Chapter 3354 A Genius In People Studies
Her success, however, would not be predicated upon these people nor the four cornerstone divine tools, for those were designated to be little more than mere red herrings.
Her true weapon was those killers from the Ecclesiastic Order, the fighters from Yartran, and also, the varied expressions of her own deviousness in the art of poisoning, or the likes.
Although none of these would likely prove useful in a frontal assault, it was nonetheless subject to the terms of engagement.
Whatever she had told Floyd would serve as a sleight of hand to keep Levi off balance and cause him to lower his guard in the belief that he had full knowledge beforehand with regards to the degree of adversity he would be up against.
In truth, these were smoke and mirrors, for that woman’s schemes were as elaborately layered as a Matryoshka doll with the aim of keeping the real threat hidden from view.
Though she might have told Floyd about the cornerstone divine tools, he remained none the wiser about everything else that she withheld from him.
In actuality, she had a very specific objective in mind when she chose to divulge that secret to him ahead of time, and that was Forlevia.
Should the factional elites lay siege to Levi and somehow manage to harm or kill Levi, Forlevia would surely become the object of a tug-of-war.
How could I possibly serve Forlevia up on a platter for them?
She had to be doubly prepared.
By leaking that piece of intel ahead of time, she aimed to have Floyd and the others hide Forlevia away.
Knowing Levi’s personality, she also anticipated that he would choose to handle everything alone, meaning that the girl would not make an appearance.
That was how she could be sure that Forlevia would be hers and hers alone.
Although that meant temporarily putting the girl out of her own reach as well, she could not risk allowing anyone else to take her.
It was the means by which her own goal may be made easily attainable.
“That’s right. It is going down past the witching hour, three days from now!”
Gloria further provided the details of the timing to Floyd in a maneuver to throw Levi off his guard.
“Thank you for this, Gloria, really, as we would have been at serious peril this time otherwise,” an emotional Floyd said.
Again, Gloria told him, “Seeing how we’re like family, you don’t have to stand at ceremonies with me! In spite of that, I think it’d be best for you to not inform your master and the others of this for the time being, as they might question my intent!”
“Okay. Understood!”
Gloria chuckled while she watched Floyd depart from the rear.
Would this be enough? Far from it!
Not only must that information be fed to Levi via Floyd, she still needed others to tell Levi the same thing, for a more multi-prong approach would only help allay Levi’s suspicions.
Her choice candidate for that was North Pavilion, the only ones who were oblivious to the fact that the other major factions of the Ecclesiastic Order were currently in preparation to ally with one another against Levi.
Though others may not be aware of North Pavilion’s relationship with Levi, she was.
As such, she reckoned that their ongoing dependency on him would make them obliged to pass on such information to him without delay.
Very quickly, Gloria had the word leaked to North Pavilion who were under the impression that it was they themselves who stumbled upon it.
A personal order then came down from the Three Sages themselves. “Hurry! Have this brought to Mr. Garrison’s attention immediately!”
Floyd returned to the base with all haste and told Levi everything with a strong emphasis on the bit concerning the four cornerstone divine tools.
“Oh, is that so? Splendid! The tens of thousands of fighters from the Ecclesiastic Order were still as disappointingly weak the last time I crossed paths with them, so I do wish to see them send some stronger elites! Hopefully, those cornerstone divine tools would be much more intriguing and less of a letdown!”
If Levi indeed sounded condescending, that dismissive attitude of his was founded on the basis of his own prowess.
Succinctly put, it was not because he was cocky, but simply because everyone else was beneath him.
On her part, Gloria had a solid grasp of Levi’s mindset as she knew that he would not take it with any grain of seriousness.
Floyd, however, had not been very convincing in what he reported. Though he did cite the possibility of an attack, he did not specify when.
That though, was very much as Gloria intended.
Since it would be highly questionable how Floyd could have come into such an important piece of intel, delving too much into the specifics would have conversely roused Levi’s suspicions.
As such, the ambiguity about the timing and scope of the matter depicted by Floyd’s broad strokes would, by itself, make it more believable for Levi.
Soon after, Levi received a discreet missive from North Pavilion.
The contents furnished details with much greater accuracy and timeliness, to the effect that it reinforced Floyd’s muddled account.
“Hahaha… All right… Now, we’re talking!”