143: Conspiracy in the Shadows

At 1:11 AM on June 2nd, Star Calendar Year 10, three men sat around a holographic projection table in a secret conference room at Militech Headquarters. The air was thick with the scent of expensive cigars and suppressed fury.

"Live viewership has surpassed 5 billion," Qilu Corporation CEO Durand projected the data into the air, his fingers nervously tapping the table. "Our stock has already been halted."

Usmanov slammed down a glass of vodka. "The Eastern Federation has announced a freeze on all our transactions with them! Those ungrateful..."

"Enough!" Teklite slammed his fist on the table, making the holographic image shake violently. "Now is not the time for complaints. We need to turn this around within 48 hours."

A red alert suddenly flashed in the conference room. The mechanical female voice of the AI announced: "External intrusion detected. Security protocols initiated."

The three men simultaneously turned to look at the door.

Twelve fully armed security personnel rushed in, their captain's face pale. "Gentlemen, the Presidential Palace and Parliament have simultaneously issued an ultimatum. Their people are already at the door, demanding an immediate halt to activities in the ancient region..."

"Get out!" Teklite pulled out a gold-plated pistol. "I'm in charge here now!"

After the security personnel scrambled out, Durand narrowed his eyes. "Are you crazy? Those politicians have a lot of people supporting them. Maybe even corporations..."

"Support?" Teklite suddenly burst into laughter, his laugh particularly grating in the enclosed space. "Look at this!" He threw out an encrypted file, and the holographic projection immediately displayed a military map from the last century.

Usmanov leaned in to examine it, then gasped. "This is... New Union's 'Greenlight' project from the last century? Isn't this just a rumor?"

Hundreds of red dots were clearly marked on the projection, from the snow-capped mountains to the coastal areas of Boro, each corresponding to an underground launch silo.

"498 tactical nuclear warheads," Teklite's voice was terrifyingly low. "Yields ranging from 50,000 to 500,000 tons, all in dormant status."

Durand's fingers trembled involuntarily. "What the hell do you want to do?"

"Insurance," Teklite brought up a video, showing Aventurine inspecting the ruins of a school. "That yellow-haired bastard from the Interstellar Peace Corporation thinks he can destroy us with a few live broadcasts?"

He suddenly switched the screen to display 3D models of major cities in the Covenant Nation. "Activating just 130 of them could set the entire Europa back a hundred years."

Usmanov's liquor bottle dropped to the floor, the amber liquid spreading on the carpet. "You're insane! You're going to make us all—"

"All what?" Teklite sneered. "If we're going to be brought to dust like this, then let's all go together!"

The conference room fell silent. The hum of the ventilation system suddenly became exceptionally clear.

Durand suddenly stood up. "I need to see proof of actual control."

Teklite entered a string of code on his wristband. The wall suddenly parted, revealing an ancient mechanical control console. As he pressed his palm onto the biometric scanner, the console's indicator lights illuminated one by one.

"Welcome back, Commander," a retro electronic voice sounded. "Doomsday Hammer System online."

Usmanov suddenly lunged at the control console. "You lunatic! This will kill hundreds of millions of people!"

Teklite easily fended him off, then delivered an elbow strike that sent the energy magnate to the floor. "Open your damn eyes and look!"

He brought up a global strategic map. "The Eastern Federation's fleet has fully assembled, and their strategic forces are in position! Those politicians we ousted still want to make a comeback using public opinion. Do you think we still have a choice?"

Durand helped the coughing Usmanov up, his voice hoarse. "Even if you activate the nukes... the Interstellar Peace Corporation has ways to intercept them..."

"Intercept? Who said I was going to launch them?" Teklite suddenly revealed a sinister smile, bringing up a simulation showing a nuclear warhead self-destructing within its silo. "As long as the whole world believes we dare to press the button..."

The video on the screen continued, Aventurine's voice coming from the speakers: "...but a dream that can never be realized."

The three men turned their heads simultaneously. In the video, Aventurine was folding and putting away the blood-stained composition. The bullet comments flooded the entire screen like a tsunami:

[Beasts! Go to hell!]

[Militech, go die!]

[Interstellar Peace Corporation, please judge these demons!]

Teklite abruptly shut off the projection. "48 hours. Either we win, or everyone goes down together." He pulled out a red controller and threw it on the table. "Now, vote."

Durand stared at the controller for ten seconds, then suddenly grabbed a cigar and took a deep drag. "Damn it! I'm in."

Usmanov wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, staggering to his feet. "...The strike coordinates need to be modified. United Energy's facilities in eastern Europa must be excluded."

"That's more like it," Teklite opened a safe and took out three ancient-looking keys. "By sunset tomorrow, we'll know who wins."

In the early morning of June 2nd, Star Calendar Year 10, Aventurine's hovercar landed at the edge of the ruins of the Olive Tribe's Capital.

The airstrike had long turned this area into a hellish landscape, the air thick with the smell of burning and blood. Several 'Baize' Warrior robots landed first, their scanning beams sweeping back and forth through the ruins.

"Life signal detected: 200 meters northwest, 5 faint signals," the mechanical voice reported.

Aventurine walked forward, stepping on broken concrete, his eyes behind his sunglasses slightly narrowed. Beside the ruins of a collapsed shopping mall, a small figure was moving stones.

It was a boy, about ten years old, trying to build a makeshift shelter with twisted rebar and plastic sheeting. Three smaller children huddled in a pit behind him, the oldest no more than five.

"Do you need help?" Aventurine asked in the local dialect.

The boy suddenly looked up, a hideous scar on his dirty little face. He instinctively protected the children behind him, his eyes as wary as a wounded cub's. "Who are you? Are you from the Covenant?"

Aventurine took off his sunglasses, revealing his rare multicolored pupils. "Interstellar Peace Corporation, here to investigate what happened."

The boy's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. "I've heard of you. Everyone says you're good people." He suddenly coughed, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Aventurine snapped his fingers, and two medical robots immediately came forward to scan.

"Diagnosis: three broken ribs, punctured lung, moderate dehydration," the mechanical voice reported coldly. "Estimated survival time without intervention: 144 hours."

But the boy pushed the robots away. "I'm fine! Look at them first..." He pointed to the shivering children in the pit. "Amir has a fever, Sarah hasn't eaten in two days..."

Aventurine motioned for the medical team to take over the children, then knelt beside the boy. "What's your name?"

"Karim." The boy watched the robots inject nutrients into his younger siblings. "Dad said it means 'kindness'..."

"Where are your parents?"

Karim's hand suddenly gripped the rebar tightly. "When the Covenant soldiers came... Dad told me to take my siblings and hide in the cellar..." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "We heard gunshots... then Mom's screams... it lasted a long time..."

Aventurine noticed the dense burn marks on the boy's arm. "How did these happen?"

"They bombed the hospital three days ago," Karim replied mechanically. "Amir and I went to steal medicine... we encountered an incendiary bomb..." He lifted the corner of his shirt, revealing a festering wound on his abdomen. "The nurse said... this might not heal..."

The live broadcast drone hovered silently above the two, transmitting this conversation globally. The bullet comments suddenly became sparse, billions of viewers holding their breath simultaneously.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Aventurine asked softly. "Many people need to know the truth."

Karim's eyes suddenly became distant. "At first, it was Militech people... they said they could protect us... then Qilu Corporation's modified Warriors came..." His voice grew lower and lower. "They hung Dad at the gas station... said he was a terrorist... Mom..."

The boy suddenly began to tremble violently, and the medical robot immediately injected a sedative. But Karim pushed the needle away. "No! I want to speak!" He turned to the camera, tears mixed with blood sliding down his face. "They made Mom choose... watch Dad burn to death... or join the 'Entertainment Company'..."

The real-time viewership in the global live broadcast room suddenly soared to 7 billion, but the bullet comments were utterly silent.

"Mom bit that officer..." Karim's voice was as light as a feather. "So they... cut her into pieces... and hung her on the school's basketball hoop..."

The medical Warrior robot suddenly flashed red alarms. "Vital signs dropping rapidly! Emergency treatment procedure initiated!"

Aventurine picked up the surprisingly light boy, but felt a faint resistance. "Immediately prepare..." His command was suddenly cut off because Karim's emaciated fingers were gripping his collar tightly.

"No!" The boy's voice was hoarse like sandpaper rubbing. "I want to... stay here..." His pupils began to dilate, but he stubbornly kept his eyes wide open. "With Mom and Dad... together..."

Aventurine's arm trembled slightly. Through his sunglasses, he saw the burning ruins reflected in the boy's eyes, and his own face, wearing ridiculous sunglasses.

At this moment, he seemed to see his former self.

Back then, he couldn't change anything, but now, he could.