The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

Irving continued to observe Elder Howard's every move, meticulously noting down all the intelligence Elder Howard had acquired. He had no intention of interfering because he believed that success does not come in haste. If he wanted to thoroughly defeat Elder Howard and the Night Blades behind him, he needed to accumulate enough information.

After searching for a while, Elder Howard ultimately decided to return to his room in the Angel Guild base. He sensed that the members of the Angel Guild were returning one after another. Both Andy and Nick acted swiftly, completing their respective missions in less than two hours.

Once Andy and Nick were back, Irving met with them in a secret meeting room. "What's the situation? Did you both complete your missions? Did you gather any additional information during the process?" Irving asked Nick and Andy, a hint of urgency in his voice.

Nick was the first to respond. His expression bore a touch of confusion as he spoke slowly. "I led my team to the location of the Night Blades' secret base that Elder Howard mentioned. There indeed was a secret base for the Night Blades there. Furthermore, there were some Night Blades members present. When we arrived, those members were in a state of panic.

We hardly had to exert much effort to eliminate them, and we also destroyed the secret base."

After hearing this, Irving responded with a tone of curiosity, "It sounds like your operation went very smoothly. So why do you still look puzzled?"

"My confusion mainly stems from the fact that I feel my mission went a bit too smoothly. Could the Night Blades' secret base really be so unguarded? I suspect that what we encountered was a disguised secret base. The members inside were simply too weak. A normal Night Blades secret base would definitely have some stronger members present.

Therefore, I believe that the address Elder Howard provided was a temporary, fake secret base set up by the Night Blades."

Irving naturally agreed with Nick's assessment. "I think that's quite reasonable. How could Elder Howard possibly reveal the location of the Night Blades' true secret base to us? Besides this discovery, did you find anything else?"

In response to Irving's probing, Nick shook his head. "I didn't find anything else, as the address Elder Howard provided was in a commercial district. The area around it is very bustling, so there was nothing out of the ordinary."

After Nick finished detailing his operation, it was Andy's turn to explain his findings. "My operation went very smoothly as well. I successfully retrieved the disc from the location Elder Howard mentioned. However, around that address, my team and I noticed a very dense mist. The mist seemed to be persistent and wouldn't easily dissipate.

I even had my team try to blow it away, but our efforts ultimately failed."

Irving was quite satisfied with the information Andy provided. "What you encountered is not an abnormal situation. To me, it seems perfectly normal, as Elder Howard's strongest skill is manipulating mist. He can blend the mist with dark powers, and to some extent, he can even transform himself into a part of the mist.

So when fighting against him, you must keep a close eye on where the mist is present."

After saying this, Irving turned his attention to the disc that Andy had brought back. Nick hurriedly chimed in, "Since we've only gathered this information, the data on the disc has become even more crucial for us. Let's check what's on it right away."

Under Nick's urging, Andy quickly began to use a player to examine the contents of the disc. The disc contained a wealth of information. A significant portion of it related to the organizational structure of the Night Blades.

Irving and the others finally learned that the elders of the Night Blades were not subordinate to one another. They would cooperate when necessary, but there were also conflicts among them. Upon learning this information, Irving finally understood some of the unusual situations he had encountered earlier.

"No wonder the elders of the Night Blades struggle to cooperate frequently. It turns out that each elder is a competitor to the others. They must defeat the other elders to gain greater dark power. Doesn't Night Blades worry that such internal strife could lead to their downfall?" Nick voiced his opinion directly.

In Nick's view, the infighting among the members of the Night Blades would undoubtedly affect the overall strength of the organization.

At this point, Irving smiled and shook his head. "You're being too naive. Infighting among the members of the Angel Guild will certainly affect the overall strength of the Guild. Even if you succeed in internal conflicts, you cannot completely eliminate your opponents.

However, the infighting among the Night Blades operates differently. As long as a member can succeed in their internal struggle, they can completely devour their opponent. Thus, the victorious Night Blades member naturally gains increased strength. The Night Blades constantly strengthen their members' power through this method."

Upon hearing Irving's words, both Andy and Nick displayed expressions of disgust. To them, the way the Night Blades enhanced their members' strength was utterly disgraceful.

"Indeed, the Night Blades are a truly insane and evil organization. The fact that they dare to use such methods makes me think they will ultimately be destroyed by their own infighting," Andy couldn't help but comment.

"Whether the Night Blades will be destroyed by internal strife is not a crucial matter for us. We cannot rely on the Night Blades to self-destruct. What we need to do is continuously weaken their power. Ultimately, it must be us who destroy the Night Blades ourselves! Only then can we ensure that the Night Blades will no longer pose any threat to us," Irving stated his perspective.

Although Andy and Nick didn't fully agree with Irving's viewpoint, they recognized that his argument had some merit. Therefore, the three of them decided not to dwell on those previous matters and shifted their focus to the remaining information.

The rest of the intelligence mainly concerned the members of the Night Blades in Starling City. Although the information provided specific details about some Night Blades members, these individuals were not particularly powerful. Moreover, it seemed that the data on the disc was guiding Irving and the others toward targeting the individuals that Elder Howard wanted to eliminate.

After reviewing all the information, Irving smiled and said, "It appears that Elder Howard is indeed a very shrewd individual. On one hand, he provided us with genuine intelligence; on the other hand, he used this information to mislead our judgment. He wants us to do his dirty work by eliminating his opponents within the Night Blades. We absolutely cannot proceed according to his plan."

Irving had figured out the true purpose behind Elder Howard's series of maneuvers. Consequently, he knew he should take the opposite course of action moving forward.

After all, Elder Howard was his enemy. Why should he act according to the ideas given by his enemy? Both Nick and Andy agreed with Irving's plan.

Andy directly asked Irving, "So what do you think our next course of action should be? If we don't look for the specific Night Blades members mentioned on the disc, Elder Howard is bound to notice something's off."

"Of course, we need to look for those Night Blades members! However, we can send some less powerful individuals to do so. After all, not all members of the Angel Guild are exceptionally strong," Irving replied with a smile.

He then turned his gaze to Nick. "My upcoming plan requires your cooperation. And during this cooperation, I hope you won't ask too many questions. Can you manage that?"

Without hesitation, Nick responded, "Of course I can. I came here to provide help."

Nick's answer pleased Irving. "Then we can begin the next phase of our operation. In this phase, Nick and I will head to other areas, while you will remain in charge of the Angel Guild base."

Irving smiled at Andy as he said this, and then he prepared to leave with Nick. Andy was taken aback by Irving's actions.

"You can't just leave like this! Elder Howard is still at our base. If you leave so easily, there will be no one to handle him," Andy exclaimed, panic evident in his voice. He felt that once Irving left, Elder Howard would become unstoppable.

Irving responded with a smile, "That's exactly my intention. If I stay at the base, Elder Howard won't act rashly. Although he may not necessarily detect my presence, he does possess some divination abilities. He can predict the likelihood of success and failure for his actions. Only by leaving will the odds of success for his divination result become much higher.

If he doesn't take action, our plans cannot proceed."

After saying this, Irving had no intention of continuing the conversation. He quickly left with Nick. As for the specific plans he and Nick had, he didn't share those with Andy.

Once Irving and Nick had departed, Andy looked worried and muttered to himself, "Now it's up to me to bear all the pressure. I must find a way to ensure nothing goes wrong at the base."

Although there were many other members of the Angel Guild in the base, they were completely unaware of what was happening, and thus had no reason to worry.