A few days passed quickly, and amidst the busy preparations of the various factions, the time arrived at the eve of the meeting.
The meeting was to be held in Copernicus's conference hall.
It was very close to this hotel.
And at this moment, it was early morning.
The moon was still within the Dark Night Zone, but the simulated sun outside the window dutifully shone upon everyone's faces.
The morning light was hazy, yet somewhat virtual.
But for Fred at this moment, he clearly didn't care what was going on with the sun in the sky. He was simply in his hotel room, looking at the five large screens displayed before him.
Each screen showed a first-person perspective from one of his team members.
It looked like playing a very realistic game.
And on one of the screens was a surveillance feed from inside Copernicus's main conference room.
The Atlantic Federation's Moderate Faction representatives and the PLANT personnel who had come to handle the negotiations had also arrived one after another.
On the Atlantic side were the President, the Foreign Minister, and several other PLANT affairs specialists.
On the PLANT side were the Chairman, along with councilors and staff from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Both sides had just arrived and were exchanging pleasantries.
Outside, of course, a crowd of media and reporters had gathered.
"Still, how did they manage to drag the Secretary of Defense into a meeting like this?"
Alec looked at the images on the screen in front of him and couldn't help muttering amidst his nervousness.
"Perhaps they intend to use his death as a talking point."
Although Fred knew the personnel list this time, as Alec had thought, he was still somewhat surprised.
After all, even though the Secretary of Defense didn't have as much power as the President, it was still an important position.
But on second thought, if the plot really did have the Atlantic Federation's Secretary of War blown up, it probably wouldn't be feasible.
Perhaps such a thing had indeed been planned.
Of course, it could also have been triggered by his arrival.
After offering himself an explanation for the situation, Fred became serious again.
This wasn't the time to think about that.
The most important thing was to save the people and make them realize that Blue Cosmos wanted them dead.
The former was simple; the latter was difficult.
If they went too far, it might be seen as a staged act.
But if they quietly saved them, the goal couldn't be achieved.
"Captain, we've confirmed it. As you predicted, the bombs are distributed on the various support pillars inside the conference hall."
As Orphee spoke, the screens in front of Fred also displayed real-time footage from the cameras worn by the team members.
Each camera showed a bomb.
Twelve in total.
If it weren't for the timing, he would have wanted to express his unabashed admiration for Fred's foresight.
Compared to the hidden tension and excitement of the others, Fred was much calmer, merely nodding and saying.
"Continue sending out small robots to search suspicious locations, and leave the less important bombs alone, especially the ones near the power source."
"Yes."
Guessing roughly what Fred intended to do, the team members were all energized.
Although their own Chairman was also among the crowd and saving him was the right thing to do, they couldn't just save those Atlantic people without any recognition—especially when the Secretary of War was among them.
"Does the Chairman know?"
Seeing the communication channel cut off, Alec, afraid that Fred had made the decision on his own, asked.
"Don't worry, I've already told him."
Without blowing the power source and silencing the scene, how could they give Siegel the chance to speak?
He definitely wouldn't act alone.
"I'm sorry."
Alec quickly apologized upon receiving the affirmative answer.
"It's fine. Prepare to move."
Fred nodded and reopened the communication channel.
"Team Two, prepare for bomb disposal. Team One, prepare to close the net."
"Yes!"
Everyone responded in unison, their voices crisp and orderly.
At the other end of this attack, in a high-floor room of a hotel facility outside the venue, the Blue Cosmos captain was looking at the report from his own squad, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
"Everyone's in position. Move out!"
"Yes!"
Hearing the voice of his subordinate, the captain found it rather pleasing to the ear.
Just hearing that voice, he could already envision the collapse of the entire venue in the near future.
The deaths of those people were destined to forge their even greater cause.
The world would eventually belong to them.
With that thought, the captain's finger, resting on the detonation button, began to tremble slightly.
"Three... two... one..."
With the simple three-second countdown finished, the captain pressed the button amid everyone's anticipation.
Instantly, a rumbling explosion followed.
However, before they could celebrate, the building before them did not collapse as they had imagined. Though parts of it had crumbled, it was only a corner in the distance.
The civilians around were fleeing while the media snapped photos, but this was definitely not the result they had hoped for.
If the Moderate Faction survived, their plan to form the Earth Alliance would never succeed. Worse, the Moderate Faction might turn their guns on them...
At the thought of these terrifying possibilities, the Captain's mind grew chaotic, and his voice rose accordingly.
"What's going on! Why haven't the other bombs detonated?"
"I don't know, the network... Ah!!"
Before the Action Team on the other end of the Communication Channel could finish speaking, a terrified scream was followed by nothing but silence.
The communication was cut off, which meant things had completely slipped out of their control.
In an instant, it felt like the scene had shifted from a spy thriller to an alien horror film.
"Ground team, assault! Everyone else, retreat to Safe House No. 2!"
Seeing the situation turn dire, the Captain gritted his teeth and made a snap decision.
"Yes!"
However, they were not given the chance to leave. With a hissing sound of gas being released, the room was suddenly filled with smoke.
The once-clear visibility instantly became blurred.
"This is... How is this possible?!"
Though he covered his nose with his arm, it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket against such a high concentration of anesthetic.
What he couldn't understand was that this building was in an inconspicuous location, and the only security personnel upstairs had supposedly been secretly replaced with their own men. Why was someone still ambushing them here, as if they had known they would be here all along?
But there was no more time for the Captain and his men to think. As the concentration of the drug in the room grew higher, the place was left in nothing but deathly silence and the still-thick fog.
Soon, the Action Team, wearing gas masks, filed in through the door in an orderly fashion, calmly carrying out their tasks.