Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler

Seeing Vince's furrowed brow, Axel added, "Even if it was one of our own, the person responsible had to be at least Level 4. Connor wouldn't have been killed so quietly otherwise."

Vince nodded thoughtfully. "Do you think it was Geoffrey?" He couldn't think of anyone else capable of killing Connor without a fight. Geoffrey's reaction earlier had seemed genuine, but if he was deliberately acting, that was also plausible. Vince considered questioning the Ministry of Defense about his character.

"No. It couldn't be him," Vince said, then shook his head to dismiss the thought. "If it were him, he could've disposed of the body entirely. Why leave it in the woods, near where he'd been hunting mutants?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Someone's framing Geoffrey, then?"

Vince gave a short nod.

Axel drew in the snow with a branch, thinking aloud. "Or… maybe Geoffrey is playing reverse psychology. I killed him, but left the body nearby, so it looks like the killer couldn't possibly be me."

Vince blinked in surprise.

"Captain," Axel added, "were there any Survey Corps members at the city gate when you arrived?"

Vince thought through the positions. Everyone—Ingrid, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses, and the two quieter ones—had been stationed at the west, north, and south gates, each guarding their respective posts. In Axel's eyes, everyone was a potential suspect.

After sitting in the snow for some time, Vince finally exhaled. "We still have too few clues. Rosaline's decision is correct. Let's check the city first."

Axel muttered under his breath, lost in thought. "One thing I still don't get… why destroy the energy cannon? Is there an organization in Krythos that protects mutants—or specifically targets humans?"

Vince shook his head. "Other than the Holy Light Organization, only a few scattered groups remain, like the Fel Association. They've been officially banned for cruel cultivation practices."

"If it were the Holy Light Organization, they'd exploit the chaos by releasing infections, not let the city be breached like this."

"Then let's return. Have Kaia do a rough psychic scan of the city, pinpointing all Awakened above Level 4. I'll report this to the team leader immediately."

Axel nodded. A psychic scan of the city sounded tedious, but it was the only option.

Northern Spiritual Town was similar in size to Dune's administrative districts, with most of the population concentrated in the central area. Scanning there would be slow, but the sparsely populated plantations and outskirts could be checked quickly. Kaia's psychic ability made this task feasible, though grueling.

In situations like this, Kaia would have to shoulder the heavy lifting.

......

From above, the forty-eight new cities built around the Krythos Wall looked like a vast spider's web, stretching for thousands of miles northward.

At that moment, roughly four hundred kilometers outside Northern Suppression Town, Nolan and his six squad leaders finally allowed themselves to breathe. The suffocating aura of danger was beginning to fade.

"Mr. Nolan, the mutant beasts have retreated," one of the leaders reported.

Nolan gave a brief nod. "Send the Awakened from the noble families back."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The man bowed and vanished into the snowy wilderness.

"Status report on the cities," Nolan said.

Inside a military tent, Nolan and the five others gathered around while Baggins—one of the squad leaders Axel had met in Everton—delivered the grim news.

"Out of forty-eight new cities, two have been destroyed. Thanks to quick military reinforcements, the losses weren't total. Still, Southern Pleasure Town and Western Civil Town suffered over ten thousand civilian deaths." Baggins' voice was steady, but sorrow flickered in his eyes.

They had prepared for this wave. They knew it was coming. And yet, civilians still died.

"Of the sixteen cities under surveillance, twelve had their energy cannons sabotaged. Seven suspects were captured on site and sent to Northern Suppression Town. Two killed themselves."

"Only seven?" Nolan's expression didn't change, but his fingers stroked his chin, thoughtful.

"The enemy was far more cunning than expected," Baggins admitted. "They created chaos deliberately. The seven we managed to capture don't share any obvious connection—street peddlers, soldiers, even Awakened civilians. No common thread."

Xander and the others listened in silence, their faces darkening. This mission had been kept under tight wraps—so much so that even leaders of their rank only learned the truth once the operation was underway.

There's a mole in Krythos.

The creation of the new cities was supposed to be a declaration: that Krythos would reclaim its lost homeland. It wasn't just symbolism, either. Expanding the population base meant more talent would emerge. With more than two hundred million people already, the successful completion of Project Spider would bring nearly ten million more within a few decades. And from tens of millions, genius always arose.

Of course, the Beast King among the mutants would never tolerate that.

The new cities had no great walls to protect them, true—but their smaller size meant heavy weaponry could be deployed more cheaply. Each was outfitted with primordial cannons normally reserved for border fortresses. Low-level mutants would be slaughtered before they could ever breach the gates.

As for higher-level threats? The Senate and the military had ordered that noble houses rotate their strongest Awakened, stationed in fortresses a hundred kilometers out to provide early warnings. It had been controversial—aristocrats loathed risking their elites—but the decision was forced through.

At first, Xander had thought Project Spider was only about city-building, weaving a web of settlements around Krythos. But today he realized it had another purpose entirely.

The generals had anticipated betrayal. They knew humans would collude with mutant beasts to sabotage the project. That was why heavy garrisons—Ministry of Defense, Survey Corps, and more—had been quietly deployed across the new cities.

And when the beasts attacked, the trap was sprung.

General Jerome himself had ordered the noble masters closest to the wall to intercept any Peak Level 5 mutants and higher. Meanwhile, the Whisper Syndicate had been dispatched to reinforce the cities under fire.

In truth, the defenses of each settlement were more than enough to handle beasts below Level 5. At first, Xander couldn't understand why the military had gone so far.

Now he understood. The generals weren't afraid of the beasts. They were waiting for the traitors to show themselves.

And just as expected, the energy cannons had been targeted.

But far fewer infiltrators had been caught than the military had hoped.

"Have the interrogations begun?" Nolan asked.

Baggins nodded grimly. "Yes. But all five captives have powerful soul shields. We couldn't break them."

Nolan's eyes narrowed. "Did Xavier intervene?"

Xavier—the other general on Nolan's level, head of the Ministry of Defense.

"He did," Baggins said. "Even he couldn't shatter the shields."

For the first time, Nolan's expression shifted, the faintest flicker of surprise crossing his face. "Any other developments?"

"Their Force powers have been sealed, so they can't kill themselves. In five other surveillance cities, fifteen suspects have been identified, but not detained yet. And three non-surveillance cities had their cannons destroyed—no suspects identified."

Nolan sat back, silent for a long moment. The situation was worse than he had expected. Sixteen people had been deployed for secret surveillance, every available operative committed—and still, they had barely scratched the surface.

"Keep those fifteen under observation," he said finally. "And if soul searching won't work, find another way. Whatever it takes, get information."

"Yes, sir," Baggins replied.

This was the second layer of Project Spider—letting the traitors step willingly into the web, then tightening it.

After the meeting, Xander received a call from Vince. He listened carefully to Vince's report, then gave his own summary of the military's findings. "Collusion with mutants. Spies inside Krythos."

"Northern Spiritual Town wasn't one of the monitored cities, so you're on your own. Report back with anything you find."

Xander didn't expect the Obsidian squad to uncover much. The conspiracy was massive, rooted deep. After relaying the warning to Vince, he returned to his own work.