Chapter 63: Red Seal

A Red Seal was one of the contractual functions built directly into the Red Moon System. It was not a Divine Rune ability, nor was it something an Awakener could learn through training.

The System itself served as witness, recorder and enforcer. When multiple Awakeners voluntarily formed a Red Seal, they first established the exact information being protected and the conditions under which it could or could not be disclosed.

Every participant then had to consent individually. Once the Seal was completed, deliberately revealing the protected information to an unauthorized person became a violation recognized by the Red Moon System itself. Accidental statements about unrelated matters did not count, nor could someone be punished for information outside the agreed terms.

Intent mattered. Trying to bypass the restriction through coded messages, intermediaries or carefully worded hints could still be judged as deliberate disclosure if the purpose was to expose what had been sealed.

Jet knew exactly what a Red Seal was. They were uncommon, but they weren’t some forgotten secret available only to the most powerful Awakeners.

Major Guilds occasionally used them during sensitive expeditions, organizations used them when information was too dangerous for an ordinary confidentiality agreement, and temporary Raid Teams sometimes resorted to them after discovering something whose existence alone could attract trouble.

The reason people did not use Red Seals casually was simple: once formed, they were not promises between humans anymore. Breaking one meant violating a contract enforced by the Red Moon System.

That was why Adesewa’s proposal surprised everyone.

For several seconds, the island remained silent. Frey’s eyebrows rose while Marcus stared at Adesewa as though making certain he had heard correctly. Safiya exchanged a look with Odhran, and several younger Walkers glanced toward the veterans.

Cassian was the first person whose posture visibly relaxed.

He released a quiet breath, looked around the circle and nodded once. "That solves the most dangerous part of this problem."

Jet agreed.

More importantly, Adesewa would be bound by the same Seal.

She was the strongest person standing there. If she wanted to be greedy, there was little stopping her from attempting to claim the fifty-seven Palladium Fruits and the tree for herself. Everyone understood that uncomfortable fact even if nobody wanted to say it aloud.

Instead, she had proposed placing herself under the same System-enforced restriction as everyone else. She was effectively declaring that she intended to share the discovery rather than simply taking it through force.

Marcus raised his marked and bloodstained hand first. "I’m in."

"So am I," Safiya said.

Odhran nodded. Bastian agreed next, followed by the others. The hesitation disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived because the arrangement benefited every person present. Frey glanced toward Jet, and Jet gave a slight nod.

"We agree," Frey said.

Adesewa waited until the final person had verbally consented before speaking again. "Then these are the terms. The protected information includes the existence, identity and exact location of the Palladium Tree discovered in this valley, as well as the fact that this expedition possesses knowledge of it. None of us will intentionally disclose that information or knowingly lead an unauthorized person here. The restriction remains until it is released according to the conditions recognized by the System."

Nobody objected.

"Summon your Red Moon Systems."

Twenty-nine crimson interfaces appeared around the Palladium Tree.

Jet’s familiar translucent panel materialized before him, and several lines of text formed across it.

[RED MOON SYSTEM]

[Collective Contract Function Detected.]

[Contract Type: Red Seal]

[Initiator: Adesewa Afolayan]

[Participants Detected: 29]

[Protected Information Registered.]

[Intentional direct or indirect disclosure to unauthorized parties is prohibited.]

[Knowingly facilitating discovery of protected information constitutes disclosure.]

[System enforcement applies equally to all consenting participants.]

[Do you consent to the formation of this Red Seal?]

[YES / NO]

Jet read the conditions carefully before selecting YES. The panel changed immediately.

[Consent Registered.]

[Awaiting Remaining Participants...]

Around him, the others were doing the same. Frey accepted his contract. Cassian, Marcus, Safiya, Odhran and Bastian followed, then the remaining members of the Raid Team. Nobody rushed anyone. A Red Seal required voluntary consent, and the System waited until every listed participant had made their decision.

Less than a minute later, another notification appeared.

[All Participants Have Consented.]

[Red Seal Formation Initiated.]

Crimson light ignited beneath Jet’s boots.

Thin runic lines spread across the white stone around him, curving into a circular formation before extending toward Frey. Another line connected Frey’s circle to the Walker beside him.

Similar patterns appeared beneath every member of the expedition until twenty-nine separate circles surrounded the Palladium Tree. Symbols rotated around their edges while glowing red threads connected one formation to another, weaving across the island until every participant became part of a single enormous network.

The crimson light intensified, bathing the silver trunk and translucent leaves in red.

Jet felt pressure settle across his body. It wasn’t painful, but the sensation was impossible to ignore. Something vast seemed to be examining every participant, confirming their identities, their consent and the conditions they had accepted. Red lines rose from the interconnected circles and curved overhead until a translucent dome surrounded the group.

Then the entire formation contracted.

Crimson light rushed inward.

Heat touched the back of Jet’s left hand.

He looked down and watched a small red symbol appear beneath his skin. Three interlocking runic arcs surrounded a dark central point, forming a circular mark no larger than a coin. It glowed brightly for several seconds before dimming until it resembled an intricate red tattoo.

[RED SEAL ESTABLISHED.]

[Protected Information Locked.]

[Participants Bound: 29]

[Seal Status: ACTIVE]

[WARNING: Deliberate violation will invoke System Punishment.]

The notifications disappeared.

Around the island, people examined identical marks on the backs of their left hands. Frey rubbed his thumb across his own, apparently checking whether the symbol had physical texture.

Adesewa glanced around them. "With this, nobody talks. I don’t recommend anyone becoming curious about the punishment."

Jet’s expression tightened slightly.

He had read about people who became curious.

In his previous life, several stories had circulated about Awakeners who broke Red Seals. Some reports were probably exaggerated, and organizations rarely released complete details when sealed information was involved, but enough documented cases existed for nobody sensible to dismiss the danger.

One Awakener had supposedly attempted to sell sealed expedition coordinates through a coded message. Another had arranged for an uninvolved person to follow him, believing that never speaking the location aloud meant he hadn’t technically disclosed anything.

The Red Moon System had disagreed.

Jet remembered enough about the aftermath to make his skin crawl. Whatever punishment the System selected was not something he ever intended to experience personally.

With the immediate problem settled, Adesewa turned toward the Palladium Tree. She opened her System Inventory and withdrew a small metal box barely larger than her fist. Its surface was dull grey, divided by narrow black seams, without gemstones or decorative markings.

She pressed her thumb against one side until a faint blue line appeared, then tossed it toward the exposed roots.

The box struck the white stone.

Space rippled.

Jet narrowed his eyes as distortion expanded around the tree. The silver trunk appeared to bend without physically moving, its shape twisting as though he were viewing it through layers of folding glass. The effect climbed through every branch until the entire twenty-meter tree warped.

For one brief moment, its outline compressed into a narrow silver line.

Then the Palladium Tree disappeared.

Jet knew exactly where it stood, yet his eyes found only empty white stone. Even the massive exposed roots had vanished from sight. More surprisingly, the dense Mana that had surrounded the Origin Treasure faded until the island felt almost ordinary.

Frey stared at the empty space. "You were carrying that around?"

"Concealment artifact," Adesewa replied. "It doesn’t move what it conceals. It interferes with sight, Mana perception and most detection methods. Unless a 5-Star Awakener comes here and deliberately investigates this island, nobody should discover the tree."

Cassian carefully walked around the area where the invisible roots should have been. "How long will it hold?"

"Long enough for us to decide what comes next. We don’t know whether the tree can survive transplantation, what beneath this island sustains it, how long another harvest takes, or what conditions it requires to produce Grade Three fruit. Moving it without understanding those things would be gambling with something we cannot replace."

Nobody argued.

Adesewa retrieved her bronze spear and faced everyone again. Her voice remained calm, but the warning behind it was unmistakable. "This is now a secret shared between twenty-nine people. Keep it, and everyone standing here has the opportunity to benefit from what we found. Reveal it, and the System will reach you before any of us need to."

Her eyes moved slowly around the group.

"Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

Jet adjusted his backpack while Frey checked their equipment. Around them, the Raid Team secured the preservation cases, redistributed harvested materials and helped the injured prepare for the journey. One final sweep of the battlefield confirmed that nothing important had been forgotten.

Adesewa gave the order to move.

Twenty-nine Walkers crossed the bloodstained valley together and disappeared into the towering forest of the Thousand Boughs, leaving the concealed Palladium Tree behind them.