110(2) – Zenyo! (VI)
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PART 4 – Espionage & Politics!
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As night falls, a shadowy figure, 1.5 meters tall, moves at high speed through the Neutral City, leaping between buildings and displaying her almost godlike senses.
Her senses penetrate dozens of meters below ground, piercing solid walls. Her brain works uniquely, filtering almost automatically all collected information, discarding everything that is useless.
Something Verna learned in her years of espionage in exchange for bonuses from the World was that she couldn't save everyone.
Since her mission to help Shunam, when she rescued children from their abusive families, Verna thought she was doing her best, but… the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
(Author: Now, let's delve a little deeper into the development of Skarla/Verna's vision of Earth society and her perception of cultural evolution and how it affected laws and established inequality, when that wasn't the intention. But again, understand that hell is paved with good intentions.)
(Author: I hope that if this sparks any discussion in the comments, please let it be healthy. I'm open to criticism, as this may or may not be my point of view, but it is the protagonist's. I'll be more than happy to spend days or weeks discussing it constructively.)
She forgot, but when she returned years later after remembering, a few hours of research made her discover that what she did was somewhat useless or redundant. The children she saved ended up in crime, dead, or… her shock therapy apparently couldn't permanently change someone.
In the end, they went back to being the same or even worse. She understood from then on that simply doing what she thinks is right isn't enough. She needed to change the system they live in. Even though democracy is flawed, and a state with too much power over its people will inevitably be corrupt, it had to consider the greater good.
Sometimes corruption is necessary, even if it harms many lives. Many believe that freedom is their right, that they can do whatever they please, even if they end up under public scrutiny and spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Verna doesn't see the world that way. She believes in what is right and wrong. Not a simple invention structured by society as a whole, but in the simple understanding that hurting others is wrong, damaging what others have built just because you can, is wrong.
As for what would be right… it's complex, but mainly it's about not causing harm to others, even if you can and even if it benefits you.
There are many who disagree, especially with the emergence of laws. But those who mainly disagree are obviously those who have something to gain if they are repealed or ignored. Even if they are not the ones who benefit, they will be the ones manipulated into thinking that the law is ineffective.
One example is their past life, the flawed bureaucratic system that was structured for centuries, with millions of people studying and dismantling all the laws and the nation's constitution for their own benefit, exploiting loopholes in the law to get away with it.
Not to mention all the recent prejudice of the 21st century, the repercussions of slavery still present in the older generations who experienced it, the prejudice in government agencies, and much more. How society has evolved hastily to repair the errors of the past stemming from slavery, subtly softening the laws and even benefiting these peoples, creating what would be inequality in the eyes of those who were once the oppressors, who believed they were right and that the rulers were poisoned or manipulated.
This is how groups like the K.K.K emerged.
In the end, it's a flawed system that was experimented with and remodeled according to what society found convenient, according to what politicians saw as a means of manipulating the masses and gaining votes.
Ultimately, society has always been manipulated by those in power, used to secure votes and the power to decide people's lives. Those who truly aspire to change, upon achieving power, find it wasn't as easy as they imagined, or that the number of obstacles was far greater.
Thus, constant flaws are seen in a system full of flaws, where those who want an easy path will exploit it until it's no longer possible. In the end, it's not just a matter of a flawed system, but also that people are flawed and opportunistic.
Verna fully understands what she's doing, the doors she's opening, and… understands how she can develop the Murim world, how this could harm the world, and perhaps even her family in the future.
But this isn't Earth, where people live to be 50-80 years old. She could live for centuries or millennia; Elves live much longer than that, and sooner or later they will see the constant evolution of the world and will have to adapt to its laws and rules in one way or another.
The law of the strongest is something that will never cease to exist. Verna has already experimented with firearms and knows that even if they are powerful and useful, they are still governed by the laws of this universe.
Not to mention that there are many other worlds that could invade in the future. There will be the birth of abnormal forces that could cause mass destruction in the world. If nuclear weapons or something similar emerge, the damage is obvious.
There are many possibilities and concerns, which Verna, with her intellect superior to any human on Earth, having access to knowledge from countless worlds and constantly studying all races, their laws, and more, knows.
Verna knows it's impossible to structure something perfect, something that everyone is satisfied with. But all she can do is try, because it won't benefit her. She will soon be distancing herself from worldly life and focusing on self-improvement.
But this will benefit her children and grandchildren. Verna is not naive and will believe that all her children will become deities. If it were that easy, there would be thousands of times more Gods.
This made her understand something a long time ago. The path to divinity is unique to each individual, but… the same method of ascension cannot be available to others, or it will be much more difficult to copy.
……
Verna, standing 1.5 meters tall, arrives in the Beastmans' region, where she finds individuals of various species guarding the area and living normally.
Of course, she discovered illicit activities. There are entire structures that people use to constantly get high and have fun, one of the main ways to acquire money and, of course, where Verna overheard many side conversations.
Due to the large volume, Verna decided to infiltrate. Like a ghost, she skillfully passed through the people. It wasn't just stealth techniques and her proficiency elevated to high levels; it was primarily due to [Space Control].
Verna used her Special Ability combined with her stealth techniques to move undetected, distorting the space around her and covering herself with a kind of invisible cloak, where no sound, air fluctuation, or vibration can be emitted.
She always believed that mastering shadows, along with controlling sounds and vibrations, would make an assassin as terrifying as possible. But manipulating space itself to amplify all of that, where even the most perceptive, if they don't have a basic understanding and sense of Space beforehand, won't be able to detect her.
It's noteworthy that it's potentially even possible to deceive Gods with this. Very few Demigods would be aware, and the chances wouldn't be high, as their perception would have to surpass Verna's control, which is certainly not low.
…
Through infiltration into this den of hideous pleasures, Verna became close to the Beastmans' subordinates. They openly discuss locations they will attack and even plan to capture some people from other factions to sell them in other Neutral Cities.
“The Warlord is supporting us, so we must go to war with another city to take its resources. Official recruitment should take place in a few weeks.”
Upon hearing this, Verna thought, an opportunity. If she waits and studies better, she can make it seem like the rival city was to blame and avoid problems. But… she doesn't want to waste so much time in this world.
Therefore, she continued with her plan. She quickly followed clues about locations and infiltrated, not taking long to enter a room with intense activity in bed. A large man with a lion-like face, in bed with 5 women of various species.
Verna looks around and calmly investigates the place. She finds two hidden vaults; the problem is that both have high-level protections, especially against Space. It's obvious that Space Archmages can ignore their barriers and teleport the contents from inside to outside.
She didn't think much about it, but memorized it for when she came to take it. Next, she broke into other luxury residences nearby and specifically searched their basements. Needless to say, she found many large, secret vaults and storage rooms, but none had any protection against spatial movement.
Of course, there are all sorts of protections against detection; normally it would be imperceptible, but that's for magic, and Verna doesn't use magic.
What she did was quite simple. She left some of the drugs used by the Human Syndicate at one of the crime scenes. Verna then took everything from those safes, leaving nothing behind.
Of course, she damaged the safes and allowed herself to be seen, but she used tricks and manipulation of Chaos to make them think she was some kind of demon. With this, the city will descend into chaos within a few hours.
But she didn't just cause problems on the outside of the city. Verna went to the center, which was quite peaceful. Her attention fell on several places where her senses were blocked. For mages, this would be imperceptible, but her senses, which penetrate dozens of meters below the ground, are suddenly stopped by something; it's impossible not to be suspicious.
She invaded and cataloged, after getting a general idea and, of course, invading the Warlord's Castle, which has all kinds of protection. Verna found him sleeping, and killing him would have been so easy. But she let him sleep before going to take his treasures and secure the stolen goods.
But did she stop there? Of course not!
Verna went to the Human Syndicate and the Orc Syndicate. She found their vaults and warehouses, but didn't take everything, only 1/3 of their assets. Meanwhile, she took everything from the others.
When they investigate and learn that these two syndicates suffered less, it will raise suspicions. Verna also left the city to leave some traces, and the corpses she has kept, she used their blood to make them a little more convincing, which will lead some members of the Beastkin Syndicate to her.
This will make them think of traitors, that many worked together, but they don't know who. Verna's plan is to cause as much chaos as possible.
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PART 5 – The beginning of chaos!
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As Verna had expected, morning arrived and most people woke up. Chaos began early, with various individuals accusing each other and the three Syndicates blaming one another.
Then, from the center came a furious roar, which brought the city to a standstill for a few minutes before the members led by the Warlord arrived in a rage to begin investigating.
At that moment, they noticed that not only the three Syndicates were affected, but the Warlord had also been robbed.
The fury of a Warlord is greater than that of mere crime syndicates. The entire city was locked down; no one could leave while the guards relentlessly investigated. Rooms were raided, and they didn't care who they were dealing with, ransacking everything.
Many conflicts arose, but the Warlord's main subordinates were there to calm things down and didn't hesitate to kill those who dared disobey.
Verna, Lina, and Zenyo became targets of the investigation. Interestingly, Zenyo was the primary target, as the thief was said to be short, around 1.5 meters tall, and have a masculine appearance.
But they quickly ruled out Zenyo; he didn't match the description. Too effeminate and with a chubby backside, not fitting the thief.
Many suspected it was a Halfling, leading them to investigate everyone in the city and subsequently attempt to conduct research in search of demonic traces.
Of course, the 1.5-meter-tall individual wasn't the only suspect. Verna did a great job creating illusions with her energy, making it seem like there were dozens of people involved.
Naturally, they found the bodies of Wiber's group. Due to how well-preserved their bodies were, it affected the investigation, leading them to mistakenly estimate the time of death.
But these weren't the only bodies found. Verna had other corpses from various other troublemakers along the way. The reason for keeping their bodies?
Initially, it was for research, to understand if the bodies of the people who live in this world are somehow different. There hasn't been time yet, and they're already using perfectly preserved bodies.
Thus, the investigations progressed, revealing people who had broken in and escaped, many unfamiliar faces, indicating other groups, perhaps cities, which made the conflict, which was only rumors, more evident.
One night the vaults were emptied. Obviously, there were traitors, and with the investigation, several informants from each of the four affected groups were discovered, captured, tortured, and killed.
This naturally increased the tension between the groups, with everyone believing that the other side is a traitor from another city. Naturally, the Warlord thinks all three syndicates are guilty.
The three syndicates are already fighting each other, but they are slowly joining forces, because they know that if they are not careful, the Warlord will take everything they have left to somewhat repair his losses.
And with the Neutral City groups in this hostile climate, all the peace that reigned in the city was being undone. Conflicts arose more easily, and the groups that previously managed the city ignored them because they had bigger problems.
…
Verna, who had been observing all this, looked at Lina and Zenyo. – “It shouldn’t take long for the Warlord to use his informants in the Viscount’s Family or his other contacts to get some details about us. They’ll probably approach us during the night or early tomorrow morning.”
“And what do we do?” – Lina asked, smiling.
“We wait until nightfall. I’ll take advantage of a moment to create some problems. Plant evidence that will be easily discovered and cause trouble for various random individuals. This will cause the necessary chaos in the city, and that’s when we’ll act.”
“You’ve already taken everything, what’s left for us to steal?” – Lina asked.
Verna smiled. – “Obviously, when the chaos begins and everyone starts fighting, the target will be the Humans and Orcs. They are the ones who possess the greatest amount of resources and who suffered the least damage. If they are smart, they will know that this is a decoy; I targeted the largest organizations and made them focus their attention on those less affected. Obviously a trap, but…”
“They are criminals, it doesn't matter if it's a trap or not. They need resources and money and don't hesitate to step on the weakest to take what is theirs and cover up some of their wounds.” – Lina points calmly and Verna nods.
“I think this is the first time I've been frustrated by not having a criminal mind.” – Zenyo said with a sigh; he understands the general layout, but still finds it difficult to keep up with all of this.