Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1176 - 1176: Radio Silence
Black-site Facility.
Taroton Region
Calnola Island Country
September 23rd
Year 1055
At the same time that Evan was staring up at Aidos’ night sky, on another part of the planet, in a restricted-access research facility on one of the planet’s World Power Nations that lay on the Divider Ocean between the Alpha and Beta Continents, the First Finger of the Demonic Hand stepped into one of his research labs.
He walked past the empty operating tables where he’d been experimenting on Fake Heroes and entered the office at the end of the lab.
In the centre was a wooden desk, with several files arranged in neat stacks, shelves along the sides, and cupboards lining the left wall.
On the right wall of the office was a large 100-inch flatscreen television mounted on the wall, and with a snap of his fingers, the TV powered on and immediately connected to a secure network.
The man removed his tie, then picked up the remote with his left hand, pointing it at the TV and pressing a few buttons without even looking at it. Relying entirely on muscle memory, he navigated to a particular app on the TV while his right hand searched his desk for a set of files.
By the time he found what he was looking for in the desk, his left hand had already initiated a group call with several other individuals.
Within seconds, beeping sounds echoed as the call was answered by multiple people, and the TV display split into a 3 by 3 grid.
Each grid was numbered from 2 to 10, and after a few moments, the boxes numbered 3, 4, 5, 7, and 10 filled with video feeds of several individuals from across the planet.
Every new arrival offered a respectful greeting to the man, and the atmosphere stayed silent and solemn until the 10th person connected, their voice light and playful in contrast to the others.
[Oh, we’re using video today?
Hello everyone. Hello, old man.]
The moment the voice echoed across the room, the man in the 3rd grid position immediately snapped back.
[Show some respect, child!]
The young woman in the 10th grid position raised her eyes, almost as if looking up at the person in the 3rd position, and replied.
[Why are you so stuck up? What’s wrong with calling a thousand-year-old man an old man?]
The brown-skinned dwarf in the 3rd position immediately slammed his hand on the table in front of him and shouted.
[Agnes Ivloh!]
Contrasting his forehead turning as red as his hair with anger, the pale-skinned young woman in the 10th position responded calmly, her eyebrows raised.
[Yes, Agnes Ivloh is my name. May I help you, Mr Kranul?]
She paused for a moment before continuing.
[And please, don’t forget the ‘Lusos’ at the end. It’s also part of my name, as you can see on my name tag,] she said, pointing at the tag on her shirt.
Then, feigning surprise, she added, [Oh, are you perhaps too short to read my name tag, Mr Dwarf?]
At that, the others who had been ignoring the exchange all frowned.
The lion-like man in the 5th grid position, with a brown mane and deep black eyes, whose attention had been elsewhere, snapped his gaze toward the camera and warned.
[Watch your tone.]
[What? Why are you talking to me alone? Warn him too!] Agnes shot back instantly, and before anyone else could speak, the pale white-haired half-elf with a bob cut in the 4th grid position interjected.
[You were being disrespectful, Agnes.]
[That’s because short-legs over there has made it his life’s goal to pick a bone with every goddamn thing I do.
Do you see me talking to you like you’re a fucking lunatic, Cellica? Of course not. That’s because, unlike stunted growth over there, you don’t annoy me every time you open your mouth.]
Agnes dissed the dwarf twice in quick succession before anyone could even speak, and without pausing to catch her breath, she turned to Cellica.
[However, if you’re going to take his side in this matter, then my attitude toward you is about to flip a complete 180,] she added, her voice losing a bit of its playful edge.
Cellica narrowed her eyes, and Kranul got up, roaring in anger.
[THIS LITTLE BRAT!!!]
But just before he could burst out of his location and dash straight to the Elven Empire to vent his rage on the real Agnes, the silent First Finger finally spoke.
“Enough!”
They all went silent at the sound of his voice, and Agnes momentarily turned her unfocused greyish eyes toward the camera, almost as if she were looking directly at him, then a moment later shifted her gaze elsewhere.
First Finger Ferrid closed the file containing one of his older campaign speeches from 300 years ago and set it down on the table before turning his gaze to the TV screen.
The moment he did, Kranul immediately spoke.
[My lord, perhaps we should reconsider adding this child to our ranks,] he said, clearly referring to Agnes.
Before Agnes could even make a quip about him being more like a child due to his height, Ferrid responded.
“She is useful, Kranul.”
Then, turning to Agnes, he added, “And you. Watch your attitude.”
Agnes just rolled her eyes again, not bothering to point out how Kranul had always had a bone to pick with her ever since the decision to have her join the Demonic Hand was first brought up.
‘I’m simply reacting to his inexplicable dislike of me, and I’m the one in the wrong? Tsk.’
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, choosing to tune out the rest of the meeting.
Ferrid didn’t comment on this, instead turning his gaze to the 2nd grid position and calling out a name.
“Kethryllia.”
The red-haired woman in the 7th grid position shook her head when she heard her name.
[Still no word.]
Ferrid clicked his tongue in annoyance at the Second Finger’s absence, then turned to the 6th grid position.
“Why is Seith not present? Deram?”
[I am unaware, my Lord. Last we spoke, he mentioned having a suggestion for you regarding the management of our pawns among the Region Chiefs of Tarse.]
Turning his gaze fully to Deram, Ferrid asked, “And when was this?”
[Around 6 days ago. The 17th.
According to him, it wasn’t an important matter, so it could be delayed until the routine meeting. He mentioned not wanting to disturb you since you were busy with your campaign.]
“Well, now is the time for the routine meeting, and he’s not present,” Ferrid responded.
At this, Cellica spoke with a light frown.
[It’s unlike Seith to be late for meetings. He’s usually the most punctual of us all.]
[He said he was going to pull a bit more of his division to land to fill the gaps in the Regional Tribe forces that the Deadly Sin Demon created, but that should have only taken a few days at most,] Deram said.
[I tried to contact him about some of the foreign world demons two days ago, but he didn’t respond.
I sent men over to Point 2 to speak with his subordinates, but they said they’d received no further orders from him since he instructed them to reshuffle some new recruits the day before.]
Deram’s report made Ferrid’s expression turn pensive, but he chose to give it a bit more time before asking another question.
“What about the status of our special targets?”
Deram shook his head in response to that question.
[Negative on both fronts. We haven’t been able to identify the location of the Master of Dragondune, and we’ve also been unable to determine where Bianca Austin was sent.
According to our pawns among the Regional Chiefs, it appears that Evan Eris visited the Sandfire Palace mere minutes before we lost all tabs on the Princess.]
The moment Deram said this, Agnes, who had been completely uninterested in everything that had been happening, immediately sat up with wide eyes.
[Wait, Evan’s back? And you guys didn’t tell me?]
Kranul’s brow twitched at her reaction, and Ferrid turned his gaze to her, speaking in a warning tone.
“Now is NOT the time for your antics.”
But Agnes just shrugged, acting like she didn’t notice his growing irritation.
[What? You all know I’m a big fan of Evan for obvious reasons, and you didn’t tell me he was back.]
[Agnes, for on—]
[Hold up, Cellica,] Agnes said, interrupting the half-elf, her voice losing its playful edge as she continued.
[Let me be serious for a bit, okay?]
Leaning forward and resting her elbows on the desk in front of her, she spoke directly to Ferrid.
[Old man, I’m pretty sure you’ve already started connecting the dots in your head.
Evan, who’s been confirmed to work very closely with Tarse’s Emperor, shows up at the Sandfire Palace, and the Emperor suddenly orders Princess Bianca to go somewhere unknown.
Not long after, the Sixth Finger suddenly goes radio silent?
Seemingly unrelated things, they may be, but doesn’t the Demonic Hand have a recent history of having its plans messed up by a series of seemingly unrelated events converging?]
At her question, Ferrid’s frown deepened, and without speaking, he activated his Unique Series Skill.
‘Fate’s Disciple: World’s Chosen Fates.’
Golden Fate law energy swirled in Ferrid’s palm, creating a small globe, a replica of the planet they all lived on.
Infusing it with energy, a mark appeared in the middle of the Divider Ocean, where he was, and threads branched out from that mark to several locations across the planet’s surface—the links connecting to those tied to him via Fate’s Disciple.
Those links ended in blinking dots, and somewhere in the middle of the Alpha Continent, two large dots blinked a total of five times.
The first two times, both blinked gold. The third time, one dimmed, and the fourth time, it turned grey.
At the fifth blink, the light went black, a deep colour that spread up the thread connecting it to his position.
The moment that happened, Ferrid clenched his fist, crushing the globe in his palm.
A sound like shattering glass echoed, and hearing it, Agnes raised an eyebrow and said, [I can’t see what you just did, but I’ll bet Seith’s fate line has gone dark, hasn’t it?]
Ferrid didn’t respond to her.
He silently clenched his fist hard enough for his nails to dig into his palm, drawing blood.
Raising his right hand, he infused magic power into the crimson mark on the back of his palm. However, the small seven-ringed magic circle glowed only briefly before fading.
At that, Ferrid finally lost his composure.
**BAAMM!!
He slammed his fist onto his desk, shattering it as he bellowed,
“Of all times…!!!”
Kethryllia’s expression darkened as she watched the magic circle’s light brighten and dim repeatedly, constant reminders that her elder sibling, the Second Finger, was currently somewhere Ferrid couldn’t contact them.
Ferrid clicked his tongue, looking up at Deram as he commanded,
“Initiate Plan B. I’m deploying the unsealed High-Ranks. Move to the location immediately. Seith’s been compromised.”
