58 Cataclysm 1

In a small, family owned restaurant, a familiar beauty sat over a plate of half eaten ribs and fries. Many sent glances her way, filled with a mixture of interest, confusion and surprise that such a seemingly small woman could finish such a plate of food by herself.

Oddly enough, despite the relatively poor and dangerous part of town this restaurant was located in, no cliché abrasive male characters approached her. It was unknown if this was because this lady was far too unkept for even them to consider, or if she had some other deterrence. Either way, she was left alone. That was, until a man with a wide bamboo hat walked in.

Despite this being the modern era where technology had leaped forward by several bounds, no one blinked an eye to this man's odd dressing. It seemed that they were far too used minding their own business to mind this man clearly trying too hard to hide his identity.

The familiar beauty almost burst into a fit of laughter when she saw this man, coughing violently after her attempts to stifle herself ended with her throat filled with misappropriated food.

"Is my appearance very funny?"

The beauty shook her head, but her eyes and quivering lips told a different story.

After composing herself, she finally spoke. "Are you sure you want to speak here? This isn't exactly the best place?"

"It's no problem, I've activated a counter sound wave. No one outside our two-meter radius can hear the words we speak."

"I see…" The beauty drummed her delicate finger on the table before them. But, the dainty view of what should have been long and beautiful fingers was ruined by the dirt and grime under their nails. When had one ever seen a beauty squander their own good looks like this? It was enough to make the gods cry. "… Well, I've found some of the information you've asked for, but they're mostly just clues. Investigating the ins and outs of a sub-pillar family is pretty far beyond my paygrade… To think you want me to take such a risk because of your little girlfriend, you're going to get me killed."

Obviously, this less than hygienic beauty was Elizabeth and the male in question was Ci-ci. It had already been a few days since the engagement party, but the work Ci-ci had to do hadn't slowed down in the least. So, he decided to make use of Elizabeth to see whether or not she could be useful to him in the future.

Of course, Ci-ci couldn't outright tell Elizabeth the real reason why he was investigating the Allemans, so he had no choice but to come up with a lie. It just so happened that this lie was quite believable considering Frae's betrothal to the Alleman family had already been announced.

Although Ci-ci and Frae's relationship was a heavily guarded secret, it didn't take much for Ci-ci to spin himself as a victim of unrequited love. This also acted as another test for Elizabeth. By giving her 'weaknesses' of his, he wanted to see how she'd react.

As of now, even if this relationship of his and Frae's became public, it would hardly matter. But, there were things coming in the future that would, things that a clever reporter might be able to stitch together to form a partial image of a whole story. So, before they reached this point, Ci-ci needed to understand who this Elizabeth truly was.

Ci-ci frowned at Elizabeth's words. "I know Frae very well, she would never accept Gale Alleman of her own volition. Also, don't you think it's odd that a Pillar Family is marrying their sole heir into a sub-pillar family? There could be a great story here for you."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Do you believe that you're the only genius to have thought of this? 90% don't dare to look into it, and the 10% that were born with balls of steel likely won't find anything to begin with. Then, they'll slowly fade into the background as their careers meet seemingly coincidental roadblocks, one after another.

"Us common people can't even trifle with families several tiers below sub-pillar Clans, how do you expect us to guard against a secret that likely involved multiple pillar Clans? The so-called government sure isn't going to help. President Kenyatta is more interested in empty platitudes and proposals that are shiny on the outside, but shallow on the inside. This is the reality."

Ci-ci laughed. "We live in the information age and you have me. What do you have to worry about?"

"That's a great vote of confidence, really. The man who lost everything in 30 seconds is definitely the one I'll put my trust in." Elizabeth felt that her eyes would fall from their sockets if she rolled them back any further.

Elizabeth's feelings made sense. Even if she did all of this work and actually found something of note, she could never publish it under her own name. For one, her news network would never accept the story and secondly, doing so was nothing short of suicide.

West Continent kept a semblance of olden day democracy found in ancient North America or Europe, but the rotten carcase hidden beneath was far larger. In those eras, would you ever have a massive portion of a country even the government couldn't police? Would forced marriages still be a reality? Would companies act like corporate mafia bosses?

The answer was no. Things were still bad in those eras, but not nearly to this extent. Companies like the Frizwauld Electrical Company forced uncontracted and impoverished families into contracts. Frae was facing a marriage she didn't want in this supposed modern society. And, The Ghettos was a massive lawless region, situated right in the center of it all yet the government could do nothing about it.

"Alright, alright." Ci-ci smiled. "What did you find out?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Since I was limited in the technology I could use safely, most of what I've found out was by good ol fashioned in-person espionage."

"Didn't I give you a program that would guarantee that you wouldn't be tracked?"

"And you expected me to trust you with my life, just because?"

Ci-ci didn't have a retort, so he only shook his head and pivoted. "Do you know where my house is?"

Elizabeth's brow wrinkled. "No?" What kind of weird question was this?

"If you wanted to find out, could you?"

"Of course." Elizabeth said confidently. With how famous Ci-ci was, his address would practically be in the public domain.

"Do it then." Ci-ci said with a sly smile.

Elizabeth's smile froze along with her confidence. Still, she didn't want to believe Ci-ci's words…

The more she scrolled through her phone, the faster her fingers seemed to move. But as one minute became two, and two became ten, she realized that all she could find were opinion pieces and long spread sheets of math speculating about Ci-ci's likely location.

These very same articles had ramped up over the last month or so, especially after Ci-ci's famous speech. Yet, only troll posts claimed to have 100% certain information, anyone who was serious only shared their theories…

"I venture to say that even the government itself doesn't know where I live."

"How… How is that possible?" Maybe if this was the age before the internet, she could accept it. But it wasn't!

There were cameras on every street, there were location trackers on phones, there were billions of people capable of providing eye-witness reports, so how did not a single soul know where Ci-ci Bell lived?!

Ci-ci stood to leave. "Since you didn't use the program I provided you, your information won't be very useful to me. I'll find someone else."

"No."

The stern voice caught Ci-ci off-guard. No? Who would respond in such a way to what he said?

"No?"

"No." Elizabeth nodded in confirmation. "Even if I didn't use your methods, I have plenty of my own. Plus, wasn't this meant to be a test for me anyway? What purpose would a test serve if I just accomplish what you could have had you used your program yourself?"

"Oh?" Ci-ci sat back down, slightly interested now. "A test you say?"

"Isn't that much obvious? Do you take me for a toddler?" Elizabeth snorted to the side, sending a projectile of snot from her delicate nose. "Ci-ci Bell, according to public records, has never dated once. Other than a brief and unsubstantiated rumor mill report that surrounded you and Dr. Rai, there was nothing. Yet, this same Ci-ci Bell that's so secretive to the point of hiding his own address willfully spilled the beans about his 'oh so' broken heart to a woman he's known for barely two weeks? I'd be a fool if I didn't understand your intentions.

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"As far as testing my intelligence goes, I'd give you a 5/10. As for how well it tests my loyalty to you, that doesn't even deserve a 1/10. As long as my brain wasn't filled with rocks, I would never tell another soul about this information."

Ci-ci's smile grew brighter as Elizabeth spoke, ignoring the gross display that ruined her valiant words. "Then what did you find out?"

"The Alleman family has been making big moves for a seemingly meaningless small town – Algood City… But after I dug a little deeper, I found that this City wasn't so meaningless after all. According to what I've found, Algood City was a former epicenter of The Cataclysm."

Ci-ci's eyes shrunk into pinholes. He had been fully prepared for Elizabeth to give him knowledge he already had. In fact, he was planning on grading her based on the percentage of information she provided in comparison to his already completed reports. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he'd hear information he had not a single clue about…

The Cataclysm. It was none other than this apocalyptic era that devastated Earth so resoundingly that hundreds of nations became just two…

History was very vague on those times not because they didn't document it, but because the information was monopolized by the nine, now eight Pillar Families. And yet this Elizabeth was telling him that a sub-pillar family was involved in such a matter?

None of this made any sense. If Algood City was so important, why send the Allemans? If the matter was so pressing, why not issue a command from the President? It wasn't as though Algood City was lawless like the Ghettos…

Plus, what did any of this have to do with Frae and Gale's marriage to her?

Suddenly, Ci-ci froze. His mind worked on deeper levels than most, allowing him to draw faint lines of connection where another person might completely ignore…

It was at this moment that he suddenly remembered the words of Milana's father. Hadn't he told him that Milana's mother was from East Continent? What were the odds that such a woman would settle in Algood City… And for what purpose?...

What if the West Continent government had no choice but to be so secretive all in order to keep East Continent in the dark? Could it be that another cold war was brewing between the two?

Wait a minute… If this matter was so important, how the hell did Elizabeth find out about it?!