Professor Hoffman wasn't known for groundbreaking discoveries or important papers. His name still carried some weight inside both the Newborn World Serpent and The Moths Who Chase the Flames, though mostly because he worked directly under Dr. Einstein.
Even MEI and Vill-V had heard of him. The original Mobius had too, before she died.
He was a stern man who stayed out of politics and conflicts. He spoke bluntly and never involved himself in unnecessary matters. That was probably why Einstein trusted him so much. A few months ago, she had personally brought him into the Newborn World Serpent. He knew about the Future Intelligence, but he never used that knowledge to push himself forward.
Recently, the ELF Project had entered its testing phase across the Mu Continent and Australia. Einstein's team was fully focused on research related to the Sea of Quanta Portal. As an expert in both hydrogeography and quantum mechanics, Hoffman naturally got pulled into the work.
Today, however, something clearly went wrong.
"What did you say?"
His sharp voice cut through the quiet research institute. Several people, including Einstein herself, turned to look at him. Hoffman was on the phone in a private corner. He didn't even bother apologizing for the noise. His brows stayed tightly furrowed as he spoke.
"Send the data over."
"Understood. I'll report it immediately."
After hanging up, he grabbed a tablet and quickly tapped through several files. Then he walked over to Einstein and gave her a small, deliberate signal — a code only members of the Newborn World Serpent would recognize.
She understood right away.
A short while later, the two of them met in a small coffee room where the surveillance had been deliberately turned off.
"You had quite a reaction earlier," Einstein said the moment she sat down. She didn't have time for small talk. "What happened?"
Hoffman didn't answer with words. He simply slid the tablet across the table.
"See for yourself."
Einstein took it. The moment her eyes scanned the ocean current data on the screen, her expression darkened.
"!!!"
She didn't need a long explanation. The numbers spoke clearly enough.
"This is bad."
Her voice was low, but the urgency in it was obvious.
Without wasting another second, she stood up.
"I need to report this to the Sovereign right away. I hope we're not already too late."
Deep beneath the Sahara Desert, inside the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters.
Inside a virtual meeting room, MEI frowned as she looked at the woman across from her.
"Aponia, are you certain? During your mission, you found that several High Council members of The Moths Who Chase the Flames, along with top leaders and even royal family members from North America and Europe, have all become puppets of the Fourth Herrscher?"
"Yes."
Aponia gave a small nod. Over the past two days, she had traveled across multiple continents, using her Discipline to bring the upper levels of human society under control one by one. Most of her conversations had started with the word "please," but the results were the same. Now, the highest levels of power across the world were almost entirely under Newborn World Serpent influence. Gray Serpent handled the rest in the shadows.
The Superhuman Act could now move forward without political interference.
Aponia was supposed to continue her work with business leaders and underground groups next, but the information she brought back had put everyone in the room into deep thought.
"Three High Council members," someone muttered. "They were the main ones pushing negative public opinion against us before."
"Seven people in total across North America, Europe, Britain, and the Mu Continent."
"So the Fourth Herrscher broke her promise," MEI said quietly. "She's been moving in secret, trying to dismantle human leadership from within. In the end, her real target is still us?"
Something about it didn't feel right, but before she could think further, a cold voice cut through the room.
"I'll go to Europe."
Kevin stood up from his seat.
"The Third Herrscher's location is still unknown. I don't want to end up fighting two Herrschers at once later. I'll deal with the Fourth first while we still know where she is."
No one tried to stop him.
Just as he was about to leave, a virtual projection suddenly appeared in the meeting room.
It was Einstein.
She looked out of breath.
"Everyone," she said without any greeting, "I have very bad news."
She didn't waste time explaining how she got the data.
"In the next few days, temperatures across all major continents will drop below minus forty degrees. If we don't stop this trend within a month, global temperatures could fall to minus one hundred twenty degrees… or even lower."
The room fell silent.
"Global cooling?" MEI asked, her voice tight.
"We can't be completely sure of the cause yet," Einstein replied. "But all the data points to the ocean currents. It's not just the North Atlantic. Monitoring stations on every continent are reporting the same thing. This is happening worldwide."
MEI didn't respond immediately. She understood the severity better than anyone.
Once the oceans froze, the ice would reflect sunlight. The planet would turn into a giant snowball, and reversing it would be nearly impossible. Even if Kevin used Shamash every single day without rest, he wouldn't be able to stop the chain reaction. At that point, even he would have to admit there was nothing he could do.
Kevin, who had been about to leave for Europe, stopped.
His expression turned colder.
"A global temperature drop like this never happened in the original timeline," he said. "So it's most likely the work of a Herrscher."
He glanced at the data Einstein had sent.
"The Fourth Herrscher's Authority can't cause something on this scale. But the Third Herrscher, who can mass-produce those alien monsters… might be able to."
He made his decision quickly.
"In this final period, we can't afford to split our attention. We have to focus everything on dealing with the Third Herrscher."
His gaze sharpened.
"Before that, we need to eliminate every other threat as fast as possible."