Administrative Center.
Underground conference area.
It was already close to midnight.
The conference room was still brightly lit.
Department heads filled both sides of the long table.
The Technology Department.
The Security Department.
The Intelligence Department.
The Pollution Processing Department.
Everyone wore a serious expression.
Thick files were spread across the table.
The atmosphere was quiet and oppressive.
On the projection screen.
The gray crystal was enlarged and displayed.
No one spoke.
Because everyone knew what tonight's discussion was about.
The pollution crystal.
Something that should have disappeared into history.
At the head of the table, Oksana Volkov slowly opened the file.
Her voice was calm.
"Begin."
The meeting officially started.
The head of the Technology Department stood up.
He first reported on the situation at the scene.
"The pollution at the department store has been successfully contained."
"The residual concentration continues to decrease."
"The Level One lockdown is expected to be lifted in forty-eight hours."
"The number of casualties is still being counted."
"No signs of secondary contamination have been detected."
Everyone nodded.
That was the only good news.
Then.
The head of the Technology Department pressed the remote.
The screen changed.
The gray crystal appeared again.
The atmosphere in the conference room immediately became heavier.
"Based on the preliminary analysis."
"It has been confirmed to be highly similar to the pollution crystal recorded in historical archives."
"The structural similarity is ninety-three point seven percent."
The conference room fell silent.
Someone muttered quietly.
"As expected."
Another person frowned.
"Why has it appeared again?"
No one answered.
Because that was exactly the purpose of this meeting.
Oksana raised her head.
"Old records."
A staff member immediately began operating the system.
Another document was brought up.
Yellowed scanned pages appeared on the screen.
The archive number was extremely old.
The recorded date was more than ten years ago.
Many of the younger officials had never seen it before.
But the more experienced people present recognized it immediately.
Pollution Incident Archives.
One of the most serious pollution incidents in the history of the Northveil Directorate.
The pages continued to turn.
One record after another appeared on the screen.
The area of contamination.
The number of casualties.
The restricted zones.
The containment process.
The conference room was silent except for the sound of pages turning.
Finally.
The archive reached its final section.
A single line appeared before everyone's eyes.
Pollution Crystal.
Recovery Unconfirmed.
The conference room became completely silent.
Several seconds later.
Someone finally spoke.
"It wasn't found back then?"
The head of the Technology Department shook his head.
"No."
"Three rounds of searches were conducted after the incident ended."
"All of them failed."
Another person asked:
"Could it be the same one?"
The head of the Technology Department shook his head again.
"Impossible to confirm."
"Too much time has passed."
"The data is severely incomplete."
"But we cannot rule out the possibility."
The atmosphere grew heavier again.
If it really was the same crystal.
That would mean it had existed within Northveil territory for more than a decade.
And no one had discovered it.
That alone was dangerous enough.
At that moment.
The head of the Intelligence Department stood up.
"Regarding the interrogation results of the terrorist organization."
Everyone turned toward him.
He opened a file.
His voice was low.
"All suspects have been apprehended."
"The first stage of interrogation has been completed."
The projection changed again.
Photographs of several terrorists appeared.
"They admitted to the attack plan."
"They admitted to planting the explosives."
"They admitted to carrying out the hostage-taking operation."
At this point.
He paused.
The conference room became even quieter.
"But they denied creating the pollution source."
Everyone's expression changed slightly.
In truth.
Many people had already guessed this.
But when a guess became a fact.
Its meaning was completely different.
The head of the Intelligence Department continued.
"Based on the results of the cross-interrogations."
"The pollution source was provided by a third party."
"They were only responsible for transporting and deploying it."
The screen changed again.
A rough sketch of a person appeared.
It was not clear.
Only an outline reconstructed from the testimonies.
Female.
Long hair.
Young.
"Name unknown."
"Identity unknown."
"Origin unknown."
"All members only saw her once."
Someone in the conference room frowned.
"An ability user?"
"Uncertain."
"They don't know either."
"The only thing we can confirm is..."
The department head looked down at the report.
"Silver-white long hair."
"Approximately twenty years old."
"Wore gloves throughout the entire operation."
"Other than that, there is no further information."
The conference room fell silent again.
The trail ended there.
The Intelligence Department head sat down.
The Technology Department took over again.
"Based on the analysis of the scene."
"The internal structure of the pollution source is extremely complex."
"Far beyond the manufacturing capabilities of an ordinary organization."
"It appears to have undergone long-term research."
Someone asked:
"Could Northveil manufacture something like this?"
The head of the Technology Department was silent for a moment.
Then finally answered.
"In theory, yes."
"But it would require a state-level research facility."
The conference room became even quieter.
Those words meant a great deal.
If the terrorist organization could not have made it.
And Northveil had not manufactured it.
Then the number of possible answers was becoming smaller and smaller.
At the head of the table.
Oksana had remained silent throughout.
She simply continued looking through the files.
Only after all the reports had been completed.
Did she slowly raise her head.
"Conclusion."
Everyone looked toward her.
Oksana said:
"The terrorist organization was merely the executor."
"The real creator still exists."
No one objected.
Because all the evidence pointed in the same direction.
There was someone behind the scenes.
And that person possessed pollution technology.
They understood Northveil's history.
They even knew about the pollution crystal.
This was no longer something an ordinary criminal organization could accomplish.
The meeting continued for a long time.
The subsequent discussion began to cover investigation deployments.
Search areas.
Border inspections.
Intelligence sharing.
Personnel assignments.
One order after another was issued rapidly.
Time continued to pass.
Finally.
The meeting was nearing its end.
The staff began organizing the documents.
The officials gradually stood up.
But Oksana remained seated.
Her eyes fell on one particular report.
It was the field report from the department store.
One section had been specially marked.
Unknown Ability User.
Successfully resisted pollution contamination.
Maintained structural stability.
Assisted in completing containment.
Beneath the record.
A name was written.
Lucian Jace.
Oksana stared at it silently for several seconds.
Then she closed the file.
The secretary beside her asked quietly:
"First Director."
"What should we arrange next?"
Oksana raised her head.
Her voice was calm.
"Please have Mr. Lucian come here."
The secretary was slightly startled.
But immediately nodded.
"Understood."
The order was passed on.
Meanwhile.
On the other side of the Administrative Center.
Inside the reception room.
The hot drink had already been replaced once.
Lucian was still sitting there.
Public information about Northveil was spread across the table.
Most of it had already been read.
Suddenly.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
Then.
There was a soft knock.
Lucian raised his head.
"Come in."
The door opened.
A staff member stood at the entrance.
His attitude remained respectful.
"Mr. Lucian."
"First Director would like to see you."
Lucian slowly put down the document in his hand.
Then stood up.
Outside the window.
Northveil's night remained deep and silent.
And the real conversation of tonight.
Had only just begun.