Clearly, Jonas had cut off contact from his end.
From Jonas's perspective, there was no reason to do so... If he really had rescued Yucas, he would undoubtedly have another bargaining chip. Judging by the way he usually operated, he would never pass up a chance to extract more concessions from her.
If his hacker had merely blocked the information temporarily, he had even less reason to cut off contact himself. He needed to confuse her and lead her into making the wrong call-in other words, to bluff.
Clearly, the second possibility was rather childish. Unconventional tactics would only backfire against a cautious enemy.
And now, Noel found herself caught in just such an unconventional situation. She did not know how he had interrupted her projection, but since he had done it, he naturally had a purpose.
Noel recalled what Jonas had just said.
Unfortunately for you, you're now in check on two fronts.
There were only two possible reasons he would say that. First, he had already rescued Yucas and contacted the Peacekeeping Forces, which would put her in a very difficult position. Second, he had already pinpointed her location.
The target of that second check was her.
That possibility shook Noel's confidence.
Her hands unconsciously tightened around her wheelchair's armrests. With Karin sent away to carry out her orders, she had nothing to protect her except the Security System built into this stronghold.
Noel looked to the other side, at the Security System's surveillance feeds.
The Surveillance System had issued no alerts, but Noel was not certain whether a hacker had compromised her Security System.
The equipment here had already undergone a generational upgrade, and psionic energy sensors had even been installed. In other words, alongside predecessor civilization technology, the stronghold had countermeasures against Psionics.
There were only