'Samar, huh?' Nick thought. 'I'm not surprised that she's searching for Vernon's killer.'
'Although, I don't think it's because she is emotional and loved him so much as a father figure.'
'Vernon might have been nice on the surface, but there was barely any true feeling behind his eyes. When Wyntor died, he just said a couple of words before immediately talking about his money.'
'I believe someone like Samar would realize that.'
'It's probably more of a respect thing. The head of the Melfions was killed, and she believes it is her task to find the killer.'
'Aria knows that it was me, but she never told Samar. Even after my perceived death. Samar probably suspects me, but she was smart enough not to ask me directly.'
'If I found out that somebody was trying to dig up dirt on me, I would have seen that as an attack on me and as resistance to the necessary change of Crimson City.'
'Samar knew that, which was why she never investigated Vernon's death while I was still Liaison.'
'Sure enough, Samar is intelligent.'
'There is no doubt that she will become a Protector, which means Samar also needs to become a Protector.'
'Maybe, if Samar manages to prove herself enough, she can ask for arbitration in this issue, and Aegis will moderate the conflict between the two of them. At that point, Aria probably won't keep my involvement secret. After all, she believes that I am already dead.'
'Most likely, Samar won't even care. She just needs to find the killer and make sure that they are dead. It's just something pointless that allows her to keep her pride.'
Nick covertly shook his head as Herman continued to describe Crimson City to him.
Kugelblitz was still the strongest Manufacturer.
Surprisingly, Sky Dream was the second strongest Manufacturer.
Sky Dream was led by the two former leaders of Solace.
Hera, the current CZE of Sky Dream had already managed to become an Early Specialist, and she managed to consume an Early Elder, which meant that she would become a Hero in the future.
Sky Dream couldn't oppose Kugelblitz yet, but the gap was slowly closing.
After introducing the Manufacturers, Herman talked about the different parts of the city.
The Outer City, Lower Layer, Middle Layer, and Upper Layer were basically identical to a couple of decades ago.
William hadn't modified Nick's laws by a lot.
However, while the old city hadn't changed a lot, the addition of the outer ring had essentially created a new version of the Dregs.
Naturally, Nick did not like that a single bit, but he couldn't change these things right now for multiple reasons.
"Who developed the houses in the outer ring?" Nick asked while Herman talked about the outer ring.
"Oh," Herman said as an embarrassed smile appeared on his face. "That was, eh, me and a couple of friends."
Nick's eyebrows rose in surprise, but his disguise hid his surprise. "You?"
Herman nodded. "We entered a new set of ruins to the north and analyzed them. The area to the north always lacked Specters, and we were interested in finding out why that was. We found the ruins, and we found the answer." ṟ’
"Our research team then analyzed the ruins, and we created machines that emulated the ruins' properties."
Nick nodded. "When did you enter the ruins?"
"Something like seven years ago, I believe. We just created the prototypes three years ago," Herman answered.
"When did you tell Aegis about the ruins?" Nick asked.
"About six months ago," Herman said.
"A bit late, isn't it?" Nick asked, turning to look at Herman.
"You'll have to ask the Governor about that. I can't make a comment on that," Herman answered in discomfort.
Nick wasn't actually surprised.
Of course the local government would milk a ruin for everything it was worth before handing it over to Aegis.
"You are not scared?" Nick asked.
"Of what?" Herman asked.
"The Envious Researcher."
"Oh, no, that's not an issue," Herman said. "I don't know how the entire machine works. I only know what half of the parts are supposed to look like. Other people know how to create the other half. Some other people don't know exactly what the parts do but know how to put them together."
"The production has also been split between different companies, and they are not allowed to share their knowledge with anyone else."
'That's smart,' Nick thought. 'The creation of just a couple of parts couldn't be counted as some amazing new technology that would attract the Envious Researcher. Sadly, if it were that easy to avoid the Envious Researcher, Aegis wouldn't have so much trouble with it.'
While the people of Crimson City were actually safe from the Envious Researcher, there were several things that they couldn't do.
For example, they could not write down how the machine worked.
Written records could be read by people, and some people might accidentally understand how the machine worked.
As soon as the complete function of the machine was understood by a couple of people, the Envious Researcher would also attack the people who only knew part of the knowledge.
Additionally, people couldn't help themselves sometimes, and a curious engineer from one company might just casually look at the completed product and would just muse about its function, which could lead to an accidental understanding of the entire thing.
Lastly, the more products that were produced and used, the higher the likelihood that a curious person would analyze the product and understand it.
The powerful people knew of the Envious Researcher, but the normal people didn't.
Even more,the people who knew about the Envious Researcher would not think that this widely used product hadn't gone past the Envious Researcher stage.
They were playing with fire.
They were essentially betting on the fact that nobody in the big chain of production would get curious.
Nick decided to drop the topic for now, and Herman finally started to talk about the ruins.
"The biggest ruins are directly below Crimson City," he said. "Crimson City has the unique privilege of having ruins from every single era of humanity in one place, allowing us to compare the achievements of different eras without having to travel across the world."
"The ruins to the north seemed to have been of a research or production facility, which had been created by the Enlightened Ones. We have another set of ruins a bit to the southwest, but those were of a city of the Ancient Ones. It sounds impressive, but we didn't find anything interesting in there. Just a lot of destroyed houses."
Nick nodded. "I will be taking a look at the underground of the city first. Is there anyone currently investigating the ruins?"
"I'm not sure," Herman said. "We have already looked through these ruins many times, and there's nothing left that we haven't found yet. The only people down there are probably people who walk to and from the ruins to the north."
"Alright," Nick said, "Herman, I would like you to isolate the ruins directly beneath the city. I am using secret technologies and abilities during my work, and Aegis demands that these technologies remain secret."
"Nobody is allowed to watch me while I operate beneath the city," Nick added.
"Eh, sure, I think that can be arranged," Herman said. "I'll go contact-"
At that point, Nick put his hand on Herman's shoulder, and Herman froze.
Herman felt like a Demon was standing beside him.
"I want you," Nick spoke slowly in a dark but polite tone, "to truly understand the weight of my words."
Nick's faceless figure looked into Herman's eyes.
"These technologies have not all gone through the trial of the Envious Researcher, and the few people who know about them include very powerful figures, each one stronger and more valuable than a city."
Nick made a small pause.
"Aegis would rather get rid of an entire city instead of risking the Envious Researcher becoming active."
"If I sense anyone looking at me, I will kill them."
"I mean everything I say, and I want you to realize the full gravity of my words."
"Do you understand?" Nick asked.
Herman had become terrified by now.
The pressure Nick was putting on him was brutal.
"O-of course! I understand!" he quickly said with several nods.
"If anyone sees me during my investigation, they will die. Repeat," Nick said.
"If anyone sees you during your investigation, they will die," Herman repeated.
Nick slowly nodded. "Make sure that the people know about the gravity of the situation. You may take your time to isolate the underground of the city. You do not have to isolate the ruins to the north, but if the underground of the city is the only way to get to these ruins, you might want to get the people out of there too. I don't know how long my investigation will take."
"Only tell me that I may begin when you are certain that nobody is left in the underground."
Herman's heart rate had increased quite a bit by now.
This was a lot of pressure and responsibility.
"I will do as you've said!"
Then, Herman left.