resistance fighters.
Only in this way could they truly overthrow the imperial rule in Mobius City and breathe new life into it.
Just as Renith was about to ask if Antina needed help, Antina firmly refused.
“I believe this is something I must do myself, Miss Anna. Your strength is crucial and an indispensable asset for us. Although I don’t know what the other resistance fighters are planning, you are our final trump card.”
“I hope you’ll keep your focus on Kolk. If you reveal yourself too early, Kolk will surely take precautions, and dealing with him then will be much more difficult.”
Although Antina spoke with certainty, Renith felt she was still holding something back. When Antina’s gaze inadvertently drifted toward Rogani’s door, Renith suddenly understood.
This was a teacher’s personal bias.
How to fully harness one’s own strength and how to measure exactly how much strength one possessed—these were the valuable lessons Antina wanted to teach Rogani.
“Then do your best. I won’t intervene unless absolutely necessary.”
Renith said softly.
Antina gave Renith a grateful look, thanked her, and then buried herself back in her work.
Renith walked slowly to Rogani’s door, magic particles passing through it like nimble spirits.
Through the magic particles, she saw Rogani with her head buried between her knees, trembling slightly. It was clear she was still struggling internally, torn between joining the resistance or fleeing this troubled place.
“Time waits for no one.”
Renith whispered to herself before turning and returning to her room.
She slowly unfolded the map she had obtained from Senavar and studied it carefully.
Marked on the map were the known locations of Martel Gang’s hideouts, the police stations in Mobius City, and the positions of major factories.
For Renith, who was new to the city and unfamiliar with its layout, this map was a timely help, providing crucial information.
According to reliable information, the gangs would take the initiative in the coming days, attacking police stations and crowded places like Milan Grand Plaza, the city’s only square. On the evening of the day after tomorrow, the third-in-command of the Martel Gang would personally lead a raid on the Bolan Firearms Factory.
Before that, gang members embedded in various police stations would take action first, launching surprise attacks to divert attention.
Once they successfully occupied the Bolan Firearms Factory, the gangs would use it as a base to mass-produce weapons. When supplies were ample and their forces strong, Kolk would arrive in Mobius City…
Then, a major conflict would inevitably erupt.
The plan didn’t seem complicated, but it wouldn’t be easy for the police to react in time.
Mobius City had a fatal flaw—a severe shortage of law enforcement. (For a city of 100,000 people, the available field force was only around 600.)
Of course, under normal circumstances, this might have been barely sufficient, but in a state of conflict, it was woefully inadequate to handle the current situation.
Renith briefly memorized the routes on the map before carefully storing it in her Codex space. Then, she sat on her bed and began to meditate. From now on, and for a long time to come, Renith might not have much of a role to play.
However, Renith hadn’t forgotten Limpton. She gave him a silver coin and instructed him to take the train to the second-to-last stop to meet Lance and Schubert.
As for improving her magical essence, Renith had hit a bottleneck.
Although her wisdom and deep accumulation had allowed her to quickly overcome the constraints of being a grand mage, compressing magical power was an incredibly lengthy process.
Even with her unique techniques, using magic particles to compress her magical power into a liquid state would take at least two years, if not longer.
And even that was an uncertain estimate.
In her previous life, Renith had spent nearly a decade compressing her magical power.
Despite that, the time she spent was still hailed as prodigious by the Mage Tower. To this day, it seemed no one had broken her record.
It seemed this was something that couldn’t be rushed.
For now, the only feasible method was to intensify her training, day after day gathering magical power, compressing it, and repeating the process to build up her reserves.
As for Filof, she was fully focused on drawing Renith’s magical power, frantically copying magic scrolls. After all, with a major conflict looming, how could they face the coming crisis without ample “ammunition”?
Of course, this was only possible due to Renith’s Codex and Filof’s unique nature. Ordinary junior mages should definitely not try to imitate this. Prolonged scroll-copying could easily lead to exhaustion.
…
She Quan hurried through the night on Laines Street. He had spent the day investigating various abandoned taverns, but even as night deepened, he had found nothing.
Several times, he felt like giving up. But the thought of facing Demihov’s sarcastic remarks upon returning, along with the meager yet indispensable salary, made him grit his teeth and press on.
Before he knew it, he found himself in front of a law firm. Just as he was about to reach for the door, a sharp gunshot rang out not far away, piercing the silence of the deep night. It came from the direction of the Laines Street police station.
“Ah, trouble never ends.”
She Quan sighed helplessly, slowly withdrawing his hand from the door and turning to run toward the police station.
Before he had run far, he saw flames lighting up the sky in the direction of the police station, dyeing half the night sky red. A group of masked gang members, riding tricycles, sped through the streets, quickly dispersing in different directions.
She Quan sensed danger, knowing that if he charged forward recklessly, he’d likely be turned into a sieve by the outdated weapons in the gang members’ hands.
From a corner, She Quan waved his hand toward the retreating gang members, and sheets of paper quietly fell into his palm.
She Quan took a closer look and saw detailed writing:
“Schedule: August 3rd, attack Laines Street. August 4th, attack… August 5th, attack… Modified radio… Safe.”
The schedule was detailed, though the latter part was somewhat messy, especially the note about the “modified radio.” This made She Quan keenly aware that this was no ordinary crime but an organized, premeditated act of resistance.
“The Martel Gang? Rumor has it this is a gang secretly backed by nobles in Mobius City, now the city’s largest criminal organization. Sigh… This is beyond my ability to handle. I’d better report it.”
She Quan muttered to himself.
He walked quickly to the burning police station, only to find that the so-called righteous police officers were nowhere to be seen.
No doubt, they had fled through the windows at the sound of gunfire, leaving the fire to rage unchecked in the station. She Quan couldn’t help but feel disdain, thinking to himself:
If he were in charge of the police station, he’d definitely clean out these incompetent, unprofessional individuals.
But the thought passed quickly. After all, he was just a suspect himself. Reforming the police would bring him no benefit and might even get him into trouble.
“Getting myself arrested? How absurd.”
She Quan shook his head with a wry smile.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from the distance. A plump, large-headed figure in police uniform stumbled toward She Quan.
As he ran, he desperately tried to draw his pistol from his waist, but the layers of fat around his belly acted like natural shackles, stubbornly hindering him.
After several attempts, he finally managed to pull out the gun, but in his frantic attempt to load it, he accidentally pulled the trigger. With a “bang,” the bullet pierced his own thick thigh.
“Damn you!”
The fat officer glared viciously at She Quan, as if the shot had been fired by him.
She Quan looked innocent, spreading his hands:
“I didn’t do anything. You shot yourself. How is that my fault?”
The fat officer grimaced in pain, then suddenly began rolling on the ground, howling incessantly. The surrounding officers rushed over, surrounding She Quan.
