Chương 137: Chapter : 137

"We found their employer," Yukihime continued, completely ignoring Hestia's bragging.

"We successfully identified the mastermind who paid the mercenaries to steal the Core of Luminus. The culprit is a man named Augusto." Ken tilted his head, blinking his sleepy eyes.

"Augusto? That sounds like a guy who bakes really expensive pizzas, not a criminal mastermind. Are we sure we have the right guy? Maybe he just wanted the glowing rock for a fancy table centerpiece." Naomi quickly stomped her boot directly onto Ken's toe.

"Ow!" Ken yelped softly, hopping on one foot.

"Do not interrupt the Grandmaster," Naomi hissed quietly, though she kept her eyes facing forward. Yukihime did not even look at Ken. She simply kept speaking, her tone remaining as cold as winter ice.

"Augusto is not a common street thug, and he is not a gang boss. He is a former Senior Researcher for the Belmontia Empire. Officially, the government records state that he retired many years ago due to old age and declining health." Sayma pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her highly analytical mind instantly started connecting the dots.

"A Senior Researcher? If he officially retired, how does he have the massive amount of wealth required to hire the Black Viper mercenaries? Those assassins charge a fortune for their services."

"Because his retirement was a complete lie," Grandmaster Finlay rumbled, stepping up to stand right next to Yukihime. The giant silver knight looked incredibly grim. His thick gray eyebrows were pulled tightly together in a deep, angry frown.

"Augusto did not retire. He simply went underground. He is currently running a massive, heavily fortified private laboratory hidden on the very outskirts of the capital city." The news sent a ripple of surprise through the courtyard. The tired engineers of the 9th Unit exchanged nervous looks. The pristine fighters of the 16th Unit tightened their grips on their weapons.

"A private laboratory?" Prince Hephaestus asked, pushing his welding goggles up onto his messy brown hair.

"What is an old researcher doing in a hidden bunker? Building illegal weapons?"

"It is much worse than just weapons, Your Highness," Finlay answered, his voice dropping into a heavy, serious register.

"Augusto used to be a highly dedicated, brilliant patriot. He was one of the greatest scientific minds the Empire ever produced. But over the years, his mind has become completely twisted by ambition, paranoia, and sheer cunning." Princess Iris took a slow step forward. Her violet eyes were totally focused.

"Grandmaster, what exactly is he researching in that laboratory?" Finlay looked directly at Iris. He knew the answer was going to hit her and her team incredibly hard.

"He is continuing the Solurius project," Finlay stated bluntly. The entire 13th Unit completely froze. Ken stopped hopping on his sore toe to act surprised too. Everyone remembered that word perfectly. Solurius. It was the highly toxic, terrifying radioactive magical mineral. It was the exact same toxic waste that had poisoned the water supply ten years ago.

It was the horrific mistake that had rotted the skin off innocent villagers, killed Vane's entire family, and turned the former army captain into a mutated bat-monster. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The Empire had promised that the Soluriam project was completely shut down and banned forever. But now, they were standing in a courtyard learning that the nightmare was still very much alive, hiding just a few miles away.

"Solurius?!" Naomi gasped out loud, completely losing her strict military composure. Her green eyes went wide with pure, unfiltered horror.

"You mean the radiation? The flesh-rotting plague? I thought the Upper Council destroyed all of those materials ten years ago!"

"They buried the official records, Naomi," Sayma corrected her, her voice shaking just a tiny bit.

"But scientists like Augusto do not let their life's work simply disappear. If he has a private laboratory, he must have smuggled caches of the raw mineral out of the government vaults before they were sealed." Laxmi's hands immediately ignited with bright, roaring orange fire. She was absolutely furious.

"That stuff kills innocent people! It completely wiped out a whole village! We just fought a giant monster yesterday who was driven completely insane because of that exact same poison! Why would anyone in their right mind keep experimenting with it?!"

"Because Augusto believes he can tame it," Grandmaster Yukihime answered smoothly, stepping back into the conversation.

"He believes that if he can stabilize the volatile radiation, he can create a biological weapon that will make the Belmontia Empire completely untouchable. He views the suffering of the commoners as a necessary sacrifice for scientific progress." Princess Iris gripped the hilt of her silver rapier so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her heart ached for the people who had already died because of this twisted ambition.

She had promised herself that she would tear the corruption out of the Empire, and now the absolute worst piece of that corruption was sitting right in front of her.

"But what does an old, crazy scientist want with the Core of Luminus?" Zinia asked, crossing her strong arms defensively.

"The Core is a natural cooling stone. It absorbs radiation. Why would he send masked mercenaries to steal it from the dungeon?"

"That is exactly why he stole it, Zinia," Finlay explained, turning to look at the tough earth user.

"Augusto's research is highly unstable. Solurius radiation generates a massive, uncontrollable amount of dark heat. His underground laboratory is likely on the absolute brink of a total meltdown. He hijacked the Core of Luminus specifically to use it as a massive, magical cooling rod to stabilize his volatile reactor." Prince Hephaestus let out a loud, stressed groan and rubbed his face with both hands.

"Oh, that is just fantastic. So you are telling me that a crazy old man built a highly toxic, ticking time bomb on the edge of the city, and he is using our stolen artifact to keep it from blowing up the entire capital?"

"That is precisely the situation, Brother," Princess Hestia sighed, looking highly annoyed by the inconvenience. She elegantly brushed a speck of invisible dust off her white sleeve.

"It seems we have accidentally stumbled into a massive government cover-up. How terribly tedious."

"It is not tedious, Hestia. It is an emergency," Princess Iris said firmly, her voice carrying the undeniable tone of a true leader. She looked back at Grandmaster Finlay.

"What is our tactical objective?" Finlay nodded heavily, respecting Iris's determination. He took a heavy step forward, his giant frame casting a long shadow over the front row of servants.

"Tracking down a rogue imperial researcher was not your original mission," Finlay announced loudly, making sure every single person in the courtyard was paying absolute attention.

"Your mission was simply to find the Core of Luminus. But storming Augusto's fortified facility presents us with a golden opportunity. We can kill two birds with one stone." Ken leaned his head back, staring up at the clouds.

"I don't like that phrase," Ken mumbled lazily to himself.

"Why are we throwing stones at birds? Birds are nice. They just fly around and eat breadcrumbs. We should just leave the birds alone." Naomi lightly elbowed him in the ribs again, keeping him focused.

"Listen to the plan, you idiot."