Ch.8686. Battle of Wits

It had been a month since the signing of Yotron.

During that period, Amon and Sonia traveled throughout France preparing their counterattack.

[Hey, Kathy. We protected the witnesses and their families, and sent them over.]

Amon’s voice came through the receiver.

“Good job.”

[That’s a relief. Ugh. I haven’t been able to sleep properly for a week. Sonia hasn’t slept for days either.]

“You two are working so hard.”

[It’s manageable because we have you. *yawn* Ah, sorry.]

“No worries. Go get some sleep.”

[Alright. I’ll hang up now.]

Amon yawned once more and ended the call.

Kathy hung up as well and smiled slightly.

She could clearly picture Amon rubbing his eyelids throughout their conversation.

Tap tap

Kathy straightened a stack of papers by tapping them against the desk.

Tucking them under her arm, she left the office.

She headed straight for the elevator.

The elevator AI greeted her.

[Good morning, Director Kathy. Where would you like to go?]

“To the Executive Director. Also, A.”

[Yes, Director?]

“Enter hibernation mode from when the Executive Director boards until I wake you again. Turn off the black box too.”

[Understood.]

The elevator arrived at the floor where the Executive Director’s office was located.

When Kathy entered the office, the Executive Director was lying with his eyes closed inside a capsule.

As she approached the capsule, the director inside suddenly opened his eyes.

“What brings you here, miss?”

“Director. It’s time.”

“Has it come to that already?”

The director looked at his watch with a surprised expression. He unplugged a wire from the back of his neck and rose from the capsule.

The two boarded the elevator. This time, there was no question from the AI.

During the elevator ride, both directors remained silent.

On the way to the chairman’s office, Kathy gave similar orders to the security chief they encountered.

“Don’t let anyone through until we come back out. There are no appointments today and nothing urgent.”

The Executive Director added that lethal force was authorized if necessary.

The security chief nodded.

Under strict security procedures, the two arrived at the chairman’s office.

“You’re here?”

The chairman, who had been idly watching television, welcomed them.

Kathy sighed immediately upon seeing her father.

“Aren’t you working?”

“You two took all my work, what am I supposed to do?”

“But you still get paid. Do something at least.”

“My daughter. Don’t you know that the amount of work you handle equals power? Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Anyone listening would think I’ve usurped your power and made you a figurehead.”

“Isn’t that the case?”

Kathy glared at the chairman.

“Alright. I’ll stop.”

“Sigh…”

Even after Kathy became a director, the chairman remained chairman. It was to back her up in case any problems arose.

But as time passed, he gradually pushed more work onto Kathy, and now he hardly had anything to do.

People with some awareness had noticed that the chairman was preparing for retirement.

“So you two came because of that matter, right? Tell me.”

The chairman spoke nonchalantly as if it were someone else’s business. But contrary to his tone, his expression was serious.

Kathy also changed her expression to a serious one and began her report.

“We’ve secured all the victims so far. We’ve rescued about 37 people to date.”

“What’s your target number?”

“At least 50 people. But the more, the better.”

“And the other side?”

“Miller Pharmaceuticals seems to have noticed something, but they don’t suspect it’s us. Amon and Sonia are handling it well.”

“They’ll start moving soon anyway. They’ll try to deal with the victims first, either by sending private soldiers or mercenaries.”

“That’s why I told them. Now we’ll focus on concealment.”

“Well, it’s him after all.”

The chairman nodded. Kathy and the Executive Director nodded as well.

While his combat ability might still be debatable for a full department head level, they all acknowledged his skills in concealment and assassination.

“We should be fine until we deal with Nevil Pharmaceuticals.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The chairman nodded.

“So how are things going with Nevil?”

“They say it’s killing them. They’re sending people at all hours, so they can’t get any sleep.”

By now, Nevil’s strategy was clear.

Nevil had no intention of assassinating Amon and Sonia. They just wanted them to leave Europe.

No matter how strong Amon and Sonia were, as humans, they needed rest.

By continuously sending untraceable attackers and accumulating fatigue, even the strongest superhumans would eventually give up.

If they dropped this case, that would be ideal; even just leaving Europe would essentially accomplish their goal.

Right now, Sonia and Amon were enduring through sheer willpower because they knew Nevil was behind it. If they hadn’t known, they would have retreated and regrouped.

The chairman nodded slowly.

“Nevil is quite ruthless.”

“That’s why I told them not to subdue the attackers anymore. They just commit suicide when captured anyway.”

“That was wise. But it’s strange. How can they have so many elite private soldiers, not mercenaries? The total number sent so far must exceed thousands.”

“I’ve been wondering about that too. Where they’re getting so many people from…”

“Could they be clones?”

“Amon and I have considered that possibility. But there are other possibilities too, so we’re not jumping to conclusions yet.”

“Certainly.”

The chairman nodded. Wrong assumptions could be fatal.

If there was no urgency, it was better to approach cautiously.

Besides, Kathy currently had the initiative, so there was no need to rush.

The chairman reclined his chair slightly.

“Is that all regarding Nevil?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you bring the Executive Director?”

“I’ll explain after he gives his report.”

Kathy looked at the Executive Director.

The Executive Director began reporting to the chairman.

“There have been a total of 1,758 hacking attempts on the company so far. Of those, 1,102 targeted the areas that miss warned us about. Notably, all 1,102 attempts began after Amon started operating in Europe.”

The chairman’s eyes sharpened as he heard the report.

“How skilled are these hackers?”

“We couldn’t determine if it’s multiple people or an individual. But one thing is certain—it’s neither Nevil Pharmaceuticals nor Miller Pharmaceuticals.”

“Hmm… So you don’t know who it is?”

“No. We couldn’t find out that much.”

The chairman stroked his chin and hummed thoughtfully. After pondering deeply, he addressed the Executive Director.

“You’ve done well. Thanks to you, the company remains safe.”

“Not at all. If miss hadn’t warned us in advance, I would have been helpless too.”

“Still, without you, the problem would have grown. Thank you.”

“I’m humbled.”

“No need for that. But aren’t you curious about who’s behind this?”

The Executive Director glanced at Kathy once, then answered with a composed expression:

“I believe miss has reasons for not telling me.”

The chairman shifted his gaze from the Executive Director to Kathy, as if asking, ‘What do you think?’

Kathy shrugged and spoke.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, I couldn’t.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m not looking into the future right now.”

The Executive Director was surprised, as if hearing this for the first time. In contrast, the chairman showed no change in expression as he asked Kathy:

“Is someone interfering?”

“Yes. The feeling is different from Owen’s case, but that’s how it felt. When I looked at the future of the attackers sent by Nevil Pharmaceuticals, I felt like I made eye contact with someone.”

“I think I understand the feeling.”

“Yes. That’s why I came to father.”

She pointed at the Executive Director’s report and asked:

“It seems related to this hacker. Do you have any idea who it might be, father?”

The chairman shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“But you just said you understood the feeling?”

“I understand the feeling, but I don’t know who it is.”

“Do you have any guesses…?”

“I do have some guesses.”

“Then please tell me.”

“I was going to anyway.”

The chairman brought his hands together just in front of his mouth and began his story.

“It’s happened occasionally since long ago. In my case, when I tried to eavesdrop on the future, I would hear static, or things would happen completely differently from what I heard, or it would feel like someone was whispering in my ear.”

“This is my first time experiencing this.”

“That’s because you’re in California. It’s within our sphere of influence. But once you step outside, our control weakens.”

They could exert some influence within America. But outside America, he had no control.

“It’s probably due to the difference in influence based on distance. Within California, I control the variables, but the same applies to them in their territory.”

Kathy questioned in disbelief:

“Are there other people who can see the future besides us?”

“Why wouldn’t there be?”

The history of the Requetio family spans hundreds of years.

There must be thousands of undocumented branch families.

It would be too naive to think that not a single one of them has awakened prophetic abilities.

“There are priests in the Vatican with precognitive abilities, and even outside our family, there must be others who have awakened such powers.”

“I’ve been thinking that too… but experiencing it firsthand is quite unsettling.”

“Didn’t I tell you not to rely too much on your ability?”

“It’s not the kind of concern you’re thinking of, dad. I just came to confirm.”

Kathy calmly made some notes, as if this was what she had expected.

Seeing this, the chairman also calmly acknowledged.

“Is that so? If that’s the case.”

“But what did you do in these situations, father?”

“I avoided them.”

He didn’t bother to dig deeper.

A bird that flies too high will burn in the sun. He avoided paths that might lead to confrontations with other precognitives.

For the same reason, he didn’t strain himself trying to peek into Amon’s future.

“I don’t want to become a snail.”

Kathy gave a bitter smile at the chairman’s words.

“Then there’s nothing to be done.”

“Was my advice helpful?”

“It turned my suspicions into certainty, at least.”

“From the way you’re talking, it doesn’t seem like you’re going to give up.”

“Of course not.”

“I suppose that’s to be expected.”

The chairman knew Kathy’s personality well.

She wasn’t one to avoid a fight.

Even if it meant death, she would struggle to overcome the sun.

‘I wonder who she takes after…’

The chairman briefly thought of his wife, then erased her from his mind.

And to hide the melancholy that filled his heart, he forced cheerfulness into his voice and asked:

“So what are you going to do now?”

Kathy smiled at the chairman’s question.

“I’ve already stopped using precognition.”

“Huh? Why?”

“They can’t see Amon’s future.”

Kathy doesn’t know the reason either, but only she can see Amon’s future.

No one else in the family, not even her father, the head of the family, can see Amon’s future.

On this point, Kathy was certain.

“If I don’t look at Amon’s future, they can’t see it either.”

“But couldn’t they infer from your actions?”

At the chairman’s objection, Kathy’s smile deepened.

“That’s why I haven’t given any orders since contracting with the forge.”

She simply analyzed the information received from Amon and Sonia and passed it on as if it were a future vision.

Then Amon and Sonia, believing it to be a future vision, made their own judgments and acted accordingly on the field.

In fact, Kathy has never once confirmed that her guidance was precognition, yet they act with complete confidence.

In other words, Amon’s actions in Europe are entirely based on his own judgment.

“And if I mix in some bluffing, making it seem like I’m ordering Amon or receiving reports from him, what do you think happens?”

Kathy said proudly. The chairman who had been listening to her explanation was impressed.

“You’re my daughter indeed, but what a strong heart you have.”

“When I have a joker card in my hand, why would I need to show my cards?”

“I couldn’t do that. You should visit Las Vegas sometime.”

“We’ll see. Maybe I’ll go with Amon and Sonia later.”