Chapter 165 Reverse Detonation

Chapter 165 Reverse Detonation

Bell's words hit like a death sentence from another dimension.

"Wayne, I'm giving you two choices."

"One: hand Jenny over to my lab team. They can swap out the self-destruct chip for a new one in three minutes. That'll save her life."

"But you'll sign a voluntary transfer agreement, give up custody, and slit your own wrist to provide a nerve sample."

"Two: do nothing. In five minutes, your daughter turns into a puddle of blood."

Morrison aimed his gun at the screen, but he knew a bullet through a monitor wouldn't accomplish a damn thing.

Emily lifted Jenny from the bed. The child's body felt unnaturally light in her arms, her temperature still dropping.

Wayne stared at Jenny's face. The color was draining from her small features, her lips fading from pink to ashen gray.

Bell set down his glass. The sound of it hitting the table transmitted through the screen into the hospital room.

"Violence can kill, but it can't save lives."

He stood and placed the document on the table, his expression neither angry nor triumphant—just the relaxed confidence of someone who'd secured his victory.

"Wayne, you need to get on your knees and face reality."

Wayne didn't look at Jenny. Emily's hands trembled as she held the child.

The white-haired doctor's hands shook as he administered Jenny's injection. Veronica sat on the edge of the bed watching everyone, but Wayne had turned to face the wall-mounted AI terminal.

Morrison followed a few steps. "Commander, Jenny, she—"

Wayne pressed Isaac's channel. His voice remained steady.

Isaac's voice came through the comm: "Commander, I'm here."

"Abandon all outer defensive positions. Redirect every bit of Abyss Network's computing power to a single objective."

The sound of typing on Isaac's end had stopped.

"Open the bottom-tier encrypted folder in the Talisman. 'Genesis.'"

Morrison nearly dropped his weapon. "Is this what you meant about twenty years ago?"

Wayne didn't address Morrison directly. Instead, he spoke to Bell on the screen, his words coming slower now.

He left space between each phrase, giving the other man time to process what he was hearing.

"You said Eden Council holds over sixty percent of the world's pharmaceutical patents."

Bell held his glass motionless.

"One hundred seventy-three countries signed the Biosafety Convention."

Dried blood still marked Wayne's fractured right fingers. "You call that legal."

Bell set down his glass. "That's reality."

"Then let me ask you something."

Wayne walked to within six feet of the screen. The patches on his body had gone dark, his left eye had lost its blue glow, his entire frame covered in wounds.

"In that sixty percent you control, what's the original designation number for the core gene-editing blueprint?"

Bell's hand rested on the table.

Wayne said, "GE-001 through GE-047."

The white-haired doctor shot to his feet. He knew those numbers. Anyone in the world conducting genetic research knew them.

They formed the foundational structure code for the most advanced gene-editing technology currently available. Every subsequent patent built on that foundation.

Bell didn't answer.

Isaac's trembling voice came through the comm.

"Commander, Genesis file decryption progress: forty-seven percent... sixty-three percent..."

Bell's voice changed—not fear, but warning. "Wayne, you'd better think very carefully."

"I'm telling you something you already know."

Wayne's voice traveled from the hospital room, transmitted through the comm system and satellite to Bell's underground chamber beneath the stone walls.

"GE-001 through GE-047—the original funding sponsor, intellectual property holder, and first-author authorization signatory were all the same person."

"The first Commander of Predatory Eagle. Authorization number PK-000001."

This time Morrison didn't curse. His mouth hung open.

Bell's glass sat on the table, but his hand had moved away from it, disappearing beneath the surface.

Wayne continued, "Twenty years ago, after I left the underground world, I stored all my research in the Talisman's hardware encryption layer."

"Three years later, someone stole an unencrypted data copy from Griffin's backup server."

Isaac broke in: "Genesis file decryption complete."

Dense keyboard clatter came through the comm, rapid as a driving storm.

"Commander, all file contents have been restored to their original state—including the original authorization documents, funding contracts, experimental logs, everything."

He paused for one second.

"Also, there's an internal memorandum jointly signed by Eden Council's first leader and current leader twenty years ago."

Wayne asked, "What does the memo say?"

"Contents: Targeted elimination of the chief genetic researchers from the Federation, South Africa, and the UK. Eliminate witnesses who know the truth."

"Forge intellectual property transfer documents. Transfer ownership of the GE-series blueprints to Council control."

"The deaths of the three researchers were officially attributed to laboratory accidents."

The white-haired doctor's tablet clattered to the floor. He didn't pick it up.

One of the murdered researchers had been his mentor.

On screen, Bell's hand had risen above the table, pressing on a button that wasn't clearly visible.

"Wayne, this is suicide."

"You think releasing one document will change—"

Wayne cut him off. "Not releasing it publicly."

"The original storage location wasn't a server, hard drive, or anywhere accessible through networks or hacker attacks."

Morrison caught on too. His face went pale.

Wayne delivered the final message.

"The Genesis files were originally stored in hardware embedded in the Global Financial Settlement Verification Protocol and the strategic nuclear submarine launch authentication firmware of seven nations."

"The moment of decryption doesn't send the files to anyone."

"It creates an unalterable criminal evidence chain within seven major military command systems worldwide."

Bell stood to speak.

But he didn't have time to do anything.

Isaac spoke again. This time his tone had changed—it carried an emotion no intelligence analyst should have.

"Commander, special forces command centers in all nations have received direct orders from their highest military councils."

"What are the orders?" Morrison asked.

"Immediate cessation of all military operations against us. Eden Council's Swiss headquarters and the two aircraft parked at our airfield are now primary strike targets."

"Charges: crimes against humanity, international terrorism, and illegal infiltration of sovereign nations' core military secrets."

Rivera's phone rang. He listened for a minute or two before hanging up.

He murmured something, then turned to face the people in the corridor.

"World Alliance peacekeeping forces have withdrawn. The task force fleet is also pulling out."

No one in the hospital room cheered.