What? How is that possible?

Cassarae hated Professor Broussard. The issue wasnt just that his actions would lead to the deaths of tens of thousands in all likelihood, but that he was also cruel enough to try and suppress her mother.

The entire reason for why her hand was forced was because the government tried to arrest her mother. They might as well have been watching fascism play out in real time.

However, even with this being the case, Cassarae hadnt thought that the Professor was actually a traitor. All things considered, the government wasnt stupid; how could they trust someone like that to be at such a high position?

No, even further, when was there even time for Professor Broussard to become a traitor in the first place? The System Cities werent present during the Trial and they had only just appeared. Also, someone like Professor Broussard was the brains of the operation, not the muscle. He wouldnt be sent out to the field, so he wouldnt even have time to interact with the System Cities after they had already appeared.

Whether he entered the Trial or not, it didnt seem like any of this would be possible. It was ridiculous.

However Cassarae had simply never seen Sylas be wrong before. At the very least, he wouldnt be wrong about something like this.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself.

I dont know. But Im 80% sure, Sylas replied.

Sylas could obviously think of the same things that Cassarae could, he saw all of the same problems with his theory. Another person would have dismissed the thought because of these alone. But Sylas wouldnt do such a thing.

It couldnt be said that he trusted his gut, but rather that he trusted his own intellect and what he saw with his eyes.

Explain.

There are several problems. First, have you realized that the portals here are in the same general proximity of one another as they are in the outside world?

Cassarae frowned, not understanding immediately until it dawned on her suddenly.

Sylas nodded. Those are tall odds. Portals usually have vastly different destinations. Ive seen three portals in close proximity before. One led to Lone Star, one led to the Africor Continent, and the last led to our home town near Veridian.

Portals are never so geographically consistent.

Yeah, but that still might be a coincidence, Cassarae rebutted. My portal isnt natural, remember? I just opened it up. It might be the case its like this because of me.

I thought of this as well, which was why I dismissed it at first. I even think that youre probably right even now, that its nothing more than a coincidence.

Cassarae only became more confused, but this time, she didnt interrupt.

But, while I was out on the ocean, I ran into someone from a System City. It felt somewhat like a coincidence as well, but then I thought about it, I realized that in all likelihood, they were after the Den in my hands.

I thought, then, how they would know about the Den. There are a ton of things about this world that I still dont understand, so I was mostly willing to ignore it in this case. Maybe they just had a treasure that I didnt know about.

But then you said that the government predicted the appearance of this portal before it appeared as well. Thats already the third coincidence.

First, the portals appear side by side both on Earth and the Aether Plane. Then the System City people knew about the existence of the Den when it had only just appeared. And third, the government knew about it ahead of time.

Cassarae listened silently, but she still felt like this wasnt enough.

What if the System City located the Den only after the portal appeared? After all, it had been a while. There was no guarantee that they knew the Den would appear even before the portal did.

The fourth problem is that the underwater portal appears high in the skies. Ive already seen several portals until now. Not a single one of them hangs in the air like that at least not without some outside interference.

It feels very convenient for that to happen. It allows them to benefit from helpless creatures that fall out, and now youre telling me that theyve been benefiting from the Gene Cores with hardly any effort at all while simultaneously ruining all the ground around you.

Cassaraes heart skipped a beat. Are you saying theyve been targeting me the whole time?

Sylas looked toward Cassarae with a hint of surprise, as though he didnt expect her to suddenly leap to his conclusion before him.

Whats with that face? Dont make me punch your nose into your gut!

Sylas lip slightly quirked again.

Yes, I think theyve been targeting you from the very beginning. It might not even be a coincidence that your mother was targeted. A System City would find it very difficult to deal with you on their own because theres likely a very high price to pay.

But why?

Sylas gave her a look. That depends on where you got your necklace from.

Cassarae blinked, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Sylas had suddenly cut to the heart of the matter despite only having small tidbits of information. Maybe she shouldnt have been surprised that he had a guess, but she couldnt help it.

In the end, Legacy had gone out of its way to target Cassarae, and now there seemed to be a continuous layering of plots and schemes against her this time as well.

If Sylas had to guess, it should surely be related to the necklace. And further than that, unless they didnt know that Cassaraes necklace had already been stolen, then it should be the case that there was far more to how she had gotten the necklace than she had told him.

Cassarae hesitated for a moment. But then, Sylas saw a screen flash in front of him.