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Chapter 517 116.1 - Faceless woman

I nodded slightly, acknowledging her perspective. "It did seem that way. From the start, all the evidence was pointing in that direction. The disturbances, the fear, the rumors—everything lined up perfectly with what you\'d expect from an ancient force reawakening."

Nadia glanced up at me, curiosity in her eyes. "Then what made you think otherwise? What was it that tipped you off?"

I leaned back slightly, letting the bed support me as I considered her question. "That was exactly the problem," I said, my voice calm. "It was all too perfect. The signs, the patterns, they were so neatly aligned that it felt… artificial like someone had crafted the narrative to fit our expectations. It was almost as if we were being guided to that conclusion."

Nadia paused in her work, her eyes widening slightly as she absorbed my words. "So perfect that it looks artificial, huh? I see… that does make sense. When something fits too well, it\'s easy to overlook the possibility that it\'s been manufactured."

"Exactly. It\'s a classic misdirection. When you feed people the information they\'re expecting to see, they\'re less likely to question it. That\'s why I started looking for inconsistencies, for anything that didn\'t quite fit with the narrative we were being shown."

Nadia finished securing the bandage and stepped back, her expression thoughtful as she regarded me. "I have to say, Astron, your abilities and instincts are impressive. After you arrived, everything seemed to fall into place. In just two days, we\'ve gone from chasing shadows to uncovering the real threat."

"It was a team effort," I replied. "The investigation had been ongoing for a while, and everyone\'s work laid the groundwork for what we discovered. I just happened to be there at the right time."

Nadia shook her head slightly, and I could see a small smile. But it seemed she also realized that if she were to continue with her point from here, it would open up some misunderstandings.

And that was not something she should want.

"I guess that is right."

And that is why she took a step back.

Sensing the shift, I decided to steer the conversation in a different direction. "So, how\'s the local job around here? Is it as intense as it seems?"

Nadia relaxed a little at the change in topic, nodding thoughtfully. "It can be, especially lately. Most of the time, things were relatively calm—routine investigations, minor disturbances, that sort of thing. But when things get out of hand, like with this recent situation, it can become pretty overbearing."

"Were?"

"Yeah." She moved to organize the supplies she had used, her hands moving with the ease of someone used to multitask. "The local government used to do an okay job managing the gates, but they\'re stretched thin. Recently, with the increase in gate openings, they\'ve even found it hard to keep up. It\'s putting a lot of pressure on everyone, especially us."

I leaned back slightly, listening carefully. "And what about the villains? Has their activity been increasing too?"

Nadia sighed, a weary look crossing her face. "Yes, unfortunately. With more gates opening, there are more opportunities for them to cause trouble. They seem to be getting bolder, too, likely sensing that the authorities are overwhelmed. It\'s like they\'re taking advantage of the chaos, knowing that we can\'t be everywhere at once."

\'That is why Shanks was not here, isn\'t it?\'

While the motives of the organization were still clearly unknown to me, their actions aligned with the fact that they were somehow against the fall of the federation.

At least, that was the case for some places.

\'There are still many things that I don\'t know about.\'

It was evident that I needed to learn more for the time being.

She paused for a moment, her expression darkening slightly. "It\'s not just the gates, though. There\'s something else… like a shift in the air. It feels like more than just a coincidence that all these things are happening at once. Almost as if something bigger is brewing beneath the surface."

And what she was saying was indeed correct.

Whether the timeline of the game\'s events was pushed sooner or not, in the end, the inevitable would come.

\'The war of Demons, the coup attempt, The Elven Disaster, Orc Invasion…..\'

All of these things were bound to happen one way or another. Those things added to the chaotic descent of the Demon King and many other threats.

This world is bound to be burnt by the chaos itself. After all, the border between the worlds is getting thinner and thinner with each second, and this results in the change in the Mana Ratios around the world, the gate spawn rate, the space ripples, the phenomenon rate, and everything else.

The day of Nexus Convergence.

It was just a start, and the convergence has yet to stop.

"Sounds like things are getting more complicated," I said, my tone reflective.

Nadia gave me a small, appreciative smile. "Yeah…..But it\'s also an opportunity, isn\'t it? For us to prove ourselves, to make a real difference."

"That\'s one way to look at it. And you\'re right—every challenge is an opportunity in disguise."

That was indeed correct.

Amidst that whole chaos, there also laid an opportunity.

The opportunity of my revenge.

********

Following that day, I was granted a day off.

The investigation concluded smoothly, and the counselor\'s capture provided the organization with all the information it needed to close the case.

I spent the morning in my room while also remembering what the Counselor did.

His motivations were both simple and twisted—a hunger for power born from the discovery of his Trait\'s true potential.

Twenty years ago, Counselor Varnis had stumbled upon a special property of his Trait, one that allowed him to absorb the emotions of others, particularly despair and fear. At first, he hadn\'t realized the full extent of this ability.

He\'d assumed, like many others, that his Trait was minor, offering little in the way of power or influence. But as he experimented, he began to understand the potential that lay within.

It started slowly. Varnis absorbed the despair of those around him, growing stronger with each passing day. He realized that by cultivating and manipulating these emotions, he could feed off them, using them to enhance his own strength.

His rise to the position of Counselor had been part of a carefully crafted plan, one that would allow him to expand his influence over Veilcroft.

After all, he was from a wealthy family with rooted backgrounds. While not on the level of Hartley or others, locally, they held a good influence. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Once in power, Varnis had begun orchestrating the city\'s slow descent into chaos.

He manipulated events, sowing discord and fear, allowing the city\'s despair to grow.

\'He really did quite crafty. Even the increased actions of villains do stem from him.\' The lack of city governing came from that. He intentionally leaked the plans and intel from inward, making villains act a lot more efficiently.

However, he kept it still under control so as not to attract too much attention by keeping it periodical.

He fed off that despair, steadily increasing his power over the years. However, at some point, he reached a bottleneck.

But he was already expecting this, and that was why he decided to push for one of the most detailed plans he had made.

His first plan.

When he started as a counselor, he initially bribed a bunch of scholars so that they could create stories about an ancient monster\'s traces being found in Veilcroft. The reason for that was to just sow some small discord into the public.

There was nothing complex. While they were baseless, and most scholars knew about that, that would not be the case for the general public as stories held more importance than a bunch of official papers.

Varnis had always been meticulous, his mind working several steps ahead of everyone else. He knew that his plan needed more than just rumors and whispers—it required a physical manifestation of the fear and despair he intended to cultivate. That\'s when he decided to establish his own company under the guise of a construction firm.

The company was named "Veilcroft Development Consortium," and it appeared to be a legitimate business on the surface, specializing in urban development and infrastructure projects. Varnis used his family\'s wealth and influence to secure contracts from the city, allowing him to dig deep beneath the surface and create the tunnels and chambers he needed for his plan.

The official reason for the extensive underground work was to modernize Veilcroft\'s aging infrastructure, including the installation of new sewage systems, the construction of underground transport routes, and the reinforcement of old foundations. But in reality, these projects were a cover for something far more sinister.

Using the construction company as a front, Varnis secretly expanded the underground network beneath the city, creating a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that mirrored the ancient tales he had fabricated.

The layout of the network was deliberately designed to match the descriptions in the stories that the bribed scholars had spread years before.

This was no coincidence; Varnis wanted to ensure that if anyone ever stumbled upon his secret operations, they would attribute it to the ancient legend rather than his machinations.

To make his plan even more convincing, Varnis enlisted the help of a specialist—an expert in ancient symbols and runes.

This expert was skilled in creating energy conduits, and Varnis commissioned them to inscribe the tunnels and chambers with intricate symbols that would channel the fear and despair of Veilcroft\'s citizens directly into the heart of his underground network.

These symbols were carefully placed to form a web of energy flow, converging on a central chamber deep within the network.

This chamber was the heart of Varnis\' operation, where the accumulated negative energy would be concentrated and absorbed by him, further amplifying his power.

Once the network was complete, Varnis began to push his plan into action. He subtly encouraged the spread of the ancient legend through his controlled media outlets and well-placed rumors, ensuring that the citizens of Veilcroft would begin to fear the supposed reawakening of an ancient monster.

The whispers of the monster\'s return grew louder, feeding the collective anxiety of the city.

And he was just about to break through.

Even if he discovered the potential of his trait later than any others and his talent limit was just a 6, he breached the limit and was about to reach the rank of 7 for all of his parameters.

If not for the investigation team.

\'Well, that basically sums up.\'

Yet there were some things that were suspicious.

\'In the game, the city became more desolate than ever. But if Varnis only wanted to strengthen himself, he would have finished his plan and would lay down for a while.\'

It seemed there was another force in the play.

\'Wait.\'

And that made me think of something as I slowly stood up.