NOVEL NEXT Chapter 292: The emergence is close
As Grey shot off toward the Ice Walls, far away at the very center of the southern region, within the Mandate Province's Research Institute, another scene was unfolding.
A blonde woman with a charming smile suddenly rushed out of the facility.
She wore an air of confidence and refinement, dressed in expensive clothing that radiated status. The cuts that once covered her hands were completely gone, healed without leaving even the faintest scar.
If one looked carefully, something unusual could be seen on her back.
A hexagon shaped object was embedded there.
It radiated a faint, mysterious presence, subtle enough that anyone who failed to look closely would miss it entirely.
She was wearing a red gown with thin straps, as though she were heading to an elegant function rather than storming out of a research facility. In her hand, she carried an exquisite purse.
A closer inspection would reveal its identity.
The legendary Mucci Purse.
One of the most expensive luxury items on Blue Star.
Only a handful of people in the entire world possessed one.
The moment she stepped outside, a key materialized in her hand. The design clearly belonged to an AV vehicle. As soon as the key appeared, several researchers rushed out after her, panic written across their faces.
"Miss, please wait!"
One of them shouted frantically.
"That AV isn't finished yet! Are you going on one of your delusional runs again? The last test showed it couldn't even cross that barrier!"
The woman did not slow down.
This "Miss" of theirs was Jasmine, the lead researcher.
She was the sole genius responsible for continuous breakthroughs in realm science within Mandate Province.
And she was infamous.
Jasmine was a complete loose cannon.
At times, she spoke to herself.
At other times, she burst into laughter like a madwoman in the middle of experiments.
Still, that much was tolerable.
After all, which genius didn't have at least one loose screw?
What they truly could not handle were her delusional runs.
At random intervals, Jasmine would begin speaking about bizarre spatial dimensions, claiming that space itself could be bent, folded, and controlled through technology. She spoke of it with absolute conviction, as if it were an obvious truth, which only made it worse.
To the researchers, it sounded like the ramblings of a lunatic.
She even went as far as creating what she proudly called spatial manipulation technology and installed it directly into one of her AVs.
At first, they thought it was just another failed prototype.
Then they ran a full diagnostic.
What they found left them stunned.
According to the AI's analysis, it wasn't spatial manipulation at all.
It was classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
The realization chilled them to the bone.
This woman had casually designed something capable of mass annihilation and installed it into her personal AV like it was a new engine upgrade.
She was dangerous.
Terrifyingly so.
How could someone create a weapon of that scale so casually?
"Miss, please don't use that AV!" one researcher pleaded desperately.
"How about we arrange a different one for you?"
"You can take the model with reinforced air stabilizers!"
"Or the one with overclocked anti-gravity thrusters!"
"Please, just don't use the AV with the spatial module!" the researchers exclaimed almost in unison.
Hearing their frantic pleas, the beautiful blonde woman finally turned around.
The wind brushed past her gently, lifting her long hair as it swayed softly in the air. Holding it in place, she grinned at them with an expression far too cheerful for the situation.
"Come on, guys," Jasmine said lightly, laughing as though this were all a misunderstanding. "It's completely fine."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Is it really my fault that Blue Star's AI can't properly detect my work?"
Her smile widened.
Then she snapped her fingers.
Instantly, every researcher froze.
Their bodies locked in place.
Their mouths refused to move.
They couldn't even blink.
Amid their frozen expressions, Jasmine turned back and flashed them a bright smile. Without hesitation, she strode into the AV, the spatial module in her hands, a device that had already been classified as a weapon of mass destruction.
"Later." Her voice was light, almost casual. "I still need to find the man who destroyed my Energy Grid Array."
She grinned at them one last time.
The door of the AV slid shut slowly.
A low hum echoed as the thrusters beneath it came online. The vehicle lifted gently off the ground before accelerating upward. The researchers had barely processed what they were seeing when their expressions twisted into sheer disbelief.
Reality cracked.
Right before their eyes, a massive fissure tore open in space itself. The AV did not slow down. It passed straight through the rupture as if it were nothing more than an open doorway.
Moments later, the crack sealed itself.
Space returned to normal, leaving behind only empty air.
By then, control had finally returned to their bodies.
No one spoke.
They could only stare up at the sky, with their mouths dry and expression turning into that of disbelief.
"…Miss Jasmine," one of them whispered, voice trembling. "She… she actually did it?"
....
At the same time, somewhere far away, several powerful beings had gathered.
The space around them was heavy and distorted, unable to fully contain their presence. Even their silence carried pressure.
"It is exactly as the Seer predicted." One of them spoke slowly. "The Western Region is already lost. It has fallen completely under the control of the High Order."
Another voice followed, low and restrained.
"All entry points have been sealed. The four directions of the region are locked down entirely. There is no opening left for us to exploit."
A brief silence fell around the table.
The air seemed to grow colder.
"At this rate," a third being said quietly, "the inevitable will occur as The Seer predicted."
No one refuted it.
Finally, someone spoke the words that weighed heavily on all of them.
"The emergence of a Lesser Heaven."
Those words echoed faintly through the space.