Chapter 329
Chapter 329
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 329
Chapter Title: Isabel's Warning
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A few hours later, Sihyun Yujin's ship departed from Berzan-02 as scheduled.
The biodome enveloping the Water Fortress was dyed a dark crimson.
Isabel still hadn't shown up.
｢...Something must have happened.｣
In the dim alleyway, amber eyes flickered with unease.
'Why all of a sudden?'
There hadn't been anything unusual when they met yesterday. She had gone back earlier than usual, but she was a Noble. With restrictions on her freedom of movement, that was perfectly understandable.
She might have circumstances preventing her from coming today too, but somehow, it felt ominous.
It wasn't just me. The Mother of the Sky felt the same, and so did the MPS-05 in my backpack.
'This won't do.'
Waiting here any longer was pointless.
She might be at the dilapidated warehouse where the Coldblood slaves were hiding. The Mother of the Sky and I headed there together.
Upon arriving at the warehouse, the entrance was blocked by the barrier as always. I pressed my head to the ground. Using the auxiliary organ under my chin to search for traces of Isabel.
As I scanned the faint footprints on the floor and the fingerprints near the terminal with my auxiliary organ, something unusual caught my attention. A few traces felt much sharper than the others. That meant they were recent.
｢Did you find something?｣
The Mother of the Sky looked around before pulling the MPS-05 from my backpack.
"Confirm. Confirm."
It crawled up the wall using its pointed metal legs. Then it unplugged the cable from its head—which was also its body—and inserted it into the terminal's small port.
"Password, input. Required."
｢Password?｣
"Password. Needed!"
At the word "password," the Mother of the Sky and I exchanged glances simultaneously. She was thinking the same thing I was.
｢'Penelope'.｣
"Confirm."
This warehouse protected the legacy left by Isabel's twin sister. There was only one possible password for such a place.
As expected, once MPS-05 inputted the password, the barrier dissolved.
Inside the warehouse, the first thing that caught my eye was the pad-like terminal lying on the floor.
｢That's Isabel's.｣
The terminal was neatly placed atop the door to the underground stairs, as if inviting us to look.
I picked up the thin pad with one of my smaller arms from my chest. The moment my finger touched it, it activated, displaying various pieces of information on the screen.
'What's this?'
As I scrolled through the information, I could guess why Isabel hadn't come. And what she was thinking.
Isabel wouldn't appear before us anymore. She wouldn't come to see the Coldbloods hiding underground either.
｢What does it say? What's going on?｣
Instead of answering, I handed the pad to the Mother of the Sky. Her eyes grew wider with each swipe of her fur-covered finger across the screen.
The data on Isabel's terminal fell into two main categories.
One was personnel files on the ten top Cult officials in the Water Fortress. When they entered and left, their positions, the strength of their influence, points of caution—everything important was meticulously organized.
The other was a list of merchant ships. Only those teetering on the edge of legality and illegality, ones unlikely to receive imperial protection. They looked perfect for smuggling out Coldbloods. At the end of the list was a locked file set to unlock automatically in seven days.
｢No way, is this...?｣
A list of merchant ships and a file locked for seven days.
Isabel intended to entrust the Coldbloods to us. She herself wouldn't return to the warehouse. As for the contract with the Mother of the Sky? The locked file was the key.
It wasn't hard to guess what was inside that file. Probably the illusions she promised to share with me, neatly compiled.
｢That girl has no intention of coming back!｣
The Mother of the Sky seemed to think the same as me. Her bewilderment leaked plainly through the thought waves.
Why would a slave like Isabel compile a list of Cult high-ups? The answer wasn't hard. There was a Ranker among them.
But Isabel hadn't specified who the Ranker was. She had simply recorded detailed profiles on all ten.
The chance she didn't know who it was due to ignorance was slim. She had the power to read information, after all.
The reason she didn't pinpoint the Ranker was simple.
Just like the one with the Mother of the Sky, she had clearly contracted with another Ranker and a Vortex One.
｢Coldbloods are the only ones who can make contracts.｣
It's nearly impossible for non-Coldblood species to form friendly relations with Vortex Ones. Especially Outspacers and Cults, who are canonically extremely hostile to Vortex Ones, making contracts out of the question.
So in this case, there was only one answer.
｢...That girl was blackmailed.｣
What card the enemy held over Isabel was unknown. What mattered was that because of them, she had entered an unfair contract.
We couldn't know the exact terms, but from the data she left, we could infer. Most likely, it prevented her from harming the Ranker. And probably barred her from leaving Berzan-02 as well.
'That's why she tried to get us to smuggle out the Coldbloods.'
The volume of data showed she'd been planning this for a while. She just lacked helpers to execute it.
｢We can't just leave her like this.｣
The Mother of the Sky said firmly.
'Same here.'
I'd invested a lot of time and effort to acquire Isabel. I couldn't let her slip away now. A helper exceptional at gathering intel wasn't easy to replace. Even if it meant fighting Rankers, I had to bring her along.
'Since there's a contract anyway, we'll have to fight no matter what.'
To leave Berzan-02 with her, we'd need to deal with her contractor first.
To cancel a Vortex One contract midway, all contractors had to agree unanimously. So we had to force the enemy to cancel it to escape the planet together.
'The problem is identifying the Ranker.'
I examined the pad's list alongside the Mother of the Sky.
｢There's 'Guest List for Kisos's Banquet' here.｣
｢...Which one of these is the Ranker?｣
Obviously, not all ten were Rankers. If there were that many, I'd have been done for when I was caught. The enemy Rankers numbered at least one, at most two or three.
｢Planetary Governor, Surveillance Bureau Chief... They're all the top powers in this planet—no, this star system.｣
The moment we touched even one, we'd be at war with all of Berzan-02.
｢.......｣
Narrowing her eyes as she stared at the pad screen, the Mother of the Sky extended a fur-covered finger. She pointed to a specific entry on the list.
｢Alshas, captain of the 'Defender of Berzan-02.' This guy's suspicious.｣
｢Compared to the others on this list, his position is ambiguous. A Governor or Surveillance Chief is core imperial power, but an Imperial Mothership captain falls a bit short.｣
It was a valid point.
Captain of the Imperial Mothership was a vital role in the Empire, but slightly below the other members on this list.
｢And there's more. This name Alshas—doesn't it ring a bell?｣
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered.
Alkadi, the most influential slave trader in the Avenue of Light.
To find Coldblood slaves, I'd implanted a parasite in his head. That's how I learned Isabel had gone to the Water Fortress.
He'd been a useful underling, but he and his brother had attended some gathering and died suddenly.
｢Yeah.｣
Alshas was on Isabel's list, and he'd been at the scene when Alkadi died. Plenty of reason to suspect him as a Ranker.
｢No one else suspicious to you?｣
To her question, I selected the one at the top of the list. The banquet's host, Assemblyman Kisos.
｢Makes sense. Cult players benefit more the better they run their factions.｣
If I were a Cult player, I'd have cozy ties with talents from various fields. For intelligent species like Cults or humans, networks and social connections could be powerful weapons. Especially in the real world, not just a game.
In fact, during the underground fight, the enemy mobilized multiple types of troops and gear in short order. Impossible without ties to numerous power brokers.
The position that fit these criteria perfectly? None other than Assemblyman Kisos, who mingled closely with power holders across fields.
We picked those two and scanned the rest of the list, but no one else stood out as much.
｢Kisos and Alshas. These two are the most suspicious.｣
｢One's the Imperial Mothership captain, the other's a key Imperial Assembly figure. Who should we target first?｣
Both were formidable foes.
After much deliberation on who to check first, we decided.
There was a reason to strike him before Alshas. Kisos had friendly ties with Berzan-02's power brokers. If something happened to one on the list, he'd likely alert the others immediately.
'Once we start attacking, we can't stop. Better to take out the head first.'
He functioned as a sort of command hub among the power elite. Ranker or not, hitting him first was best.
With the high chance of multiple enemy Rankers, we needed to move as a full unit to minimize losses.
We took Isabel's terminal and left the dilapidated warehouse.
'I tried to leave quietly.'
I'd endured orbital bombardment overhead and restrictions on useful traits, all to achieve my goal.
But just as I was about to seize it, the enemies' meddling caused failure.
'This is seriously pissing me off.'
I still didn't know who the Ranker that contracted with Isabel was.
If they fell into my grasp...
I'd show them there was something in this world more terrifying than a Vortex One.
"Has Sihyun Yujin left?"
｢Yes. He departed this morning.｣
Kisos nodded at Alshas's words.
In his mansion's office, he was conversing with Alshas via a translucent hologram.
"A human who proved quite useful. Pity, but unavoidable."
｢I heard you provided substantial funding.｣
At the mention of money, Kisos gave a small snort.
"A trifling expense. Replacing Mega Corp's emperor with that? A profitable venture. Even if it fails, sparking infighting among imperial rivals isn't a bad outcome."
｢Well said.｣
"Losing a warrior skilled against monsters is regrettable, though. Especially when every fighter counts."
｢...You're referring to the Temple Guardians.｣
Clicking his tongue, Kisos brought the glass in his hand to his lips. The sweet fruit-scented poison wetted his mouth and throat.
"When Jason of the Providence Faction vanished, most of the Temple Guardians disappeared with him. For such a thing to happen amid threats to imperial security. Every warrior is precious now."