Chapter 258: Bad News

"At the early hours of the New Year, right after the System took the seventeen-year-olds for their integration, and after you and the others were taken to that Tower, the Ancient Variants delivered a well-coordinated, simultaneous strike on twenty-one territories around the globe," Dennis said grimly.

"They took down several newly rising powerhouses and even attempted killing off some well-known personalities. On the surface, their targets seemed to be mainly those involved in the trade of Inert Essence Crystals."

"They attacked here too?" Uhtred asked, his voice dangerously low.

"No, boss. Even without your presence, they still seem wary of attacking the Capitol of The Elite directly." Dennis shook his head. "Our allies, however, weren’t so lucky. The mid and small-tier families and factions who had been lucky enough to attend the Global Summit and agreed to our trade terms were the ones hit the hardest."

"Many family heads have been slaughtered, their Inert Crystals plundered. It’s bad, boss. Those Ancient Variants are truly devious. They’ve created a situation where other mid-tier factions who had become very interested in falling under your banner of influence have now become wary," Dennis said, his expression tight.

"They have been watching to see what our response would be, and since it is obvious that we cannot take care of every single family and faction that was attacked, their interest in committing to our banner has drastically reduced."

A heavy scowl colored Uhtred’s face as he listened to Dennis’s explanation. Without needing it to be spelled out, he had already understood what Dennis was getting at from the moment he revealed what had happened.

"This isn’t like Krijn," he frowned. "Whoever is orchestrating this is a totally different kind of enemy. They’re trying to undermine the public’s faith in my power as the number one ranker. Krijn would never pull a stunt like this..."

"My thoughts exactly, boss." Dennis nodded. "Based on the profile we have of the Neanderthal General, Krijn, he is straightforward and would engage in a more direct manner if he were leading this attack. This makes us suspect a new General at work..."

Dennis stood up from his seat and leaned forward to place a holographic device at the center of the table.

A video appeared, showing the POV of a young lady in a mid-tier family who was lucky enough to remain hidden throughout one of the attacks and had recorded the entire slaughter of her family.

It was a tense and very brutal sight. The entire table went silent as they watched the video showing Ancient Variants slaughtering scores of humans and lighting their homes on fire.

Toward the end of the video, a last-ditch battle played out. Someone who looked to be the head of the family had gone crazy, battling against what looked to be the lead attacker among the Ancient Variants.

Dennis paused the holographic video on that particular frame.

"A new Variant?" Uhtred’s brows furrowed, his eyes immediately locking on to what Dennis had paused the video for.

The Ancient Variant in the frame didn’t bother hiding his face. He stood proud and haughty, gazing at the much weaker family head like he was about to enjoy toying with his prey.

"Yes, but please look much closer, boss," Dennis said.

Uhtred squinted and scrutinized the Ancient Variant more carefully, trying to pick up more details aside from just his general build.

But he simply wasn’t seeing anything that caught his eye in particular.

Okay, so it’s not anything particularly unique, then, Uhtred thought. Is it just something basic like his physical features?

Uhtred could see enough of the Ancient Variant’s face to know that he wasn’t a Neanderthal or a Homo erectus either. He also didn’t look like the female Ancient Variant — the Homo heidelbergensis.

In fact, if Uhtred had to describe him, he looked somewhat like a modern human to an extent. If it weren’t for his weirdly broad build and block-like head, then he would easily have passed off as...

Uhtred’s thoughts suddenly halted, a slow expression of shock coloring his face.

"The Prime Sapien Project."

"...Yes, boss," Dennis confirmed, his expression solemn. "You are looking at a new variant born from the genes of Neanderthals, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and us... Homo sapiens. It would seem the Ancient Variants have had some success in that Prime Sapien Project of theirs... And they aren’t finished yet."

Uhtred looked up at Dennis, his eyes slightly unfocused in calculation. This was one of the main matters he had been investigating for a while before the Tower trial arrived.

He knew the Ancient Variants were up to no good. Every single time they had gone silent, it was always in preparation for something big. This time, however, it was something far larger. The secret project they had been working on in the shadows had finally begun to yield results.

"This particular attack was only one of the first," Dennis said, allowing the video to play out fully before pulling up a second clip.

As expected, the "Prime Sapien" in the video went on to toy with the man making a desperate last stand. The man was an Earth elemental, and a rather average one at that — at most, an Uncommon Grade talent based on his display. He hadn’t even crossed the threshold into the Nascent Realm.

The Prime Sapien in the video decimated him horrifically after wearing him down. It was a very sadistic display, one that made Uhtred’s and everyone else’s blood boil as they watched.

However, right at the end of the clip, something peculiar occurred.

The Prime Sapien, ecstatic at the sound of the dying man’s cries, suddenly went berserk after the man was fully dead.

He was like a beast brought to the absolute point of ecstasy, only to be denied right before reaching that tipping point.

He needed a way to push himself over the edge, and seeing no one else around, he turned on his fellow Ancient Variants.

An even more horrific massacre ensued. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Powerful Ancient Variants — commanders who were vital to their overall power — were killed for no reason at all.

"They’re powerful," Diya muttered. "But they’re unstable..."

Dennis nodded, playing the next video.

It was a similar situation to the first, except this time the person recording was a young man, and he wasn’t nearly as fortunate as the first girl.