Butz led Charlene to the place where it should have been safe. But the moment they arrived there, they found out that the people from Snatcher swarmed the place.

 “What do we do?” Charlene whispered.

“This is hard. But there is still a chance. As long as an opportunity arrives, we can even eliminate them right here, right now. Prepare…” Butz said as he held something in his hand.

It was actually a fragment grenade he was holding and he intended to throw it to the crowd in front of them.

Charlene who saw this then prepared herself. She aimed the pistol to the front, anticipating anyone who would come.

Then Butz threw the grenade and timed it so that the moment it landed on the crowd’s side, it would explode!

A loud boom sound echoed throughout the room as some men fell down. It attracted another group of people around to the location. Charlene who heard the footsteps then looked at the location where she heard the footsteps and aimed her pistol there.

When there was someone with a rifle appeared, she shot at his hand holding the weapon. Charlene realized that Butz deliberately did not kill them if possible. Probably wanted to obtain more information through them.

So she did the same. If it was possible, she would not kill them.

The scream from the man who was shot filled the room as another person came to sight and Butz also shot him in the foot. Another person screamed as he fell to the ground.

As for the crowd, they were all down, dead. It was necessary since they were there to obstruct anyone who wanted to get out of the building.

Sensing that there were no more people coming, Butz and Charlene moved away from that place outside.

Just because they were outside did not mean they were safe. Butz looked for cover and he found one and escorted Charlene to a cover not far from the exit of the building. When Charlene looked outside, she discovered that some of the floors around the buildings were covered by black smears.

Then she looked at the building where the presentation of her research group had been planned to do. Smoke came out from some of the windows rising into the air.

‘I hope that everyone is safe.’ Charlene thought as she looked at Butz for further instruction of how to move forward. As of this moment, Charlene knew that the situation had entered an emergency situation.

“It is safe, let’s go!” Butz looked around up and down before he said this and led Charlene down to the alley in the next building.

The moment they reached the alley, they stopped. Butz was looking around for something that could threaten the safety of both of them. Charlene also looked around but found nothing.

Seeing this, Butz breathed a sigh of relief.

“We finally reached a safe place. I have contacted the relevant government department about this. They should arrive within five minutes.” Butz informed Charlene.

“What about the others? Are they safe?”

“I don’t know but the government should be checking after the incident. We can only know after the fact. My primary duty is to protect you Miss Charlene so I did just that.”

Charlene wanted to know more but realized that was the extent that Butz could do to help others. She realized that there was something she could not do. It was suffocating since she was there witnessing the event with her own body.

Her eyes became a bit dull despite a trace of hope in them.

After five minutes had passed, Charlene could see armored vehicles just outside the building complex along with the military outfit soldiers who got out from the vehicles.

Their movements were swift and precise as if they had trained for a long time. The soldiers also carried with them rifles and assault rifles with them. Not only that but she also saw that mounted on the armored vehicle were the improved machine guns.

This lineup showed Charlene that the Hinon Federation was prepared for both outside forces as well as internal affairs.

She could also see a leader figure among the soldiers who held a loudspeaker. From the words he said, Charlene could hear that the perimeter of the building had been surrounded and they would shrink the encirclement.

That was not the main concern for her because at that moment a group of soldier split away from their group and came to the alley as if they knew the precise location of the two.

Charlene saw that Tesna and Elio were among the group.

Butz came out from his hiding spot and identified himself. The soldiers who were on alert then rested their weapons and they gave way to both important figures.

“It is good that you are here, safe and sound.” Tesna started his discussion with relief.

“Yes, it is really much better than what happened at the Giol Multipurpose Building. It is a mess and a tragedy.” Elio added.

“What happened there? Is the Snatcher that cruel?” Charlene knew that something undesirable was happening inside the building.

“It is not cruelty. It is just plain murder for talents, plain and simple.” Tesna said while his voice was a bit hoarse, a bit cold.

“Murder for talent…” Charlene did not expect that the Snatcher would do such things. So far, their action involved the kidnapping of talented people. After all, anything related to the disappearance of some talented people was linked to the Snatcher's activity.

And now their course of action had changed. Charlene furrowed her brow, trying to figure out their objective at least but could not come to a good conclusion.

“Now that we confirm your safety, we will bring you to the safe zone that has been established as soon as the incident came to the reach of the Strategic Intelligence Division.” Tesna said before he continued, “We will count our losses before we will declare something important to the rest of the Comberth Continent.”

 

-

 

The news that the Snatcher had attacked the Giol Multipurpose Building spread after the Strategic Intelligence Division had obtained something from the incident.

The news was spread on the radio, television, and in newspapers. All of them told the same thing which was the tragedy that befell the talent from Hinon Federation.

In response, the Hinon Federation took a more proactive approach which was to eradicate all the Snatcher’s influence within its territory.

It meant that the Snatcher would have no place in the Hinon Federation. The Strategic Intelligence Division had found several traces of the Snatcher from the incident due to the fact that the Snatcher’s main target was not eliminated.

Furthermore, The Strategic Intelligence Division also uncovered one of the seven top brass of the Snatcher that operated in their territory. So the Federation sent some of its defense forces to the designated location.

All of this happened in the days that followed right after the incident. It was because the Federation took some losses in their talent pool and they had the responsibility to keep their people safe and talented people.

While all of this ruckus was happening, Charlene was sitting in her designated place in the safe zone that Tesna had provided.

She had received the latest information since she was a part of the Father God Congregation. She had read the article and felt something within her stirred.

She also felt the pain of losing someone. Even though they were not close but since they strived to the same goal, they could be considered her compatriots and she could not accept that they were sacrificed for being targeted by the Snatcher.

But she also knew that the action had been done. She could only do something to counter the Snatcher. But she could not do it, not when it was not within her current capability. She had barely learned how to wield a pistol, she lacked the knowledge of warfare much less in an urban area.

“I feel so powerless and useless.” Charlene did not know what to do but her stuffed feeling could not be contained any longer. So she found a solution that she could do within her capabilities.

‘Develop a weapon out of my invention. I have a strong sense that my discovery is the base for a world-destroying weapon that the superpower is trying to create. If this weapon exists, then perhaps this event could be prevented. Perhaps we can truly unite the minds of the human race…then…’

The event was something that strengthened her resolve to develop. Even though Charlene was reluctant to do so but if it could help humanity unite under a better leadership as well as end the current conflict, then she would be willing to develop a world-destroying weapon.

“But first let me summarize my report. This thing can change the way we live after all…” Charlene took out the documents that she had planned to show but were canceled.

As she was immersed in the reviewing process, someone came to her place. Well, the safe zone was actually an apartment building with seven levels. Currently, she was on the highest level so someone who came to her place had to be important.

It was a testament that the highest level of the building was also reserved to the top figure of the Federation.

Charlene opened the door and a security officer as well as Tesna came to greet her.

“Sir, what can I do for you?” Charlene realized that Tesna had come by himself. It meant that there was something important to be relayed from him to her.

“Can we talk inside?” Tesna asked.

“Sure.” Charlene nodded and the security gave way to Tesna. The door to her room was closed as Tesna found a place for sitting.

“It is about your presentation that should have been done the day before. We will hear it in a more private manner. Furthermore, the one attending are important figure to the Federation so I hope you are prepared.”

“That’s not the only thing you wanted to say, right?”

“Naturally. It is actually about the Snatcher. You seem to be concerned over that matter so I want to tell you something about them. They have a formidable backer.” Tesna said with a serious face.

“What do you mean exactly?” Charlene asked.

“They are backed by multiple renowned figures across the continent. The worst is that they probably got another influence in another continent. Do you understand what this signifies?”

“They already infiltrated the ranks of the Heavensend Kingdom that easily. Is that what concerns you, Mister?”

“Yeah. It also means that the biggest obstacle to unifying the human race is actually the Snatcher. We don’t have a good measure to truly fight them even though we will declare a battle against them…”

“Mister, isn’t that part a Federal Secret?”

“Oh, right. But you are one of the people that can know about it so it is fine. So tell me about your canceled presentation. I am interested to hear it as a scientist myself.”

Then Charlene told Tesna about the content of her presentation. Tesna was sure that her presentation would be well-received within the top ranks of the Federation.

The next day, as expected Charlene was called to do the private presentation of her recent discovery. Several key figures of the Federation attended the private presentation, as well as some influential figures.

After Charlene explained her discovery, some of them asked her about it.

Charlene answered the questions within reasonable boundaries for the one who asked, giving them further understanding of the discovery.

“We are sorry but this potential energy source that you are talking about is a bit too far-fetched, isn’t it?”

“It is because we are not developing in this direction deep enough that such a thing can be called far-fetched. I mean that this energy source is multiple times much better than the current one.”

“But we also don’t know what will come from the discovery and the potential energy source. You said it yourself, we have not researched enough in this direction. Then why would we want to invest in this research?” one of the top ranks asked.

Charlene knew that an important moment was coming. She was a bit nervous since this was also a bit far-fetched but she had to try.

“Other than the possible energy source, this discovery allows us to possibly create the world-destroying weapon that the superpower of the continent is looking for…” Charlene said with a determined tone.

“What!?” murmurs and whispers among the top ranks of the Federation could be heard right after Charlene said that. Even some of them was completely caught off guard and uttered something a bit shameful.

“So I suggest that the Federation is investing in my research group as we are planning to further study it.”

Charlene had casually dropped something major and acted as if it was none of her business. But it was true that the decision to further study her discovery was up to the one who would fund it.

For a moment, no one came to a decision. It was because the discovery could only lead to a potential world-destroying weapon, not an actual weapon.

Furthermore, the in-depth study of the discovery would probably need a lot of resources as well as money. Add to the fact that it could go on for a long time, they could not come to a decision in a quick fashion.

At this moment, one of the high-rank figures spoke up.

“Suppose that we invest in your discovery, how much time do you need to invent a world-destroying weapon?”

For that question, Charlene could only reply like this.

“I don’t know since all of it is theoretical. We need the data from the field to know exactly how accurate it is. As for the world-destroying weapon, I only have an idea.”

“So you are saying that you cannot realize this right now.”

“Right.” Charlene did not even hide the fact that most of it was theoretical, the validity and verification of her theory were completed but the realization of it was the main problem that Charlene had to face.

“And you cannot realize it due to insufficient funds. Therefore let me say this. I will give your research group some amount of resources. Please develop a world-destroying weapon. That is my condition.”

Charlene was actually a bit disappointed by this and more so by the fact that she purposely conformed to the high-rank figure in the Federation’s wishes to get some resources. But she endured that feeling as she could also develop something much more important than a world-destroying weapon.

Charlene said, “I will accept the condition.”

And with that, several others also flocked to invest in her research group. Tesna who had been watching could understand Charlene’s feeling better.

‘Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. Failure to realize this is the flaw of many people. Charlene, you are one of the few who managed to pass this cognitive bias. I should also invest in her research group. Perchance they may surprise me and the humanity.’

By letting the investor knew that the world-destroying weapon could be developed based on her discovery, Charlene could make use of it to further study her discovery which was a win situation. Charlene learned that she had to conform to someone’s idea in order to convince them about something.

 

-

 

Dian who was sitting in the middle of the Planet Master Space was surprised to see a new notification about his planet.

So he opened it and realized that the thing he wanted was achieved. He blinked a few times to make sure that the thing he saw was real.

[Congratulations for Planet Master!]

[Your Civilization has entered the second rank]

[Your Star Battle will also enter the second rank territory]

[You have been upgraded to the second rank Planet Master!]

 

Then Dian looked at the Technology Tree of the human race. Among them was…

[Atomic Theory

The discovery of the small but important thing in the world is about the microscopic thing. By knowing this, humans can manipulate the atom to do their bidding. There should be several studies that can be discovered with this.

Further Tree included: Nuclear Fission, Nuclear Fusion, Nuclear Weapon, Material Science]

“Atomic Theory is at the beginning of the second rank technology tree so I can classify them as a T2 technology according to the information I have acquired from the Planet Master Service Center. And the human civilization has become the dominant species in my Cerulean Planet so I can be a second rank Planet Master.” Dian nodded in understanding.

Charlene had developed the Technology Tree while the Heavensend Kingdom was spreading around, dominating the Cerulean Planet. This combination caused Dian to rise to the second rank.

“But this is only the beginning. The other Planet Master at the second rank would probably develop themselves further before engaging in Star Battle. I am planning to do the same. The human race needs time to grow stronger.”

Dian was also aware that the other Planet Master was also growing along with their civilization in time.

So he had to wait patiently. While he waited, he also looked at the human race’s Transcendence Tree progress.

“Hmm…interesting.” Dian looked at the beginning of the tree and saw some developed aspects. He looked at one of them and could not help but feel like he was lucky.

[Rank One: Core Formation Realm

Humanity has managed to reach the first realm of transcendence through the use of the Undead Element. They gather and condense the Undead Element and try to form a core as the source of strength.]

That was not the only reason for Dian’s feelings. It was the other developing tree progress that made him feel lucky.

[Name: Eight Inner Hidden Gates

Category: Foundational

(Incomplete)]