Volume 4 Chapter 15: Hidden Information

“You were too slow!” Qin Lun straightened up and said flatly as he looked at the newcomer.

“Hey, did Lin Feng send any more messages?” Grant’s large figure stepped out from under the light, and he pursed his lips with an unclear meaning.

“No, not yet. The progress on that Side Mission that Lili and Little Lian received is still not very significant!” Qin Lun said coldly. “I didn’t expect that after they were captured by the Allied Forces, the Main Quest would actually have such a change. It seems that the Shattered Starry Sky indeed set up several branches in the main storyline, not making us fight the Allied Forces head-on.”

“Hmm, that’s to be expected! Relying solely on the ‘Gentlemen Alliance’ line, this ‘Heracles’ Main Quest would have been far too difficult. With the opportunity created by Lili and the others’ capture, we now have intelligence from both sides… Eh, could it be…” Clown Grant stopped mid-sentence as if he had thought of something.

It seemed this clown wasn’t as rough as he appeared on the surface. Although he had only just realized it now, his reaction was quite sharp. At the same time, a glint of sharpness flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes, and he slightly lowered his head to conceal the expression on his face.

In fact, after Qin Lun and Grant arrived at the intelligence outpost last night, they quickly received information sent by Lili and Little Lian through the Team Channel.

These two Apostles, who were posing as medics in the Oranienburg Unit, actually received a hidden branch mission from the enemy’s hands.

During World War II, although the United States had become the world’s leading industrial power thanks to the accumulation from World War I, it was not yet the most scientifically and technologically advanced nation. It was only after World War II, when the United States and the Soviet Union divided the legacy left by Germany, that they replaced Britain and France, which had suffered huge losses in the war, becoming the two poles of the world.

At this time, all of Germany’s science and technology were at the forefront of the world, and even medicine was highly developed. Being able to become medics for the Superhumans of the “Gentlemen Alliance,” it was clear that Lili and Little Lian, after being captured, were also regarded by the Allied Forces as outstanding surgeons.

Thus, bizarrely, Lili and Little Lian received a hidden branch mission from the Allied Forces in Casablanca. This mission was called “Save the Father of Modern Physics.”

This so-called Father of Modern Physics was the same person, whether in Qin Lun’s time or in this world. The founder of the “Theory of Relativity” and “Quantum Theory,” the pioneer and founder of modern physics, the German-American Jew—Albert Einstein.

In fact, many later scholars held the view that if the Third Reich had not exterminated the Jews and driven out those German scientists, including Albert Einstein and the “Father of the Atomic Bomb” Oppenheimer, perhaps the Germans would have developed the atomic bomb before 1945. If that had happened, the outcome of the war might have changed considerably.

Perhaps the history of this time and space was different; the “Father of Modern Physics,” Albert Einstein, was now in Casablanca. He was leading a research institute for the Allied Forces, similar to the “German Aryan Ark Corps.” This institute had multiple strategic plans.

According to what Lili and Little Lian heard indirectly, the known strategic plans of the institute included the later famously known “Manhattan Project” and “Super Soldier Program.”

The content of the “Manhattan Project” might be unknown to other German soldiers, but Qin Lun and the others, who came from another time and space, knew it clearly—it was the most powerful devil weapon of the old century, the nuclear fission atomic bomb.

As for the other “Super Soldier Program,” one of its super soldiers had fought against German Superhumans during the Normandy landings. His real name might be known to very few, but his nickname was already world-famous during World War II; he was called “Captain America.”

In Qin Lun’s time and space, Albert Einstein fell seriously ill in 1948, developing a large aortic aneurysm in his abdominal aorta. After surgery, he fell ill again in 1955 and died from abdominal bleeding.

In this world, because the war process was more intense, and in order to end the war as quickly as possible, Einstein participated in and led the Allied Forces’ unconventional warfare power integration plan. As a result, this nearly seventy-year-old man fell seriously ill prematurely in Casablanca due to overwork.

Although there were many Allied Forces stationed in Casablanca, there was a lack of highly skilled surgeons. So, Lili and Little Lian were forcibly enlisted by the Allied Forces to assist in treating Albert Einstein.

Although this was done out of necessity, in the view of the Allied Forces, Lili and Little Lian were just medics and had surrendered voluntarily, not fighting to the death like other German soldiers. Moreover, they did not know that the person they were treating was Albert Einstein, and even for the sake of their own lives, they would try their best to save the patient, so there shouldn’t be any mistakes.

What the Allied Forces didn’t know was that these two fake women had another identity as Apostles. The moment they came into contact with Albert Einstein, the Shattered Starry Sky prompted them that they had triggered a hidden branch mission, and it was one with very low difficulty.

After receiving the intelligence from Little Lian and Lili, the two serial killers understood that this was a major hint given by the Shattered Starry Sky. At that moment, they immediately realized the doubts about the difficulty of the Main Quest when they first entered the world.

If they continued to follow Skorzeny now, with the time limit of about 20 minutes, to assassinate the Allied leaders, that would be the highest difficulty, quasi-major level.

If they followed the clues provided by Lili and Little Lian, as long as they found any Allied researcher in this underground area, they might receive other hidden branches, with difficulties ranging from sergeant level to lieutenant level.

With the Team Channel hints from Little Lian and Lili, 20 minutes was enough for them to come into contact with an Allied researcher related to “unconventional warfare power.”

Apart from these clues that could be immediately understood, when Qin Lun received this intelligence, he also realized another issue: the hidden information regarding team missions.

They entered this world in team mode. Judging from the Main Quest, if Little Lian and Lili had not been captured, it would have been impossible to obtain intelligence from the enemy side. They would have had to fight to the death with Skorzeny, with a very high probability of mission failure.

In other words, the hidden hint given by the Shattered Starry Sky had always been there; it just depended on whether they could realize it. Thus, the so-called team mission was like an iceberg, with only a small part visible on the surface, while huge variables were hidden beneath the water.

That is to say, once Apostles formed a team, the intelligence basis for the mission would be completely different from that of individual missions. The intelligence for individual missions was guided by the content of a one-sided mission, while team missions expanded to the entire faction and the whole world, requiring intelligence from more sources, including even internal intelligence from the enemy faction.

Taking the Orphan World that Qin Lun had experienced as an example, he couldn’t just obtain intelligence from the Demon Hunters’ side; he also needed intelligence from the Witches’ side to better solve the mission. Under the circumstances at that time, this clearly exceeded Qin Lun’s capabilities.

Not to mention him, anyone, under the restrictions of stay time and faction, couldn’t split into two halves to obtain internal intelligence from both major factions simultaneously.

Qin Lun calmly glanced at Grant. The clown should have realized it by now as well. Individual missions and team missions weren’t just different in difficulty; the key difference also lay in the inequality of information. No matter how great one’s personal ability was, it would be difficult to complete even the most ordinary team mission.

Thus, for serial killers like them, this would probably be the first bottleneck in their continued Apostle careers and even their survival in future Otherworld Missions.

Dissector Qin Lun, Shepherd Hill, Clown Grant, Disciple Hansen, Firecracker Rand… The serial killers didn’t lack combat power or wit; in some aspects, even their willpower was top-notch. However, it was almost impossible for them to trust other Apostles.

How to hide themselves in a team of normal Apostles, how to gain others’ trust without having to give their own trust—this would be an important topic for the serial killers in the future. Just thinking about the numerous betrayals and hidden malice contained in this topic would make a normal person shudder.

“Heh, it seems you’re ahead of us!” Grant said meaningfully, having flashed through everything Qin Lun had realized earlier in just a short moment. “No wonder Shepherd said you are the most frightening one among us. Look at Little Lian and Lili; among the several leaders, they only trust you!”

“They trust Qin Lun, not the ‘Dissector.'” Qin Lun avoided the clown’s gaze and said calmly, “Let’s go, we don’t have much time!”

Watching Qin Lun’s back as he walked ahead, a cold light appeared in Grant’s eyes, and he muttered softly, “They are wrong. The ‘Dissector’ might still have a shred of possibility to be trusted, but Qin Lun… heh!”

…

Five or six minutes later, Grant and Qin Lun, moving at full speed, finally approached the research institute location that Little Lian and Lili had indicated. Due to the Casablanca summit meeting this time, where the Allied Forces were integrating unconventional warfare power within their faction, the comprehensive war research institute led by Albert Einstein had also come entirely to Casablanca.

During the early morning shelling by the Gneisenau, scientists from the Allied nations all hid in underground shelters. For safety reasons, they were not gathered together but were separated into several locations to avoid the shelling.

The researchers that Little Lian and Lili could come into contact with were only a small part. The location where Qin Lun and Grant were now was one of the shelters for scientists.

However, after turning the corner in the passage ahead, Qin Lun and Grant had to stop with grave expressions. They had finally encountered obstructions here.

“Heh, Ms. Kathleen, it seems we have visitors here too!” A tall American dressed as a cowboy took the leather whip from his waist and turned to his companion with a laugh.