Chapter 132

"Is this guy... is this guy the one behind the whole war?"

Taro muttered the question as he stared at the old man sitting blindfolded in the chair. The group had migrated from the meeting room to the Interrogation Room, dragging the elderly prisoner along for the ride.

"On paper, he doesn't seem to belong to any faction," Phantom said, looking down at the man with eyes that suggested he was inspecting a particularly offensive piece of trash. "But he’s undoubtedly the mastermind. His profile matches Admiral Lorenzo’s testimony perfectly. Besides, the man is an expert in Electronic Warfare and Biological Weapons. It explains why Enzio’s sudden specialization in Electronic Warfare was so unnaturally effective."

The sheer coldness in Phantom’s gaze sent a shiver crawling down Taro’s spine.

"You aren't going to kill him, right?" Taro asked tentatively.

"...I know the rules."

Phantom stepped toward the old man, ripped the eye mask off, and jammed what looked like an automated syringe into his neck. A moment later, the prisoner hacked and coughed, his pale, sickly green eyes fluttering open.

"...I see. Captured, have I been?"

The old man scanned the room, his face twisting into a mask of pure displeasure as he realized the situation.

"That’s the long and short of it," Phantom replied. "By the way, you should know me quite well. I’m about to start the interrogation. You’re going to be cooperative, aren't you?"

"I suppose so... I have no desire to experience the very torture methods I designed myself."

"And there you have it, Teiro-kun. I’ll leave the rest to you."

Phantom stepped back, and Taro responded with a reluctant nod. He was curious about the loaded exchange between the two, but he decided to shove that curiosity into a box for later.

"Let’s start with... well, what was your goal?"

The old man tilted his head. "Goal?"

"You had to have one. You didn't just hijack Enzio for the fun of it, did you?"

"The expansion and exercise of one's own power is a goal in itself. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there is no grand, noble cause that will satisfy your sensibilities."

"So... just vanity and a desire for self-display?"

"In the sense that it was for my own benefit, yes. You’re quite articulate for someone so young."

The old man grinned, a condescending, greasy little smirk. Taro felt a surge of irritation, but it vanished the moment he looked at the man's bound limbs. No matter how much the old guy tried to act like a villainous mastermind, he was just a tied-up geriatric destined for the guillotine. It was almost pathetic.

"Look, I don't know much about you, but couldn't you have done this differently? Weren't you a big shot in the Imperial Military?"

"Hmph. Staying in that rotting Imperial Military would have limited my potential. I have encountered a much greater existence, young man—something the Empire couldn't hope to compare to."

"............Huh?"

"The likes of you... no, even the Empire itself is nothing more than a tiny, insignificant flicker before her. Once you have touched her greatness, you no longer find any value in human life."

"Whoa, whoa. What is this? A religious pitch?"

"Religion!" the old man barked. "Is everything you cannot fathom 'religion'? She is not some vague concept. Anyone can see her! One can even touch her! She is everywhere and nowhere. Look—she’s standing right there."

The old man’s bound hands managed to point toward the space behind Taro. Taro shook his head at the absurdity of the gesture. This Interrogation Room was a literal vacuum-sealed box; no one was getting in or out.

Or so he thought.

"............Eh?"

Taro turned his head and froze. There was a woman standing there. He rubbed his eyes, certain his brain was misfiring, but she remained. She was young, beautiful, and completely naked. Her face was an expressionless mask of cold indifference.

"No, wait... what?"

His brain scrambled for an exit strategy, and he looked toward the door for help. Alan was leaning against the frame, his mouth hanging open so wide his cigar was practically a structural hazard. Alan was glancing between the door and the woman, looking like a man who had just seen a cat bark. He clearly had no idea how she’d gotten past him.

"Don't move! Who are you? Answer me!" Phantom barked, his gun already drawn and aimed. Even his voice, usually like steel, had a hint of a wobble to it.

"............"

The woman ignored the room entirely, gliding forward with slow, deliberate steps. She looked positively ethereal—to Taro, it seemed like she was actually glowing with a pale blue light.

"Stop! Are you deaf?!"

Phantom’s voice was wound tight with tension. Then came the roar of a massive gunshot. Taro clamped his hands over his ears, grimacing as the sound bounced off the metal walls.

...This is getting really bad.

Phantom had aimed for her legs, but the woman didn't even flinch. Taro assumed Phantom had missed on purpose as a warning, but the man pulled the trigger again. And again.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

It was the first time Taro had ever heard Phantom sound genuinely rattled. The gun was now leveled at the woman's chest—bullets that should have turned her vitals into swiss cheese.

Okay, something is seriously wrong here.

Finally clocking the sheer insanity of the situation, Taro lunged for Marl. He stood in front of her like a human shield, inching backward toward the door.

"Ah, Great Mother... it seems I was unable to understand your words after all. Please, grant me my punishment."

The old man spoke with a face full of ecstatic devotion, like a martyr seeking salvation. The woman stopped directly in front of him and—

"What the... what the hell..."

She crushed the old man's head like a ripe melon and vanished into thin air.

Aside from a sharp, short scream from Marl, the room fell into a deafening silence. Nobody moved. Nobody could even process the physics of what they’d just witnessed.

"What was that...?" Alan muttered, finally breaking the silence.

"I have no idea. But the old man is... yeah, he’s definitely a goner."

Taro glanced at the interrogation chair, now painted a vibrant shade of crimson, and immediately looked away. A human being without a head was not something he wanted to see before lunch.

"I have accessed the room’s recorder, Mr. Teiro," Koume said, her expressionless face turning toward him. "Unfortunately, there is no record of anyone entering or exiting this room other than the people currently present. How should we interpret this?"

Taro could only manage a helpless shrug.

"I was leaning against the damn door the whole time!" Alan snapped. "Is there any chance she was hiding in here from the start?"

"No, that is impossible, Mr. Alan," Koume replied. "The Biological Sensors deny the existence of any other biological entity."

"It wasn't human," Phantom said, crouching down to poke at something on the floor. "A mass hallucination, or perhaps a weapon utilizing holographs. I can't imagine how, but we have to assume it’s something in that vein."

Taro looked over his shoulder. There were fist-sized holes in the floor where the bullets had hit.

"The bullets passed exactly through where I aimed and impacted the floor," Phantom noted. "Perfect accuracy. I’d bet my life that if we analyze those slugs, we won't find a single trace of blood or tissue on them. Only floor material."

"Uh... so the bullets just... went through her?"

"Apparently... even though I can barely believe my own words."

Phantom closed his eyes and shook his head, looking like a man ready to resign from reality. Taro tried to wrap his head around the implications, but his brain just gave him a 'file not found' error.

"H-hey... did anyone... I mean, besides Koume, did anyone access [BISHOP]?" Marl asked, her voice trembling.

The group traded glances and shook their heads.

"It’s weird," Marl continued. "Besides Koume’s access, there’s a massive amount of communication data being recorded. And it’s all through [BISHOP]."

Taro’s eyes went wide. He pulled up the [BISHOP] interface and checked the logs.

"What is this? It doesn't look like an encrypted code... there’s no pattern at all. It's just noise."

The group, who had been looking at him with a shred of hope, let out a collective sigh of despair.

"Maybe someone overwrote the logs with random noise to hide their tracks?" Alan suggested, crossing his arms and looking grim. "But... no, that’s..."

"Are you thinking it was a Remote Weapon controlled via [BISHOP]?" Phantom asked, finishing Alan’s thought. "It sounds insane, but... is it theoretically possible?"

"Theoretically? Yes. Since [BISHOP] is hardwired into the brain, you could project a hallucination. But blowing a man's head off? How do you explain the physical trauma?"

"Is it possible the Empire developed a new weapon?"

Alan scowled. "...I left the military ten years ago."

"Alan, knock it off. This is an emergency."

"Damn it! Fine! No, I’ve never heard of anything like this. There are nerds in the Weapon Development Department poking at that kind of tech, but they’re still just fumbling in the dark!"

Alan was practically shouting now. Taro wondered how Alan knew so much about the nerds in the Empire's development wing, but the vibe in the room was definitely 'don't ask.'

"...How are we supposed to explain this to the EAP?" Marl whispered.

The room collectively winced.

"We’ll just have to give them the recorder data and tell the truth," Alan said with a cynical smirk. "Not that they’ll believe a word of it."

A few murmurs of grim agreement followed. Taro hated that this was going to cause friction with the EAP, but they were stuck. This incident made them look like they had backroom ties to Enzio—or worse, that they were the real masterminds. Rising Sun had gained the most from this war, after all, and plenty of people were already eyeing them with suspicion.

"For now, let’s clean up the... mess," Taro said. "It’s probably pointless, but maybe an autopsy will show something. Stick him in a cryosleep unit and we’ll get a doctor to look at him when we get back. Also, this guy had a base of operations in Enzio, right? Do we have the coordinates?"

"Yeah, we should have them," Phantom replied.

That was the only silver lining in this absolute dumpster fire of a situation.

"It was likely a small research facility," Phantom added. "I told the local Resistance to secure it, so it should be intact... but actually, who knows? We need to move."

"Right. If this was a hit to shut him up, the lab might be next on the list."

"Exactly. Leave the body to me. You get to the bridge and point the nose toward Roma."

Taro nodded at Phantom and sprinted out of the room. He had no idea what was going on, but if there was something he could actually punch or fly toward, he was going to do it.