Grivon entered the Grey Marsh that same day along with his crew and directly went after the main branch of the organization.
He and his team wore navy blue cloaks fully covering their bodies. They even used some crystal eye masks that mask their eyes. They are extremely powerful. His team has extremely high-level cultivators and every one of them could be considered overkill.
He has a necromancer who collected souls and got the information. He learned who the head of the organization is passing the information to and where they are keeping the mutated hatchlings and the locations of the contained environments for the fully grown beasts.
He went with the team and started hunting until the next day as he collected the beasts and specter collected souls.
They finished the whole thing and came back to the stray dimension. But he didn't disturb Sam, instead, he focused on the information he got and decided to investigate it himself all the while keeping an eye on the business deal that was going on.
One week passed like that.
Sam managed to make his minor breakthrough in the research. At the moment, he is standing in the middle of a metal box as he wore a pair of gloves as he tried to draw something in the mid-air.
A few lines which looked like they are made of condensed like appeared in the air. He pressed something on the gloves and they changed their color, he tried to hold the lines and he managed to do it.
He moved it like a stick. He turned off the whole thing and smiled.
This is the big step, but it is not ready yet. He still has a lot to do regarding this and he knew he would be having more fun doing this.
After he was done there, he handed over the gloves for the assistants to test them once again, before he left and went to take a bath.
He knew that Grivon would be coming that day. He had a meal and went to meet with him.
"So, what do you need to learn today?" Sam asked directly.
"What do you mean?" Grivon was really surprised.
"I gave you business lessons last time. So, I was wondering if you want to learn something else. Cooking, drinking, maybe some tips for bed."
Grivon gave him a side-eyed glance and said.
"That is really funny, now can we talk some serious business? I have brought everything you asked for. The Grey Marsh is completely dealt with and today, my business is officially starting. My sister already moved some of her forces from the clan grounds and even she moved.
It seems like she wants to deal with this problem violently. I sent my own team there and they are going to handle any surprises that my sister might create."
"That is one problem solved. Anything else?"
"Not much. I brought the things you asked for. You can take a look at them. And I also have new information from the Grey Marsh, I investigated and I want to see if you know anything else before I decide to make a move."
"What kind of information?"
"The leader of the Grey Marsh directly reports to someone named, The Cook."
"The Cook? I know that guy from Sivan's memories, he is an intelligence broker. He is also one of the guys that operate solely and don't belong to the twelve foundational organizations of Sivan. That information is accurate, you can act on it if you want.
But it is hard to find him."
"That is the point here. The Cook is actually an agent of the Gaja Clan. He is the intelligence broker we employ. We work with him, we put him there."
Sam was surprised by this.
"What do you mean you put him there? It is Sivan who made him come here. Sivan saved his life and The Cook didn't want to stay in his debt forever, so he was placed in the middle of your territories and his territories to broker intelligence.
He finds people who have intelligence on your clan and gains that information to pass it over to Sivan and Mari Clan."
Grivon looked horrified when he heard this. Sam looked at his expression and a thought popped in his mind.
"Don't tell me, your clan did the same."
"Yes, that is what exactly happened. One of the successor candidates of the past generation. The guy who might be considered my uncle has found this guy and brought him to the clan, we saved him and placed him in the middle to trade intelligence for us. This is the picture."
Grivon showed the picture and Sam's facial expression changed once again.
"You guys are screwed, in the most royal way. Somebody is playing on the two sides of the game and he might really not be of any side.
He is playing for his own side and is trying to screw both of your clans over by managing the intel. That is a pretty nice plan. I have done something like that before too and trust me it is extremely effective."
"I don't think he is doing a good job at that. None of his intel was wrong. We almost got everything down to the teeth whenever we followed the information he passed down to us."
"I thought you are good at warfare."
"I am good at warfare. But this is not warfare."
"This is warfare, Grivon. You are indeed too young and naïve. Espionage is a big part of warfare. If you cant even be good at that basic thing, you can never be good at warfare.
Just go to the spot, the next time you set up a meeting, catch him and get the information you need.
That is all you need to do and the problem will be solved. You will understand after you extract his memories."
"The next meeting is in two days."
"You can do that then. What else? Do you have other matters? I want to go back to my study, I have way too many new ideas to give you lectures here."
"Well, this might be a bit problematic, I don't know if you will agree."
"Just tell me what your problem is. I don't like this beating around the bush and you projecting your doubts early on. You can be direct and precise and I will give you what you want if I can give you what you want and if I don't want to, I will deny it with an equally direct and blunt response.
So, just ask me. You will get an answer."
"We have a person in the clan. An old man who sweeps the clan grounds. I don't know who he is, neither do my brothers and sisters, subordinates, and even the elders.
But some of the highest levels of elders with enough authority let him be. He would be in different places randomly as he sweeps the courtyards, streets and sometimes, he sits under a tree.
He doesn't show a single sign of cultivation. There is not a single energy wave we feel from him. Some people just make fun of him and some people just ignore him. But I want to befriend him."
"It still doesn't explain what you need from me."
"I will get there, let me explain first.
That old man is one of the oldest members of the clan, he is over one thousand years old and he should be at the peak of Astral Plane Consummate stage."
"And how do you know that and the rest of your peers don't?"
"It is because I read through the library that was not touched since three hundred years ago and there are records of our ancestors. This person was a legend back then. He destroyed everything that stayed in his path with a calm face.
There is a story that said that the head of the Mari clan at that time, literally wet his pants in a battle with him."
"That still doesn't answer the question, you are giving me too many waste details."
"He doesn't have a leg now. I don't know what happened, but his leg was gone."
"So you need an artificial limb to bring this guy to your side."
"Yes."
"Then, your question should have been, 'I need you to make an artificial leg to a person I am trying to poach, will you do it?' I don't need all of these details."
"Well, you are an expert in many things, I just want to get your opinion."
"I don't think so. You are not getting opinions, you are trying to fish for information."
"What do you mean? Do you really think, I would think you have information on one of my ancestors? How stupid do you think I am?"
"No, I think that you think that you are keeping a good cover while you are analyzing me. You are placing different scenarios, including the business plan, the shield problem, and now this old man thing to test me."
