Étienne's last words remained in my mind for a few seconds.
"We also need to find out what happened to the Sevianko relics."
Ciara turned her gaze toward Irina.
"Irina, I need you to tell us what happened to the rings after everything that occurred. Do you know where they are now?"
Irina answered without hesitation.
"Yes. Mikhail gave them to Natasha for safekeeping."
Eleonor looked up.
"Natasha has the rings?"
"Yes. They're in her custody."
That reminded me of something Mikhail had told us when we were in Anadyr.
Weeks earlier, an elite squad had attempted to infiltrate the Vayegi mansion. According to him, they believed they were looking for clues about where Natasha was being kept safe.
At the time, we didn't know what they were really looking for.
Now we knew that Mikhail had entrusted the rings to her.
It didn't necessarily mean that the infiltration attempt was connected to the relics, but it was a detail we could no longer ignore.
Ciara remained thoughtful.
"Then, for now, the rings are safe."
Haruki spoke next.
"Ms. Ciara. After the attack we suffered, I moved ours."
Haruki continued.
"It's no longer at the mansion. I moved it to a secret location."
Étienne nodded and said:
"For now, it's best that it stays that way."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
No one asked any more questions.
After what had happened with the Cavalcanti, unnecessarily revealing the location made no sense.
I looked down at my bracelet.
Two of the relics were already with me.
The Sevianko rings were in Natasha's custody.
Haruki had the Minamoto relic secured.
And the Cavalcanti relic was in Iara's hands, and we had to recover it.
There were still too many things left to resolve, but now I knew where the relics the First Bearer had told me to gather were located.
Ciara looked at the others and said:
"No one outside this meeting needs to know the truth about those relics."
Shortly afterward, Kenji asked to speak again. Several projections appeared around him.
"Before we finish, there's something I want to report."
Elena looked at the data.
"Does it have to do with the laboratories?"
"Yes. We've continued recovering information from the laboratory's systems. We found new data related to other facilities."
What we had discovered in China had already made it clear that the Supreme Beings had conducted their research in different locations and that the facility there was part of something much larger.
Kenji enlarged one of the projections.
"One of the records contains information that could allow us to locate another one of those laboratories."
Elena began reviewing the data through her own connection.
"Do you already have a location?"
"I have enough information to narrow down the search area considerably, but not enough to confirm the exact location yet."
Étienne interrupted with a question.
"What do you need to pinpoint the exact location?"
"Time to finish reconstructing the data and verify it with our systems. I don't want to mobilize a team until I'm sure we're following the correct information."
Elena nodded.
"Send me everything you have. I'll help you."
"I already sent it to you."
Elena checked her screen.
"Yes, I have it."
Kenji continued.
"I'm going to compare the recovered records with the orbital and geological data, as well as the ley line readings. If it really corresponds to another facility, we should be able to locate it without repeating the entire process we used to find the one in China."
"Once I confirm the location, I'll contact you again."
Kenji then said goodbye to everyone, and his image disappeared.
The meeting ended shortly afterward. But while we agreed on our next steps...
WALES, UNITED KINGDOM
Masumoto stood before Valerius and Markus.
Projected across the table was the information they had managed to gather after the attack on the Minamoto mansion.
Masumoto knew better than anyone what had happened there.
"A second direct attack wouldn't make sense," he said. "After what happened, the Minamoto will have changed their security protocols."
Markus looked at the information and said:
"Haruki isn't stupid either. He won't leave anything exposed."
Valerius remained silent.
"Then we won't attack them head-on again."
Masumoto turned his gaze toward him.
"What do you want to do?"
"Find out what they did after the attack."
Markus understood immediately.
"Among other things," Valerius replied. "Personnel changes, security modifications, movements outside the mansion. Anything that can tell us what they considered important enough to protect after losing Tanaka."
Masumoto studied the data.
"That will take time."
"We have time to do it properly," Valerius replied. "What we don't have is room to make mistakes and risk being discovered."
Markus crossed his arms.
Masumoto looked up and said:
"I still have a couple of infiltrators."
Valerius smiled and said:
"That's good. We can begin the next phase."
He approached the projection.
"I want to know what they moved, who took part in those movements, and where everything they removed from the mansion ended up."
Masumoto spent a few seconds studying the information.
Markus looked at Masumoto.
"First, we need to learn their new protocols."
"Exactly," Valerius said. "Schedules, names, movements, access points."
Masumoto nodded.
That approach was completely different from the one they had used during the attack.
This time, they weren't trying to destroy the Minamoto defenses.
"Once we have enough information," Valerius continued, "we'll decide how to get in."
Masumoto nodded in agreement.
"Understood."
"And make sure no one discovers what we're looking for."
Masumoto said goodbye and turned to leave.
Before he could, Valerius added:
"If the Minamoto realize that someone is investigating their movements... Well, I don't have to tell you what will happen, do I?"