"At this point, don't you understand that we no longer have a foothold in these two places?

Soth is not a soft-hearted person.

Since he has determined that we are enemies, he will use various methods to suppress us.

As for intelligence collection, don't worry about it, I will find a way.

As for the Zhentarim conspiracy...

I don’t think Fuzoul Chamberry and Ximanmeng would dare to do anything under Soth’s nose.”

When he said these words, Elminster's eyes flashed with a faint silver light, and he obviously had his own plan.

To be exact, he had already made corresponding preparations.

Whether it is Kelben who has left the Harpers and is establishing his own intelligence organization - Moon Star, or let Storm Silverhand come forward to take over this area, he can assume the responsibility of collecting intelligence.

The main reason for the Harpers to withdraw from this area is to avoid bloody conflicts like today.

"What about the resistance forces we contacted in the West Heartland region on the Dragon Coast?" Another Harper master asked with a frown.

"Alas - tell these people that the Harper has more important things to do now and let them contact Soth directly."

Elminster couldn't help but sigh slightly.

He could feel the aggrievedness and dissatisfaction in the hearts of these Harpers, but there was nothing he could do about it.

What's even more annoying is that all the efforts made before have now given the opponent an advantage.

It is foreseeable that after these rebels defeat the Zhentil Keep army and drive out their forces, they will inevitably turn to Zuo Si, who can bring peace, stability and prosperity to the region.

This change is almost irreversible.

But in comparison, Elminster was more worried that Zuo Si's extremely dangerous thoughts would be passed on to the entire metal dragon group through those silver dragons, gold dragons, steel dragons, and copper dragons.

This eventually led to a large-scale split among this group of dragons from the good camp.

You must know that in terms of philosophical concepts, dragons with higher IQs are more likely to be truthful than humans, and they also prefer to engage in fierce debates.

Many fallen golden dragons and silver dragons took the evil path under such circumstances.

Of course, Zuo Si still knows nothing about Elminster's worries.

Because he currently knows only one dragon from the good camp, and that is Alustriel’s ally, the Golden Dragon Queen Valamalandis.

Therefore, the impression of metal dragons is still that they are very curious. They like to inquire about everything, they will be very happy when receiving gifts, they are keen on all kinds of debates, and they may also be a bit greedy for petty gains.

As for arrogance, that is a common problem among all true dragons, even the white dragon, which is the stupidest and closest to a beast, is no exception.

But overall, metal dragons from the good camp are more reasonable than color dragons.

Even if they want to get treasure from you, they rarely choose to rob it directly.

Instead, you deliberately reveal some information that interests you, and then imply that it can be exchanged for money or a magic item.

"Where are we going now? Looking for the red-robed mage named Edwin?"

After leaving the Harper Alliance's building in Ascaltra, Fed immediately couldn't help but ask.

After learning the clues about the real murderer of Ellen Linville, she couldn't wait to find the enemy and cut him into pieces.

Zuo Si smiled and said without looking back: "Don't be so impatient. Especially information like this whose authenticity cannot be guaranteed. It requires multiple verifications to avoid being used as a fool by others."

"Seeking verification from multiple sources?"

The demon elf assassin was stunned for a moment.

She really couldn't think of any organization that could get more and more detailed information if the Harper Alliance's news couldn't be trusted.

However, Zuo Si did not explain much, but made a large circle in the dock area and came to the door of a slightly dilapidated house.

As a result, before he could get closer, the originally closed door opened on its own, and a familiar female figure walked out, holding her breast with one hand and bowing gracefully.

"Welcome, Lord Soth."

"Why are you here?"

Zuo Si raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Because the woman standing at the door is one of Manson's most capable assistants, and she is also Clarice, who has a deep connection with him.

It is said that after Manson's death, Clarice took the initiative to join Simon's camp, and then disappeared from people's sight.

Right now, this female mage with a high level of spellcasting is wearing an enchanted robe that looks a bit like a dress. She has a humble smile on her face, showing off her mature and beautiful charm.

In the room behind her, there were three young mages dressed as apprentices, thieves hiding in the shadows, and seven or eight fully armed guards.

You don't need to ask to know that this is the Zhentarim's stronghold in Askatra, less than three streets away from the headquarters of the Deadland Harper Alliance.

What’s even more incredible is that for so many years, both sides have known about each other’s existence and have been fighting openly and secretly, but they have not attacked each other’s home base.

What does it mean to fall in love and kill each other?

That’s it!

"Ximanmont specially arranged for me to provide services specifically for you and try my best to meet all your requirements."

Clarice deliberately added an accent to the word "everything".

Unfortunately, Zuo Si ignored this boring suggestion and walked into the house to find a chair and sit down.

After the door was slammed shut, he asked: "Do you know what happened within the Shadow Thieves Guild recently?"

Clarice replied without thinking: "Of course. This time the commotion is so big, I don't think it's hard not to know.

What's more, the infiltration of shadow thieves has always been the main task of our Zhentarim.

Some spies have even reached the position of leader of their subordinate guilds.

No matter what information you want to know, I can give you the answer immediately."

"Great! Let me briefly introduce the situation first."

Zuo Si crossed his hands on his chest, assuming a listening posture.

Clarice didn't waste any time and immediately shook out all the information she had collected.

Even the conflicts within some subordinate guilds, and the unknown gossip that the leader of a certain guild was cuckolded by a henchman are no exception.

Of course, situations like this where the tauren are killed by one's subordinates are not uncommon within the Shadow Thieves Guild.

Since the nature of the work involves criminal relationships, high-level shadow thieves usually do not choose to get married, which is equivalent to exposing one's own weaknesses to the other party's sight.

However, considering that they also have physical and emotional needs, they often choose to secretly have one or several lovers.

In order to ensure the safety of these lovers, one or two of his cronies must be arranged to protect the former.

In addition, the guild leader has a lot of things to do and is very busy, and he probably has more than one lover, so it is impossible to live together every day.

This also leads to the fact that women who are lovers will naturally transfer their physical and psychological desires to the bodyguards who accompany them every day.

Over time, those who are not strong-willed enough will be easily tempted and end up sleeping in the same bed as the person they are protecting.

Normally, it’s easy to say anything if you haven’t been discovered.

But once the guild leader discovers that his subordinates have cheated on him, the result will be a brutal torture lasting several hours or even days.

Obviously, the Zhentarim are much better than the Harper Alliance in gathering intelligence in Amn.

The Demon Elf Assassin was so shocked that his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Zuo Si had just come out of the Harper Alliance and turned around to obtain so much important information from the Zhentarim.

Some of them were so secretive that even she had never heard of them.

"So... Ellen Linville actually died in the internal fighting of the Shadow Thieves Guild?

In order to start a rebellion, Maiwa hired Edwin and another assassin to kill the nominal supreme leader, hoping to make everyone nervous.

But what he didn't expect was that Raynor Bloodhead had already prepared a substitute, so the assassination did not have the expected effect.

Renoir Bloodhead deliberately framed Feder as the murderer not because he was unaware of it, but to calm down the forces within the guild that were about to move and ensure that Maiwa would not immediately jump over the wall and start a large-scale internal rebellion.

Both sides are already aware of this, but because they were not fully prepared, they unanimously chose to save their last dignity."

Zuo Si touched his chin and analyzed with a playful expression.

I have to say that it is quite interesting to watch the internal fighting among shadow thieves from an outsider's perspective.

Especially after learning that Maiwa was a follower of Cyric, he increasingly felt that it would be better not to interfere easily.

It would be best to watch the two sides fight until they are bleeding and dying, and then take action to uproot this huge criminal organization entrenched in Amn and its surrounding areas.

There is no doubt that Zuo Si has never liked Shadow Thief from the beginning to the end, even though he has cooperated with him on many occasions.

Especially with the recent changes in his identity and position, he has gradually become murderous towards the shadow thief.

As the saying goes, the butt determines the head.

In the past, Zuo Si had no intention of ruling Amn, so he often had an indifferent attitude towards the various forces in Askatra.

He is even more than happy to take advantage of privileges and legal loopholes to benefit himself.

This can be gleaned from his good cooperative relationships with major families in the past.

But since he had the idea of ​​unifying the west coast of Faerûn under the guidance of King Xia En VII, Zuo Si didn't like these big families that monopolized resources and power, as well as the Masked Mage Guild, Shadow Thieves and other organizations.
To be continued...