Having perfected my core and spirit, my sole focus returned to the external world: The Ascendant City and the ultimate prize, the Query Card. I chose the path of continued silence. A direct data infiltration would be a single, high-risk gambit. Targeting the Clan's leadership for intelligence, however, provided a continuous, low-risk flow of high-value information, confirming the location of the Query Card while further cementing my reputation as a useful, if unremarkable, E-Rank.
The Jade Feather Clan Elders—particularly Elder Varen—were the perfect sources. They possessed tribal knowledge and access to sealed data far beyond Level 3. The challenge was gaining access to their inner sanctum without raising a single red flag.
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My initial success lay in exploiting the Clan's financial security protocols, which were designed to guard against external threats, not internal compliance.
The Clan maintained a massive, decentralized Emergency Discretionary Fund—money reserved for immediate, high-priority missions that bypassed bureaucratic approval. This fund was controlled by a small council of Elders, including Elder Varen. The loophole was simple: the fund required three unique security clearance codes for withdrawal, but the system logged the transaction reason with only minimal scrutiny for amounts under a certain threshold.
I approached Unit 77, my reliable logistics contact, with a new, complex scheme.
The F-Rank Façade: I didn't ask for money. I presented a complex, tedious problem regarding "backlogged, low-value material exchanges" that were cluttering the ledger—an issue too boring for anyone to scrutinize.
The Digital Tool: I offered Unit 77 a "simple script" (a piece of code designed by my Hyper-Focus to perfectly emulate a high-level auditing tool). The script's true purpose was not to fix the backlog, but to perfectly mimic the authorization clearance codes of two minor Elders and input the required codes whenever Elder Varen's genuine code was used.
The Justification: The Clan used the Emergency Discretionary Fund for high-tier acquisitions (like Rank B or A essence). I created hundreds of tiny, flawless invoices for "High-Priority Arcane Dust" and "Unforeseen Kinetic Repairs." These were all legitimate-sounding reasons, but for amounts small enough to avoid immediate manual review.
The system saw Elder Varen and two phantom Elders authorizing hundreds of minute transactions for standard Clan maintenance. The security protocols were satisfied. I was essentially siphoning off thousands of credits daily, perfectly disguised as systemic background noise. This capital immediately secured the final, obscure resources I needed to solidify my Mythic-tier core.
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The true prize was intelligence. Elder Varen maintained a small, localized private server—the Varen Family Nexus—that contained his personal notes, unconfirmed rumors, and sensitive, localized data that never entered the main Clan network. This was where the Query Card rumors would likely reside.
Gaining physical access was impossible. I used a refined version of the tactic that worked on Unit 77: exploiting human weakness and proximity.
I used my refined Apex Brew—now a superior product—to cultivate a relationship with Varen's chief apprentice, a stressed Rank B hunter named Liana. Liana worked endless hours and constantly suffered from burnout.
The Exchange: I became Liana's unwavering, silent source of purified alcohol and simple, organizational assistance (using my Hyper-Focus to effortlessly clean her desktop data and simplify her tedious scheduling).
The Favor: After weeks of building silent compliance, I made my request, cloaked in mediocrity: "Liana, I'm stuck on a mandatory E-Rank history paper. I need a source on the 'Great Collapse Theory' that's not in the public database. Elder Varen seems to have some old notes on his home terminal; could you just search for the file name for me? I don't need the file, just the name."
The Great Collapse Theory was a common, ancient academic distraction. Liana, grateful for the relief I provided, agreed immediately. She logged onto the Family Nexus and searched.
Her search was my victory. My Hyper-Focus was already prepared. The moment her terminal connected to the private server, a microscopic, silent, self-deleting piece of code I had pre-loaded onto her terminal scanned and mapped the entire directory structure. I didn't need the data; I needed the map.
The map revealed the structure of Varen's files. It showed the highly-guarded folders, the common distractions, and one single, highly encrypted, hidden file labeled with a string of numbers that, to my Infinite Knowledge, resolved to the highest possible classification: "Conceptual Protocol."
The Query Card was not in a physical vault; its information was digitally sealed within the Conceptual Protocol file on Elder Varen's private server.
The final phase of my infiltration was ready. I had the perfect core, the unreadable spirit, and the target location. The time for silent schemes was drawing to a close.