The private eting room of Alpha Squad in the central wing of Magical Intelligence was subrged in a silence charged with the electricity of tension and hostility.
The bright white lighting reflected grim faces, old scars, and pride that had been recently wounded in the alleys of the middle sector.
I stood at the end of the massive electronic table, wearing the ridiculous new recruit uniform that looked slightly oversized on my thin body.
I wasn’t wearing the mask. I was just "Kyle Valtier"—the pale boy with faded crimson eyes, and a Rank G that made , in the eyes of those seated before , nothing more than a walking joke.
At the head of the table sat Commander "Kyrion Drathis," the living legend, rubbing his temples like soone suffering from chronic migraines.
To his left sat "Eva Blackwood," fidgeting nervously with a tal pen, her other hand unconsciously resting on her abdon—where my shadow bullet had left an invisible scar and phantom pain that tore at her nerves every night.
Beside her was "Sia," quiet as an ice statue, and "Damian," the blond young man who looked at with pity mixed with contempt.
In the corner of the room, leaning against the glass wall and blowing a bubble of pink gum... stood "Valisera."
"Let summarize what you’re saying, recruit," Kyrion broke the silence, his deep voice carrying the weight of his Rank S.
"You claim—despite barely being able to summon enough aether to warm a cup of coffee—that you possess a list of nas of traitors involved in the human experintation network within the FBI?"
I nodded with feigned shyness and looked down.
"Y-yes, sir. As I told Commander Valisera... I accidentally overheard a conversation in the lower sector weeks ago. I heard their nas being ntioned among so rcenaries."
A filthy lie. But the only lie I could tell without exposing my ability to extract mories from the brains of corpses.
I had seen the faces of those traitors and their ranks when I harvested Marcus’s mories before blowing his head off.
"Nas of whom exactly?" Sia asked coldly.
I raised my gaze slowly. "Inspector General ’Thorne,’ Rank A. Captain ’Miller,’ Rank B. And Lieutenants ’Vargas’ and ’Reed,’ both Rank B."
The tal pen fell from Eva’s hand and struck the table.
Damian gasped audibly.
Kyrion’s jaw stiffened, his gray eyes widening for a second before narrowing again with threat.
"Inspector General Thorne?!" Eva shouted, rising from her seat in anger, pointing at .
"Have you lost your mind, you piece of trash?! Thorne is one of the heroes of the investigation sector! He’s saved dozens of lives! And Captain Miller is an academy instructor! You’re accusing elite Rank A and B officers of treason based on... eavesdropping in a sewer?!"
"This is absolute nonsense," Damian added, shaking his head firmly.
"Commander, this boy is trying to attract attention and fabricate accusations against respected figures. If Inspector Thorne hears about this, he’ll skin us all alive for defamation!"
Inside, I was smiling a devilish grin that split my hidden face from ear to ear. (Yes, Eva... defend them. Defend the pigs who sell children for officials to play with. How blind you all are! Wolves pretending to be ferocious, yet unable to sll the rotten blood in your own den!)
I maintained my frightened, hesitant expression.
"I-I’m just repeating what I heard! Please don’t be angry!"
Kyrion let out a heavy sigh and looked at Valisera.
"Do you see this, Valisera? This is what happens when we bring street children into intelligence. Baseless accusations against high-ranking officials. I cannot allow this nonsense. I will expel him imdiately."
Pop!
The pink gum bubble burst sharply.
Valisera turned slowly and walked toward the table.
Her face held no expression, but the temperature in the room suddenly dropped.
"No one here is being expelled, Kyrion," Valisera said in a soft voice dripping with poison and finality.
"Kyle is not lying. I reviewed the hidden financial movents of Thorne and Miller after Kyle inford . There are discrepancies. Money is being laundered through shell companies in Novarion. And they are responsible for securing the logistical routes in Sector G—the sa routes where orphan transport vehicles keep disappearing."
A deadly silence fell.
If Kyle spoke, he was trash.
But if Valisera spoke... it was an unquestionable decree.
No one in the room trusted . Eva glared at as if she wanted to burn alive, and Kyrion saw as a catastrophic liability.
But they... trusted Valisera. Or rather, they feared questioning her Rank S- judgnt.
"Even if what you’re saying holds so truth..." Kyrion said in a low voice, clinging to logic.
"How do we arrest them? Thorne is Rank A and personally close to FBI Director Alexander Vance! Miller, Vargas, and Reed are trained Rank B officers. We can’t just knock on their doors and arrest them without a direct order from High Command. And Alexander Vance will never sign an arrest warrant for his own n based on suspicions!"
At that mont, I watched silently. This was the question that had been bothering . How would this sadistic teenager bypass the complex hierarchy of intelligence?
How would she convince Alexander Vance—the old, ruthless fox—to give her the green light to devour his own officers?
Valisera smiled as if she had just rembered a funny joke.
"Oh, don’t worry about old Alexander. I already convinced him this morning."
Kyrion’s eyes widened. "Convinced him? How?"
My mind drifted back to what had happened earlier that morning. I had been standing outside the imposing office of the FBI Director while Valisera entered.
The door hadn’t been fully closed, and I heard fragnts of the conversation that made my mind freeze.
Alexander Vance—the man who terrified army generals—had been shouting at first:
"Impossible! I won’t arrest Thorne! That’s political suicide!"
Then I heard Valisera’s voice—calm, cold, carrying a cosmic threat:
"Alexander... do you rember that incident in the capital, Zerathion, ten years ago? That black operation where you ordered the erasure of an entire village to cover your tracks? I have the docunts. And I have witnesses... still breathing in my pocket dinsion. If you don’t sign the arrest warrant now, I’ll make Kaiser Dravion read these docunts tonight over dinner."
All I heard afterward was the trembling sound of a golden pen signing paper.
How did that girl do this?! Where did she get such filthy information to incriminate the head of the FBI? Was she born with blackmail files in her mouth?
This girl wasn’t just a powerful Awakened—she was a political demon playing with rulers!
My thoughts snapped back to the eting room as Valisera slamd an electronic file onto the table.
"We have the arrest warrant. Alive—for the purpose of secret interrogation," Valisera announced coldly.
"Tonight, Thorne, Miller, and the others will et at Warehouse 42 in the industrial Sector G. They are supposed to receive a new shipnt of ’goods’ to transfer to the Folders’ laboratories. We will be there to receive them."
"Commander..." Damian interrupted nervously, glancing at .
"W-will this boy accompany us? I an Kyle. He’ll be in mortal danger! Rank A and B will turn him into tomato paste in seconds!"
Valisera turned toward , a cunning smile dancing on her lips.
"Of course he will accompany us," she said slyly.
"Kyle will be the bait."
My expression froze. Bait? You silver-haired bitch!
"M-my lady!" I pretended to panic, starting to tremble. "I can’t fight! Please—I’ll die!"
"Don’t worry, Kyle," Eva laughed sadistically, finally finding sothing to brighten her day.
"We’ll make sure to collect your remains in one bag if things go wrong."
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