CHAPTER 352: CHAPTER-352

For the next few days, Kaya and the others decided to remain in the capital. There was no point in trying to leave when every exit was blocked. Better to dig in and fight.

Kaya looked at Cutie and said, "Go and bring me some charcoal to write with."

Cutie nodded and hurried out without a word.

While he was gone, Kaya took out a thin wooden plank and placed it on the table. She also sent one of Veer’s vulture beastmen with a message to summon him immediately.

By the time Cutie returned with the charcoal, Veer had already arrived.

Kaya was genuinely impressed. She’d sent that vulture only five minutes earlier, and Veer was already here. Their flying speed really was something else.

Veer looked at Kaya, ruffling his hair slightly to shake out some dirt from his flight. He smiled warmly and walked toward her with open arms. "Sweetheart!"

But as soon as he came near, Kaya put her hand up between them. "Stay away from me." She pushed him back slightly.

She really wanted to kick him, but no—right now, she needed to make sure none of her allies got injured unnecessarily. After all, they were her safety net, her protection in this hostile city.

Kaya asked Veer to have his vultures patrol and keep watch outside while they talked. Veer did just that, posting guards at strategic points.

After closing all the windows and doors, Kaya lit three candles around the table and placed the wooden board in the center. She was about to start writing when Veer saw the setup and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Sweetheart, are you doing some black magic or something?" he asked, barely controlling his amusement.

Kaya paused. She turned to look at him, and this time, she genuinely wished she could strangle this bastard. Here she was, about to discuss something critically important, and here he was, joking around like an idiot.

"Shut up, you fool," Kaya snapped, standing aside.

Ignoring his grin, she started drawing a rough circle on the wooden board—a map of the capital. She sketched out streets, alleys, and districts as she remembered them from her travels through the city.

"These are the streets we went through," she said, pointing to various lines. Then she turned to Veer. "Tell me which street, which alley belongs to which leader’s control."

Veer leaned forward, studying the crude map. He pointed. "This and this belong to the wolves. This and this to the vultures. This and this to the snakes."

He continued marking out territories, explaining which tribe controlled which districts.

"But it’s not like they *control* it," Veer clarified. "They’re ordered to protect these places, that’s it. It’s more like assigned patrol zones."

Kaya nodded, absorbing the information. Then she looked at him seriously. "What are the main ways of surveillance here? I want to know every department this capital has that works for security."

Veer nodded, understanding the gravity of her question. "Alright. The main surveillance comes from the Bird Department—that’s the official one, run by the smaller bird beastmen tribes. They’re the eyes of the city. Then there’s the Wolf Guard—they patrol at night, mostly using scent tracking. The Snake Informants work undercover, gathering intelligence in taverns and markets. And there’s also the Bat Network—they use echolocation at night to detect movements in the dark."

Kaya’s mind worked quickly, cataloging each piece of information.

She turned to Sparrow. "Can you stay perched on a tree somewhere and just observe? Notice any birds, any patterns, any differences in their behavior. You don’t need to attack them. You don’t need to do anything. I just need you to keep an eye on them and report back."

Sparrow nodded nervously. "I... I can do that."

Then Kaya turned to Cutie. "I heard rabbit ears are quite sharp, right?"

Cutie nodded. "Yeah."

"Good," Kaya said. "Use your ears. Keep them on high alert at all times. From what I know about the broker, he won’t stop. If not birds, then I believe he’ll send another type of beastman to spy on me. And I want to know everything about it."

Cutie gave a rare, determined nod. "Understood."

Kaya had already laid out her strategy clearly. First, she needed to understand all the departments and surveillance systems the capital had—every layer of the security infrastructure. Only then could she get a rough idea of who the broker might be and how to protect herself while simultaneously hunting him down.

Veer watched her work with a mixture of admiration and concern. "You’re really going to war with someone in the government, aren’t you?"

Kaya’s smile was cold and sharp. "He declared war on me first. I’m just returning the favor."

And from that moment, Kaya wanted to know more.

She knew, of course, that other humans had come to this world before her. Many of them would have been police officers, soldiers, or even mafia members—people who carried guns and weapons. But the main question was: how was it that some beastmen knew about guns, yet most didn’t?

Until now, she’d met so many people in this world, and not one of them had recognized her gun. Only the mongoose had shown any reaction. Even Veer hadn’t recognized it when he first saw it. He’d just thought it was some strange metal object.

So how was it that only one hitman could recognize it? Not any of the others. And the broker—did *he* know about guns or not?

Was there some book, some collection of tales, or historical records that told them about firearms? She needed to know. She wanted to understand how much these people knew about her world’s technology. And more importantly, if there were any useful things left behind—items like grenades, ammunition, or anything else abandoned by previous humans who had come to this world and either died or stayed.

All of this information could only be found in written records or documentation. And for that, she needed Veer’s help.

Because literally, she couldn’t just walk into a shop and buy books about another world—such things didn’t exist publicly in this world. Most beastmen relied on oral traditions, stories, and practical knowledge passed down through generations. Only top-secret things, like important government files, classified records, or restricted archives, were actually written down and preserved.

So Kaya had asked Veer for access to those.