The office was quiet.
Night had already fallen outside the window.
City lights gradually came to life, layer by layer.
Lights crisscrossed between the skyscrapers, stretching into the distance.
Vehicles moved slowly along the roads.
From high above, the entire city looked like a precisely operating machine.
Lucian sat behind his desk.
He held a file in his hand.
It was not thick.
In fact, it was almost too ordinary.
If it were entered into the Ability User Management Bureau's database, files of this level were added by the thousands every day.
There were no special markings.
No confidentiality level.
No national-level ability user certification.
No record of international attention.
Everything was as ordinary as it could possibly be.
A name was written on the cover.
Irina Volkov.
Ability user belonging to the Environmental Handling Department of the Northveil Directorate.
Ability name:
Phase Transition Manipulation.
Lucian opened the first page.
His eyes slowly scanned the contents.
Ability test results.
Growth records.
Work history.
Public research projects.
Everything was information that could be accessed normally.
Nothing was hidden.
Nothing was encrypted.
It was as if the Northveil Directorate simply did not care whether anyone knew these things.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
Because from the outside perspective, this ability profile had virtually no value.
At least, that was how it looked to countries that measured an ability user's worth by combat power.
Ability level.
Average.
Combat rating.
Low.
Threat level.
Low.
National threat assessment.
None.
When Lucian reached this part, he smiled faintly.
It was not ridicule.
He simply found it interesting.
Because the people who had written these evaluations had no idea what they were actually writing.
Or rather.
They had only seen the most superficial aspects.
Combat ability.
Destructive ability.
Lethality.
These were the most common standards used by the world to evaluate ability users.
If someone could destroy a building.
If someone could wipe out an entire military unit.
If someone could change the course of a war.
Then that ability user had value.
Otherwise, they were classified as an ordinary ability user.
Lucian placed the file on the desk.
His fingers lightly tapped against the surface.
A steady rhythm echoed through the quiet office.
If that was the logic the world followed.
Then perhaps the world's greatest engineers.
The greatest scientists.
The greatest architects.
None of them would be important.
Because they could not shatter buildings with a single punch.
They could not destroy armies.
They could not cause massive destruction on a battlefield.
But reality had never worked that way.
Those who truly changed a nation were never limited to warriors.
With that thought, Lucian picked up the file again.
His eyes returned to the ability description.
Phase Transition Manipulation.
Alter structures.
Alter states.
Adjust material properties.
Affect non-living matter.
The description was extremely simple.
Almost perfunctory.
But Lucian saw something completely different.
Minerals.
Pollution.
Energy.
Construction.
Industry.
Resources.
Environment.
One word after another appeared in his mind.
If this ability were used in mining operations, it could increase extraction efficiency.
If it were used for pollution treatment, it meant problems that had once been impossible to solve might have a solution.
If it were used in industry, it could change the way things were produced.
If it were used in energy production, it could open an entirely new direction for development.
Lucian slowly leaned back in his chair.
His gaze remained fixed on the photograph.
Irina looked very young in the picture.
She did not even look like an ability user.
There was none of the oppressive presence associated with national-level ability users.
Nor did she possess the dangerous aura of a powerful combatant.
If she were placed in a crowd, she would be easy to overlook.
And that was precisely what made it ironic.
The world focused its attention on those capable of destroying cities.
Yet it overlooked those capable of building them.
The world focused on abilities that could kill enemies.
Yet it overlooked abilities that could change the environment.
It was not that Irina was unimportant.
It was that the world had underestimated her existence.
Completely.
Thoroughly.
Lucian stared at the photograph.
After a moment of silence, he spoke softly.
"The world really underestimates you."
The office remained quiet.
No one answered.
There was only him here.
But Lucian knew that if it were not for that intelligence report, he would never have noticed this name.
With that thought, his gaze shifted to another file.
A name was written in the upper-right corner.
Crow.
Lucian stared at it for several seconds.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
That man really was clever.
When his organization had been destroyed, he had not chosen revenge.
Nor had he chosen to spend the rest of his life on the run.
Instead, he had chosen a trade.
Information in exchange for survival.
It was a simple transaction.
And so far, Crow had carried it out rather well.
Lucian opened the intelligence file again.
It contained important intelligence Crow had provided over the past several years.
National-level ability users.
Underground organizations.
Illegal experimental projects.
Ability research programs.
Many of those reports had later been proven accurate.
And Irina.
She was the most valuable piece of intelligence among them.
Because she was not a national-level ability user.
Yet she possessed the potential to change the future of an entire nation.
That kind of value was far rarer than simple combat ability.
Lucian pushed the file toward the front of the desk.
He pressed the communications button.
A few seconds later, his secretary entered the office.
"Sir."
Lucian pointed at the file.
"Cancel Crow's bounty."
The secretary paused slightly.
But she did not ask why.
"All of it?"
"All of it."
"Understood."
The secretary quickly recorded the order.
She was about to leave when Lucian called her again.
"One more thing."
The secretary stopped.
She waited for the next order.
Lucian closed Irina's file.
Then he spoke.
"Arrange a visit abroad."
The secretary opened her terminal.
"Destination?"
Lucian looked toward the window.
Then slowly replied.
"The Northveil Directorate."
The secretary's fingers paused for a moment.
The Northveil Directorate.
Discussion of the country had been increasing recently within the international community.
But it was still a relatively closed nation.
It was not exactly a common destination for foreign visits.
"Reason for the visit?"
The secretary asked.
Lucian was silent for a moment.
Then he answered.
"Sightseeing."
The secretary looked up.
She was clearly stunned.
"Sightseeing?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No."
She quickly lowered her head and continued recording.
Even so, she was still somewhat surprised.
Given Lucian's current position, deliberately traveling to a cold, obscure country simply for sightseeing did sound rather strange.
But she did not ask any further questions.
If Lucian had made the decision, he naturally had his reasons.
After the secretary left, the office once again fell silent.
Lucian looked at the files on the desk.
The Northveil Directorate.
A nation that had survived by relying on the cold.
A nation that had traded pollution treatment for resources.
A nation that had clawed its way from the edge of survival to where it stood today.
And there.
There was someone the world had overlooked.
With that thought, Lucian slowly stood.
He picked up the file.
Then walked toward the window.
The night was reflected in the glass.
City lights stretched into the distance.
But his gaze had already fallen somewhere much farther away.
Toward that land covered in ice and snow throughout the year.
Toward that name.
Irina Volkov.
After a long silence, Lucian smiled faintly.
"First."
"I should go meet her."
A new journey
was about to begin.