PtM Book 14 - Chapter 38: Ultimate Infiltrator

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It took Cha Ming and company two days to reach Fierra via flying ship from the nearest point in Huxian’s teleportation network. This included air travel and transit via the Collegium’s competing teleportation network. While both Huxian and he were reluctant to support the Collegium in this way, there was no other way to travel quickly throughout this part of Mendin. The usurious transportation fees were just a drop in the bucket compared to Shanarah’s.

The journey was uneventful, so Cha Ming had much time to stew on the situation with the Daoists in Verdant Crossroads. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had been foolish to think that the goddesses didn’t know what he had done, given that his actions directly interfered with their interests in a lower realm.

Yu Wen was unfortunately correct, and Frozen Thorn was overly optimistic about these divine beings not knowing about the conversion of one of their followers. If there was anythingthe goddesses had direct knowledge of, wouldn’t it be this?

In other words, the cat was out of the bag, and he had to deal with it. The question was how? He had no idea whether goddesses could be negotiated with. Their response to the situation was puzzling but also very telling. If they knew about the conversion of a follower, there had to be a reason their response was so subdued.

He was forced to conclude that there were restrictions on what these goddesses could and could not do. Otherwise, there was no reason for Jezeriah not to send out a powerful ranker to destroy him. Either that, or she didn’t have full knowledge of the situation, but that in itself was restriction.

Assuming both Jezeriah and Harid Dej had perfect information, then there were real constraints. These constraints could take many forms. For example, there could be other experts tying her experts down, or the plane’s will might be interfering with her ability to either communicate with and instruct her followers. It could even be all the above.

Cha Ming did not know the specifics, but he did know that the situation was in his favor. He could continue producing Core-Painting Talismans, or he could abandon them, because they had not directly pursued him. That alone proved that these goddesses did not have perfect information.

Since this was the case, it all boiled down to making a choice. There were many good arguments to be made for continuing production. The Daoists needed a pillar to rely on, for one, and for another, society as a whole would likely benefit from the introduction of Painted Daoists, especially if he could find a way to have others manufacture these talismans as well.

The problem lay in the cost, and not monetary ones. Such large changes would inevitably lead to societal adjustment. And if what happened to the Frozen Lotus Sect in Desert’s Blessing was any indication, it would be an extremely violent adjustment that could well result in civil wars all over the continent.

Cha Ming knew that all major technological upgrades resulted in some sort of conflict, be they monetary or physical conflicts. There were no exceptions. The Luddites of Earth, outraged by the existence of textile machines that outproduced handlooms, destroyed these machines on the grounds that their existence would put many women out of work. The advent of the Bronze and Iron Ages led to the rise of many tyrants and countless deaths. Even helpful inventions like aqueducts had been utilized to facilitate imperialism.

Who was right? Who was wrong? It was difficult to say. In the end, Cha Ming didn’t know what path to take, so he shelved the thought when their ship arrived and docked outside of Fierra, City of Alchemists.

Cha Ming’s mood was not conducive to any proper discussions with Iridescent Charity and Iridescent Virtue, despite their relationships going all the way back Shimmerwing City. They were both very empathetic people, and therefore gave him space he needed.

Cha Ming accompanied them to the alchemical markets to maintain his cover, but as he did so, he performed reconnaissance using his enhanced spatial senses, courtesy of Huxian.

The alchemical markets weren’t difficult to get to, because like most of Mendin, the city was covered by a local teleportation grid that spanned the entire city and expanded into the docks that saw hundreds of flying ships every day.

This grid was integrated with the teleportation formations that led into and out of the city—the same formations managed by the Collegium.

I feel like there’s a sort of wall blocking the city’s inner space from the outside, Cha Ming sent to Huxian.

That sounds like standard inner-city defenses, Huxian sent back. The fox was currently making his way over through the void as Cha Ming moved from the side of the material plane. Teleporting in and out should be impossible without a badge. Travel through void space will be difficult. Do you feel anything interfering with you now that you’re inside the city?

Cha Ming reached out with his senses and only detected a light veil. I think there’s some sort of alarm function. You can teleport, but then they’ll be able to track you.

Also standard, Huxian said. They don’t want people teleporting around willy-nilly. Otherwise you could splice people.

Splice?

You know, cut them apart with a void rift, Huxian said. So don’t do that, or they’ll be on you like stink on pigs.

Cha Ming used the next few hours to probe the citywide formation under Huxian’s guidance, all under the guise of shopping for alchemical ingredients with Iridescent Charity and Iridescent Virtue. He naturally acquired many more plant seeds and saplings, therefore growing the production capabilities of Jade Moon Garden.

Fierra’s main exports were alchemical products like potions and pills, which necessitated a constant influx of alchemical reagents and equipment. The cheaper prices for these ingredients, along with the increased availability of expensive ingredients, were precisely the reason for Iridescent Charity’s visit.

Fierra was a neutral city, and a city-state with its own governing council. The Church of Jezeriah was dominant here, and while the Church of Harid Dej wasn’t outright banned, it had a lot of trouble securing building permits and the like. All standard practice.

The city’s financial situation made it a lucrative pie that many dozens of countries had a finger in. The Collegium had a monopoly on transportation in the area, which made them money hand over fist. Attacking this specific location was therefore quite daring, and in Huxian’s estimation, wouldn’t be expected.

Even so, their defenses would be substantial, which was why Cha Ming needed to scout ahead.

Eventually, nothing more could be gained from walking around the marketplace, so Cha Ming slipped away without alerting anyone. He knew that walking around using his usual appearance and probing with his spiritual senses would only expose their intentions, which was why he and Huxian had devised a foolproof strategy. Cha Ming hid himself in an alleyway before transforming his body and essence, compressing it until he assumed the shape of the ultimate infiltrator: a cat.

That’s right. A cat. And not a big one.

Cha Ming was currently a soft and fluffy cat with a tabby coat of black and brown. His gray eyes positively radiated the imperiousness inherent in all house cats. He had no ownership tag, but that was okay because cats ran away from home all the time. Cats did whatever they pleased, and woe to anyone who thought otherwise.

That was why no one suspected anything when he made his way over to the Collegium’s teleportation hub in a lazy, catlike manner. He paused in place occasionally to block pedestrians and demand petting.

Most people ignored him, and some even fed him things he couldn’t eat; he arrogantly ignored these things, as befitting his status as a cat, and gradually made his way to the shadowy half of the Collegium building. Because he wanted shade. He was a cat and needed no better reason to do so.

Using cats for infiltration warranted a bit of justification. There were many animals to choose form, so why cats? In Huxian’s opinion, cats were superior infiltrators mostly because of the limitations of other possible species. There were only four animals that people expected to see wandering about a Mendin city: cats, dogs, rats, and pigeons. Rats were quite nimble and small, which was good in many cases, but people hated rats and would kill them on sight. Pigeons were extremely hit and miss, because while they weren’t as aggressive as their distant relatives, geese, they had a single major drawback: their cooing was an uncomfortable mixture between a baby’s wailing and a death rattle, making everyone either despise or regret their presence.

This left only cats and dogs.

Dogs were naturally more approachable. Everyone loved them and wanted to pet them. You could go anywhere as a dog. Unfortunately, dogs lacked the indolence cats did and were easily distracted. Moreover, if a dog ignored you, you wondered why. In fact, you might even accompany it to investigate whatever it was they were interested in. This was not at all desirable.

Cats, on the other hand, did whatever they pleased. If you tried to pet a cat, and it let you, that was great. If it ignored you… well, that was what cats did.

Cats were also acrobatic and could easily reach the top of a wall as long as there was a tree nearby. Sometimes even without the tree, and without any physical explanation. And if they got past your security measures, it wasn’t that big a deal. Cats were cats. They did helpful things like hunt mice, and they would eventually go away on their own. They were not beholden to any person or any place.

There was one more important trait about cats that Cha Ming hadn’t known about until Huxian explained it. “Cats have strange eyes that let them see heaven-and-earth and spiritual energy. They can see ghosts and formation lines and that kind of thing, which means they can avoid traps that a cultivator totally couldn’t get past. That’s why people aren’t surprised when a cat sneaks into your super-secure location. It happens all the time.”

To confirm this, Cha Ming had found a few cats and wove formations around them to test their abilities. After about a day of playing around with the cats and having to constantly recapture them and place them in increasingly complex maze formations, he more or less understood their limitations. These limitations guided him as he hopped on a tree then jumped onto the wall isolating the Collegium teleportation hub from the outside world.

As expected, there was a weak formation eye, so he snuck inside. No one was surprised when they saw him wandering about. “Look, it’s another cat,” said a member of the Collegium’s security staff. “I told you there’s a problem with the formation. Should we report it to one of the wizards?”

“Naw,” the security guard said. “You’re new, so you don’t know. Cats sneak past the formations all the time. It’s impossible to keep them out, so we just let them do as they please. It keeps the rat population down, and sometimes they even scare away those creepy pigeons.”

Cha Ming took the opportunity to do just that. He pounced on a group of pigeons, which flew away immediately. “Did that cat hear us?” the first man said. Cha Ming looked him in the eyes in a creepy, catlike fashion before looking away. “I swear he heard us!”

“Just focus on important things,” the other guard said. “Something must be going on with all of us working overtime, so let’s make sure we don’t screw things up.”

Cha Ming the cat proceeded to strut through the complex. The inside was shielded from the outside via formation, but once past this restriction, it was easy to investigate.

This naturally took a long time. Cats were lazy, so he needed to make sure he didn’t look like a cat on a mission. At most, he could sprint about while chasing pigeons, or act crazy for a short amount of time for no obvious reason, only to suddenly collapse in an awkward location to rest.

It took him a few hours to identify the additional security measures that the Collegium had installed: The guard had tripled, they’d laid down several additional detection formations just past the walls and the front gate, and new security protocols were in place. From what he overheard, void defenses had been strengthened as well.

The anti-illusion formations were naturally not a problem for Cha Ming, as his form was not an illusion. Thanks to the Seventy-Two Transformations Technique, he was a real cat, which included all its bodily functions. It would take a very powerful cultivator or wizard to be able to identify the subtle differences in soul fluctuations that would give him away.

Have you gotten into the inner ring yet? Huxian asked.

Unfortunately, I can’t access it easily, Cha Ming said. I’ll have to try sneaking in through the front door, since the perimeter formation is catproof.

Darn, Huxian said. That means they upgraded it. The other locations weren’t catproof.

How did you figure that out? Cha Ming asked.

Obviously by letting a bunch of cats loose inside their teleportation hubs to see what they did, Huxian said. You’d be amazed by what people let cats get away with. That said, my experiments seem to have backfired. I guess I shouldn’t have dropped them during a safety inspection.

Huxian…

Cha Ming wasn’t one to give up easily. Since he wanted access to the central area, he decided to do what cats did. He simply strolled up to where the guards were posted and took a seat in front of them. He began meowing much like a cat would in front of their owner’s door when they wanted to be let in.

“Shoo, cat!” one of the guards said. He swiped his spear at Cha Ming, who simply ignored it, since the spear wasn’t long enough to reach him.

“Hey, it’s just a cat,” another guard said. “Why do you gotta be that way?”

“I hate cats,” the first guard said. “Look at it, all smug and pretentious. It thinks it owns this place.”

“It’s a he.”

“What?”

“You heard me, the cat’s a he,” the guard said. “And that’s just how cats are. You need to respect them, and they’ll respect you.”

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried to get in, even the cat lover in the group wouldn’t let him pass. Staying too long would be suspicious, so Cha Ming briefly considered taking on wind form, but thought better of it. Elemental forms had their advantages, and while the wind form couldn’t be seen via the naked eye, it meant him spreading out his qi and vitality, leaving him defenseless. It also made him easier to detect via spiritual senses. Meanwhile, by maintaining his cat disguise, he could be literally sitting in front of a dozen of their best wizards and not blow his cover.

I’ve got it! Cha Ming thought. I’ll turn into a housefly! Most warding formations would kill insects that tried going through them, but it wasn’t unusual for bugs to hitch a ride on passengers going in and out. He was about to try it when suddenly, he felt two small hands latch onto his small cat body and lift him off the ground.

He naturally didn’t resist, but instead hung limply as he looked up and saw a little girl. She had dirty-blonde hair and seemed to be about ten years old. “Hello, mister kitty!” the girl said.

“Meow?” Cha Ming replied.

“You’ve been standing there for so long, and those guards won’t let you in, will they?” the girl said. “How mean! Cats should go wherever they want, shouldn’t they?” She cradled Cha Ming against her chest and began to scratch him behind the ears. He just played along and purred. “Do you have an owner? Should I take you back to them?”

Cha Ming shot her a disdainful look that basically said: Owner? Who has an owner? Have you ever seen a cat with an owner?

“Maybe you don’t have an owner,” the girl decided after a while. “I’ve decided. From now on, I am your owner.”

“Meow?”

The girl proceeded to walk past the guards who had been stumping Cha Ming for the past half hour and walked straight into the secure area. “Miss, maybe you shouldn’t bring the cat inside,” the cat-hating guard said.

“He’s my cat, and I’m allowed inside, so he’s allowed inside,” the girl said. “By the way, I’m Wendy, Mr. Cat. Do you have a name? Hm, maybe you have a secret cat name, but you can’t tell me. I know—I’ll call you Felix! Felix the cat. Mr. Felix.” She continued to manhandle Cha Ming as he squirmed about and looked around in alarm. Not to escape, but to get a better look at the formations as they crossed the boundary. This unexpected twist was working out splendidly.

There were a large number of experts in the inner circle. Cha Ming saw no less than twenty initial-gold rankers just walking around at the center of the inner area. Half of them were wizards, but the other half wore mercenary uniforms. He immediately reported his findings to Huxian, who hissed in displeasure. They’re really going all out, aren’t they? How are you supposed to get to the node if they’re camping out around it?

That’s going to be a problem,Cha Ming agreed. Still, he continued his inspection.

The twelve teleportation circles in the inner circle were joined by a central formation that overlapped with the city’s sole spatial node. This spatial node was the reason why the Collegium had occupied this location in the city. While not strictly required for a teleportation circle, spatial nodes facilitated the process and reduced the amount of resources required for each teleportation. Huxian’s set of sixty-four teleportation portals required every portal to be built on a spatial node. How long do you need my help for on this side?

Thirty seconds, Huxian said. Thirty uninterrupted seconds. Then you can cross over easily.

I’ll need to figure something out, then, Cha Ming said. Holy— What is this girl doing? Crap!

What? Huxian said.

She’s taking me over to the central hub where a bunch of high-level wizards are! Cha Ming said. Wait, is that Theolidan?

He’s there? Huxian exclaimed. Crap! He’s onto us! Maybe we should change our target. If only I had more time…

I’m more worried about whether or not he’ll see through my disguise… Cha Ming said. He was, after all, an early-gold-ranked wizard. A ninja wizard, to be exact. A man like this would have above-average perception abilities.

There were eight senior wizards in total near the spatial node. Two junior wizards and four administrators were nervously trying to do their job and facilitate transfers but were failing miserably under the oppressive atmosphere of having the equivalent of their entire senior management structure breathing down their necks as they worked.

“I just don’t understand why we brought so many people in so suddenly,” one of the wizards said. Like Theolidan, he was an early-gold-ranked wizard. “The expense is ridiculous. How long are we supposed to maintain this?”

“As long as necessary, Vesuvian,” Theolidan said. “What’s the problem? They’re not interrupting your business.”

“You say that, but who’s paying for all this?” Vesuvian spat. “Central says they’ll reimburse me, but you know how they are.”

Theolidan chuckled. “Just take it as hush money and add it to what you’ve been squireling away. Don’t think for a second that they don’t know what kind of racket you’ve been running.”

Vesuvian sighed. “Will anything even happen?”

“With all the people we have here? Not a chance,” Theolidan said. “Also consider that I’m here.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?” Vesuvian said. “How many times did you let that fox escape?”

“That’s exactly my point!” Theolidan said. “Do you think they’d put me anywhere important with so many failures? We don’t expect him to barge into this city of all cities, especially when we’ve presented a weaker target elsewhere. Besides, you think this is impressive? Our real defenses are in the void.”

“I heard they brought in a few middle-gold-ranked wizards to guard all the nearby spatial nodes,” Vesuvian said.

“That’s right,” Theolidan said. “We know what he’s after. If he wants to complete his formation, whatever it does, he’ll need to pay the price and mobilize forces. But when he does…” Theolidan chuckled darkly. “He might even gain a node, but what does that matter if he loses a few others? We’ll tear apart his network at the seams, and he’ll be worse off than when he started.”

“Why not just crush him?” Vesuvian asked.

Theolidan rolled his eyes. “Do you think we don’t want to? That fox is both slippery and tricky. And it’s not like we don’t have any other opponents. Those tigers are always strutting about the void, and we have those specters raiding our network on a regular basis. Do you think we’re made of money?”

“So it’s like that,” Vesuvian said. “I always wondered why they kept trimming my maintenance budget.”

Cha Ming relayed all his findings to Huxian, who immediately adjusted his plans.

The infiltration was a successful mission, regardless of how difficult the next steps would be. Now, the problem was getting out. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but he was a cat purring comfortably on Wendy’s shoulder.

“Wendy, what have I told you about interrupting granddaddy while he’s working?” Theolidan suddenly snapped.

Crap! Cha Ming thought. She’s his granddaughter? He immediately came under intense scrutiny as not only one, but three early-gold wizards turned their sights on the girl and the cat she was holding. Outwardly, Cha Ming continued purring pleasantly, but inwardly, he was sweating profusely. He wasn’t confident at all in passing their inspection.

Fortunately, he was cat, so Theolidan only briefly scanned him before turning his attention back to Wendy, who was currently pouting. “But it’s my birthday today,” Wendy said. “You said you’d spend it with me. You promised me two weeks ago. I wrote it down, see?” She held out a small notebook. It was signed and dated by Theolidan.

Theolidan cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I know I did, darling… Just that the situation changed, and granddaddy needs to work overtime.”

“You always need to work overtime,” Wendy said. “You missed Mommy’s birthday six months ago.”

“Damn that fox…” Theolidan muttered. “Look, Wendy. I know this is difficult, but these are the things adults need to deal with. Just be a good girl, and everything will blow over, and I’ll make it up to you. I’ll buy you gift. A nice one.”

Wendy eyed him suspiciously. “I want a pony.”

“A pony?” Theolidan exclaimed. The wizards behind him chuckled darkly. “What would you need a pony for? You know we can’t keep ponies in the city. We’d need to also buy a farm and hire staff…”

“So?” Wendy said. “It’s not like you don’t have the money.”

“That’s not the point!” Theolidan said. “This year it’s a pony, so what about next year? A unicorn?”

Wendy’s eyes brightened, and she gasped, and Theolidan realized his mistake too late. His coworkers could barely contain their laughter.

“Forget what I said,” Theolidan said. “Fine. A pony it is.” He looked completely and utterly defeated, to the point where Cha Ming wondered if maybe it would be best if he stayed with the girl. Perhaps he could find an opening?

“That cat…” Theolidan said suddenly. “Where did you find it?”

Cha Ming’s cat heart caught in his cat throat.

“I found it in the outer ring,” Wendy said happily. “I plan on keeping it. My new pony will need company.”

“What did I tell you about outside animals?” Theolidan said. “This is a sensitive time. We can’t have cats wandering in and out of here.” He sighed. “Give it here. I’ll get rid of it.”

Crap, crap, crap. Cha Ming extended his claws and grabbed a hold of Wendy. Cats weren’t stupid. They knew when they were being threatened.

“Grandfather, you’re scaring Mr. Felix!” Wendy said, hugging Cha Ming tighter despite his claws.

“Mr. Felix?” Theolidan exclaimed. “Look, darling, new rules were passed down recently, and we need to kill any animals that infiltrate the inner circle. It’s standard anti-infiltration procedure.” He reached out for the cat, but Wendy turned around to shield Cha Ming.

“Don’t you dare!” Wendy shouted.

“Wendy…” Theolidan said.

“Don’t you dare hurt this cat! It’s innocent! I took it in, and I won’t abandon it!” Only a heartless man would be unaffected by her plea.

“Wendy, I just need to do my job,” Theolidan said. He flicked his wrist, and cat Cha Ming floated out. Cha Ming hissed at the old man.

“Grandaddy, if you do anything to that cat, I’ll never forgive you!” Wendy shouted. “I’ll… I’ll… never call you Grandaddy again!”

“You’ll understand one day,” Theolidan said. He exerted a modicum of force and started to twist Cha Ming’s tiny neck.

“Theolidan, if you do this, I’ll stop studying magic and take up swordplay!” Wendy shouted.

“Wendy…” Theolidan said. “You love magic. You won’t stop. Grandaddy knows this.”

“Who’s my grandaddy?” Wendy said. “My grandaddy would never kill my cat! I love cats, and I’ll stop studying if you dare kill it!”

Theolidan stopped exerting force. He looked to his coworkers helplessly. By now, they were all smiles and couldn’t disguise their pleasure at his misfortune.

“We can overlook it this once, as long as she takes the cat out now,” Vesuvian said. “Of course, you’ll need to make it up to us.”

“I’ve always wanted to try a bottle of Verdane wine myself,” one of them said.

“So that’s how it is, is it?” Theolidan said darkly. “Fine.” He floated the cat over to Wendy. “Take him out. Now. Before I change my mind. And don’t think of interrupting my work for the next three days.”

Wendy happily grabbed cat Cha Ming and ran out of the inner circle.

Knowing that she could not keep cat Cha Ming, Wendy took him out to the front gate, giving him a chance to observe the new formations firsthand. On their way out, they accompanied a group of rankers that gave Cha Ming the chills.

Cha Ming wouldn’t have paid them any attention, but the group was large, and their karma obscured. It was obvious, with his keen eyes, that they were wearing disguises.

He tensed like any proper cat would, and his quick movements caught the attention of the better-dressed individuals in the group.

“Cats,” the man said. “What is with cats, Locke?”

“I told you not to use my name in public,” the other man said. He was a tall man, and he kept a good distance away from his companion, enough for another individual to hide themselves between them.

“Who cares?” the man said. “It’s not like anyone will recognize us.”

“Yes, but how many men named Locke are there in Mendin, my good friend?” the man asked.

“Since you killed twenty and the rest changed their names, not many,” the other man admitted.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who these well-dressed gentlemen were. Going by the way they spoke and the eerie feeling they gave him, Cha Ming determined they were none other than Locke and Trevonay.

“So… we’ve arrived without any problems,” Trevonay said. “You think our business partner made it?”

“She’s quite professional, so I’m sure she’s in position,” Locke said. He chuckled creepily. “Impersonating a cleric of the Church of Jezeriah. Heh. What a plan.”

“My worry is how she’ll swing it,” Trevonay said. “What if someone asks for a healing spell?”

“They make wands, so it’s not a problem,” Locke said. “Stop asking so many questions. You’ll give us away.” They were specifically the opposite of inconspicuous, to the point that Cha Ming was thinking they wanted others to find them.

Wendy placed Cha Ming on the ground just in front of the gate. “There you go, Mr. Felix, you can go now. Sorry my grandaddy didn’t like you. He’s like that sometimes. Grumpy. Old. No fun.”

Cha Ming meowed, and Wendy pouted. “Don’t be like that,” she said. “I wanted to keep you, but I guess I’ll have to settle for a pony. It better not be a fake pony this time, though. I’ll have to pick carefully so he doesn’t trick me. Stupid wizards and their stupid games…”

She wandered off, leaving Cha Ming to his own cat pleasures.

Of course, there was no time for relaxing. Cha Ming the cat, who’d done more than enough reconnaissance for the day, had spotted his next mystery to uncover. Huxian, there’s something going down in Fierra. I saw Locke and Trevonay and a small army of creepy gold rankers heading out of the teleportation hub.

Are you serious? Huxian said.

I’m going to go see what they’re up to, Cha Ming said. But given who they are and how many people they brought, don’t you think there’ll be a huge commotion? I’d bet half my fortune this place is going to be crawling with gold rankers within a day. I’d imagine we’ll need to change our target, so I suggest you stand by.

Got it, Huxian said.

They exchanged a few more ideas, and soon, Cha Ming was a pigeon. While he couldn’t fly quickly, he didn’t have to pretend to be lazy like his cat form did. He also didn’t need to be afraid that someone would shoot him down, because Mendin cities had bylaws preventing such things.

Minutes later, pigeon Cha Ming was perched on the railing of a bus occupied by a few dozen men and women in dark suits and dresses. Their disposition was funerial, and it was clear at a glance that they did not belong on public transportation. As for why they were doing this, he would soon find out.