Secret Words

Passerby;s Headquarters

"Lord Devin, here are the records of today's suspected individuals' activities!" Yabuki respectfully handed a stack of documents to Devin.

Devin took the documents and began to review them. The time, location, and actions of the individuals, as well as any suspicious points, were all marked in red ink.

"These four, increase surveillance on them!"

"These three, reduce surveillance!"

"These three can be abandoned from surveillance!"

After making annotations on each set of documents, Devin handed them back to Yabuki.

In the end, there were two sets of documents remaining. One was for Doctor Poi, and the other was about the repairman Hugmore, who had moved from the ninth position to the second.

At first glance, these two sets of documents seemed to have nothing wrong with them. But the biggest issue was that there were no issues at all!

It was almost too clean!

As if two robots were living their lives meticulously!

Moreover, their daily activities were known by the surrounding neighbors, even down to the smallest details. Although it seemed that they had no problems, the real problem was precisely here!

It was too deliberate!

Even for an ordinary person in their daily life, it would be impossible for their relatives, let alone neighbors, to fully monitor their daily activities, right?

Devin furrowed his brow and carefully compared the two sets of documents, muttering, "Time, location, people they've interacted with..."

Wait a minute!

Something was not right!

Upon closer comparison, he sensitively noticed that there was one person who both of them had simultaneously interacted with, and they had spent more than half an hour together!

However, because they were elderly citizens of the kingdom, the surveillance personnel and the headquarters analysts didn't pay much attention to it.

Devin let out a deep breath, put down the documents in his hands, narrowed his eyes, and his expression became inexplicable. He lightly tapped the table, murmuring the two words, "Old Newcastle."

-----------------------

Five days later.

Early in the morning.

Time and Memory Clock Shop.

On Hugmore' workbench, there was a suitcase. He meticulously folded all the clothes and packed them inside. Then, he picked up a delicate gold pocket watch, played with it for a moment, and hung it around his neck.

After hesitating for a moment, he still picked up the Den Den Mushi next to the workbench and made a call.

"Purupurupurupuru!"

"Hello!" Poi's voice came through the Den Den Mushi.

"It's me, Hugmore!" Hugmore said, tapping the microphone with his finger.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!" (Code: I'm preparing to leave this place!)

"Oh! Hugmore! What's going on? Is your cold better?" Poi replied softly, also tapping the microphone.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!" (Code: Why?)

"I was already feeling better, but I don't know why, this morning I woke up feeling like it's relapsed!" Hugmore furrowed his brows.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!" 

(Code: You should have noticed that we are being monitored, right? Today is the day she starts her action. Regardless of whether the action succeeds or not, once we are discovered, St. Martin's people will trace it back to us. With their capabilities, if we don't run now, we won't be able to escape once they catch up!)

"Oh? Then tell me, what did you do yesterday? Did you take a cold shower or accidentally catch a chill while sleeping at night?" Poi asked in confusion.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!" 

(Code: I did not do anything like that yesterday.)

(Covert code: But what about that girl after we leave?)

"No, there isn't!" Hugmore pondered for a moment and confirmed.

(Code: Are you new to this job? Why do you even need to ask? Whether the mission succeeds or fails, the authorities won't care about the life or death of a girl like her. They only care about the success or failure of the mission! If the girl succeeds, passes on the evidence to us, then we'll get credit! As for failure, it's just the death of a little girl. There are countless training camps like this every year! At most, we'll get scolded!)

"Well then, come to my clinic now, and I'll check on you!" Poi said in a deep voice.

(Code: I understand. Where should we meet later?)

"I can't, today I have to go to Greenleaf Town to repair a large clock. I won't be back until the afternoon!" Hugmore hesitated for a moment, then said, "How about this, after I finish the repair this afternoon, I'll come to your place."

(Code: Harbor Town!)

"Alright, I'll wait for you in the afternoon!" Poi replied decisively.

(Code: Understood!)

Meanwhile, in a private room of a small restaurant next to Poi's clinic, two people were eavesdropping on the conversation using black Den Den Mushi.

"Kappa, there seems to be nothing wrong with these two individuals. Why does the higher-ups want us to increase surveillance and even give us the new eavesdropping bugs?" The skinny man among the two couldn't understand.

"No problem, hehe, this is a big issue! Mizuki, did you hear the knocking sound from the telephone just now?" The other chubby man, Kappa, said with a chuckle.

"Yes, I heard it! What's wrong?" Mizuki asked, puzzled.

"That's a covert code!" Kappa said in a serious tone, handing over the densely written notebook to Mizuki, "Although I don't know the meaning, I've recorded it. Take this with you and hurry back to headquarters to have it analyzed. I'll continue monitoring!"

"Oh!" Mizuki suddenly realized, then without hesitation, he took the notebook and quickly left the private room.

Cariva!

Uh, she should be called Mary now!

After being adopted by Old Newcastle, Cariva's original name was discarded by him.

He gave her a new name, Easthope Mary!

"Easthope" was Old Newcastle's surname; his original name was Easthope Newcastle!

As for "Mary," apologies to him for not being very cultured; he just chose a name that he was familiar with and thought sounded nice!

In reality, this name was quite common everywhere!

In every kingdom, there were at least ten or more people with this name among every ten thousand. If we counted all the kingdoms in this world, there would be enough people with this name to form a new kingdom!

Luckily, Mary didn't mind the name change because she was just an emotionless spy!

Yes, she was ready!

After adapting for a few days, today she could finally accompany Old Newcastle to deliver vegetables!

City's Western Suburb, Old Newcastle's home.

It was a house with a large yard, consisting of three rooms, a toilet, and a kitchen. Though not comparable to the residences of officials and merchants in St. Martin City, it was considered quite nice in the suburban village.

In the yard.

Mary and Old Newcastle were sitting in front of a large carriage, making final preparations.

"Mary, are you happy to go to the palace with Grandpa to deliver vegetables today? Let me tell you, the palace is huge and beautiful. You'll be amazed when you see it!" Old Newcastle gestured and made exaggerated expressions, trying to arouse Mary's interest.

"Hmm." However, Mary responded with a cold indifference and didn't show any expression.

Seeing this, Old Newcastle could only sigh inwardly. No matter how caring or amusing he tried to be with Mary these past few days, she always treated him with this attitude, showing no signs of getting close to him.

After some thought, Old Newcastle forced out a smile and said, "Mary, after we deliver the vegetables, shall Grandpa take you to eat at 'Gnawing Chicken'?!"

He had learned about "Gnawing Chicken" yesterday when he saw Amy, who was at the same age as him, argued with her grandson, who was demanding to go there. Otherwise, at his age, he wouldn't have known what 'Gnawing Chicken' was!

"Sure, that sounds good!" Mary seemed to realize that her behavior was inappropriate and managed to squeeze out a smile, nodding happily.

"Haha, I knew you'd like it! Let's deliver the vegetables quickly, and then Grandpa will take you to eat at 'Gnawing Chicken'!" Seeing Mary's joyful smile, Old Newcastle thought he had finally figured out her preferences and found a way to get along with her, so he was very pleased.