Chapter 174

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“What’s the situation? Have the reports come in? What the hell is going on?”

“According to the reports that just came in, the majority of our headquarters staff are safe.”

“And our headquarters?”

“Unfortunately, our headquarters was located in the area most affected by the earthquake. They say it has completely collapsed.”

At those words, Anthony Watson ran a hand down his face.

“Which means…”

“Everyone inside is dead.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Our Sentinel documents were stored there, and explosives had been pre-installed as an emergency precaution. The employees who were outside saw the earthquake happening and detonated them remotely. They wanted to make sure everyone inside was eliminated and all the documents were blown up completely.”

Just in case someone miraculously survived and had even one document in their possession, the employees had taken that measure.

“The Center Director’s decision to have employees standing by in advance was an excellent judgment. Thanks to that, all the evidence inside has been destroyed.”

An excellent judgment.

Was that really the case?

Even without that order, no one and nothing inside could have made it out. It was a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake. And then a 7.7 magnitude aftershock immediately followed, devastating Turkey.

With two such powerful earthquakes hitting, how could anyone inside the headquarters. especially in the underground facility where the documents were stored. possibly have survived?

They said the pre-installed explosives were also detonated to perfectly destroy the evidence, but that was merely putting a spoon on a finished meal. What had actually eliminated them was Gwangwoon.

“Center Director. There’s one more thing I need to report.”

“What is it?”

“You know how some employees volunteered to personally guide the agents sent from the US this time?”

“What about them?”

“Even setting aside the US suddenly targeting Turkey for no apparent reason, it was suspicious that they acted as though they knew everything about us.”

In truth, Anthony had thought the same thing. To attack headquarters with that level of confidence meant they must have had something definite.

“We have a spy inside?”

“Yes. So the employees apparently conducted their own investigation. And five employees who had volunteered to guide the US agents while remaining at headquarters were found to have actually been colluding with the Americans. They found evidence.”

“!?”

Anthony Watson had not been particularly concerned about filtering out spies. After all, all the employees at headquarters had been recruited by Gwangwoon.

But even among them, there had been spies.

Then had Gwangwoon missed them?

“Or did they know and simply let them be?”

“Probably the latter, wouldn’t you think? With this incident, they’ve wiped out not only the insiders but also the American agents those insiders had brought in.”

However, for that to be possible, one precondition had to be met.

“Can modern technology predict earthquakes? Exactly when an earthquake will occur?”

“No… I’ve heard that no matter how advanced technology becomes, predicting earthquakes is nearly impossible.”

“Then what about artificially causing earthquakes?”

“Weak ones are possible, but causing a magnitude 7.8 earthquake is impossible.”

It was possible to artificially manipulate weather. Earthquakes were also possible.

Nuclear tests could trigger earthquakes, and geothermal power plants sometimes caused earthquakes while drilling into the ground and injecting fluid to extract heat.

Hadn’t the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Pohang, South Korea, been concluded to be an artificial earthquake caused by a nearby geothermal power plant?

But causing an earthquake over 11,000 times stronger. magnitude 7.8.was beyond the reach of modern technology. Even detonating hundreds of nuclear bombs couldn’t artificially produce an earthquake of that magnitude.

“So Gwangwoon deliberately opened the company, lured the insiders and American agents all inside at once, and had them crushed to death…”

“They knew. They knew the earthquake would happen at this time.”

It had been strange from the start.

Even knowing that the moment the headquarters data was seized, Gwangwoon could be finished, they hadn’t stopped the Americans from storming the headquarters.

This was exactly what it was all for.

Then how long had Gwangwoon been planning this?

Deliberately establishing the headquarters in Turkey. Recruiting employees knowing full well they would become insiders. And leaving the forces struggling in the US untouched.

It was all for this one strike. Even before founding the company called Sentinel, Gwangwoon had already had a perfect plan in place.

“But didn’t the CIA also conclude that technology to deliberately cause earthquakes or accurately predict the weather doesn’t exist in the world yet?”

A weapon capable of artificially causing massive earthquakes. There were many conspiracy theories about it. But after repeated investigations, the only conclusion had been that such a weapon couldn’t exist.

“So Gwangwoon has that implausible weapon?”

“That, we don’t know. We secretly investigated all places connected to Gwangwoon.”

“Yes. And the only conclusion we reached was that there were frighteningly no connections. They had no secretly operated organizations either.”

“Right. In other words, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. it means they’re operating so secretively that even people with our level of capability can’t find them.”

After Sentinel was established, they had conducted separate investigations to see if Gwangwoon was running another organization like this one somewhere.

But not a single such place had been discovered.

That was what sent a chill down Watson’s spine.

Organizations that even those veteran agents couldn’t find were somewhere out there, operating under Gwangwoon’s orders, and had even pulled off an incident like this.

“Center Director. Honestly… I’m terrified right now. How far has Gwangwoon planned, and how much do they know? How dense and secretive are the networks they’ve spread? I can’t tell at all.”

Anthony, too, wasn’t showing it on the outside, but inside his heart was racing and churning to the point where he wanted to vomit.

He had always believed that anything in this world could be uncovered through investigation, yet while working under Gwangwoon, he hadn’t even uncovered half of what the company truly was.

In contrast, Gwangwoon was seeing through everything right now.

This Sentinel. The employees working here. And Anthony Watson himself, who had been letting his wariness of Gwangwoon slip.

***

“…”

I had been so shaken by the shocking news that I hadn’t been able to drink a single glass of water properly since morning.

A major earthquake in Turkey, of all places!

And on the very day the Americans came to search our headquarters, that horrifying…!

“The damage in Turkey right now is enormous. They say the death toll alone has reached 100,000, and entire cities have completely sunk.”

“What about our headquarters?”

“Our headquarters is no different. All the surrounding facilities collapsed as well, and explosions occurred during the collapse, making the damage even worse.”

“Then the people deployed there…”

“Yes. Unfortunately, they’re all reported dead.”

“Oh…”

I felt terrible.

I had asked for the matter to be handled as quickly as possible, and I knew the Americans had also welcomed that and arranged the schedule swiftly.

But who could have predicted that an earthquake would strike at precisely that moment? And it was a truly horrific incident in which even the employees who had stayed behind to provide support were buried together.

“For the families of the employees who died in this earthquake, please deliver condolence money on behalf of the company. And make sure their funerals are properly handled.”

“Yes…”

“And also deliver compensation to the Americans who were dispatched and caught up in it.”

“There’s no need to go that far…”

“Even if it’s called a natural disaster, this happened at our company. How devastated must their families be? Please take every possible measure.”

“Understood, sir.”

Money couldn’t wash away all that grief, but I hoped it would help.

“Ah. And even though things have turned out this way, please tell the US government that we’ll continue to cooperate fully with the investigation. If there are any additional schedules, let me know.”

“Yes. I’ll make sure to convey that clearly.”

Despite how much the era had advanced and how we had entered the age of AI, we humans were still powerless before nature. How tragic that was.

“Please also contact the foundation and proceed with making donations to Turkey and dispatching employees. Ah, and if there are any organizations researching earthquakes, could you put together a list? I’m thinking of investing. not for profit purposes, but for public benefit.”

“Got it. I’ll look into it right away.”

I was earnestly hoping that science would advance further and that a day would come when we could overcome natural disasters.

Until then, the only thing I could do was spread this overflowing money around and contribute, however little, to the advancement of science.

***

“How is Eileen doing?”

“From what I’ve heard, she fainted upon hearing about the Turkey earthquake.”

“Huh. So she’s in the hospital?”

“Yes. The problem is that after this crisis erupted, everyone who had been collaborating with Director Eileen has left. Some have completely disappeared without a trace.”

“What? Don’t tell me Gwangwoon kidnapped them?”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case. Upon investigation, some immediately boarded flights and left the US, while others appear to be hiding deep underground.”

Aiden didn’t want to condemn them. They had only done what was right.

Their fatal mistake was having underestimated the company called Gwangwoon.

Believing they could do something against an entity that even the President of the United States couldn’t handle. that in itself was the error.

“Hmph. Should I have stopped them that day?”

But at the time, even Aiden had harbored some hope. That was because Eileen’s plan had been that good.

Moreover, the insiders stationed there had agreed to cooperate, so he had genuinely believed it could be the perfect opportunity to sever Gwangwoon’s lifeline.

But as always, Gwangwoon was always above them. With this incident, everyone who had been conspiring with Eileen had fled, and the Republican Party was in chaos.

“But, Mr. President, is this really something Gwangwoon did?”

The Chief of Staff continued quietly.

“I’ve heard that modern technology still can’t deliberately trigger earthquakes…”

“So this whole thing was just a coincidence? Insiders appeared at Sentinel, Gwangwoon opened the way for American agents to enter, and at that exact timing, a massive earthquake happens?”

“…”

It was hard for Aiden to believe as well. It was already widely known that weather could be artificially manipulated, but artificial earthquakes remained something even future technology struggled to achieve.

Yet through this incident, the conclusion had emerged that Gwangwoon might actually possess that science-fiction-like technology.

No. Perhaps it had been intentional. To give everyone a wake-up call.

This was an incredibly terrifying thing. One might understand being threatened with nuclear weapons. But this was an attack using natural disasters that couldn’t be predicted or stopped.

“What about observations from surrounding facilities? Was there any evidence of artificial earthquake induction?”

“Nothing so far. If something had been done artificially, there would have to be traces, but everything is completely clean.”

When North Korea conducts a nuclear test, it can be detected through the shockwaves produced. The world’s technology had advanced to the point where even vibrations of that magnitude could be detected from the opposite side of the planet.

But before the Turkey earthquake, there had been no artificial vibrations whatsoever.

It was an earthquake that could only be viewed as having occurred naturally.

“So the agents are all confirmed dead?”

“Yes. Every single one. And the cooperating insiders are all dead as well.”

But what came next was even more outrageous.

“And Gwangwoon, as if they’d been waiting, swiftly sent compensation money to each of the deceased employees’ families.”

“…Cruel bastards.”

As always, they hadn’t forgotten to plant their flag of victory and mock them. Receiving compensation money from the enemy that killed your family.

They would never know for the rest of their lives that their family members had been murdered. Handing those unsuspecting families enormous sums of money while offering hollow condolences and watching. that was truly twisted.

“…”

But now was not the time to worry about anyone else. This operation had been conceived by Eileen, but the final approval had come from Aiden.

Would Gwangwoon really let this slide?

“Go and summon John.”

“The former Chief of Staff?”

“Yes. Tell him I want to see him. It’s urgent.”

Today, more than ever, a famous quote from a certain soccer player came to mind.

“If you can’t beat them, join them.”

End of Chapter 174