Chapter 78: Pressure Tactics

“Plus,” Vanessa said, her voice steady but heavy, “the incursion is growing.”

Adam frowned.

“Growing?”

Vanessa nodded once.

With a gesture, she drew everyone’s attention back to the holographic projection of Siren Swamp. The image shifted, zooming outward. What it revealed made several people inhale sharply.

The edges of the incursion were no longer stable.

Its influence was already slipping past the wired fence, bleeding into the surrounding land. The spread was slow, almost subtle, but unmistakable. Areas outside the incursion boundary were discoloring, the terrain sagging and darkening as shallow waters pooled and vegetation twisted. Dry ground was becoming marsh.

Worse still, the expansion curve on the projection was rising.

Gradually, it was steadily accelerating.

“This,” Vanessa said, “is another deviation from normal mutating rifts.”

She let the image rotate, showing time-lapse projections of the spread.

“Based on current data, the swamp’s influence will continue to expand. Our original plan was to eradicate all sirens within the incursion before the mutation completed.” Her voice hardened.

“But if this continues, the swamp will spread across the entire area sealed by the barrier, before the rift finishes mutating.”

Silence fell over the hall.

Adam felt a chill crawl up his spine.

“If that happens,” Vanessa continued, “the rift’s influence will blanket the entire barrier, releasing the mutant monsters into their natural element.”

The implications stacked rapidly.

Originally, the sector walls could have served as a final line of defense. Mutant monsters always moved toward areas of dense human life, and the walls would have funneled them into predictable kill zones.

But if the swamp consumes the land within the barrier, the walls become meaningless, as they won’t be defending a city anymore, instead they’ll be defending a swamp. And this is where the second problem comes in.

“There are currently twenty-one active rifts within the barrier,” Vanessa said. “Incursions and standard rifts combined.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed.

“What happens, when the influence of a foreign rift begins affecting other rifts?”

No one answered.

Because no one knew.

Rifts were already unstable by nature. Their behaviors were governed by dangerous unnatural patterns, but patterns nonetheless. Introducing an external influence, especially one born from an artificial mutation, was like throwing a lit match into a room full of explosives.

Adam leaned back slowly in his chair.

Mutant rift influence… interacting with other rifts…

The possibilities spiraled in his mind, and none of them were good.

Vanessa finished quietly,

“We don’t know what will happen. But we are certain of one thing.”

She looked around the room, her gaze passing over heirs, Acolytes, and finally Adam.

“It won’t end well if we let it continue.”

Adam studied the manager for a moment before finally speaking.

“Just for argument’s sake,” he said calmly, “is there a way to stop the spread?”

Every heir in the hall turned to him, then almost in unison shifted their gaze to Vanessa.

The situation was already dire, too many unknowns, too many variables stacked on top of one another. That uncertainty was what made it truly dangerous.

Adam’s question wasn’t naïve; it was necessary. Even if they couldn’t stop the disaster outright, slowing it down could mean the difference between survival and collapse.

Vanessa looked at Adam through her veil for a brief moment before answering.

“I was just about to get there, Mr. Adam,” she said, her tone respectful.

The tension in the hall eased slightly and Adam noticed something immediately.

Did she do that on purpose?

Up until now, the way Vanessa had laid out the situation made it sound utterly hopeless, like they were already standing at the edge of annihilation. But now Adam could see the structure beneath her words. She had deliberately emphasized the danger first, forcing everyone present to truly grasp how bad things were.

Only then did she offer a solution.

It was a classic pressure tactic. Break morale, then rebuild it around a single objective.

Impressive.

Vanessa continued,

“The method to stop the spread is directly linked to our first problem.”

One of the heirs spoke up immediately. “The barrier?”

Vanessa nodded.

“Yes.”

She tapped the holographic display, and the projection shifted again.

“After careful analysis, our researchers have confirmed that the barrier is not merely containing the incursion, the surrounding wild zones, and our sector,” she said. “It is also actively powering the spread of the Siren Swamp incursion.”

Realization rippled through the room.

The pieces snapped together in Adam’s mind.

“So, if we find and destroy the generator…”

Vanessa met his gaze.

“…then the barrier collapses,” she finished, “and the incursion’s expansion will stop.”

The manager’s words echoed in the hall.

For the first time since the meeting began, the situation no longer felt like an inevitable disaster.

It felt like a mission.

Sebastian was the one who spoke next.

“So there’s no way to locate where the generator is hidden?” he asked, his tone noticeably more restrained than before.

Vanessa shook her head.

“We’ve tried everything,” she replied evenly. “But out sensors haven’t picked up anything. The barrier itself gives no indication of the generator’s location, and whatever facility it’s housed in is masking its signal extremely well.”

She paused, letting the weight of that sink in.

“And with the limited time we have,” she continued, “a full, methodical search is impossible. The generator could be anywhere within the barrier.”

Abigail frowned as she asked.

“Have you checked everywhere Henry might have been to?”

Sebastian nodded in agreement.

“That makes sense.”

The simple act irritated Abigail more than she expected. But she swallowed the irritation. This wasn’t the time.

Vanessa looked at the two of them for a brief moment before nodding.

“Yes. We did.”

Her gaze lingered on Sebastian just a fraction longer than necessary.

“Despite this being a backwater region compared to where you all come from,” she said coolly, “we know how to keep tabs on people, especially those who tend to cause trouble.”

Sebastian stiffened slightly.Vanessa continued as if nothing had happened.

“Every known location Henry frequented has been checked. So far, nothing has yielded results.”

At that moment, Adam spoke.

“Did you also check the arcade?”

Vanessa blinked, clearly caught off guard.

“The arcade?” she repeated, confusion slipping into her voice.

****

A/N: If we reach top 60 of the golden ticket ranking or get up to 800 power stones this month there will be a mass release.

Thank you for the support so far it is really encouraging.

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