While the public conducted protests and shamed the Dreamer under the concerted guidance of certain organizations, dangerous undercurrents were running elsewhere.
The powerful organizations.
The atmosphere in the virtual hall bore semblance to the one a few days ago when the federation was on the verge of war.
Representatives of major powers were seated across the oval desks. Their gazes were fixed on the man on the stage.
In baggy white coat and unkempt hair, a thin man was staring into the distance, lost in thought.
"Dr! Dr.Thomas!" A young woman standing below the stage whispered.
"Hush~ It's almost ready, I'm almost there…" Thomas made a hush gesture and rubbed his forehead.
"…."
The audience looked at each other in utter shock.
Are you for real? We are the most elite delegation. We are ridden with many important tasks every day. Even mayors of big cities have to get the appointments to meet us and you, not even a level 7 want us to wait?
Some of the representatives clenched their fists in anger. They stood up and were about to exit the virtual meeting.
They were waiting for twenty minutes for this fucker to speak! They'd sue him for wasting their precious time.
But right when they clicked on the exit button, a notification panel popped up.
[Xander family's butler has ordered you to see through the meeting, no matter how long it takes.]
[Mercenary King Hof said the meeting can't be missed.]
[The trade union….]
After reading the messages from their higher-ups, the representatives gave up all thoughts of protests and obediently waited.
'Forget it, I at least have a reason for not meeting my deadlines.'
Right as that thought passed their minds, a stiff voice originated from the stage.
"T-The samples we have from Ek, Enigma is only in the form of dried blood. If we test with the existing technology, her DNA, body composition is identical to humans."
His words caused the representatives to raise their brows.
"B-But! By using aura formations and new technology together, we can identify her uniqueness. She isn't a human. But neither is she abyssal. To bek, be honest, we don't know what she is." Thomas said and started a lengthy proof on the spot.
The representatives looked at their partners, researchers from their own forces. They were following the proof and started posing questions.
"Dr.Thomas, do you think she is related to Devas?"
"Well, there are some parts that certainly are identical. If I might be so bold, I think she's from a mixed species."
"Mixed species?"
"Yes. Not just devas, but also some other race."
The hall suddenly fell silent. The representatives that were silent until then had a solemn expression on their faces.
One of them raised their hand and asked. "Dr.Thomas, is it possible that this other species you speak could be alive?"
"Who knows?" Thomas shrugged. "She's born 1.56 einsteins ago. 1.56 einsteins is a long time, you know. It's as long as…"
He suddenly slapped his forehead and started laughing.
'Did he lose it?'
The representatives were freaking out.
They did a quick search on Thomas and after realizing this guy was the actual mind behind the 'Enigma Test', their faces paled.
If anything happens to him, even if they weren't involved, they'd be punished.
Their prayers seemed to be answered as Thomas' laughter ceased. Before they could be happy, his words nearly caused their hearts to stop.
"1.56 einsteins is 521 years. It's almost at the time of Blink. Funny, isn't it?"
No. It's not funny at all!
It's freaking scary!
"E-Enigma is really 5…521 years old?" An old man asked in a quivering voice.
"Of course." Dr.Thomas nodded with a confident expression.
"Fu. Fuck!" The old man slumped into his seat with a curse.
And with his fall, the entire representative group rose.
"Is there any other important finding? Anything?"
"Yes, we need to conduct an internal meeting right away! This matter is more serious than we thought."
"So, if you do hold any crucial information, let us know."
They requested the man with pitiful faces.
Thomas tapped his chin and stared into the distance.
The representatives weren't impatient this time. They all waited with respectful expressions.
After five minutes, Thomas slapped his forehead again and exclaimed. "Signal!"
He looked at the confused yet eager representatives and explained. "Abyssals aren't outside the solar system nor anywhere close. But they found us. And they found us in this ridiculously vast space. That's it!"
Then Thomas fell silent again.
"Um, apologizes, but what does that imply for Enigma?" A middle-aged man asked with a face that said 'Can you not be so cryptic?'
Thomas snorted in contempt but continued. "Without precise cosmic coordinates, it's impossible for the abyssals to find us.
But you know what? The solar system is moving all the time. So, even a 1% deviation and they could be light-years away.
According to ongoing research, from the moment they entered the solar system and until Abyssals appeared, Dungeons emitted signals aimed at the abysses.
I think Enigma is doing the same."
"WHAT?!!!"
The representatives nearly felt their hearts stop for a moment.
While there was already a talk that Enigma is an agent to guide her members to the solar system, it wasn't taken seriously.
But now…
"Gulp!"
Even though they were in a virtual hall, they all wiped their foreheads.
This was too much. They need to take action immediately!
But before they did, they needed to know if there was any more crucial info.
Thomas felt their intense gazes and cocked his head with a confused expression. "You know this is the latest breakthrough, right? I might find more information, but it'll take time. For now, this is all I know."
"Great! Thank you very much! We'll lobby to get you the Discovery of the decade prize!"
"Ah, Sure?" Thomas nodded without much enthusiasm, confusing the representatives.
But they did understand that this guy wasn't your typical researcher.
However, they didn't wish to spend more time there and exited the meeting hall for another discussion.
The discussion which would decide the fate of not only Enigma but also Shadow Guardians.
*** *** ***
The ministry of defense soon posted the key details of the meeting on the Chelov, the federation-led social platform for the elite awakeners.
As soon as an awakener reached level 7, they'd be added to Chelov.
Of course, these members each had a single invite, which was typically used to bring in the brightest youngsters—youngsters that would one day become high awakeners themselves.
Chelov was, in a sense, the platform that spoke to the people that were already powerful figures or would be powerful one day.
So, articles on Chelov were extremely curated and targetted by the federation.
By releasing the news about Enigma and the potential dangers, the message was clear.
The Hunt had begun.
To this post, almost everyone agreed.
Because many scientists also confirmed that Enigma's true age was more than 500 years.
This was really the one thing that alienated the support she had.
Even those that knew the true actions of Shadow Guardians—fighting the Order, purging the traitors, and assisting in the war against abyssals were silent.
500 years old…would you really trust someone like that? How the heck was she even alive after so long?
More importantly, what was her goal?
For that, there were multiple responses and theories.
The most famous one was that Enigma was initiator of Blink.
Sure, ghost ship blasted the sun five centuries ago. But why would an empty spaceship come here?
…Unless someone was inside it.
Who else but Enigma who's around the same age?
It takes a long time to build a reputation, but only a moment to destroy it.
And Enigma's reputation was destroyed.
The biggest occurred happened in Shadow Guardians.
There were quite a few of them on Chelov. So, they too learned about the truth.
And once they did, the trust they had in her was obliterated.
"Why?"
"What was she doing for 500 years?"
"Saving humanity?! Tsk! I really believed you, Lea-Enigma! I was wrong."
"If not for the scientists, we'd forever be in the dark. She deceived us. Deceived us all!"
"I know her purpose! She started visiting ruins every month!" An anonymous user claimed.
And that triggered a discussion in the internal chat group of Shadow Guardians.
"Damn it! She exposed her true face."
"She's here for our treasures! Maybe she wants our artifacts!"
"I still held a trace of hope in my heart! But not anymore! She's definitely after the deva secrets!"
"Why didn't we suspect her before? Her miracle potion should've given it away. We were fools for believing her."
Shadow Guardians wasn't an organization built on a person but on a belief. A belief to right the wrong. To purge the traitors and fight the Order. To solve the internal problems.
Now, the problem was their leader. So, they raised their weapons against her and took their stance.
Setting a precedent, every power in the federation, be it the government, the prime families, the adventure groups, the trade union, the Order, and even the Guardians took a united stance and aimed for a single person.
Enigma.
*** *** ***
A/N: Sorry for the delay.. I've been trying to sort this arc, and ended up spending all my time on it.