"Dead?" Varian was taken aback while Kyle and Maya both flinched.
"The Sister of Sovereign Julius…how could she die?" Maya said in defiance.
Due to her status and her prowess, it was impossible to kill her.
"Yeah! All the top scientists and researchers live in high safety. What's more, she's a Xander! Sovereign Julius' very own sister. How can she just die?" Kyle said with labored breath.
Varian understood from their reactions that there was no news about her death even in the scientific community.
Even when Boo hacked through all the federation databases it could, Roxana's status was 'alive and not dead.
Haru closed his eyes and sighed. "It's almost a year since she died."
"A Year?!…yet no one knows…what the hell?!" Maya covered her mouth in disbelief.
She lived a normal life until now and wasn't exposed to such things. Thus, this incident came as a big surprise.
Kyle was slightly better. Varian was the calmest. He had seen worse things.
"I see." He nodded with a touch of solemnity, and lightly bowed to Haru. "You could be under trouble if word got out that you revealed this. But you chose to trust me. Thank you."
Haru smiled lightly. Stroking his beard, he waved his other hand. "You're more reliable than my daughter's boyfriend."
"I have a name! Kyle!" Kyle roared.
Varian ignored Kyle's protests and took a deep breath. Roxana was the only lead in this branch.
If he gave up, then his only option would be to hope Sia's information could be found in the Defense Academy's database.
With each experience, Varian realized it was better to have more options. So, even if Roxana was dead, he had to see the issue to the end.
"Uncle, I'll be troubling you with a few more questions." He said, calmly looking at the middle-aged man.
Haru nodded. Since Varian wanted to contact her, he must have wanted something from her.
"When did she die? Where did she die? What is the cause of her death?" Varian fired the three most important questions.
Especially the last one. Who killed her? Abyssals? With her protection, unlikely.
Perhaps it was…
"I don't know exactly when she died. But according to my sources, it should be around a month or so from now last year.
About the location, I'm clear. Roxana has one of, if not the most secure laboratories in the federation. It's on guardian islands, the residence of the Xander family.
The cause of her death…" Haru's face scrunched and he sighed. "It's just a rumor since I didn't see her corpse, but they said she was dismembered and beheaded."
Varian felt the air knocked out of him. Not just him, even Kyle and Maya stared at Haru with wide eyes.
The time of murder didn't elicit much reaction, but where and how it happened, sent shivers down their spine.
Guardian Islands—also praised as Paradise on Earth. It was where the Sovereign of Earth, Sovereign Julius lived with his family.
The chains of islands were large enough to accommodate a city. Yet, he owned them all.
Guardians Islands were also rumored to be safer than any military base. Apparently, even Level 9s could not break in!
Moreover, since Sovereign Julius owned one of the six artifacts, specifically Jump Ring—he could quickly teleport large distances.
Plus, there was a teleportation formation in the Guardian Islands linked to some planetoids.
If anything went wrong, Sovereign Julius would simply teleport there and use Jump Ring to reach the specific planetoid.
This was the reason he was able to reach Rena planetoid and stop Demon King.
Thus, it was safe to say that he stayed on the island most of the time.
Even in case he didn't, the Xander family had quite a few Level 9s!
So who the heck could kill Roxana? And not just kill, but dismember and behead her?
….was it Julius himself?
The thought arose in the three of them.
"It's not him." Haru seemed to have guessed their thoughts and denied them. "If he did it, he had a million ways to cover it up. But he still called the high awakeners for her funeral. He was mourning. Even more than him, his eldest son…Charles? He was devastated."
Varian clutched his forehead.
Did he hit a dead end?
"No one really knows who killed her. Perhaps Sovereign Julius does or doesn't. Just forget about contacting her. Even bringing this topic up with Xanders is dangerous." Haru warned, with a concerned expression.
Varian nodded.
"You really don't know their horror. Stay away from them. The Xanders' are good as long as you don't provoke them." Haru gave his final advice.
Maya chimed in. "Varian is the disciple of high general Evander. It's not like he needs to fear them."
"What?!" Haru slapped himself to check if he heard that wrong.
"It's true." Varian showed the blue badge.
Haru analyzed it and sighed. Looking at Varian, he said. "If anything happens to Maya…and also her stupid boyfriend, I hope you can take care of them."
"They're my friends." Varian patted his chest.
Haru smiled and waved at them. "Well then, since you're out, I'm assuming you got a mid-break or a sem break? Whatever it is, enjoy!"
Maya was about to cut the call when Haru's roar sounded "If you do anything inappropriate to my daughter, I'll cut—"
Varian and Maya looked at Kyle weirdly who clamped his legs instinctively.
"Your father-in-law is hella strict." Varian laughed in glee.
Kyle glared at him and snorted. "Look who's talking. At least I have one. You? Ever dated?"
Varian's face froze before he clenched his fist. "Hmph! What if you date? I dare you to go all the way with Maya!"
"You guys, shut up!" Maya said with a flushed face.
Varian raised his hands and walked into his bedroom.
Lying down on the familiar mattress, he thought of his options.
'She is already dead. This was out of my expectations. What should I do?' Varian rolled on the bed as he racked his brains.
'Fuck it! Let's do it!'
Finally, he stormed out of the house saying. "Kyle, Maya, I'll be out for some time."
'Boo, to Guardian Islands!'