A Pawn's Passage

Audrey suddenly asked, “Sir, how should I address you?”

At the very last moment before leaving, Qi Xuansu replied, “Li.”

Audrey also knew about the Daoist Li family. The ancestors of the Li family had founded and rebuilt the Daoist Order. The current head of the Li family was part of the Daoist Order’s Council of Three. It was this very family that controlled the Daoist Order’s external intelligence agency and filled it with Li family members. Everything aligned perfectly and made complete sense.

“Mr. Li.” Audrey hesitated for a moment. “I’ll see you again.”

Audrey wished she would be able to meet this man again. After all, Qi Xuansu had just said that their next meeting would be on the Southern New Continent. This gave her hope.

Qi Xuansu said nothing and slowly vanished from sight.

This was the fourth problem that needed to be resolved. Qi Xuansu needed to protect Strauni, so he had to ensure the safety of his current identity as Dutch Vanderlind.

Thus, he had no choice but to once again use his other identity, Hosea Matthias.

From Audrey’s perspective, this gave rise to a peculiar mix of fear and hope.

The fear was that even St. York, the jewel of the New Continent and home to St. Francis Church, could be easily infiltrated by Easterners. Their influence was also far greater than she had imagined. As a Westerner who had been deeply influenced by the “Daoist calamity” propaganda, she did not truly understand the East and could not tell friend from foe.

The hope stemmed from Mr. Li’s power. If he were as powerful as he seemed, her chances of escaping St. York would be greater.

These two completely contradictory emotions were intertwined within her, leaving her restless.

Although what had happened to her was highly unusual, at her core, she was still a well-protected actress. In truth, she could not leave that jewel-encrusted cage. Her fundamental desire was merely to move from one cage to another, to escape her master, who had threatened her life. That was why she asked Qi Xuansu for protection. If she were truly given freedom, she would be completely lost.

The next day, Audrey carried on as usual, preparing for her performance. That night, she performed “The Demon Hunter” on stage.

After the performance ended, Audrey returned to her apartment, where an old man was already seated.

Sophia likely believed everything was under control, so she granted Audrey a certain degree of freedom and did not closely monitor her residence. As a result, this apartment became a suitable place for conversation.

Dutch was a typical Western gentleman, well-dressed and courteous. However, this old man was far removed from the gentlemanly class. He appeared weathered by hardship, like a seasoned adventurer.

The old man introduced himself. “Hello, Miss Ale. I am Hosea Matthias. I have come on Mr. Li’s orders to meet with you.”

Audrey examined the old man before her, then extended her hand. “Hello, Mr. Matthias. You may call me Audrey.”

Hosea shook her hand. “You can call me Hosea.”

Audrey suddenly asked, “Hosea, forgive my bluntness. But was the explosion in the Lower District related to you?”

Qi Xuansu, now under a different identity, countered with a question of his own. “Why would you ask that?”

Audrey chuckled. “A woman’s intuition.”

Qi Xuansu did not deny it. “Audrey, your intuition is quite accurate.”

Although Audrey had already suspected as much, hearing it confirmed still shocked her. She had vaguely heard rumors that the Western Daoist Order had triggered a massive explosion in the Lower District and involved four senior councilmen. That was why she had asked. But she had not expected it to be true.

Those were four senior councilmen. Leopold was also a faction leader in the City Council. But they could not capture Mr. Matthias and ended up in utter disarray.

Knowing this man had such formidable strength, Audrey’s hope soared once again.

Moreover, from Mr. Li’s tone, it seemed that Mr. Matthias was only a subordinate.

If even a subordinate was this formidable, then how powerful was Mr. Li himself? Could he be the legendary Beichen Hall Master?

Audrey did not fully understand the many secrets of the Eastern world, but since she intended to flee there, she had done some research on the East and the Daoist Order. She knew that the head of the Li family was part of the Council of Three, and that the heir of the Li family was expected to become the new Eastern Pope.

No matter what, he was an undeniably important figure.

This stirred a sense of genuine awe within Audrey, an instinctive reverence of the weak toward the strong.

Even Sophia, who controlled her, was insignificant in the face of this “future Eastern Pope.”

Audrey’s previously unsettled mind began to calm down significantly. She was no longer troubled by uncertainty about the future because even if she went to the Eastern world, she could still have a promising future, provided she maintained a good relationship with this power figure of the East.

For Audrey, the most frightening things were the unknown and the sense of helplessness. Once the unknown was gone and she knew what she should do, her fear would naturally fade.

This was also one of the reasons she dared to escape from Sophia.

At this thought, Audrey made a firm decision.

Qi Xuansu interrupted Audrey’s drifting thoughts. “Audrey, let’s talk about stealing the key to the Steam Power Core from Sophia.”

Under normal circumstances, Qi Xuansu would never have entertained such an idea, especially on someone else’s territory.

But with Audrey’s help, things were different. Her desire to escape was not a sudden impulse. It had been carefully prepared. She had long understood that only the Daoists could save her. To seek refuge in the Eastern world, she would need sufficient bargaining chips. Thus, she painstakingly obtained the list of Tawantin’s traitors, a process that was certainly not just a mere “coincidence.”

Naturally, she had also seriously considered how to break free from Sophia’s control and even had a preliminary plan. She simply lacked the necessary external support, or rather, the right opportunity.

One could say she had been waiting desperately for that opportunity to appear.

At last, she had found Qi Xuansu, so she would never give up this one and only chance to escape.

Audrey said, “The room where the key is stored is beneath the Chairman’s residence. It’s heavily guarded.”

Qi Xuansu frowned and asked, “Audrey, it’s not that I don’t trust you—I’m just curious. How do you know this? As a controlled prisoner, how would you know where the key to your ‘shackles’ is kept?”

Audrey seemed to have anticipated the question. She sighed softly. “Because...I am not only a prisoner... I am also Sophia’s lover.”

Qi Xuansu was stunned.

He had not expected this female Chairman to have such an extensive collection of lovers.

That explained it. No matter how much one guarded against outsiders, it was hardest to guard against those closest to them. As Sophia’s intimate partner, Audrey naturally knew many things she should not have known if she had been a normal prisoner.

For Sophia, this was undoubtedly a mistake and an act of overconfidence. Perhaps she believed that even if Audrey knew the truth, Audrey would never be able to escape her control. Or perhaps Audrey’s long-standing obedience had lowered Sophia’s guard. In any case, Sophia had grown careless.

This also illustrated one point. Personal feelings should never be mixed with official matters, especially when the two parties were not even allies.

With that, things became much simpler. Qi Xuansu could infiltrate Sophia’s residence and either steal or destroy the key.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Sophia’s residence wouldn’t happen to be in the Upper District, would it?”

Audrey shook her head. “No. The Upper District is the domain of the Steam Evangelical Sect, like Kunlun, a place belonging solely to Daoists. Daoists may invite guests there, but Kunlun does not belong to the officials. Likewise, the City Council’s territory is the Central District, where Sophia’s residence is.”

They were speaking in the Lune language, but Audrey had pronounced the word “Kunlun” with the official Central Plains tongue.

Audrey took out a map of the Central District and pointed to a location just two streets away from St. Francis Church. “Sophia lives here. Her schedule is fairly regular. During the day, she leaves home to go to the City Council. She has stationed many Steam Enforcers in her residence, but I don’t think they will pose much of a challenge for you.”

Qi Xuansu did not deny it. “Indeed, it’s not much of a problem.”

Audrey continued, “Every Friday night, Sophia goes to meet her lover. She never entertains lovers in her own home, preferring instead to go to a vacation island, where they spend the entire weekend together. But the lover’s identity isn’t fixed. It depends on Sophia’s mood and preferences for the day. After all, she’s now the Chairman and has ample autonomy. Moreover, in recent years, the Cardinal Bishop has grown tired of her and no longer summons her to receive divine revelations.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

Audrey said, “Sophia is one of the behind-the-scenes owners of the Reckton Detective Agency, so she can mobilize its forces. This agency is also responsible for guarding her residence. They have various alarm systems installed, so if you directly break into the underground chamber, it may trigger those alarms. I believe you can easily deal with the detectives, but their defense system is linked to St. York’s overall security network. When that happens, the Elite Steam Unit and even the Paladins will be deployed.”