CHAPTER 149: CHANGES

While Root and Oliver laughed madly in excitement because of the possibility of taming the mythical beast, a different scenario was playing out in all cities of the federation.

Thunder Emperor, one of the most senior military officers and a well-respected hero, sent a military order to every one of the military camps inside the cities.

The content of the order was simple. He wanted them to retest all military personnel through a newly devised method to find demons.

Immediately, the news proliferated like a wave, making everyone to question what he meant.

After all, those who are in the military were already tested. Only those whom they have verified are allowed to become part of the military.

So, what did he mean by testing again?

Does he think there are demons hidden in the military?

How many are there to send a nationwide order to retest?

Just the possibility of that being true shocked the nation.

While most high-level officers, heroes, and government officials knew of this fact, the public had no idea about the demons infiltrating the military.

They felt their heart drop at the notion.

The state media soon worked in overdrive to calm the public and suppress the information. They also twisted the news in a way that made it sound like the retest was a routine process.

However, some publications and independent articles floated around the internet spreading panic.

—

In the Dragon City, Earth office, Thunder Emperor took a file and began reading the papers inside.

The file contained snippets of news, paper cuttings, and photocopies of the news that were circulating on the internet.

"This is good enough. Because of the abruptness of our action, there is no opposition."

He smirked.

If he had tried any other method, the politician would have made a ruckus, saying his retest plan would cause mass hysteria. This would have caused his plans to be delayed and the demons to escape.

"By acting quickly and precisely, we managed to gain a strategic advantage."

He closed the file and looked at Achara standing nearby.

"What do you think?" He asked.

The question from the grim old man made her pause. She thought for a few seconds and asked,

"Would it bring us trouble?"

While it is safe to say that their plan worked, she was concerned whether it would affect their future.

By taking a direct step into the light, they would soon become the target of demons.

From now on, the demons would use any weapon in their arsenal to eliminate them. That was not really an optimal position to be in.

"Trouble? Why do you think so?" The Thunder Emperor asked while calmly sitting on the sofa.

His expression didn’t change for a second.

"Now that we attacked in the open, they would retaliate. Wouldn’t it have been better if we were in the shadows?" Achara asked.

Her concerns were valid.

The demons are an unpredictable bunch; it would have been easier if they could eliminate them through assassinations.

Hearing her question, the Thunder Emperor smiled. His aged skin wrinkled and folded around his lips and eyes. Like he was explaining to a child, he began to speak.

"That wouldn’t have worked. Information about any large-scale operation would leak. The greater the number of people involved, the greater the chances it could leak. And that would have most likely allowed the demons to make contingency plans and escape. We cannot allow that."

"Now, everything’s out in the open. It’s like we have declared war." Achara said.

"Exactly! But the war was going on for years. We just dragged it out into the open. The world was losing its fear of demons. Just because everything has gone well so far, they live under the false belief that nothing will happen in the future. What we did was shine a spotlight on an issue that persisted for years. If I have to be the target of their retaliation for that, then so be it."

The old man laughed.

While he showed a pleasant outwardly appearance, a murderous glint was shining in his eyes.

The demons were his mortal enemy. His entire family died because of them. So, the notion of eradicating demons was deeply personal for him.

Either he would eradicate all the demons or die trying. There was no middle ground.

"Currently, the news is in our favour. But it might change." Achara warned.

The decision to send a military order was made by the Thunder Emperor without consulting others. This would undoubtedly create a rift between him and the other generals.

More importantly, the elected officials and the president would use this chance to diminish his power and influence. It would be a major loss if that happened.

"Just like the demons, humans are also unpredictable. We won’t know how they will react in the long term. For now, they will silently wait, or even try to side with us. But once their interests are breached, they would turn on us in a second." She added.

Thunder Emperor’s smile widened. He never expected Achara to fully grasp the situation this quickly. He was pleasantly surprised.

Thinking for a second, he revealed the next step in his plan.

"I can understand why you are worried. But don’t be. I expected retaliation before we began. And I also expected the demons to counter the test we devised with some unknown method. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Our next step is to collect information on the organisation, politicians, and government officials who are going to turn against us. It will most likely lead us to the central figures on the demon side. And, I don’t have the authority to enforce mandatory tests nationwide on all citizens, so we will be presenting it before Congress." Thunder Emperor chuckled and continued, "We are going to fill the news cycle with information about demons for the next few months."

He was planning to make it into a large enough issue that no one could ignore. From his perspective, it was the only way to save humanity from the clutches of the demons.

This was an opportunity given to him by Oliver. Without the newly devised test method, he couldn’t have done it. So, he did not plan to waste this opportunity.

Achara thought his actions were risky, but didn’t speak about it anymore. Although she is a central figure in the demon-hunting squad the Thunder Emperor formed, she was still his subordinate. Other than providing him with information and guidance, she didn’t have the right to interfere in his decision.

And when you think about it, his plan might have been risky. But it was not without its merits.

Instead of choosing a prolonged battle, he chose a short and impactful one.

There was no real reason to think it was a bad idea.

Instead of letting the disease called demons fester and grow inside humanity, they had to end it quickly.

It certainly was better than the previous method they used.

—-

Meanwhile, within a secure military lab in Dragon City.

Sathyamoorthi created the prototype stabilized QCM communication device.

It was a metallic square box a meter wide.

The box was placed on a table, and one side of it was open, revealing a complex international structure filled with wire and tubes.

In the center of the box, there existed a small spherical structure housing a QCM shard.

Currently, the spherical structure was spinning slowly.

Sathyamoorthi put on his glasses and walked over to the open side of the box.

He pulled out some wires from the box and cleaned its internals. Then took out a mana fuel rod from a canister placed nearby.

The fuel rod glowed pale blue as it left the canister.

Sathyamoorthy carefully placed the fuel rod into a cylindrical slot inside the metal box. Then, with a quick push, he pressed it against the inside and closed the box, sealing it up perfectly.

Once it was sealed, it looked like a block of metal. No one would expect there was something inside it. There were no seams, wedges, or rifts between them, completely isolating the inside from the outside.

"Seal complete," Sathyamoorthi said and pressed a button on the tablet computer he had in his hand.

Immediately, a humming sound was heard from the metal box. The spherical components inside began to spin.

"Initiate pairing." He muttered and switched on something else.

Immediately, another metallic box a couple of meters away started humming similarly.

A loading bar appeared on the tablet Sathyamoorthi was holding.

It was showing the synchronisation state.

Data was being sent between two boxes through the Quantum Coupled Metal shard that was being synchronised. The synchronisation loading bar was showing the difference between the data sent and the data received.

As time passed, the synchronisation rate increased, and the loading bar quickly rose to completion.

Immediately, a smile bloomed on his face.

"Test 56, successful. Achieved lossless data transmission."

He muttered in a daze.

Finally, the prototype was ready.

Now, he just had to transport one set to the Second Earth and try again. If he could transmit a large amount of data through it without significant loss, it would be considered perfect.

Usually, when a large amount of data is transmitted through QCM in a short duration, it would decouple and deteriorate.

The system he created could prevent the decoupling, thus overcoming the current technological limit.

And secondly, he could recycle the old decoupled QCM and use it in his device.

Sathyamoorthi became teary eyed thinking about the significance of what he had achieved.

The current bottleneck for exploring the Second Earth was the communication system.

But with the device he created, it was all going to change.

A communication revolution was about to take place.