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Chapter 088: A Grey Coloured Lie

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Infiltrate The Union from this position?

As he spoke, Julian could already feel that this so called "mission" her new employer wanted her to complete was too...... challenging at her current situation.

"But I don't have any equipment and I am just a newbie... I can't infiltrate a carefully guarded tank-like city like Dakar being as I am!"

Although it was a lie, Julian just wanted to point out her current situation to give reason to this high demand of her tolerance and capability.

"The Lord knows it." Metheus nodded. "That was the reason why——" while he spoke, Metheus put a communicator on his right ear and made a call to someone.

After a while, he said a single line: "She's here." and then pulled out a fist-sized blue-glowing orb device that floated in the air.

It was an SS-generator —or when on its current 'unused' state is better known as [Liberty Drone].

A few moments after its appearance, the fabric of space rippled close to the fist-sized orb and with it, a figure wearing a priestly red-orange fiery robe and the similar faceless mask that she wore appeared as if he was just stepping out of an invisible door, and directly looking at her.

The man who appeared was undoubtedly Siva.

"You must be Julian?" he asked. Julian was very curious of the man and before she can even ask a question, Siva already introduced himself. "I was informed that you wanted to work for me and had useful information for me. I have to apologize that our first meeting is like this but please understand that I have no time for trivialities and so will make do with a direct interview of your capabilities. I am Siva, the person you sought to work for, and Gaia of the Circle of Magi and as well as these people whom you've already met are all working for me. I want to know... directly from you...... are you sure you wanted to be a spy for me? You should know, the tasks I have in mind for your particular sets of skills are somewhat, rather, special and even the word 'dangerous' is making light of its gravity."

Julian's heart skipped in joy. She didn't waste time to think for the moment she knew she was talking to Siva she already knew her gamble worked.

This was the moment she's been aiming for. "Yes! I am! I wanted to work for you! My equipment is intact and safe, and I also have a Unique Artifact with me. I will be useful to you so please, allow me to earn a living while working as your spy!"

From the side, Metheus' brows twitched. Didn't she say that she doesn't have any gear with her?

Siva looked at Julian and through Cortana learned that she wasn't lying. In short, Julian really wanted to play the espionage game for his sake. She was enthusiastic of this profession and is still clueless of his enemies' identities and the gravity of the tasks he had in mind for her. That's why she was still able to keep on smiling.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because of your fame and I believe you can be my salvation out of poverty!"

Siva's face twitched. He was taken aback by this girl's blunt honesty, "Aren't you overly candid with your situation?"

"I believe that honesty is a virtue!"

[She's not lying, boss.]

—please read the mood, Cortana...

——no... please don't read the mood...

Siva stared at the girl, thinking for a moment then he lightly chuckled while heaving a sigh. When he realized that he showed her a vulnerable stance as an employer, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Ahem. Well, it's not that I cannot provide you with compensation for your work but... I am still not aware of your sets of skills and abilities... and also because the tasks I have in mind for you included some matters that may put your life at risk."

Julian seemed not to get his intent as she made a quick reply.

"I can prove my worth and strength! Just let me get back my gear and I can start right away!" she said with extreme gusto, "Outside of Dakar, in the dessert, all of my equipment and items are in a safe place. If I can get them back, I can return at the peak of my former strength in no time!"

Siva thought for a moment and said, "Items and equipment aren't an issue with me... but I am just concerned that once you become aware of my jobs for you, you might back out and I can't risk letting those secrets leak outside of my control. I now you understand my point of view."

Julian seems to get his meaning and then looked over at Metheus. Siva seems to understand her and gave Metheus a nod.

Metheus and the group of Priests backed out.

Siva locked and isolated the space of the room with a flip of his hand. Given that the Mini Realms can now support people to live inside of it, locking space and isolating their life presences from the Primary Material Dimension of Terroa wasn't a big issue any longer.

Only when there was the two of them left in the room did she start to feel relaxed.

She spoke with seriousness: "I already know your secret, Siva, and I have seen the past... or rather, I have seen the past of someone else named Siva and I am convinced that the contents of that secret are connected to... to human experiments in the real world..."

Siva's brows knitted together but he didn't speak and let Julian finish: "If my guess is correct, it has something to do with how Panorama Corporation created the game world of Terroa. I know that if these secrets are exposed in the real world, I might get in trouble from them because there are many other companies out there, especially The Union, who wanted to know how they developed this Game World called [Terroa] with 100% of the real world's Physics working simultaneously with a foreign concept such as [Magic]. I think that you are part of those human experiments and so I didn't tell anyone about this secret and wanted to work for you because I... I wanted something to change my life. Although I also needed money to live, my wanting to change my life and add a few spices into it was heavier. I am living alone and I have no close relatives that can be used to threaten me if my real world identity is leaked out so I... want to work for... for your revenge. Or if it's not for revenge, at least... at least for any other reason you can think of!"

Hearing this, Siva finally understood her.

She was one of those with huge imagination and had talent and skills but not the right opportunity to showcase them. Or if he wanted to put it in a blunter viewpoint, she was a mild-case of an otaku trapped in the mundane world of [reality].

With her statement, Siva suddenly remembered a certain case of a failed VR experiment conducted a few decades ago in Nihon Country.

Around 10,000 children were experimented upon and survived the ordeal. But when they got back to reality, they suddenly found that [reality] was just too boring a place and they, one by one, were longing to go back to that place where they could fly and cast magic, live the life according to their dictation and not the flow of modern society.

Looking at her now, Siva thought, isn't she a case of those kinds of people? The ones who thought that the real world is not worth living for?

—but there's no telling that she was the best spy in the industry...

According to Gaia, she was [Julia], the former spy that was issued the first ever world-wide Manhunt Mission to players. To escape the people hunting her, and even keep her equipment items and her identity intact, and even restart all over again, was surely because of her superb anti-espial ability.

This is the reason why Siva became interested in hiring her ability as a spy when it was mentioned by Gaia the very first time.

But to think that her imagination would be closer to the truth than she had imagined, this was also, perhaps, one of hear strengths... or was it one of her weaknesses?

Anyways, Cortana confirmed just now that she's not lying and that her enthusiasm to work for him and his cause, regardless of its origins, were at least sincere enough to be called truth.

—or frankly speaking, she's just a thrill seeker.

But those aren't enough to make him say yes to her request. He had to dig in deeper into her.

"You think I'm a product of human experiment?"

"At least, that's what I think with what I've seen at the time when I used the artifact on you."

"What did you see... specifically?"

Julian bit her lower lip, "Darkness, burning worlds, and you standing in a field of fire with your back facing me. Then you slowly turn around and there was a smile on your lips. I remember that the 'you' in that vision aren't the black-skinned one that you are showing the world currently."

Siva frowned. But while his thoughts became a bit disturbed by her words, he also realized that she was really "indeed" one of those types. She was a rare kind of person who saw the real world as an annoying place and only a "reality" where she can find a decent meal to eat.

At some point, she was correct to assume that it's indeed big trouble if the secrets she knew would leak out but... she had the wrong impression of it only coming from the Panorama Corporation side.

Rather, after Siva learned that Panorama Corp has no way to control the game from the real world's side through President Ethan and Carl Hanes, he knew that if she learnt that it would be the World Government that will hunt her down, perhaps she might not even get a sleep at night worrying about the people going after her life.

But then again, if he scared her, he might lose the chance to hire a qualified spy for his tasks.

After deliberating for a few moments, he decided to create a lighter version of the main problem.

A grey-coloured lie.

He said, "Julian, I will be honest here. You're only half-right about a few points. Firstly, the cause is not entirely about Human Experiments but about Human Technology. Also, Panorama Corporation is not the enemy. It's the UNICORN. Think about it carefully, RPG: Terroa showcases the Human Technology [NanoTech]. Then, there's also the huge project of the World Government. Connect the two dots and you get——"

Julian's eyes went wide and her breathing came short as she realized something, continuing Siva's words for him, "—the Android Project and Jupiter Exploration Project of the World Government."

"Bingo." Siva clicked his tongue and 'banged' her with a handgun, "Those two projects are publicly announced by the UNICORN and they have also publicized the issues they are currently facing that made them unable to move forward. Two of the so called issues they have are the limits of Human lifespan and as well as physical abilities. Going on a trip from Earth to Jupiter with the current Rocket Technology will take 19 years. That's because the human body's G-force limit is already calculated in that number. Also, 19 years is adding age to the Space Men and Women of the mission. No one is willing to stay that long in outer space. Thus it was proposed to use [Android Technology] —or the so called [AI Technology]— to bypass the limit of fleshly bodies. It reduces the total travel time into 5 years and also reduces risks of losing skilled Space Men and Women during accidents that may occur. Adding the mission duration, data gathering and analysis, and the most important part of the mission... resource gathering... the total mission duration is cut short into a total of only 11 years, with the best part of it being that there was no longer any need to send people in outer space."

These are all public knowledge, backed by all the necessary calculation data issued by the World Government, proofread and thoroughly checked by different scientists and mathematicians.

"With the proposition of the Android Project, one of the biggest hurdles was now solved but it also created another challenge: our current AI-systems are still unable to autonomously adapt to difficult scenarios calculated to occur during the mission."

The more she listened the more she felt that Siva was going further and further away from what the point of their talk right now is all about.

And yet, in her mind, she already knew just how big the 'enemy' Siva had.

So it turns out that she was wrong?

While she pondered over certain things, Siva said in a colder and harsher voice, "This game world of Terroa serves as an incubator for the said issues that the World Government had faced during their pursuit of the solution to the problems they were trying to solve. Think about it, the Humans of this game world had a similar but a lot more advanced version of the real world's technologies."

He waited for a moment for his words to sink on her then declared, "To be precise, the Humans in Planet Terroa are 150 years technologically more superior to us."

At this point, Siva waved his hand and showed her a BM-Puppet from his inventory, "To prove you this point, take a look at this. He is my Tai Long Puppet and he is made up of NanoTech and metal developed by the Humans of this game."

"Puppet? Metal?" Julian touched the surface of the almost 2m tall Tai Long Puppet and she was surprised by what she discovered, "This is made of Unknown Alloys! It is soft and hard at the same time... is NanoTech capable of such a thing?"

"Yes. The technology operating this is NanoTech and it was what the Humans of this world are very secretive of. What would happen then if this kind of technology falls into the hands of the World Government?"

—then wouldn't that answer their problems with the Jupiter Exploration Project?

She thought. But then, Julian paused to think and realized an important point that Siva deliberately hid from her.

"Rather than that... why can't the UNICORN get this technology directly? If this game is connected to the World Government, then why go to all the trouble of these things? Why not extract the data and just go with it?"

Siva smiled under his mask and pointed at himself as if he was the answer. "It's because four years ago in the real world, I accidentally messed up the extraction of said technology and disabled the method they had first tried to extract it. So, if my guess is correct, in order to get that Technology back the other way, they set up this game. But... around two months ago, I entered the game and my arrival in RPG: Terroa messed up their plans again so... you can imagine just how much they hate me now, right? If you do choose to work for me, you would also be clashing against the World Government. If they get pissed off enough, they would hunt you down."

"What about you, are you being hunted down?"

"Not yet but I think I am close. I am here because I have a different reason and that reason is only a bit connected in completing certain tasks in this game world. And... it was also connected to me rescuing a lost soul. You can even say that the biggest reason why I am famous right now is for the very fact that in order to rescue this lost soul, I am forced to clash with certain people and the World Government is just one of them. The Union is also just one of them. And that... that is where you come in..."

Subtle truths, subtle hints, at least now, Siva had given his potential spy the image of risks and the reason for his possible employer's source of issue and motivation for finding trouble.

Now, what's left was the carrot —or the bait.

Of course, everything about 'this' information that Siva told her was just a quarter of the truth.

Firstly, he did messed up some plan four years ago in Lausanne but it wasn't fully of the World Government's but actually more of Pegasus's own deviously schemed personal plan.

Secondly, it wasn't purely because of the Humans and their Technology that this game was created.

If his guess is right, then it was about something else that had a connection to [Immortality]... or to be more candid about his guesses, it's about the Technology that made the Humans win against the Demons when they invaded Earth.

Nano-Exceed Technology —or just «Exceed».

[Immortality] was outside everyone's perspective but Siva was positive that if there was something the UNICORN would want in this game that's still within logic of Human Limits then it might actually be the Exceed Technology.

It had something to do with combining NanoTech and Human Body Genetic Manipulation —the very state that he was currently in in the real world.

If putting the things he told her right now, then it was this —half truth or not— that would be more logical to be on the UNICORN's acquisition list.

Janus knew it but he didn't tell him about it.

Siva was still wondering until now what exactly this so called "secret of this world" that Janus had told Gabriel that Gabriel also told him about...

All he knew is that it was deeply connected to him and his family... that it was connected to Samantha and why she was still alive... mentally... in Terroa.

But still, aside from his biggest doubt, Siva had a random guess based on the facts he gathered so far: it wasn't just the human but also the Terrans.

—especially now that he knew about UNICORN's experiment eight years ago, Project Salvation.

In the end, the answer is within Terroa itself.

And thirdly, it is indeed true that he had some kind of vendetta with the UNICORN, but it wasn't for any absurd reason as what he said. It was more in the fact that the UNICORN is hiding Pegasus and Pegasus was the reason Sam and his parents are all dead.

Of course, the UNICORN wanting to protect the bastard is because of his genius as a programmer that created the universe of RPG: Terroa, and Siva wanted him dead for the sake of revenge for Sam's and his parents' deaths.

In that regard, his allies are bound to become the enemies of the World Government as well when he chooses to clash with them.

—but there was no reason for her to know about it all, isn't there?

Thinking of this, Siva made this lie for her.

Don't question if it's on the spot or not. The point is that the materials he used for the lie were all facts available in the real world. It's just that he'd twisted them slightly to suit his needs explaining the circumstances to this possible employee.

There is no good reason for a spy to know of her employer's reasons for messing up with their target... especially if the spy is someone with a great imagination like her.

Siva made this elaborate lie for her because he trusted that with this, she would at least think twice before deciding where her allegiance will be placed: is it for the reason of honor or is it for the sake of money? Or perhaps... it's for the sake of adventure? Or maybe it's all of the above?

And to put the nail into the coffin, Siva finally give away the carrot bait, "But if you work for me and dedicate your abilities to my sake, after knowing all of these, I will promise you that your identity will be protected with the utmost secrecy and your efforts is also going to be compensated dearly."

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