"A fourth key?" Aeridar and the others looked on in astonishment.
"Exactly. Even the material is identical. For a moment, I actually thought there were four official keys!" Otto nodded.
Suddenly, a look of realization dawned on Mina. "If the cold storage keys were under such strict security, the mole must have had access to them but was too afraid of exposing his identity to actually steal one."
"Instead, he likely used his access to take a mold of the key and manufactured a duplicate later. Alternatively, the Revolutionary Army or the Neo Marines might have an ability user with a specialized power who could forge a perfect replica using that mold!"
Mina laid out her theory with the practiced logic of an intelligence officer. It was a deduction backed by reason and experience.
"Now that you mention it, that's highly probable."
"Right, it's the only explanation that makes sense."
"There's no doubt; that has to be it."
Aeridar and the rest found themselves nodding in agreement. Mina's reasoning was sound.
As they discussed the possibilities, the group boarded the elevator and descended into the subterranean research facility.
The state of the underground base was no better than the surface. Although the experimental subjects kept here had been moved to the upper levels for study, this core facility had been the true theater of war. The invaders who breached the underground sectors were the elite forces of the Revolutionary Army and the Neo Marines; their destructive power far exceeded that of the common soldiers.
Furthermore, some experimental creatures had fled in a blind panic from the surface labs, charging down the transport tunnels and wreaking secondary havoc in the sub-levels.
"Get that stupid tiger back upstairs and lock it up!"
Gilbert Arlan's roar echoed from down the hall.
The group quickened their pace and found Arlan at a tunnel junction. Beside him lay a massive tiger, its fur scorched black, bound tightly by several heavy chains.
A dozen men were struggling to hoist the enormous beast onto a large industrial cart. With a heavy rumble, they pushed it down a different corridor.
Hearing footsteps echoing in the hallway, Arlan, who was currently smoothing back his blue hair, turned around and saw Aeridar's crew.
"Captain, you're back!" Arlan lowered his hands and hurried toward them.
"Find a room. Give me a full damage report and call all the Doctors in," Aeridar commanded immediately upon seeing Arlan.
"Understood. Follow me," Arlan nodded.
Twenty minutes later, in a conference room within the underground base…
Nearly ten people sat around a spacious table. Every face was grim, and the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Knock. Knock.
Aeridar tapped his index finger twice on the table. "Let's hear it," he said tonelessly.
"We've identified the mole. It's likely this man."
Millie, dressed in a black gown, stood up and distributed a dossier to everyone present.
"I see. However, you and the Internal Affairs Department bear heavy responsibility for this oversight," Aeridar said, casting a cold glance at Millie before picking up the document.
"I know. My Sense-Sense Fruit ability was focused on the Royal Capital, Nakor; I neglected the sky." Millie didn't deflect blame, stating her findings directly. "As for the mole, when we had Viola screen the personnel back then, this man was clean."
"He was clean back then..." Arlan narrowed his eyes. "Meaning, at some point later on, he became a sleeper agent for the Revolutionaries."
The group opened their folders to examine the contents.
The first page featured an eight-inch photograph of a lean man, appearing to be in his early thirties.
Name: Daniel Dana
Age: 31
Marital Status:
Single Relatives: Deceased (No other known kin)
Expertise: Mechanical Dynamics, Genetic Biology, Philosophy, History.
Original Status: Former Scientist and Court Scholar of the Clifford Kingdom.
Current Status: Researcher for the Chris Pirates; Level 2 Administrator and Scientist at the Research Base; Core researcher for the New Airships; Inspector of the Cold Storage.
Hidden Identity: Deep-cover mole for the Revolutionary Army.
Seeing Daniel Dana's profile, Aeridar's brow knitted. This man was a polymath, not just a capable scientist, but a scholar of philosophy and history as well.
Noticing his background in history and philosophy, Aeridar had a hunch about how the Revolutionary Army had turned him. Every historian has a forbidden research interest: the "Void Century," the 100-year gap in history suppressed by the World Government.
While Nico Robin is the only one who can read the Poneglyphs, that doesn't mean other scholars aren't interested. Most scholars simply fear the World Government or lack the methodology to investigate that era.
The Revolutionary Army likely used suppressed historical knowledge as bait to buy Daniel Dana's loyalty in secret.
However, intelligence agencies worldwide know that a "deep-cover mole" can only be used once. Activating such an asset means the objective is of immense value, as it almost guaranteed exposure.
Thinking this through, Aeridar realized that Sabo's rescue must have been an accident.
"I see... When Dragon found out Sabo had been captured, he wanted to save him. But Sabo was surrounded by the core members of the Chris Pirates; even if the entire Revolutionary Army mobilized, a rescue wasn't guaranteed."
"Add to that the fact that the new airship designs were leaked early, otherwise, the Revolutionaries couldn't have built dozens of them so quickly, and the picture becomes clear," Aeridar said coldly.
"It seems Dragon activated his deep-cover asset to launch a surprise raid on Alvis Island. They wanted to capture Dr. Dalt and the others to use as leverage to exchange for the Revolutionary Army's No. 2," Mina theorized, resting her chin on her hand.
"What Dragon didn't know," Aeridar added, his anger beginning to flare, "was that I planned to use Sabo's weakened will while he was injured to have Pudding rewrite his memories, turning him into a combat weapon for the Chris Pirates. That's why I secretly had him moved to Alvis Island."
"As it turned out, they struck just as he arrived and managed to take him back. Dammit, they got lucky!"
Sabo was a powerhouse with a formidable will. There was a significant gap in strength between him and Pudding, making the success of a memory rewrite an unknown variable with a high failure rate.
Aeridar had sent Sabo to Alvis Island ahead of time to begin preliminary brainwashing to lower his mental resistance. He wanted to ensure that when Pudding arrived from Totto Land, the success rate would be maximized.
But Sabo had only been on the island for a single day. Before Pudding had even cleared the borders of Big Mom's territory, the Revolutionary Army and the Neo Marines had already struck.
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