Sumeragi Lee Noriega was pondering the data before her.
'This makes no sense. The Union should be the most cautious about us. Yet, we lost access to Human Reform League's Orbital Elevator, and instead we got access to Union's Tower.'
'There was something that happened behind the scenes.'
The Tactical Forecaster checked all of the news. She noticed something odd.
'Someone leaked information about Celestial Being's investors. Hours later, they needed to run, followed by a worldwide broadcast.
The time stamp between those is merely a few hours.
The issue is that this was broadcast to the Japanese News Network, not Unions. In other words, the presenter was waiting.'
The brown-haired woman frowned. She concluded that this faction had moved; they used Celestial Being to stage a power grab.
In other words, this faction doesn't follow Celestial Being's ideals. Instead, they use them to spread their influence.
This was something Aeolia Schenberg was concerned about. That is why he put safeguards… it's something called… secrecy…but…
'That's where Veda comes to the play. I see… it makes sense.'
The woman realised they could still use Veda, because this faction needed Celestial Being.
'This faction needs us to cause more chaos. So they could grab more power.'
A haggard breath escaped from Sumeragi Lee Noriega's mouth as she put things in place. It terrified her that something like this could exist within Celestial Being.
After realising this, she began digging deeper, and patterns emerged in the data.
'Union… big corporations… who profits from this the most?'
Her eyes widened… as she saw a single name pop up several times.
'Marcus Anaheim… His Anaheim took over Alejandro Corner's seat on the UN Linear Trains Executive Board… sweat god.
Isn't he the one who made Over Flags for Union?'
She looked at Marcus Anaheim's picture.
*Deep Breath*
Cold realisation washed over her.
The woman slowly stood up as she walked to the bridge of Ptolemaios.
There was one girl who was on duty as the ship was docked for Dynames' and Exia's repairs.
"Christina." The brown-haired woman asked one of the CIC girls.
"Hmm… what is it, Ms Sumeragi?" The girl looked at her captain.
"We have a connection to Veda, right?"
"...Yes? Is there something you need? An Intervention?" She asked, but when she saw the dead-serious look on her captain's face, she grew serious as well.
"...No… I think, I know who took over Veda." The woman dropped a bombshell.
"!!!"
"...Yes… But this is a long shot. I don't want to warn this individual, so we need to treat this carefully." She said dead seriously to one of the CIC girls.
"...Yes… I understood. Should I call Gundam Meisters?"
"The ones that are here. We must not tip Veda in any way. It could be checking our messages." Sumeragi said with a pondering tone.
"Understood. Then, I will call them in person." The girl scrambled from her seat.
"Before you do. I want you to check something."
"Okay." Christina stopped in her tracks as she waited for the word.
"I want you to ask Veda for probability. I want you to ask if it was a power grab move in the Union by someone towards Corner Foundation?"
"...Okay… let's see… check if I worded it correctly." The girl typed in the console and showed it to the Captain.
After reading through, Sumeragi nodded and motioned for Christina to ask Veda.
Moments later, they got an answer.
[100%]
"..."
"..."
"Gotcha… now ask… who."
Christina's eyes widened as she swiftly messaged Veda back.
But they didn't get anything back. Veda was not responding!
"..."
"..."
"Did something happen?" The CIC girl asked the Captain.
"Nothing happened, and do not ask anything either. Veda is protecting its new Master."
The answer caused the girl look back at the Captain with nervousness.
"We got what he wanted. I just hope this question didn't get flagged in any way." Sumeragi said with a deep look. This was a gamble on her part.
"Now, Christina, I want you to gather Gundam Meisters for me."
"Understood."
The girl scrambled to gather Lockon and Setsuna.
~~~
"I have figured out who hacked Veda." Sumeragi Lee Noriega said to the gathered crew of Ptolemaios.
"...that was not what I expected to hear today." Lockon looked surprised for a second.
"Who did it?" Setsuna asked in his monotone tone.
"...Marcus Anaheim." The Captain said, looking around as if people in the walls were listening to them.
"...Him? But…" Lockon looked confused. He recalled this guy on TV. He was the Union's Golden Boy, rising through the ranks with innovations in technology: the new Over Flag, prosthetics for people and soldiers, and new batteries that conserve energy.
Not to mention, he lowered the prices of technology in general with new chips.
So far, he looked like… Golden Boy.
"I know. But that's merely a cover. Look at this."
Sumeragi showed them something.
"This is the day we revealed ourselves." He showed a graph.
"...His company has been doing a lot of buying. As if… they knew we would appear." Lockon looked with wide eyes.
"Not just that. There is something strange about him as well." She showed them his profile.
"His early years are far too quiet for someone of his talent. It's like he popped into this world in the most literal sense." The woman compared his early years with his records of the two years.
"...same with his wife, who got normal records, but then her early years are almost non-existent."
"...That is strange. Now that you pointed out." Lockon stroked his chin. While it looks normal at first glance, it's different when one digs deeper.
"...then shouldn't we eliminate him? He is the source of the twistedness in the world." Setsuna said with a frown. His instincts are telling him that it's him.
"Twistedness?"
"Yes. He is one of those who twists the world and is the source of the conflicts around the world." Exia's pilot said with an annoyed tone.
"...I understand you, Setsuna, but this is only my hypothesis; we don't have any actual proof. There is no connection between Marcus Anaheim and Alejandro Corner.
Or Veda and him… we need to make a separate investigation." Sumeragi pondered as she looked at Christina.
"Send a message to Wang Liu Mei. Tell her to investigate Marcus Anaheim." The Captain of Ptolemaios instructed the CIC girl.
"I will."
"Shouldn't we just confirm with Veda? If Veda can't confirm him in any way, then we know Marcus Anaheim is Veda's new Master." Lockon said after pondering a bit.
"No. We can't trip any alarms. It's better to pretend everything is fine and then spring the trap once we are sure.
Besides, I will continue to do my investigation now that I have my suspicion." She said with a confident smile.
"Understood, Miss Captain, sir!" Lockon saluted her with an amused tone before leaving the meeting room.
Though Setsuna stayed for a second as he looked at the captain.
"Tell me when you are certain it's him, and I will personally eliminate him." Exia's pilot said with a serious tone before he left the meeting room.
"...I will."
"Guy! We got a message from Veda! It's a mission!"
"!!!"
Everyone stopped in their tracks. There was a tense moment on the whole ship as everyone felt that someone was eye dropping on them.
All of a sudden, Setsuna and Lockon were back in the meeting room. They floated over to Sumeragi, checking the message.
"...It's a mission to AEU. Moralia and AEU are planning a joint military exercise. They are inviting us." The brown-haired woman read over it and wondered if it was connected in some way to Marcus's plot. But this was a regular intervention mission.
"This is a regular intervention mission. Though I will be watching this closely." She explained to the pair of Gundam Meisters before contacting Feldt on the bridge. "Did Wang Liu Mei reply?"
"No. There is no response from her yet."
"Hmm…"
'Did something happen to her?'
~~~~~~On Other Side of The Portal~~~~~~
"Ohhh~~~" Wang Liu Mei looked at the futurist city from a flying car. She was in the capital of the world, Constantinople. The Metropolis sprawls across two continents.
"This is truly a different world. The style of buildings is very strange." The Heiress said with an excited smile. She sat next to Marcus as he took her to his Palace for a trip.
This was him showing off his world and gaining her loyalty and trust. After all, showing is better than explaining.
So far, she likes this world quite a bit.
"Of course. The skyscrapers are based on Britannian design."
"...Oh, right, history of your world is a bit different."
"Indeed. We got influenced by the precursor civilisation's unique powers."
'Geass… he showed me. It's a power that manifests after being exposed to Geass Energy. This energy manifested when precurson civilisation built thought Elevators.'
Just thinking about this makes her excited; she wonders if she could worm her way to gain this power!
Marcus was something called 'Perfect' Code Bearer, a true Emperor like those Ancient Rulers who lived for thousands of years in Ancient Sumeria and Babylonia.
He could effortlessly make her a Geass user!
"Do tell me more about this power? Your wives have this power, right?" Wang Liu Mei wanted to know more.
"Two of my wives are Code Bearers."
'Now that's interesting!!!'
Semi-Immortal, eternally young… now that's exciting.
"I know that look. It's a curse and blessing, you shouldn't mess around with such a power." Marcus knows that ambitious ladies desire such power.
"Hmph, if my Husband is immortal, I should be as well. Especially if you desire to rule the galaxy as you told me." The Heiress crossed her hands and grumbled.
"Indeed. That is why I am telling you to be careful with your choices. This is because I will be making you choose this path."
But this is where her eyes widened before her cheeks turned rosy.
"That alone is more than my family ever allowed me to choose.
Just giving me a choice. It is already more than enough.
And yes, I accept such a deal." She smirked while saying that.
Marcus shook his head. It would seem his charm only got stronger with the years. It appears that he doesn't even need to kidnap anymore; they kidnap themselves now.
"So, back to this power. What do I need to do to get it?" She asked him with a giddy look.
The Inventor Emperor rolled his eyes. He never seen someone that giddy to get Geass. The look Jeanne gives her is one of utter disbelief and horror.
"You do recall what I said less than an hour ago? You would not know what kind of power you would manifest, and even then, when you overuse it… IT will go out of control." He reminded her of that.
"Yes. I recall that very well. We just talked about it. But I do not care, because I know you will be there to help me out." Wang Liu Mei said with a straight face. She is 100% expecting him to help her.
"And if I don't?" He asked, a bit confused about where her trust is coming from.
"I am not stupid. I already know what kind of person you are." She smirked at him. The Heiress already knows that this guy is greedy. He has a harem; he desires to conquer her world rather than merely raid it.
That means the moment she crosses that 'boundary', he won't let her go. It's as simple as that. She was trained by the best to read people, and she read him enough to know that.
"Is that so? Since you insist, I can give it to you once we make things official." He sighed, realising that he is getting a sixth wife… not that he doesn't mind. He doesn't have a Chinese Heiress as a wife, and she is from a different reality, too.
"Wonderful! I can't wait!"
"You do realise we can't stick in this reality for long. I still need to conquer that world." He shook his head. He doesn't want her to get used to this place just yet.
"Don't worry. I always give 100% in my missions. Believe me, especially now." Wang Liu Mei said in a dead-serious voice as she saw the Palace in the distance.
'Holy…'
Her eyes bulged when she saw a citadel. It was not a Palace, it was a Fortress!
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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