The World's Highest Authority

A thread of foreboding, like an icy venomous snake, coiled around Guernica's heart.

Unwilling to give up, he immediately rose and searched through the nearby filing cabinet. He found the private contact numbers of several principal instructors at the training base and dialed them one by one.

"Pururururu..."

"Pururururu..."

Without exception, every call vanished into the void, unanswered.

Guernica slowly hung up the Den Den Mushi. Beneath his mask, his expression had grown so dark it seemed ready to drip water.

CP-affiliated institutions were scattered across the world in vast numbers. To facilitate management and avoid the risks of excessive information centralization, headquarters strictly kept only the Vivre Cards of active CP0 members and commanders. The Vivre Cards of others, such as training base directors and instructors, were not kept in Mary Geoise.

The most direct way to remotely confirm whether they were alive or dead was to contact them through Den Den Mushi—or... contact their families.

Most CP members had been orphans since childhood, but that did not mean they would not form families after reaching adulthood. Their spouses and children often belonged to the CP system as well, forming a closed chain.

With that in mind, and clinging to his last shred of hope, Guernica began trying to reach the instructors' registered family members through other people.

Those family members did not have the authority to contact Mary Geoise directly, nor did Mary Geoise have direct access to them. Every communication had to pass through layer upon layer of transfers, making the process cumbersome and inefficient.

Two hours passed amid anxious waiting and repeated dialing. When Guernica finally put down the Den Den Mushi, he appeared extraordinarily calm.

It was not because the matter was minor. On the contrary, its severity had already crossed a critical threshold. During the communications just now, he had already flown into a rage over the transfer staff's negligence and the confusion of information. He had even threatened to demote them into slaves before prying open the mouths of the department responsible for reserve personnel training and learning an even worse piece of news—by now, that trace of anger had long been consumed by overwhelming shock.

"Yoshiwara Island... Guan Hao Island..."

Guernica slowly savored the two place names, his voice icy.

"Good. Very good. A pack of parasites, concealing reports and delaying reports until the situation became irreparable! Once this is over, the inside must undergo a thorough purge!"

He had never imagined that the Guan Hao Island training base, responsible for training CP9 reserves, had also met with disaster—and it had happened a full six days ago! For six days, the news had been sealed away layer by layer. If he had not been investigating the truth behind Joseph's death and applied pressure with an uncompromising attitude, he would likely still have been kept in the dark.

According to the information ultimately confirmed by those family members, every instructor's Vivre Card at Yoshiwara Island, which trained female agents, and Guan Hao Island, which trained CP9 candidates, had burned away completely. Not a single one had survived!

This meant that the instructor forces of both bases had been uprooted. As for the trainees, the organization's future lifeblood, their fates were likely even bleaker.

"I've learned everything there is to learn. It's time to report this mess to the lords."

Guernica took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his turbulent emotions. He rose to his feet and carefully straightened the white suit and cloak that symbolized his status, ensuring there was not a single improper crease. Then his figure blurred, and with the swift steps of Soru, he vanished from the room in an instant.

The Room of Authority, the core of the World Government's power.

Five elderly men, dressed in expensive clothing and varied in appearance yet all exuding the majesty of those long accustomed to power, sat or stood in a circle.

They were discussing the increasingly rampant Revolutionary Army. This organization, led by Monkey D. Dragon, had toppled several World Government member nations in succession. Its very existence was an open provocation against the World Government's authority.

"My lords, I have an urgent matter to report."

There was a knock at the door, followed by Guernica's incomparably respectful voice from outside.

Jaygarcia Saturn Saint, the Warrior God of Science and Defense, had thick hair, a scar on his left cheek, white curly hair, a bushy white beard, and an aristocratic flat cap. He frowned slightly, seemingly displeased by the interruption.

"What is it?"

Guernica's voice came clearly and gravely through the heavy doors.

"Reporting to my lords: CP0 official member Joseph has been confirmed dead during an external mission. The killer's identity is unknown. Furthermore, after verification, all instructors at the training bases on Yoshiwara Island and Guan Hao Island have been confirmed dead. The trainees within the bases... have most likely perished as well."

The moment his words fell, the Room of Authority sank into brief dead silence. The Five Elders' expressions changed at once, and the air seemed to freeze.

A moment later, Saturn Saint was the first to speak, his voice devoid of emotion.

"We are aware. You may withdraw."

"Yes."

Guernica answered from outside, and his footsteps swiftly receded.

After he left, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, the Warrior God of Finance, who was wiping down his cursed blade, revealed a contemplative expression.

"Joseph... I recall that his previous mission was to select suitable candidates to infiltrate the Underworld."

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, the Warrior God of Agriculture, a lean man with brown skin, nodded.

"According to the scheduled timing, he should have been on his way back with the selected targets by now."

Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice, bald and dressed in a black suit and white shirt with two mustache tufts, offered a summary.

"Two training bases, and every instructor wiped out. This will have too great an impact on replenishing our intelligence personnel over the next few years."

At those words, the other Five Elders' expressions became even uglier. In their eyes, whether CP0 members or training base instructors, their individual lives were no different from ants. Yet the existence of these "ants" was crucial to maintaining the vast World Government's "hearing" and "sight."

They were tentacles spread across the world, roots that absorbed intelligence. Now, two important "tentacles" had been severed at the root. This meant that Cipher Pol would inevitably suffer a manpower shortage for some time to come, and the World Government's ability to perceive outside intelligence would decline as well, leaving it deaf and blind.

Naturally, the Five Elders could not personally gather intelligence, much less have the noble World Nobles do such work.

Saint Marcus Mars, the Warrior God of Environment, who had long white hair, a small mustache, and a goatee, analyzed the situation with great calm.

"Logically speaking, those capable of and daring enough to strike our CP bases so ruthlessly are most likely some reactionary organization. But among the reactionary organizations that have currently grown to any scale, only the Revolutionary Army fits that description.

"Yet with the intelligence capabilities the Revolutionary Army has displayed so far, there is no way they could have located and simultaneously destroyed two of our hidden bases with such precision."

The other Five Elders all showed expressions of agreement. The Revolutionary Army's threat lay in its ideology and its means of toppling kingdoms, not in this sort of precise decapitation strike against specific hidden targets.

Saturn Saint tapped his cane against the floor and spoke in a deep voice.

"In other words, the ones who acted are very likely an emerging reactionary force that we have yet to notice, one possessing considerable intelligence-gathering and operational capabilities?"

"An emerging reactionary force..."

That conclusion cast a shadow over all the Five Elders' faces. They possessed an instinctive disgust and vigilance toward anything described as "reactionary" that might shake the foundations of their rule.

Immediately afterward, the Five Elders began discussing how to deal with this unknown newborn enemy lurking in the shadows, each voicing his own opinion.

Yet no matter what strategy they considered, a trace of concern lingered unmistakably between each of their brows. An organization capable of silently eliminating two CP training bases was likely not a threat that could be underestimated.

TO BE CONTINUED