Varian was impatiently tapping his armrest. He got Han Nial but the plan wasn't working.
After some thought, he even asked Han Nial to send his evidence to a technocrat he'd trust.
The problem was that the evidence was it'd take more than 10 minutes.
But Varian felt like he was sitting on a bomb that'd expose at any second. 10 minutes was way too long.
Suddenly, he slapped his armrest and sent a message.
{Your daughter has no poison. Here's the video and some important info. If you want to know more, contact me, now!}
At the same time, he looked at Han Nial. "Contact anyone you know in Valos military. Someone high enough. Level 8."
"Huh?"
"Do it! I'll prove the truth or because of you, we'd have lost hundreds of millions of lives"
Han Nial didn't believe his words, but he grabbed the floating comm and contacted a level 8 family member stationed in Valos.
Maybe…just maybe, he wasn't lying. Better be safe than sorry.
"Y-Young Master…"
"Uncle Andres, I'm kidnapped, but my kidnappers wants to prove somethi—"
"Who did it!"
"Who?! How dare you?!"
Varian ignored the threats coming from the hologram and waited for the response with clenched fists.
Cling!
A hologram suddenly popped up, showing Colin who was only a few meters away from a cubical grey building—the city kernel.
"Is your video true? Is Betty not poisoned?" Colin asked with an ecstatic expression.
"Yes, I've also sent the symptoms the poisoned would have. Betty had none, right?"
"Y-Yes!" Colin was on the verge of crying. "She had none of them. Abrax only showed me the videos of the poisoned dying. But it turns out they all had symptoms. Thank you for saving her. To save her, I had to…"
Varian took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. "Mr. Colin, I know your conscience is being crushed to do what you were forced to do. But you don't have to do it anymore. Your daughter his safe."
"Ye…sniff…thank heavens." Colin covered his face and lowered his head. "I…I deserve to die. I'm a monster. I was about to take so many lives! I'm the most vile person…"
"We can argue that later, but now, you have an opportunity to atone," Varian said, causing Colin to stiffen and raise his head.
"H-How? If it's my death, I'll gladly—"
"No. Just do what I say. Don't question." Varian said.
"Alright!" Colin nodded.
"Scrap out three sheets of durasium from the city kernel. Then meet up with officer Andreas Nial on the 3rd floor of 5th testing facility of the core area."
"W-Wait, what?" Colin was shocked.
"Do it now! Or you'll be responsible for millions of deaths." Varian gave an ultimatum.
"Yes!" Colin's face paled at his words and he channeled his fire mana. With a step, he reached the entrance of the city kernel building.
There was only an automated security system and no guards. Typically, only few officers were allowed to enter this place.
But he couldn't just cut the durasium without alerting others. Gritting his teeth, he called the security department.
"Gil, I swear on my daughter that what I am about to do is to save people. Please help me for a few minutes. If I am proven wrong, then I'll kill myself."
In the security department building, Gil frowned. He knew how much Colin loved his daughter.
But still, it didn't make sense. Why?
Cling!
Cling!
The detectors in the city kernel building shone red and indicated him that someone was attacking the walls.
"Fuck!" Slamming the table, he roared into the comm. "Colin, do you have any idea what you're doing?"
In his anger, he didn't even use honorifics.
"I do. Just trust me. Five minutes. Just give me five minutes. You can track my position, right? If you feel that I'm doing something wrong after five minutes, you can inform everyone."
Gil gritted his teeth. What do you mean five minutes? A lot of things could happen in five minutes.
He tapped on one of the holograms and saw Colin taking three thin sheets of durasium.
"All you wanted to do was steal?" Gil, who was about to press the alarm bell, paused.
"Is there something I don't know?" He gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand.
Usually, high officers could enter and exit the city kernel freely. But now, Gil didn't dare to let Colin free.
Thankfully, Colin didn't. He rushed to the 5th testing facility.
Gil couldn't monitor him anymore. So, he left the security building and rushed to the same building.
Meanwhile, Colin reached the 3rd floor and saw Andreas Nial waiting for him. More surprisingly, there was also a hologram showing a bulky young man.
The grey-haired man's eyes were practically spitting fire. Colin's face paled as he realized that someone knew about the deed he was about to do.
But he didn't say a word and spread a durasium sheet on the ground. The other two were in his storage ring.
Andreas Nial snorted in contempt. In his opinion, this guy was an accomplice in the young master's kidnap.
"Young master, should I really not kill him?" He asked for the eleventh time.
Far away in the ghost ship, Han Nial shot a glare at Varian seated high above and shook his head. "Let him finish."
"Argh…wait, what's that blue sphere?" Andreas asked Colin who took out a blue sphere from a large box.
Colin didn't answer and instead asked. "Is this room having the highest protection?"
"Yes, you traitorous fucker." Andreas said.
Colin didn't mind and threw the blue sphere on the durasium sheet.
*** *** ***
"Sovereign Irene, there is only 1 minute left. Do you have the emergency support treasures?" The AI performed its normal protocol.
"Yes."
Irene Nial checked the special herbs, healing potions, and star treasures in her storage ring.
Even if she was thrown into a hostile environment, with these, she'd be able to survive for a long period of time. Provided she didn't die before these support treasures could help her.
—Kang
The door of the space shuttle opened.
Taking a deep breath, Irene Nial channeled her gravity power.
*** *** ***
Boom!
The explosion nearly shook the room, shocking both Colin and Andreas. Thankfully, the durasium sheet was incredibly thin. Thinner than hair.
"W-What the fuck?"
Despite being shocked, Colin didn't stop. He spread a little thicker sheet on the floor and was about to thrown another blue sphere.
"Hold it there or I'll—"
"Uncle Andreas, stop!" Han Nial's voice came from the comm, causing him to halt his action.
Then,
Boom!
This time the explosion was even bigger and more dangerous.
But since they were both level 8 awakeners, it didn't hurt them.
This time, Andreas didn't object and Colin proceeded to throw the final blue sphere.
Boom! BooM!
The explosions ended, leaving both Andreas and Colin in shock and confusion.
"Uncle Andreas, I'll contact you later."
"Y-Young Master, w-wai—"
Han Nial hung up the call and took a deep breath.
Varian stared into his eyes and spat. "Now, do you believe what I said?"
Han Nial stiffly nodded. He was still unable to digest the truth. As everything he showed was true, then…
"Then fucking call her! Now!"
Han Nial snapped out of his daze and immediately slapped his green locket.
*** *** ***
Near the Despair Abyss, a space shuttle in stealth was a few miles away from a meteor ring.
"I hope this goes well." Sovereign Irene muttered and was about to leap out of the space shuttle.
Right then, her green necklace brightly shone.
"Han?!"