The Radiant Feldspar — VIP Conference Room
At that moment...
Neither Old Oti nor Jade looked particularly calm.
Especially Jade.
How could she possibly not recognize the name Calderon Chadwick?
And Old Oti was no different.
This was a member of the Genius Society.
Yet unlike the other geniuses whose names echoed throughout the galaxy...
Chadwick seemed almost ordinary.
Aside from his extraordinary intellect...
He was simply a normal man.
But Jade, as one of the Ten Stonehearts from the IPC's Strategic Investment Department—
One of the Corporation's true upper echelon—
Knew exactly what was hidden behind that seemingly ordinary name.
The Imaginary Collapse Pulse.
Dr. Chadwick's greatest achievement.
A weapon of unimaginable destruction.
A weapon that had claimed countless worlds and countless lives.
Fortunately...
It had never spread throughout the modern galaxy.
When Chadwick was young...
He devoted himself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of pure science.
His astonishing talent in Imaginary Theory...
Along with his groundbreaking research...
Quickly made him one of academia's brightest rising stars.
Naturally...
The IPC soon took notice.
Dudley.
A senior executive from the IPC's Technology Development Department.
Personally invited Dr. Chadwick to establish a research team.
Their objective—
Develop a new generation of superweapon.
One capable of eliminating the ever-growing forces of Destruction.
To prevent future galactic catastrophes.
To preserve peace throughout this Amber Era.
Inspired by such a noble cause...
Many outstanding scientists who admired Chadwick willingly joined the project.
Working in complete isolation from the outside world...
The team pushed the research forward together.
Eventually...
Their efforts bore fruit.
They overcame every obstacle.
Every technical bottleneck.
And finally...
Completed a scientific achievement powerful enough to shake the entire universe.
The Imaginary Collapse Pulse.
Screwllum first met Chadwick not long after the project succeeded.
After witnessing the experiment...
Even Screwllum couldn't hide his amazement.
But...
The young Chadwick still didn't understand what kind of monster he had created.
Because the IPC had told him...
The weapon existed...
To uphold justice.
Screwllum, however...
Never believed that.
He warned Chadwick.
He hoped the young genius would guard this Pandora's Box...
Rather than opening it.
Unfortunately...
At the height of his brilliance...
How could Chadwick possibly listen?
For geniuses like him...
It wasn't that they couldn't see the truth.
Rather...
They chose to ignore everything beyond their research.
Until...
He personally witnessed the hell created by his own invention.
To verify the weapon's effectiveness...
The IPC selected a commercial route currently under attack by more than ten separate Destruction forces.
Knowing full well what the weapon could do...
Chadwick desperately opposed the operation.
Only then...
Did he finally realize...
That Dudley—
The colleague he'd worked beside for over twenty years—
Had become a complete stranger.
Standing inside the control room...
Dudley coldly mocked him.
The guards blocked Chadwick from entering.
And Dudley sneered at his naïveté.
Only then...
Did Chadwick finally understand.
Everything he and his team had sacrificed for...
Had never belonged to them.
The countdown reached zero.
The Imaginary Collapse Pulse detonated.
In an instant—
That entire star system became hell.
Countless innocent lives...
Vanished without warning.
Thriving civilizations...
Were reduced to scorched wastelands.
At that very moment...
The genius finally broke.
From a scientist overflowing with confidence...
He became the murderer who had destroyed countless homes.
He had released the devil.
And become one himself.
Only then did he realize...
The justice he'd believed in...
Had merely been an excuse to deceive himself.
Afterward...
He disbanded his research team.
Then desperately tried to escape with the core research data.
He knew the IPC executives' promise to take responsibility...
Was nothing more than empty words.
There was no way...
They would ever abandon technology as valuable as the Imaginary Collapse Pulse.
So...
Chadwick made his decision.
He would spend the rest of his life protecting this dangerous secret.
Even if it meant opposing the Corporation itself.
He knew...
The path ahead offered no return.
That was when Screwllum met him for the second time.
Using an invention created by another Genius Society member...
A special drug capable of selectively suppressing memories and consciousness...
Chadwick chose...
To erase his own knowledge.
He willingly forgot the Imaginary Theory he had once been so proud of.
Forgot every detail related to the weapon.
That way...
Even if he were captured by the IPC...
They would never be able to extract the knowledge from his mind.
It was a martyr's choice.
Even so...
Screwllum honored his request.
He helped Chadwick fulfill that final wish.
Chadwick abandoned his knowledge.
But in return...
He lost his freedom.
For the remainder of his life...
He lived under the constant surveillance, house arrest, and coercion of both the IPC and the Family.
The drug worked perfectly.
As long as Chadwick remained alive...
The secret of the Imaginary Collapse Pulse remained safe.
But...
Even death wasn't enough for the IPC to let him go.
Prepared long in advance...
The Corporation completed a memoria transfer the instant Chadwick's body died.
So quickly...
That even his fading consciousness was preserved.
Yet to prevent that preserved consciousness from becoming stagnant...
The IPC placed his memories inside Penacony's dreamscape.
Behind it all...
Lay an agreement between the IPC's Technology Development Department...
And the Family.
From that day onward...
Two Amber Eras passed.
Everyone knew...
The length of an Amber Era wasn't fixed.
Each one was measured by the moment Qlipoth's hammer fell.
Even so...
The genius had remained trapped inside Penacony's dreamscape...
For nearly two hundred years.
Constantly monitored...
Constantly imprisoned...
By both the IPC and the Family.
Protecting that secret.
The Radiant Feldspar — VIP Conference Room
Silence filled the room.
Old Oti lowered his head.
Jade's expression had turned exceptionally grim.
Her trip to Penacony had never been about only one objective.
Yes...
She intended to bring Old Oti under the IPC's control.
To expand the Credit system throughout Penacony.
But...
She had another mission as well.
Retrieve Chadwick's preserved memoria.
Even after all these years...
The IPC had never abandoned its attempts to recreate the Imaginary Collapse Pulse.
Although that project belonged to the Technology Department...
Once the assignment reached her...
She intended to complete it.
But now...
Everything had changed.
"If neither of you objects..."
Evan folded his arms and smiled.
"I'll contact my companions..."
"And have Dr. Chadwick's memoria brought here."
"Of course..."
"You're welcome to object."
His tone remained calm.
Yet carried unquestionable confidence.
At the same time...
The atmosphere surrounding Screwllum...
Turned ice-cold.
For the first time since entering the room...
The ruler of Planet Screwllum no longer resembled the refined gentleman everyone knew.
Instead...
He looked exactly like what he truly was.
A monarch.
Standing before those who had imprisoned one of the Genius Society's own.
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