Early the next morning, Ian walked out of his room, the people outside had already started to get busy, morale wasn't exactly high, but everyone was working hard for their beliefs and ideals.
Mia stood on the platform in the center of the stronghold, looking at the assembled members of the resistance with a solemn expression, but her voice was powerful, "Today, I want to announce something important to you all, Ian will officially join our ranks. He saved Rayne a few days ago and showed extraordinary strength, and our operations will gain more security because of his joining."
Upon hearing this news, relief and hope appeared in the eyes of the crowd, and they applauded in welcome. However, Ian keenly caught certain subtle glances in the crowd, flashing a hint of uneasiness and vigilance. This made him even more convinced that Mia's worries were not unwarranted, and that there might indeed be a certain deeply hidden problem in the team.
After the announcement was made, Mia made it a point to introduce Ian to several senior members of the Resistance.
"This is Jack, our head of intelligence; this is Linda, she's in charge of supplies and logistics; then Roy, he's our chief tactical advisor. And finally Rayne you know." Mia introduced them one by one.
Ian shook hands with them in turn, paying attention to everyone's expression and eyes. Jack's face was calm and determined, Linda had a hint of curiosity and inquiry, and Roy's face was expressionless, making it difficult to speculate.
After the crowd was dismissed, Rayne found Ian, "I can't believe you agreed to join us, aren't you going to represent the City of Ashes in the selection process, do you have eyes for our boss? "
Ian rolled his eyes at him and didn't say anything, Rayne continued to flirt, "It's really nothing more, it's normal to like our boss, she's pretty and strong, many people like her, take that Roy for example, he's usually cold to others, but when he sees Mia, he smiles like a flower. "
Looking at Rayne with a convinced look, Ian still explained to him in order to avoid a bigger misunderstanding, "Don't guess blindly, I'm just staying for the time being, I'll have to leave in a few days, Mia told me more about the selection, and I agreed to stay for the time being in order to return her favor, don't go out and say anything nonsense ah. "
After sending Rayne away, Ian also formally started his investigation, first he found Jack, and under the name of mutual familiarity, he learned about Jack's daily tasks, and the way the intelligence department operates, Jack still maintains a vigilant attitude towards Ian's joining the team, and in his own words, this is the professional attitude of an intelligence worker.
Ian then went to the stronghold's supply warehouse alone. He casually climbed into a conversation with the young man guarding the warehouse as if he was pretending to make a tour, "You have managed this place very well, and the variety of supplies is also very complete."
The young man smiled shyly, "Thanks to Ms. Linda's careful arrangements, but supplies have been a bit scarce lately, and our supply lines have been cut off quite a few times by the Storm Council."
Ian nodded, pondering, "That is indeed troublesome, have supplies been attacked more often?"
The young man smiled bitterly, "The frequency has gotten quite a bit higher lately, and the strange thing is that the Storm Council always knows exactly the routes and times we transport our supplies. We should know that every time the route of the supplies transportation is notified to us until the night before the transportation starts, and the transportation personnel are often adjusted, so I really can't figure out why we are still attacked in this way."
Ian was slightly shaken inwardly, this information was very important, if there was still a possibility that the attack on the stronghold was a leak from an ordinary member, then the frequent leaks of the transportation routes would be a high probability that there was a traitor at the top. He asked a few more specific questions before leaving the warehouse.
Finally Ian paid a visit to Roy, the tactical advisor didn't seem to welcome Ian, but sat down with Ian for a while to chat under Ian's friendly attitude, "Say, what is it that you wanted to see me about. "It was true that Roy was acting cold towards everyone else, as Rayne had said.
Ian wasn't angry either, instead he said politely, "It's nothing special, I just joined, so I wanted to come and familiarize myself with you guys, and learn about your daily tasks, so that I can work better together in the future. "Ian's answer was very reasonable, so Roy also briefly recounted his duties, "My duty is to help the resistance army formulate tactics in big battles, in large-scale battles, in addition to the confrontation of the top combatants, the battles of the other low-grade aberrations are also very critical, the ants are large enough to bite the elephants as well. "
"Then may I ask, what do you think the Storm Council will take action next? " Ian continued to ask. Roy just replied, "This is not clear to me, I can only think that for the current situation, what the Storm Council needs the most is to find an opportunity to decapitate us, the top brass, well, this is but also my guess, if there is nothing else, I'm going to be quiet and think about my next battle plan. "
Ian left with a sense of humor, after a day of learning nothing other than the fact that he could determine the existence of traitors in the upper echelons.
In the evening, Ian knocked on the door of Rayne's room at the moment of rest.
"Ian, what's wrong?" Rayne asked in surprise.
"There's something I want to talk to you about, can I come in?"
Rayne hastily sidled up to let Ian in and closed the door behind him.
Inside the room, Ian opened the door and said, "Rayne, what do you think of the three people, Jack, Linda and Roy?"
Rayne was slightly stunned, then looked serious, "Jack has always been low-key and stable, Linda is meticulous in her work, and Roy, although he is not talkative, has a very unique strategic vision. These three people are Mia's most trusted core members. Why are you asking this?"
Ian said with a deep gaze, "Who do you think is the most likely traitor among these three?"
Rayne blushed hard and spoke stiffly, "Don't... Don't be ridiculous, how could they be traitors, why are you suddenly asking me this?" Obviously Rayne was also confused by Ian's sudden question.
"Rayne, I'm not joking, from the attack on the stronghold to the frequent leakage of the material transportation routes, I'm now basically certain that there should be traitors amongst the senior staff, you were saved by me by chance, your suspicion is minimal, therefore, I hope you can abandon your emotional factors and make a rational judgment."
Rayne looked at Ian's serious eyes and fell into deep thought, and only after a long time did he cautiously speak, "The leakage of the location of the stronghold could be anyone's fault, however, Linda is responsible for the route planning and arrangement of all the material transportation, so if the material routes have been leaked, then Linda is indeed the most suspected. But she has always been loyal, it is hard to imagine that she would do something to betray us."
Ian nodded, "That's reasonable speculation, and I don't want to believe that Linda would be a problem, but we can't let any possibilities go. I need you to keep an eye on Linda for me and see if she has any unusual contact with the outside world."
Rayne nodded with a grave expression, "I understand, I'll keep an eye on her."
Ian gently patted Rayne's shoulder, "You should also be careful not to let anyone find out that you are watching her. Once we're detected, we'll most likely never be able to figure out the truth of the matter."
Rayne looked determined, "Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Leaving Rayne's room, Ian walked to the outskirts of the stronghold again, the night breeze was slightly cool, he stood at a high place and looked out at the dark mountain range in the distance, he had already planned his next move in his mind, first Rayne would keep an eye on Linda, and he himself had to go and confirm a few things next, which was also his biggest doubt at the moment.