Chapter 197: The Summer Crown Begins Ahead of Schedule

Sith lightly pushed against the frame of his glasses with a finger.

“This incident really is quite troublesome.”

“It means that within the blind spots of our surveillance, there may be a deeply hidden force lying dormant.”

After all, Chaos would only cast his gaze among those conducting the ritual during the same period.

From dimensions such as fate, talent, potential, and strength, he would comprehensively evaluate them before ultimately selecting the strongest individual to enter the Astral Realm and participate in the game.

Only some kind of powerful organization could possibly cultivate newcomers stronger than those of the Black Iron Directorate under the exact same conditions.

“The investigation work moving forward will probably require some unconventional methods of probing.”

Without question, all these cumbersome investigations would soon land squarely upon Sith’s schedule.

While the two were speaking—

The door to the observation room was pushed open. An intelligence officer in uniform quickly walked over and signaled to Sith that urgent intelligence needed to be delivered immediately.

Sith glanced at Glahad beside him before nodding, allowing the intelligence officer to hand over the wax-sealed document pouch.

After opening the bag, two encrypted intelligence reports written in cipher lay inside.

Sith rapidly scanned the contents twice, and astonishment instantly flashed beneath his lenses.

He organized his thoughts before handing the intelligence reports to Glahad beside him.

“Commander, there may be information here that you most wish to know right now.”

Glahad glanced at him before reaching out to accept the parchment.

The very first line that entered his sight described the sacred mountain bell chime and the legendary deed of someone defeating a god to complete a Legacy.

Upon seeing that Legacy, the parchment involuntarily crumpled deeply beneath his grip.

That alone demonstrated his loss of composure.

“Heh... someone actually managed to defeat a god.”

“It seems this world has gained another uncontrollable monster.”

Glahad turned his head and glanced at Asa below in the plaza, who had just finished the battle and was currently stepping atop his defeated companions while resting.

“This loss of his wasn’t unjustified.”

Throughout all of history, the number of people capable of truly defeating gods could be counted on one hand. Every single one of them became legendary figures etched into epic tales.

Glahad simply hadn’t expected that during this seemingly peaceful era, such a person would already emerge.

And such events often represented the birth of major upheaval.

After all, heroes were most often born in chaotic ages.

Moreover, counting the years carefully, several centuries had already passed since the last appearance of a Hero.

As for the second encrypted intelligence report—

Although it wasn’t as shocking as the first, it still surprised even this well-traveled old man.

“The Summer Crown ritual has actually begun ahead of schedule?”

Sith immediately offered his own analysis from the side.

“Yes. This should be related to Chaos losing to a mortal in the game.”

“From the very beginning, his authority has always possessed connections to Zelos.”

“This is likely because he wishes to restore the authority stripped away this time, so he forcibly initiated the Summer Crown in advance.”

Sith softly chuckled.

“Commander, I’m afraid this continent is about to become extremely lively.”

Glahad remained noncommittal regarding the games between gods.

He cared more about tangible, practical benefits.

“Has your intelligence network recently found any clues regarding rare Werewolf species?”

He directly shifted to the matter he cared about most.

Because in his younger years, while pursuing ultimate martial strength, he had once endured the radical bloodline techniques of those mad doctors from the Directorate’s internal department known as “Furnace.”

As a result, his own bloodline had remained unstable for many years.

Right now, he urgently needed the bloodline of a rare Werewolf species to repair this body.

“In White River Province.”

Sith answered cleanly.

“Our Wind Whisperers embedded within merchant associations over there recently monitored an unexpected black-market message.”

“The Dark River organization encountered an accident during a secret transportation operation some time ago and lost a batch of rare Demi-Human cargo they had purchased at a high price.”

“According to the fragmented intelligence we intercepted, among the lost prey was a Werewolf species.”

Sith paused briefly, observing Glahad’s expression.

“Although we still don’t know exactly what rare breed it is—”

“What we can confirm is that the buyer behind the scenes paid an exceptionally high deposit in advance. This definitely isn’t a price ordinary Werewolf species could ever fetch.”

“However, based on the escort team’s strength assessment, the prey itself should still be below Professional Rank and won’t be difficult to handle.”

Sith understood what Glahad truly cared about.

“This information regarding the lost Werewolf species is currently still in the verification stage and has not yet been officially recorded or reported.”

That heavily suggestive sentence finally caused a satisfied smile to appear upon Glahad’s face.

He liked subordinates like Sith who understood how to behave.

Once this intelligence regarding a high-grade bloodline entered the official reporting process—

Based on his understanding of the Directorate’s internal situation—

At least three old monsters suffering from the same bloodline instability as himself would emerge like sharks smelling blood to compete for this hunting opportunity.

Because during that chaotic period in the past—

Many among their generation of old survivors from the previous era had taken desperate risks and chosen to fuse Werewolf bloodlines in pursuit of powerful regenerative abilities.

“Organize this intelligence and separately issue the hunting target list from this operation. Send it directly to my office afterward.”

Glahad glanced toward the plaza below.

That brutal selection battle had already completely ended.

Asa stood amidst a field of groaning bodies covered in blood, currently raising his head toward the second-floor observation room.

“This capture mission will serve as a test for the newcomers. Let Asa Skamander lead the team and complete it.”

After speaking, Glahad turned and prepared to leave the observation room.

Sith immediately lagged half a step behind him, respectfully following at his rear.

“Since this batch of newcomers has already selected their lead wolf—”

Glahad instructed while walking.

“When your ‘Hound Chain’ submits the personnel list to the ‘Furnace’ department, remember to clearly note it in the remarks.”

“Submit a special request for Asa to choose the advancement potion from the 【Crimson Sequence】 as his newcomer reward.”

The detailed records of every generation’s lead wolf were always assessed and submitted by the intelligence department, Hound Chain.

And Asa was the lead wolf personally cultivated by Glahad over five painstaking years.

He absolutely had to keep the future development path of this blade firmly within his own control.

Throughout his life, he had judged countless people with a sharp eye.

Only once had he misjudged someone.

But he firmly believed—

This time, the blade he personally selected and polished would absolutely never go wrong again.

“Yes, Commander. I’ll personally make the arrangements.”

Sith stopped walking, looked at Glahad’s departing back, and lowered his head slightly in an extremely respectful reply.