Luna appeared before Lucius. Without hesitation, she reached into her spatial ring and and retrieved numerous corpses.@@@@

    She laid them carefully on the ground in front of Lucius. She then kneeled before Lucius and presented the corpses.

    "These are for you, Master. All of them are the corpses from the calamity. There were also some strong corpses."

    Lucius examined the corpse. He kneeled beside them. He placed his hand on one of the bodies and felt its former power as a 5-Star tamer.

    He stood up and smirked. "These corpses will do nicely. Their energy will convert into a generous amount of hacking points."

    Lucius turned to Luna and put out his hand. "Luna, hand me the brain that you took from him."

    Luna nodded and retrieved the sealed container from her spatial ring. She gave it to Lucius. "Here it is, just as you requested."

    Lucius took the container. He studied it briefly before opening it. He stared at the brain within and smirked. "Let''s see if this works."

    He turned to the system. "Hack this brain. Extract and transfer all its memories to me. Can it be done?"

    ---

    [Hack Initiation: Memory Transfer]

    [Target: Disembodied Brain]

    [Effect: Extract and Transmit All Memories to User]

    [Cost Required: 1,000 Hack Points]

    [Execute Evolution?]

    [YES] [NO]

    ---

    Lucius turned to Luna. "You can call them evil if you like it, though it''s really just a matter of perspective."

    Liora, who leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, snorted. "Evil or not, they didn''t seem too impressive. The ones Luna fought were pathetic."

    Lucius smirked and waved her dismissively. "You are right, but they were just pawns. Henchmen. Tools sent to fetch something they probably don''t even understand."

    Luna''s frown deepened as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "What were they after, then? What''s so important that they''re sending fools like that to fight for it?"

    Lucius turned to face her and smirked. "Legendary materials. The details are vague, but these materials could be the key to something much bigger. That''s what they''re after."

    Liora straightened, cracking her knuckles. "And they sent weaklings to collect them? Sounds like they''re desperate—or stupid."

    Lucius looked at Liora and shrugged. "Perhaps both, but here''s the interesting part: one of those legendary materials... is here, in this academy."

    Luna was surprised and instinctively stepped forward and looked at Lucius in the eyes. "Here? Are you certain, Master?"

    Lucius nodded slowly and smirked. "Positive. And that''s why we won''t interfere with them yet. Let them do the hard work of finding it. When the time is right, we''ll take it for ourselves."

    Liora smirked and her eyes shone. "Sounds like a plan. Let them run around like headless chickens while we reap the rewards."

    Lucius gestured toward the window. "Exactly. Their existence doesn''t matter to us. Their lives don''t matter. They''re free to waste their time."

    Lucius clenched his fist and turned to Liora and Luna. "But when they found what they got, it''s time for us to deal with them and take what we deserved."

    Luna''s smirk returned. "I like it. Let them struggle, let them bleed, and when they''re finished, we''ll step in and take everything they''ve worked for."

    Liora let out a low laugh. "That''s the difference between us and them. They blindly follow orders, hoping for slivers of power. We take what we want."

    Lucius unhurriedly sat back down. "Precisely. Power belongs to those who seize it, not to those who beg for it."

    Lucius looked up and waved his hand dismissively. "Let them chase their dreams of world dominance. In the end, they''re just another obstacle—or an opportunity."

    The three exchanged a glance. They didn''t care about the nameless group, their goals, or the lives of those they used.

    As long as the chaos served their own purposes, Lucius, Luna, and Liora were content to watch the world burn.