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Heir of the White Lotus (Web Novel) - Chapter 2154: Incomplete Information
Chapter 2154: Incomplete Information
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There was a reason Adam had chosen this restroom as one of his contingencies.
Right beyond its walls lay a vast training room where the men and women of the Watch practiced combat. Mana fluctuations constantly filled the surrounding area as the trainees sparred, cast spells, and honed their skills.
Adam had marked this place during his initial quick surveillance of the building on his way to the records chamber. It was the perfect cover.
The ambient mana fluctuations from the training room would help mask his own, making it difficult for anyone to detect the changes taking place within his body.
And so, the moment Adam entered the restroom, he wiped his face with one hand.
His appearance changed rapidly. His bones creaked as his facial structure shifted, and his height shortened slightly. His muscles contracted, his features changed, and his skin became pockmarked. By the time his hand returned to his side, he had become an entirely different person.
A young man with blue eyes, brown hair, and a pockmarked face. Even his mana signature had changed, and he now radiated the faint aura of a Cavalier Paladin.
None of the people inside the restroom noticed anything unusual. Neither did the two men guarding the entrance outside.
And hopefully neither would the building’s security systems detect the transformation.
With the training room right beside the restroom, the constant fluctuations of ambient mana made it difficult to distinguish Adam’s altered signature from those of the trainees.
He casually approached the basin and washed his face. Then he combed his brown hair back until it lay neatly slicked against his head.
After examining his reflection one final time, he yawned and strolled out of the restroom, feigning the exhaustion of a newly inducted constable in the Watch.
As he walked out of the restroom, he noticed the two men from earlier turning their piercing gazes toward him. He flinched for effect and even made sure to gulp loudly.
That was all.
They cast only the briefest of glances at him before allowing him to leave.
Adam didn’t even have the luxury of scorn, for his mind was a mess. As he climbed the stairs, he noticed several groups of people rushing toward the restroom.
It took all his effort to calm himself and act like the other bystanders, feigning curiosity about what was going on.
By the time he had made it out of the headquarters, the building had been placed into lockdown.
But it was already too late.
They would never find Garrick Voss.
***
After taking several detours—which included a quick visit to Dark Port, where he shapeshifted back to his original appearance—he returned home just after sunset.
He arrived at the lowermost underground chamber of his house and unveiled the secret wall. Weaving a few simple hand seals, parchments flew in the air and quills began to magically jot down all the information related to Havel Norwood.
With a wave of his hand, the parchments flew to the wall, then a few threads connected them to other existing intel he had gathered. The web of information became more complex.
Adam had a dark look on his face as he stood before the wall, studying the new intel. But his mind kept returning to the strange atmosphere at the City Watch headquarters.
How the fuck did they find out?
Was it something I said? Or something I did?
Adam frowned as he continued pacing before the wall, his mind racing.
Still, it makes no sense for the guards to immediately come looking for me. Something is wrong.
The records keeper must have sensed something was off. But how? Was there something I did that the real Garrick never would?
What was it that Garrick had left the city to do? Was it not a private errand as I suspected?
That guard was clearly surprised to see me there.
Adam had known that impersonating a man he had shadowed for only a few days was risky. There were bound to be details he had overlooked, habits he had failed to notice, and mannerisms he had yet to understand.
But even then, this was all too strange.
Could the record keeper have alerted the others because I was investigating Morgan and Havel Norwood?
That was certainly a possibility.
But even then...
They were too quick to suspect me.
Adam’s frown deepened.
The timing was simply too suspicious. By the time he had made his way out of the headquarters, numerous guards were already heading toward the restroom.
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
What he couldn’t understand was whether it was his wrong impersonation of Garrick Voss that alerted the men, or him trying to gather intel on Havel Norwood and Leto Morgan.
If the latter is the case, then... could that information have been bait?
No, something isn’t right.
This is all too strange.
Adam knew he was shooting in the dark.
He had too little information to draw any meaningful conclusions. Every possibility he considered was merely an assumption, and the more he thought about it, the more possibilities he came up with.
Perhaps the record keeper had noticed something amiss. Perhaps someone had already been suspicious of Garrick Voss. Or perhaps his investigation into Morgan and Havel Norwood had alerted someone.
But he had no evidence to support any of these theories.
And that was the problem.
Adam hated working with incomplete information. He preferred to gather enough evidence to establish a reasonable theory before deciding on his next course of action. But right now, he couldn’t even determine what had gone wrong.
He needed more information. At the very least, he needed to understand what had triggered the lockdown and why the guards had rushed toward the restroom while he was making his escape.
Only then could he begin piecing things together. Until that happened, he was merely guessing. And he knew better than to mistake a guess for the truth.
He arrived before the wall again and stared at the intel regarding Havel Norwood.
I’ll begin investigating this guy first, he thought grimly.
But I’ve to be careful with using the Faceless Mask inside the city.
Damn it, the security is too strict!
He suddenly heard the manor’s main doors open upstairs. A few moments later, soft footsteps descended the stairs, accompanied by a sweet, lilting melody. Then came the faint scent of perfume.
Genevieve arrived at the entrance of his underground laboratory, a beautiful smile on her face.
"What are you up to, love?"
Adam looked up from his experiments and smiled. "Trying to brew something new."
"Okay. Okay. I shan’t disturb you," Genevieve said. "But you haven’t forgotten, have you?"
Adam stood up over the table cluttered with vials, sieves, beakers, and other apparatuses. "What?"
Genevieve squinted at him.
"We are supposed to go have dinner with Professor Channing, his daughter, and his son-in-law over at his house."
"Oh, that. Of course, I know." Adam smiled. "I’ll be done in a jiffy."
"Okay!" Genevieve’s smile was like the arrival of spring. "I’ll see you upstairs."
Her footsteps gradually faded away.
Adam breathed a sigh of relief.
That was close...
His gaze subconsciously drifted toward the wall. Of course, he had already concealed his investigation board behind the false wall.
There were things better left secret, lest he bring trouble upon his loved ones.
He returned to brewing potions. Or rather, pretending to brew potions.
But his mind was elsewhere entirely.
His gut was telling him something was wrong over at the City Watch.
Something very wrong.
