“….What the hell?”

It was the early morning. Edward “Code Breaker” Akabe found himself strapped to a steel chair in an abandon building.

“You know kidnapping people is a bit fun.”

Said Reiji.

He and the other members of Silver Crow, except Jin and Sapphire, were also present looking at the chained Edward.

“You sound like a future Human Trafficker, Reiji.”

Said Bloom.

She approached Edward with a smile.

“Good morning, Code Breaker. I do apologize for our rough treatment, but I do hope you understand. It isn't easy to meet a man of your stature.”

She spoke with a courteous manner.

“…..You know, it isn't really that hard to meet me. If you had just called my assistant you would be able to set an appointment.”

“My. Is that so? Well sorry for that.”

“You say that, but you don't seem like you intend to free me.”

Edward said with a wry smile.

Bloom smiled and didn't say anything.

Seeing that Edward sighed.

“Is this about Bloody Justice?”

“It seems like Miko told you.”

He nodded.

“He assigned me with the task to search for him while he focused on his special training.”

“Special Training?”

“I'm not sure on the details but he locked himself away with Tiamat and his swords for the last couple days.”

“Tiamat?!”

Bloom was startled to hear that Tiamat had materialized in the city. She wasn't the only one every member of Silver Crow was shocked.

This was the first time they've ever heard of a Higher Being appearing in the city. And what was even more important was that this was the Parent God of Miko.

As the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Tiamat may not be Miko's real mother but she was still his ancestor, so there was a high chance that the two were similar in many ways.

If so….

Just the thought of Tiamat being as crazy as Miko made them shiver.

“…Is it okay to reveal that information to us?”

Bloom asked.

“It was the Don’s instructions to inform you of this if the chance arose. Apparently he didn't want you causing trouble for his people when you can't find him.”

“Does he think that everyone is as unreasonable as him?”

“Ahem.”

Edward gestured to his chained appearance with his eyes and then looked back at her.

“……”

Bloom looked away to hide her embarrassment and then snapped her fingers.

With a clang the chains around Edward broke and fell to the floor.

Edward silently stood up and straighten his clothes.

Bloom instantly bowed.

“I'm terribly sorry. It was a little prank to break the ice. I hope you don't take it personally.”

“You guys have a strange way to break the ice.”

Edward said with sigh.

“Well, don't mind it. You probably did this because I'm Miko's friend.”

He spoke with an understanding tone.

“So what did you want? I'm pretty sure you all should've heard about Bloody Justice’s arrest. So you must know where to find him.”

“We want you to help us to figure out why your brother's backing him.”

“Come again?”

Bloom then went on to explain their findings and showed Edward proof that Gear was the one who allowed Andre to stay hidden for so long.

“Tommy backing Andre is a bit of a surprise.”

Edward mumbled.

“Do you know Andre Bernard?”

Edward shook his head.

“I only knew that he was a distant relative. We've never met before.”

He suddenly looked like he remembered something.

“I do remember my parents mentioning that the Bernard family produced a very gifted heir. I believe they were talking about Andre.”

“Gifted? How so?”

Edward shook his head.

“I don't know but I did hear that he was born with a very unique ability. Although I don't know what that ability was, my mother did say that he was far more talented than me and my brother put together.”

“Far more talented than a pillar? That's something.”

Chrome commented.

“Has your brother ever mentioned Andre or showed any interest in him?”

Bloom asked.

“Hey, in case you haven't realized from my criminal record me and my brother aren't that close. We never were and probably never will be.”

Edward spoke with indifference.

“However if Tommy is backing Andre Bernard then there must be a reason, and its most likely something you would never guess.”

“What makes you say that?"

Bloom asked.

“Because that's just the type of person he is. It's hard to know what he's thinking.”

“Well that's true.”

Bloom regularly agreed.

“Wha?!”

Suddenly Chrome exclaimed while looking at her tablet.

“What is it, Chrome?”

Bloom asked after seeing how shocked she was.

“An entire hospital of people were slaughtered over night.”

“?!”

Everyone was naturally surprised to hear what Chrome said.

“Lend me that for a sec.”

Edward said after pondering something for a while.

Chrome handed him her tablet and he placed his hand on it. Binary numbers started appearing in his eyes.

“…..According to the news released by various news outlets a massacre occurred last night at a hospital in the 4th District. Everyone there wad killed, from the security to the doctors and the patients. There were no survivors.”

Edward read in a flat tone.

“This is strange.”

“Of course it's strange. It was a massacre.”

Said Reiji.

Edward shook his head.

“That's not what I meant. The news itself is strange. I checked at least 12 news sites both big and minor but they all said the same thing.”

“What's strange about that?”

Chrome asked.

“No, if they all said the exact same thing then it is indeed strange.”

Bloom said after thinking about Edward's words.

“Each should have different editors so the news posts should show some difference between them. Even if a editor worked at several sites it should be impossible to work for a dozen at once right?”

Edward nodded at Bloom’s analysis.

“It's impossible for all the sites to post the same thing word for word, unless they were given it by the same person and was told to post it.”

“In other words, the news is fake?”

Zetsu asked.

Edward shook his head.

“No. The news is authentic. It's just that who ever gave the sites the news to post wanted to sell one story with no room for another. And considering the buzz this is getting I think that their goal was to spread the news as fast as possible.”

Edward then retook his seat.

“Honestly speaking from what I can see from the pictures of the aftermath, there's only two people who I know that could execute something like this so quickly and efficiently.”

“And those are?”

“Well the first is Miko.”

“Then…”

“Hey, don't jump to conclusions. We had no reason to target a hospital.”

Edward hurriedly said after seeing the glares he was getting.

“And the other person?”

Bloom asked.

“Your leader.”

“?!”

As expected Edward's words shocked and angered Silver Crow members.

They all looked like they were going to pounce on him and rip him to shreds. It honestly made him uncomfortable.

“Now, now. Before you all attack me, let me prove my point.”

He operated the tablet and showed them a picture of a body covered in black flames.

“This is…?”

“This is Jin Makoto’s power.”

“Jin's power?”

Bloom looked at the picture of the black flames in disbelief. That's because in all the years she's known him Jin hasn't shown her his power. She just knew that he was an infected and nothing more.

“I saw it in Sebas’ database so I'm certain.”

Edward didn't mention the fact that Jin was a special Infected that was born with two dangerous abilities unique to him.

“It's called Midnight Flame, and it has the ability to burn through almost anything; even raw mana.”

He pointed at the picture again.

“Law enforcers found this woman covered in this flame with her skin burning very slowly. They were unable to extinguish it no matter how much they tried. This is one of the abilities of Midnight Flame. Jin Makoto can let it slowly burn his victims at any pace he wishes, and because it can't be put out without his will it makes the perfect torture method.”

He looked at the pale face of Bloom and the others.

“You understand right? This woman's corpse will continue to burn until she's reduced to ashes no matter how long it takes and the body probably wont decomposed. There's also the fact that no one or nothing in this city can touch this flames without being turned into ashes, except for the bed she's laying on and that's because he wanted it to remain unharmed.”

He paused and continued.

“In other words if Jin wishes for it she can burn for all eternity in that hospital room.”

Everyone reflexively gulped after listening to Edward. That was because the fate of that woman was too cruel and pitiful.

“I won't believe it!”

Reiji suddenly shouted.

“To me it looks like you already believed it.”

Edward quickly replied.

No one said anything to refute him, that's because they didn't have any evidence to show that he was lying.

It was only now that they realized that they didn't know much about Jin. The one who known him the longest and was the closest to him was Sapphire, who also wasn't here.

They began to suspect that she was involved with this incident.

“I know you're all gloomy and in disbelief but there's more.”

Edward ignored their mood and spoke.

“The woman that’s in the picture, you might not realized because the skin on her face was burnt off, but she's the same woman who was pushed, hit her head and ended up in a coma.”

“?!”

They were once again shocked.

“I'm not going to beat around the bush here, the woman was obviously the target. Jin Makoto killed a pregnant woman.”

“…..”

They were all silent with sour expressions, but Edward continued.

“The public only knows that the one who did it was an infected. This is the second incident caused by an infected in two days. Because of this the outcry to rid the city of Infected privileges as increased. In fact this entire thing seems like a plot to increase the support for anti-Infected movement. This is shown from the fact that the posts about putting a stop to Infecteds are far more popular than the ones about finding the killer.”

“….Then you're saying that everything Jin did was to help the Anti-Infected movement? But Jin is also an infected. Would that just hurt him too?”

Said Chrome.

“He didn't do for himself. He was ordered to.”

Bloom clenched her fingers and said with a furious expression.

She knew clearly that only the Pillars could order Jin to do something like this, which angered her greatly.

“But wait. What about Andre Bernard? He's the one who saved that woman, and he's a Infected.”

Said Nico.

“Actually, if was never stated to the public that Bernard was an infected. Now that something like this happened it's obvious that was intentional.”

Edward answered.

He looked at the tablet in his hand and read the posts on forums and social media. As someone who did something similar he could tell that the public opinion was being controlled.

‘This isn't good. The radical posts are increasing and becoming more aggressive. If this continues the chance of a civil war will be high.’

He thought to himself.

‘Should I speak to Miko and have him mobilize Exsul to find who's responsible?’

He shook his head.

‘First I need to find out why Tommy is backing Andre Bernard and if the two of them are responsible for creating unrest between we Infecteds and the normal citizens. Even if they're not responsible they should know who is.’

Edward made his decision.

He looked at Bloom and the others.

“You guys should confront your boss, I'll handle my brother.”

“You're willing to work with us?”

Bloom asked with a hint of surprise.

“Of course. This concerns the livelihood of all Infecteds in the city. As an infected I must get involved. Also the don had already gave his okay to work with you all before.”

“But you might be up against a pillar or even more.”

Edward started laughing.

“Who do you think we are? I thought we already showed that we’re not afraid of the Four Pillars.”

He spoke arrogantly.

“I promise with my title as the Night King’s righthand, Exsul will help Silver Crow handle this mess and fight any pillar that stands in our way!”