Chapter 1489: Chapter 1489: As Insignificant as Grass / The Truth Behind the Assassination

——A moment before——

Ains

The elderly man looked at the man before him, observing his calm and natural expression.

In response to He Ao’s question, he didn’t show much doubt or hesitation, but sighed gently, “Not long after returning from Denno City, he was gone.”

“Rescue failed?” He Ao, sitting on the ground, looked at him and asked softly.

“No, the rescue was very successful,” the elderly man sighed lightly and shook his head, “Those doctors can’t keep secrets; if the rescue had failed, the situation wouldn’t be like this now.”

Upon hearing the elderly man’s words, He Ao seemed to realize something as well. He sighed softly and spoke rapidly, “People will always die, just like angels will ultimately fall into madness. Everything we do—to prolong life, to maintain humanity—is to delay that day’s arrival, but it will eventually come.”

After hearing He Ao’s words, the elderly man only sighed softly, as if not surprised He Ao figured this out.

He withdrew his gaze, looking at the towering Stars Pharma Building in the distance, pausing slightly.

It seemed like a momentary pause, yet also as if it lasted a long time.

“Human beings cannot escape death, and even so-called Transcendent humans face death as their ultimate destiny.”

Finally, his aged voice resonated under the oppressive sky, “He had the best medical conditions in the entire Federation, with almost unlimited budgets. Both Stars Pharma and Welme Medical could easily heal his body, and even the lurking contamination couldn’t quickly take his life.”

He turned back, looking at He Ao, “Moreover, because of the quick response, the injuries he sustained at the time weren’t that serious.”

He leaned back slightly, took a soft breath, and finally spoke slowly, “But human lifespan is ultimately limited. He was too old,”

The elderly man’s voice slowed down, resembling an old, long-slackened drum that had been kept for years, sounding a dull and dry beat, “In the first half of his life, to climb to this position, he expended too much mental effort, overdrawn too much of his body. He was too old, and when he stepped into this position, the time left for him was already short.

“And in this position, he overdrew more mental effort than before his appointment.

“His private doctor had warned him early on, demanding he ensure certain periods of rest.

“About a year ago, he received a critical notice from his private doctor.

“His doctor predicted that if he continued working at such intensity, he wouldn’t survive more than a month.

“Of course, he had the best medical services in the Federation, which stretched his exhausted body from one month to a year.”

His speech was rapid, almost like dense and swift Morse code, but He Ao heard every word clearly.

“So this is the reason he took the desperate risk?” He Ao stared at the elderly director before him and continued to ask.

“The concealed organization behind the Divine Being you serve must have already informed you of the current situation,” the elderly man looked at He Ao and continued, “You should know what the Federation’s current situation is; if he doesn’t do something.”

His tone paused lightly, with a hint of sigh, “The chaos in the Federation might be unavoidable.”

The elderly man raised his head again, shifted his gaze, “He hoped for stability in the Federation, even if it was just temporary stability.”

This time, he looked not at the Stars Pharma Building but toward the building’s end at the side of Stars Pharma, where the Federation’s core, the Gray Stone Palace, stood.

“So he arranged a plot against himself,” He Ao spoke slowly, also looking towards the Gray Stone Palace direction, speaking in a slow yet ‘extremely fast’ tone,

“And I am the key figure in this assassination, which is why I was in the nearest area, so when he faced the real assassination, while avoiding the sniper, he also dodged my attack range. He knew exactly where I was.”

His tone paused briefly, “In his original plan, no matter if I fired or not, my ‘assassination’ was doomed to fail, and the Secret Service Bureau would discover me first and then control me.

“What follows would be an ‘investigation.’

“And the reason for my ‘assassination’ was based on false information. He hadn’t actually given up on the Wilderness Wanderer order, nor had he concealed the truth to ensure the election.”

“After that, he would carry out an ‘investigation’ that would let me realize I’d been deceived, and then we would reconcile.””

“The news of the President forgiving an assassin would quickly spread throughout the Federation, and my identity and experience would grant him great prestige among the new Wilderness Wanderer immigrants and the Federation’s lower class citizens.

“With this, he could unite the Wilderness Wanderers and rely on them to establish contact with Christos and form an alliance with Dawn City,

“This way, combined with the conservative forces in the Federation that originally supported him, he could barely counter the influence of the consortiums and rebalance the Federation.”

He Ao looked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director and continued, “After accomplishing these, he would gain immense prestige among both the elite and the public, and with this prestige, he would then choose a suitable successor.

“As long as this successor doesn’t perform too poorly, they could be smoothly elected as President and, following the path he outlined, guide this giant ship that might sink at any moment, so the giant ship can barely, yet continue moving forward.”

He Ao sighed softly, “But he couldn’t ask you to do this because he knew you wouldn’t do such a thing, so he had to turn to the Intelligence Director. But he did not expect the Intelligence Director to completely betray him, turning the ‘assassination performance’ into a real ‘assassination.'”

“I advised him, yet he didn’t heed my warnings, and this assassination ultimately exhausted his life,” the elderly man sitting across from He Ao slowly sighed, “He wasn’t surprised by his own death. When he activated the intelligence bureau and ordered Di Man, he might have already seen his fate.”

“But he left me with a colossal mess to clean up,” He Ao calmly gazed towards the Gray Stone Palace, “If the situation follows the direction of assassination, ‘my’ identity could become a pretext for attacking Christos.”

He paused slightly and continued, “Even a pretext for ‘war.'”

The old director raised his head and silently watched the figure before him.

He didn’t know how Di Man colluded with the consortium, but the fact is, the entire situation spiraled out of control following the actualization of the assassination.

But that deceased President had, in fact, left a second layer of calculation.

Both He Ao and the old director understood the core of this second layer of calculation.

The ‘timing’ of the assassination’s occurrence was an element tied to the core of the second calculation.

A series of events that followed were all revolving around this core.

The President was gambling.

If successful, after his death, the Federation might still maintain some degree of stability for a certain period, even though it would likely not achieve his desired manner.

“His idol was Seville,” the old director paused, with a hint of emotion as a slight sigh rippled through his gaze for the first time, “When he first took office, he also hoped to be like Seville, to save the Federation, to accomplish something.”

The elderly man’s tone grew long, “But he was ultimately not Seville, and this Federation is no longer the Federation of Seville’s era. A skyscraper on the verge of collapse may not be something an old man carrying a bucket of cement can patch.

He Ao merely listened quietly to the old man’s words, then softly asked, “Did he figure out who the real mastermind behind the assassination was in the end?”

“Maybe he did, or maybe he didn’t,” the old director answered softly, “If I knew who the real assassin was, I would have immediately taken action against the criminal.”

If so, the incident wouldn’t have progressed to this point.

“Then, do you think,” He Ao paused for a moment before continuing to ask, “did he ever consider that the Dark Lizard might attack Denno City, even conducting a large-scale massacre? That Di Man carried a force capable of threatening millions of ordinary Ains’s lives?”

He Ao looked at him, “Or do you think, he really knew nothing about the truth of the Dark Lizard incident?”

Confronted with these questions, the old director visibly fell silent for a moment.

After a brief pause, he slowly responded, “From his perspective, perhaps the massacre by the Dark Lizard in Denor City, once the truth is revealed, would place the consortium at an absolute disadvantage politically and in public opinion.”

He did not directly answer He Ao’s question.

He Ao did not continue to press for answers.

The twisted oppression in the sky spread between Heaven and Earth, and the deserted streets were filled with solitary shadows.

People leaned at street corners and windows, full of confusion.

Some raised their heads, gazing at the shattered and collapsed mirrored city in the firmament, observing the horrifying oppression enveloping the entire mirrored city.

Some lowered their heads, covering the eyes of children.

Buildings stood, windows gleamed, eyes watched.

The wind between Heaven and Earth rose at this moment, howling through the steel jungle, across the earth and streets, blowing past the drifting grass.

This is Ains, the capital of the Federation.

The elderly director said nothing more, and neither did He Ao.

The world was so quiet, extraordinarily quiet.

He Ao slowly stood up, looking at the collapsing city in the sky.

He raised his hand, his fingertips touching the flowing breeze, which also brushed through his hair.

The elderly director also stood up, looking at the twisted oppression in the sky, quickly asking, “These ‘changes’ seem to be ominous, do you need me to do anything?”

He Ao withdrew his gaze from the sky, his body almost completely transparent.

Their conversation, even though sped up to a level that ordinary people could not understand, still lacked time for him.

He looked at the elderly director in front of him, slightly loosening his hand, gently shook his head, “No need.”

Linking back to the peaceful and natural conversation with He Ao just now, the elderly director realized something and softly asked, “Has the current situation not exceeded your expectations?”

This time, He Ao did not answer him.

Instead, he turned around and looked at the sky again.

Did he really not sense the divine being’s gaze?

The divine being had always pursued ‘Paxiu,’ but the identity he used until now was not only Paxiu.

The system can isolate the divine being’s sight, but it will not sever the mystical connections entwined around He Ao.

The divine being using the power of concealment can hide the mystical connections Paxiu contacts, but it’s hard to mind the mystical connections carried by other roles.

In Vitland, as soon as he entered the Kewort Group’s villa, he triggered a curse and even glimpsed the curse’s origin through the mystical connections of the curse.

He Ao was not deeply versed in High Positional Grade curses, but he knew it was unlikely pure ‘luck.’

If there was no potent connection with a divine being, how could he possess a ‘glimpse’ akin to Divine Inspiration through a curse?

But he had never contacted that divine being all along.

The issue would not lie with the newly awakened ‘Jess,’ but only with Paxiu.

He Ao didn’t know how ‘Paxiu’ became connected to a divine being, but from that time, he knew that the hidden divine being most likely had been watching him.

Until now, the development of events hasn’t really exceeded his plans.

In the collapsed mirrored city suspended in the sky, above that terrifying oppression, a more horrifying oppression erupted over the entire mirrored city, and then, with a dense purple mist, swept across the entire city instantly.

The ripple effect of that terrifying power even affected the real world.

A howling gale descended from the sky, sweeping across the entire city in an instant.

And amidst this storm, He Ao turned back to look at the elderly man behind him, softly said, “Farewell.”

His figure slowly dissipated in this whistling wind, transforming into scattered radiance.

The elderly man watched the figure disperse before him, slightly opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something.

It was then that he saw a mother at the end of the street ahead, protecting her child, her feet barely touching the ground, carefully squeezing into the city’s corners, hoping to find a place to shelter from the wind.

He lightly raised his hand, a formless power swept through the street, immediately dispelling the whistling wind.

Then the elderly man raised his head and looked around.

The city’s radiant beams still flickered, but those beams only naturally hung down, shrouding the high towers directly below, that’s all.

In the next instant, he raised his hand, a surging power suddenly erupted, instantly dissipating the city’s wind.

The elderly man’s gaze moved upward, sweeping over the astonished and puzzled figures under the shadows of windows.

Then he lowered his head, looking at the seat opposite him, the coffee still steaming.

The core of the former President’s calculation was actually very simple.

It was ‘K.’

In the situation where Di Man and the consortium colluded, only those who could create miracles could change miracles.

He estimated the time ‘K’ might appear, then arranged an assassination based on his understanding of ‘K’s’ actions, thinking that perhaps he could encounter ‘K’ in this ‘big event.’

Perhaps, to the President, his original plan was to use a fake assassination to ‘bait’ K out, and then reach some cooperation with ‘K.’

Though the President might not have thought, the carefully chosen person was actually the Apostle of K.

‘K’ truly appeared and quelled this turmoil that could have shattered the Federation.

However, the method of handling all this probably exceeded everyone’s expectations.

The elderly man withdrew his gaze from the coffee.

The world really seemed to be changing.

Perhaps he should also leave Ains and check out other cities.

For example, Dawn City.