Five minutes quickly passed. Alu's backup consciousness took over her primary body and swiftly reconnected with each member of management. Hearing that ethereal voice ring out brought a visible lift to everyone's spirits.
Even though the voice sounded somewhat less lively than before.
Once this brand-new active conscious entity was online, she immediately analyzed and adjusted the rituals inside Blockade Hall in accordance with management's primary directive, promptly producing a plan and distributing it to the esoteric ritual specialist team.
These esoteric ritual specialists had been utterly at a loss, not daring to meddle with the rituals inside the hall at will for fear of triggering adverse effects. Now, they finally knew what they were supposed to do and were no longer as helpless as before.
Just then, another message arrived from Alu: "Based on field resonance analysis, the scarlet skull inside the Ancient Museum is highly likely to be the root cause triggering the ritual instability. Requesting immediate transfer out of the city."
"The scarlet skull?"
Ryan caught on at once. He hadn't expected this to be the cause, but piecing everything together, it was indeed possible that the problem stemmed from it.
Now that the root cause was identified, things became simpler.
He said, "We need to transfer the scarlet skull out of the city immediately."
Someone in management reminded him, "That won't be easy. We signed strict custodial procedures with the West Coast government council. If we want to transfer it, we must first obtain council approval."
"Yes, Ryan, there's no way we can bypass procedure," an administrator said solemnly. "If this thing is lost during transport, no one can shoulder the responsibility."
The scarlet skull was something the Federation had been searching for all along, involving various companies and research institutes across both the East and West Coasts. If it were ultimately confirmed to be authentic, state forces might intervene across the board, leading to consequences far beyond their control or ability to bear. They could not—and would not—take that risk.
Ryan said decisively, "Then 'hire' a team to snatch it out!"
The managers looked at one another. This approach was indeed feasible. As long as they staged a feigned interception en route and retrieved the item later, they could bypass procedure. The downside was that it might cast doubt on the museum's security.
Yet compared to that, resolving the immediate crisis took priority.
And so, everyone remained silent, neither raising objections nor voicing support.
Ryan glanced around at them. "Since there are no objections, it's decided."
He knew full well that behind all the talk of procedures and rules, the people present simply didn't want to bear responsibility. But if someone actually stepped up to take charge, the most they would do was utter a few perfunctory words; none of them would step forward to stop it.
Still, things had to be done by someone. Danger was also opportunity, and on the Ascending Stairway, there was no path backward.
He immediately turned to arrange personnel—all thoroughly dependable people—and informed them that while there might be obstacles during the operation, they at least didn't have to worry about internal security measures.
As for the Ancient Museum's esoteric ritual protections, Alu could not lift them without collective authorization from management, but she could be directed to divert all her resources toward places like Blockade Hall, which would prevent any interference.
Once Alura's consciousness regained control over the grand field, the combat dolls and modified organisms across the fighting sectors rapidly returned to normal. The unrest that had just erupted was quelled with remarkable speed. Although quite a few fighters had slipped away, the chaos was no longer spreading, and the remaining cleanup could be left to the security forces.
For now, everything appeared to be moving in a positive direction.
Inside Blockade Hall, the crowd was still chatting with great enthusiasm, having nearly forgotten their surroundings. After a long while, however, noises from around them drew their attention.
Someone casually glanced over, only for terror to flash in their eyes. The amber wall beside them had cracked, and an insect-like limb was thrusting out from within.
He stumbled backward, inevitably bumping into someone else. Under their displeased glare, he pointed trembling toward the wall, his voice shaking. "Th-that—"
This drew everyone's attention, and they soon saw the same horrifying sight.
A sharp clatter echoed.
They turned their heads. On another wall, a thick chunk of amber came tumbling down, and the thing originally frozen inside began slowly squeezing its way out. More and more fissures spread across the surface.
It wasn't just one wall; the surrounding walls were all experiencing the same thing.
The crowd retreated toward the center, quickly shrinking into a tight circle. Everyone scrambled backward desperately until there wasn't an inch of space between them, and the physically weaker individuals felt as though they couldn't even breathe.
As fragments continued to crumble away, massive, grotesque insectoid creatures finally broke free of their confinement and crawled out. Unfurling membranous wings that shimmered with a soft glow, their flashing compound eyes turned toward the people.
Someone finally couldn't hold back a shriek.
"Shh—"
Right then, to everyone's astonishment, Capa had somehow made his way in front of them. With his back turned to the mutated creatures, he raised a finger to his lips and said, "Hush!"
Normally, such a gesture would never silence a panicked crowd, yet his voice carried a strange, hypnotic power that made everyone instinctively quiet down.
He then picked up the bone harmonica once more, lifting it to his lips with both hands and playing slowly.
This time, the melody carried a noisy, grating agitation that was intensely uncomfortable to hear. Yet it was precisely this sound that calmed the mutated insects. Then, as the pitch rose, the creatures charged out of the hall one after another.
The solid walls and protective barriers outside offered no resistance, shattering to pieces beneath the impact. Soon, only the group of visitors remained in the hall.
Capa lowered the harmonica.
Still shaken, someone swallowed hard and worked up the courage to ask in a quavering voice, "Mr. Capa, th-that was..."
Capa smiled. "Just a few little tricks. They are only insects, after all."
Outside, when the mutated insects broke out of Blockade Hall, all that met them was the thick mist blanketing the surroundings. They plunged headlong into it and vanished almost immediately, barely kicking up a ripple.
Though each of these creatures possessed the power to destroy a city, the perimeter defenses were exceptionally thorough, with certain esoteric rituals designed specifically against their biological traits.
At the same time, an esoteric ritual specialist reported to management, "They're mutated insects from Amber Hall. Resonance likely caused the amber to crack. The situation is currently under control.
"The people inside the hall were also fortunate. The mutated insects didn't attack them—presumably because the energy they could provide wasn't enough to satisfy the insects' expenditure, so they didn't bother to feed on them."
Management breathed a sigh of relief. Inquiries had been pouring in from all sides, including the West Coast Council, demanding that the trapped visitors be released immediately. If those people had all died, it would have been nearly impossible to answer for.
At this point, someone in management spoke up, asking Alu to check on the status of the confined prisoners.
Among the prisoners held in Blockade Hall, three individuals were of paramount concern:
One was Cleopatris, emperor of the former empire; another was an entity from the world across; and the third was Arthur Covington, the first martial artist consul in Federation history, and the only person strictly forbidden from communicating with the outside world.
Publicly, he had died of an illness. In reality, however, he had privately used an ancient secret art of the former imperial house and ingested a forbidden object, transforming himself into something akin to the old nobility.
His luck was simply rotten. Immediately afterward, he fell into a deep slumber, discovered before completing his transformation, and was imprisoned here. Beneath Blockade Hall sat a covert biological research team whose primary subject of study and experimentation was him.
Following a scan, Alu quickly reported back that all three prisoners remained confined within, showing no signs of escape.
Hearing this, that administrator immediately issued the order to release the people inside.
Ryan glanced at the administrator who had spoken up so impatiently, but said nothing.
Before the check, he might have had a case, but now that the scan showed no issues, trying to block the release would only make enemies unnecessarily.
Besides having confidence in the ritual containment, the reason he didn't intervene was that Veia Center City possessed an even higher tier of power. If things truly escalated beyond what they could handle, that power was sufficient to suppress everything imprisoned here.
With that safeguard in place, there was no reason to fear complications.
Under management's arrangements, Capa and the rest of the trapped visitors followed the guides out of the hall.
Once outside, however, each person had to undergo identity verification. When Capa stepped up to the scanning equipment with a smile, someone suddenly spoke up: "This is Mr. Capa! Are you seriously going to inspect him?"
"Exactly! How could you treat Mr. Capa like this?"
"Mr. Capa doesn't need to be scanned! That's disrespectful to him!"
"Step aside at once!"
The bystanders piped up one after another.
"Our apologies!"
The inspector apologized, "However, everyone, the screening is mandatory, and it is for your own safety."
Right then, a voice came through his ear implant: "Skip this one."
Startled, he recognized it as an administrator's order. Hesitating for a moment, he ultimately stopped insisting and cleared the way. Had he paid closer attention, however, he would have realized that no such words had actually been transmitted.
The crowd immediately broke into applause.
Smiling, Capa walked out through the inspection gate, surrounded by the crowd. As an emperor of the former imperial house, he possessed his own pride—one facet of which was a distaste for relying heavily on brute force.
What he had displayed earlier were mere parlor tricks, something even a third-limit fighter could have pulled off under those circumstances.
It wasn't that he feared exposure; rather, resolving problems through sheer force would make him seem devoid of intellect.
Even when he had been cornered and captured, he considered it a defeat in political intrigue. Were it not for that, an emperor like him would never have been taken so easily.
As for now, he knew he wasn't completely out of danger yet. However, he doubted the Veia management would come looking for him anytime soon. He cast a backward glance, knowing that something far more conspicuous than him would soon be emerging from within.
Chapter 1145