Sophie nodded, smiling: "Of course, I'm their leader."
"What???" Fang Hong looked at the little princess of Silver Weslan with a face full of questions.
"The Silver Weslan team originally had another leader," Sophie finally answered, "but since the Guild considered my presence in the area, they simply appointed me. After all, I have experience leading teams, so from now on, we're opponents."
Fang Hong was rendered speechless.
While Xi, who was beside him, turned around and glanced at him.
Fang Hong felt that if he spoke again, the Princess would start extracting information from him, so he quickly changed the subject: "Miss Sophie, where are the others?"
"The others have already arrived, including that Ship's Officer who you've been thinking about," Sophie gave him a meaningful look, "We'll meet up later, and besides, I arrived in the city two days earlier, so that matter also has some developments."
Fang Hong was startled upon hearing this, momentarily ignoring the teasing, and quickly asked: "Did you find out anything?"
Sophie nodded.
Fang Hong's expression became serious, as his primary reason for coming to Fanric was not to participate in the Continental League, but to investigate the official who left the Adventurers' Guild and headed to the Southern Region.
The person took away information on the employer of Miss Atira's brother from the Adventurers' Guild in Golande, and then disappeared. The last information they got was that the person went to Fanric.
After that, the trail went cold.
Previously, Fang Hong discussed the Dragon Worship Sect, Dragonfire Guild, and Shadow Throne matters with Sophie, and mentioned this matter, which led Sophie to enter Fanric ahead of them to start investigating the whereabouts of the official.
"Did you find him?" Fang Hong asked.
Sophie shook her head: "Let's talk as we walk, otherwise if people see you and me together, rumors will fly all over."
Fang Hong was taken aback: "What rumors?"
Sophie blushed: "You talk too much, just leave."
So Xi dragged the bewildered Fang Hong out of the hotel lobby.
After leaving the hotel, Sophie explained the details of her investigation thoroughly. It turned out she passed on information about Dragon Worship Sect's activities in the south to the Stargate Port as instructed by Fang Hong. Although Stargate Port couldn't directly intervene in the Southern Region at that time, they weren't inactive.
In fact, they reported some of the intelligence to Golande's Artisan Association and Adventurers' Guild, so before the little princess of Silver Weslan arrived in Fanric, the Adventurers' Guild leadership had already verified the information, found this matter true, and started investigating the official's whereabouts.
Upon hearing this, Fang Hong asked: "So any results from the investigation?"
Sophie nodded: "Generally speaking, Adventurers' Guild leaders don't leave Golande without reason. The official went to Fanric under the guise of official business with a record, so tracking his whereabouts wasn't difficult."
Fang Hong suddenly realized: "Official business? You mean he originally planned to return to Golande."
He then realized he might have been mistaken; the person heading south wasn't to evade them, but for something else.
"Indeed," Sophie looked at him, "You handled secrecy well; the official probably hasn't realized he's exposed and had plans to return to Golande."
Fang Hong felt embarrassed, as they never had any secrecy measures, even the investigation into the Dragon Worship Sect was decided upon by Elpaxin on a whim.
However, perhaps it was precisely this spontaneity that kept the official unaware.
He pondered briefly and quickly identified the key issue: "So why did the official come to Fanric?"
"Smart," Sophie gave him an appreciative look, "Now the information indicates he came to Fanric to meet someone. From the Adventurers' Guild information, this person only has the codename 'Immortal.'"
"Again with the Immortal." Fang Hong frowned; this wasn't the first time he heard the term. He asked again: "With the Adventurers' Guild having so much information, they must have found the official, right?"
"You're overthinking, Ade." Sophie replied.
Fang Hong looked at her in surprise.
"The official had reported when leaving Golande, but that doesn't mean he was under the Adventurers' Guild's constant surveillance. He was very cautious, and his whereabouts in Fanric were well-hidden," the little princess said, then teased, "However..."
"However?"
"However, Silver Weslan isn't to be underestimated," Sophie said, "because Stargate Port got involved, our Guild just happened to intervene as well, and I used the Guild's network to find this person's location."
Fang Hong glanced at her, thinking his wisest decision during this southward investigation of the Dragon Worship Sect was including the little princess of Silver Weslan.
Without her, neither the military, Adventurers' Guild, nor Artisan Association could easily intervene or mobilize Silver Weslan—even though this was an investigation into cultists, Fang Hong still felt a sense of misusing public resources.
But as Sophie saw his expression, she interrupted him: "This isn't to help you, Ade, it's the restraint from the 'Stargate Declaration.'