Chapter 893: Chapter 587: Fake Antiques [14] I Set You Up, You Set Me Up—Everyone’s Got a Dirty Heart

Pedro Langley hid in the corner, unexpectedly pulling out his phone, calmly recording a video. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The video included background noise and the goods in the courtyard.

Nora Scott: "..." Mr. CEO, you’re quite resourceful!

*

Things progressed more smoothly than imagined.

The first location they confirmed was exactly what they were looking for. After that, infiltrating and obtaining intelligence went without a hitch.

Even the retreat faced no obstacles.

However, the round trip was clearly more challenging than infiltrating the village.

When Nora Scott and Pedro Langley returned, dawn was approaching. After washing up, Nora closed her eyes and lost track of time, failing to wake up on time to practice the bamboo flute, sleeping until midmorning.

Pedro Langley woke up earlier than her.

Upon waking, it was raining outside, drizzling lightly as if in a dream. Nora yawned as she walked downstairs and saw Pedro Langley standing by the window on the phone. The sky was dim, and he stood sideways, with the lush camphor tree branches in the courtyard swaying and casting shadows.

"Mm."

"Give it all to me."

"I know what I’m doing."

Hanging up the phone, Pedro Langley turned his head and saw Nora Scott approaching, naturally wrapping an arm around her.

"Who are you secretly flirting with?" Nora Scott half-squinted her eyes, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Glenn Flynn."

"Who?"

Having not heard this name for a long time, Nora Scott raised her eyes slightly surprised, unable to react.

Pedro Langley lightly tapped her forehead with his fingers and said with a smile, "Oliver and Marcus Shaw’s former physics teacher, Glenn Flynn."

"How did you get in touch with him?"

Learning that Glenn Flynn was in Anchel, Nora Scott had Steward Durant dispatch people to follow him. Knowing he was idle and wasting time, Nora stopped paying much attention.

She couldn’t determine if Glenn Flynn was collaborating with Alexander Vaughn, monitoring him out of caution, but Glenn Flynn was always quiet.

How did Pedro Langley end up connected to him?

"His resignation timing was too strange. Right after Egbert Vaughn’s identity was exposed and the medicine issue was resolved, he left Fenton City. He first went to Yangel and then Anchel. Both places coincided suspiciously," Pedro Langley said. "Anyway, Butler Loxley and Jack Carter are over there, so I had them make contact with him."

Nora Scott frowned, "I’ve always had someone monitoring, but never heard any feedback."

She instructed Steward Durant not to be overly strict, but if anyone frequently interacted with Glenn Flynn, Steward Durant would definitely inform her.

Yet during this time, Steward Durant regularly reported, always saying "nothing unusual."

Pedro Langley smirked, "Because he actively sought out Butler Loxley."

Nora Scott was slightly stunned.

When Butler Loxley and Jack Carter started their shop and advertised, handing out a stack of flyers on nearby streets, a group of antique shop owners complained about unfair competition and lowering the antique shops’ class, feeling it was unreasonable.

The two disregarded it, continuing to let the flyers fly everywhere.

After Pedro Langley had them meet Glenn Flynn, they took the opportunity to send him a special flyer—on the flyer, the contact details were all Oliver Scott’s.

Glenn Flynn quickly recognized it, memorized the address, and tossed the flyer away, visiting the antique shop a few days later to find Butler Loxley and Jack Carter.

After learning Butler Loxley and Jack Carter’s identities, Glenn Flynn’s expression turned peculiar. Later, Butler Loxley inadvertently revealed to Glenn Flynn that the antiques came from Yangel, and he took out fake antiques to boast. Glenn Flynn saw through the "scam" instantly, feeling sympathy and advising Butler Loxley.

They tested each other several times.

Eventually, they found their goals were aligned.

"Aligned goals?" Nora Scott asked.

"Yes." Pedro Langley said, "He mentioned a close friend who died due to Alexander Vaughn’s fake antiques, happening last spring. Since then, he’s been investigating, eventually pinpointing Alexander Vaughn and successfully infiltrating their circle to plan taking down Alexander Vaughn’s base."

"Oh."

Spring last year.

Judging by the timing and clues, Glenn Flynn’s friend was likely Matt Leung.

Surprisingly, a gentle scholar went to such lengths to avenge Matt Leung, infiltrating Ethan Scott’s circle to meet Alexander Vaughn, uncovering so much information... Nora Scott felt embarrassed for the northwest forces and Biel Hall.

Turning her mouth slightly, Nora Scott changed the topic, "What were you talking about just now?"

"He said there’s a way to get the locations of the other bases."

"Huh?"

Nora Scott was taken aback.

"He’s been working for Alexander Vaughn lately," Pedro Langley said. "He’s a technician, and Alexander Vaughn needs identity covers and occasionally technical support for business. He’s done enough to earn Alexander Vaughn’s trust. Through Alexander Vaughn’s transactions over the past year or two, he can roughly obtain the addresses of each base and the information on base managers."

Alexander Vaughn’s caution is almost over the top.

According to Glenn Flynn, no one but Alexander Vaughn knows the locations of all the bases.

And the hideout discovered by Pedro Langley and Nora Scott is probably the most concealed one. Glenn Flynn, basing his calculations on the shipping list, always felt there were one or two missing. Therefore, he never disclosed the information he had until Pedro Langley approached him and told him about this hideout that had never been investigated.

Glenn Flynn will provide all the hideout addresses to Pedro Langley within these next two days based on his final calculations.

Afterward, it will be Nora Scott’s turn.

—— Nora Scott needs to utilize the Biel Hall’s network, verify these messages, and then find an opportune moment to bust these hideouts all at once.

"The trades with the Durant Family and the Ford Family are scheduled for the same day. This is Alexander Vaughn’s biggest transaction. He might not show up openly, but he will be monitoring in the shadows." Pedro Langley shared the latest news.

"When?"

"In ten days." After a brief pause, Pedro Langley continued, "The batch from Ethan Scott should be delivered one or two days earlier."

The implication was that they could first trap Ethan Scott and the Scott family and then tackle the hideouts and Alexander Vaughn without any problem.

"..."

Ten days later coincides with the deadline for Nora Scott to submit her designs to the 1101 Engineering Team.

Nora Scott felt an itch to act.

"It’s none of your business." Pedro Langley noticed the eagerness in her eyes and reminded, "Focus on your engineering drawings."

"Got it."

Nora Scott frowned, saying this. But as she turned around, she immediately made a call to Benjamin Durant.

"Isn’t your family about to engage in a big transaction?" Nora Scott always gets straight to the point.

Benjamin Durant was about to exchange pleasantries when he was caught off guard by this question, only to marvel at how his little mentor never wastes time on small talk when discussing business.

"I happen to be home, I’ll go inquire..."

After two minutes.

Benjamin Durant spoke again: "Steward Durant says yes, recently brought in a batch from the south—"

"Yangel?"

"Probably not. But it indeed came from either River Province or your province." Benjamin Durant was not well-informed about these matters.

"Oh." Nora Scott made a judgment in her mind, "That batch is fake."

Now, half of the antique circle knows that Yangel produces fakes. Alexander Vaughn no longer ships directly from Yangel, instead, he sends goods all over the country, repackages them, finds a buyer, and sells them with elaborate stories, ensuring it has nothing to do with Yangel.

"..."

Benjamin Durant was startled by Nora Scott’s decisiveness.

But he quickly realized, "You’ve traced the fake antique hideout in Yangel?"

"Yes."

Nora Scott briefly explained the situation to him.

"..."

Benjamin Durant considered himself daring and ready to tackle anything. Yet Alexander Vaughn’s crafty maneuvers were truly eye-opening. After hearing the explanation, he sighed deeply, admitting he still had much to learn; compared to Alexander Vaughn, he was merely playing small-time tricks.

After all, among the four major families in the Northwest, even as a young master, he dared not incite such enmity as Alexander Vaughn.

Alexander Vaughn’s audacity is indeed considerable.

"I’ll go and tell Steward Durant right away—"

"Wait."

Nora Scott called him to a halt.

Benjamin Durant was puzzled, "What?"

"Isn’t Robert Durant often competing with you for business?" Nora Scott asked with crossed legs, full of interest.

"Not openly." Benjamin Durant analyzed, "But there’s been a lot of backdoor dealings."

Though Young Master Durant was the only child, his father was in his prime, and the steward was competent; antiques were the family business, so he didn’t need to worry about them. He focused on enjoying life, creating mischief, and managing his chain of Virtue Retreat. As for the family’s business, he didn’t bother himself.

Nora Scott responded indifferently, "Give the goods to Robert Durant."

"..."

Benjamin Durant was stunned by Nora Scott’s bold move.

"Put on an act, make up stories. Like your family is facing a financial crisis and needs this batch to recover. This batch is of high quality, intercepting it would mean missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity..." Nora Scott started the narrative, then said, "You can draft the script, make it seem plausible."

"Ah, no, little mentor," Benjamin Durant was confused, "Based on our analysis, is it possible that Alexander Vaughn is cooperating with Robert Durant?"

After all, both Alexander Vaughn and Robert Durant had the same objective: Master Sliver + Mechanism City.

If there was no cooperation, they would surely be overtly competing and secretly fighting.

Yet, it’s heard that Robert Durant’s family’s antiques don’t have signs of betrayal, nor were they probing Alexander Vaughn, more like they are mutually aware and unperturbed.

—— In addition, Nora Scott and others analyzed that the swapped golden cup from the Robert Durant’s family should be part of an internally revealed plan. And that person is very likely to be Alexander Vaughn. This indicates Alexander Vaughn likely has a private alliance with the Robert Durant’s family, and they particularly trust him in this aspect.

Nora Scott said matter-of-factly, "Cooperation is cooperation, but it doesn’t prevent Alexander Vaughn from secretly undermining Robert Durant."

The golden cup incident is the best example, isn’t it?

Benjamin Durant: "..."