When I arrived, I noticed that the UK’s immigration process was strengthened. I was using my Ethan identity, and Ethan was a real person, who had an actual passport and a social security number in the United States. I explained that I was visiting for a business trip and showed them the gold business card with the logo of the Jonathan Investment Finance Group.

Nevertheless, I was detained by the immigration officer and was not allowed to leave. That was why it took a while for me to finally meet the immigration inspector.

The woman from the Guardian had completed her immigration process before me, so she was waiting for me.

When I finally passed through the immigration…

She greeted me instantly, “Thank you for giving me your opinions, Ethan.”

She handed over her business card and appeared to expect me to give her one, but I hesitated and looked uncomfortable.

“I have one last thing I want to hear from you. Will that be okay?” the woman asked, keeping a wary eye on the heavily armed airport security personnel patrolling the area. She then said in hushed tones, “There was an act of terrorism in Westminster.”

People in the U.S. referred to the White House as Washington, whereas the British called Buckingham Palace as Westminster.

“Of course.”

I had enough time to answer her. The woman started to search for a secluded spot after giving me a glance indicating for me to follow. The restaurant she entered reminded me of the one at Gimpo Airport, where I had first met Jonathan in person. Similar to that place, this restaurant appeared to be going out of business soon due to its poor management, lousy food, and inadequate service.

She sat down and said, “I sent today’s article to the editorial department. Mmm… It will be updated in an hour. Of course, I didn’t include your name.”

The Guardian was indeed a media company focusing on online business, and it was quick at handling things. Although its progressive tendency was very noticeable, it operated a site with the third-largest number of visitors in the world. Kim Cheong-Soo now had less work to do just because I happened to sit next to Carrie on the plane.

“This coffee is the payment for the interview as we are both quite busy at the moment. I will treat you to dinner next time. We can follow each other on social media, right?”

She was boldly requesting a dinner date while leaning her upper body against mine. I noticed that she applied a fresh layer of makeup when she went to the restroom earlier.

I gently pushed her away. “I have a serious girlfriend who I’m planning on getting married to. It’s not because you are not attractive.”

Upon realizing that those words came out of my mouth effortlessly, it seemed as if the blood from the Stage of Advent had vanished within me. It was a good sign. However, the act of terrorism at the Buckingham Palace may have been sparked by the Awakened, and the stench of the Stage of Advent could be permeating the air there.

She easily backed off and smiled slightly. “Congratulations to both of you.”

The woman continued as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Then, I’ll tell you the rest. The act of terror at Buckingham Palace… was caused by the Awakened. But we’ve found out that the person who put a stop to it was another Awakened who belongs to the royal family. Of course, it won’t be on the news.”

“Are you sure you can tell me this?” I asked curiously.

She nodded. “I don’t think you will post it on social media. We don’t have much time, so I’ll ask directly. How much do you think the Awakened will disturb the financial world in the future?”

I smiled slightly. “As you know, our group’s CEO is also an Awakened.”

“That’s right. I heard that he is called the King of Hell among the Awakened. It’s the quickest way to create an image, but it’s awkward. Odin… Osiris… They all have great titles named after gods. Are they trying to deify themselves?” she asked.

My lips quirked. “You will figure out why they have names like that. No data has been disclosed, so making hasty judgments is unwise. Nevertheless, apart from that issue, I don’t expect significant changes in the business world due to the Awakened. There is enough power concentrated in the World Awakened Association. You must know well that a knife isn’t the only thing they have.”

The woman lifted a cup of coffee with a smile. She was waiting for my response.

I continued, “You should never forget that Jonathan Hunter and Joshua von Karjan have a firm grip on the banking business.”

She shrugged slightly. “Anything can change in twenty years. Look. Although it has been a few days, no one else has revealed themselves besides Chairman Lee.”

I said, “I heard that the Stage of Advent was a place where survival was a struggle and the law of the jungle ruled. Physical power was the ultimate authority, and those who were Awakened sought and acted upon the power. Of course, we still don’t know how far their supernatural powers go, but I’m certain about this. Let’s just look at Jonathan, our CEO. What do you think his real power is in this world?”

“...” She was clearly thinking hard.

I continued, “Supernatural power? No. With his vast wealth, holdings in global stocks and bonds acquired to safeguard against the Day of Advent, as well the derivatives from there, he can destroy human civilization with a single word.”

She quipped, “That’s such a self-mocking and aggressive statement as an employee of the group.”

I grinned. “We can’t hide it no matter how much we try these days. If the group divests its holdings now, CEO Jonathan’s financial influence will only become stronger. We won’t clean up all the shares. Instead, we will maintain the positions of the largest and major shareholders so they can remain actively involved in the company. If the influence on global companies stays the same, and if you accumulate an unimaginable amount of cash on top of that, any supernatural ability will fall short of that money.”

Then, the woman clapped silently before asking, “You think Jonathan and Joshua will appear in the public soon?”

I replied, “And they won’t just sit and watch the Awakened try to make changes in the financial industry. That is why I said that they will create an unprecedented boom. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. If you leave your holdings unattended, they will rot, so let’s sell them and increase their value. That’s their logic. So simple and easy to understand, Carrie.”

“There is one thing you are missing, Ethan.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“You forgot Odin, the former head of the Awakened. The one that Chairman Lee Tae-Han serves.”

Then, she stopped talking and became lost in thought. She looked around the empty restaurant and moved next to me.

She whispered in my ear, “Have you heard about the Bilderberg Club?”

“Yes, I heard they exist, but they are so secretive.”

She continued in hushed tones, “They are real, Ethan. If Odin is not a part of the club, then the Bilderberg Club might be split in half. Then, the war with China, whether it’s an economic or currency war, will become unpredictable.”

I answered, “But you still managed to submit the article.”

“Because I can’t put the name of the club in the article. They are frightening.”

The woman deliberately said that in a mischievous way, but her face that was reflected in the coffee cup was slightly stiff.

“But regardless of the truth, readers will love it.”

“That’s it. Who would refuse the money right in front of them?”

She sighed. “I took a bit of risk as you gave me your honest opinion. Don’t be too confident though, Ethan. Until Odin’s relationship with the Bilderberg is revealed.”

I smiled. “If this is all true, do you think we will be able to find out whether they are connected or not?”

“For some reason, I feel like you will be able to figure that out one day. I always have a good hunch.”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from .com.

The woman asked as if it was the last time, “Are you not going to give me your business card? Really?”

***

Gillian appeared to have aged significantly even though he had not undergone the Stage of Advent. He looked as if he had lived through many years. He was waiting for me from the lobby of the Rothschild’s secret salon.

Meanwhile, he seemed to be struggling with finding the right words to say to me, given the fact that I had spent many years in a vastly different space-time. Therefore, I broke the silence first, “How are things going?”

He grimaced. “Rothschild was unable to attend. There was a disturbance in which the head had no choice but to step up himself.”

“Is it because of the Awakened?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

“What about Russia?”

“They have been waiting for you for a few hours. They also had a bodyguard who seemed to be an Awakened.”

We moved to another secret room before entering the room where they were.

“Do you know why I called in Russia and the golden cartels?” I asked.

Gillian knew the exact answer, “Do you think China will attack the dollar?”

I countered, “What about you?”

He grimaced, “My wife and I are confident that they will.”

“I think so too. They understand that they can’t beat us, so they are trying to make it a tie.”

Gillian placed the data that he had hurriedly prepared on the table.

The information comprised China’s annual trade surplus balance and their gold holdings prior to the Day of Advent. As per the People’s Bank of China’s announcement regarding eighteen hundred tons of gold, China was not listed among the top five nations with the largest gold reserve holdings.

However, no one in the financial community believed that claim to be real. China had not only expanded their arms by competing for supremacy against the U.S., but they had also opened up their market and quickly became a leading capitalistic power.

They were obsessed with gold, so after grasping the rules, they became more active under the leadership of the people’s government. Upon witnessing Russia’s failure to launch a single one of their thousands of nuclear missiles and their downfall from a few financial assaults, they certainly became aware of something. They opened the market and poured the majority of their trade surplus into gold.

Moreover, all the data tracking gold spots had been concentrated on China since the Stage of Advent. Nothing much was happening in the global stock market, but international gold prices were soaring. The rich and elite would like it to be that simple, but they couldn’t just enjoy it because if the international gold price went up above the limit… If the international gold prices go even crazier under the leadership of China, then the dollar would be impacted.

The term ‘impact’ wasn’t enough to capture the true implications because it would basically collapse the dollar, the world’s key currency. No matter how many dollars I could force the Federal Reserve to produce, the more they made, the more the value of the dollar would plunge and flow in the direction that China wanted. The total destruction of the dollar and the sinking of the global economy, including China, couldn’t be recovered with my pockets alone.

That was the meaning behind the world’s key currency. The world economy was connected from one to ten, and we now lived in such an era. This was the period that I wanted to protect from the attack of the Seven Demon Kings.

Gillian looked serious as he pondered the future. It was a future in which China became frenzied and detonated bombs that were more destructive than nuclear weapons all over the world.

The woman working for Guardian and the general public believed that the countries that had severed ties with China would greatly suffer due to the systems that relied on China. Such a problem was ridiculously trivial compared to the future that Gillian and I were concerned about.

However, did China start everything, not knowing the worst-case scenario?

No, and that was why I was here. I called Russia and the elites to discuss this. I continued the conversation with Gillian over this issue. Although he didn’t risk his life to put out an urgent fire like Kim Cheong-Soo, the insight that he and his wife had was truly amazing as they understood my intentions and had prepared the related data in advance.

I slowly got up because I couldn’t keep the guests waiting too long. I opened the room where they were gathered and entered. Other than Rothschild, who was unable to attend, the representatives of the other elites and the executive secretary of the Kremlin in Russia stopped their conversation and stood up immediately.

The first one to kneel down to me was the Awakened. Although his attire was messy with multiple modern and medieval-looking items, he gave off a vibe of someone from the diamond section. It only had been a few days since we had come home from the Stage of Advent. His eyes were still filled with fear from the fearful moments that had unfolded on the stage, and it seemed like his eyes were screaming at me.

“I… I, I see you… O… Odin…” he stuttered.

He was trembling so hard that everyone was wondering why he was horrified at me.