Chapter 779 Conspiracy

Hayley’s POV:

The vendor’s son was barely 30—a promising physics grad student, handpicked and groomed by the Cyclone Pack’s elite research institute. Six months ago, he vanished without a trace. No one had seen or heard from him since.

Research wasn’t exactly the kind of field that sparked rivalries. It was a quiet, repetitive life, one not prone to drama. And even though he was just a human, being admitted into such a prestigious institution meant he was under the protection of high-ranking werewolf warriors. He shouldn’t have been in any real danger.

That’s why his disappearance couldn’t be dismissed as random. It had to be connected to the recent wave of suicides among theoretical physicists. That much was clear.

Dominic came online quickly, using the new identity and secure channel I’d set up for him.

“Did your visit to Cyclone Pack go smoothly?” He messaged.

“All went smoothly. I need you to run a data analysis ASAP—track the number of physicists across the country over the past two years,” I replied.

“Ten minutes.”

Even with a national database, that kind of work took time. Data like that couldn’t be filtered in an instant.

Fifteen minutes later, a report came through, followed by a message, “Two years ago, there were 1,760 registered top-level physicists. Last year, it dropped to 1,680. As of this year? Only 1,440 remain. Of those, only 20 died of natural causes. The rest are either missing or confirmed dead. Also, most of the missing students from various universities this year were physics majors.”

I stared at the report, my chest tightening with dread.

It now seemed almost certain that someone was targeting the werewolf community in North Annestone. Or rather, someone was trying to cripple our scientific progress by eliminating our brightest minds.

Whether human or werewolf, we all needed great thinkers to push us forward. Without scientists, our future would stall. So whoever was behind this wasn’t just trying to win a fight—they wanted to wipe out our research base and freeze us in place.

Who could be bold—and powerful—enough to pull this off? And how did the SI fit into all this?

Too many questions, and not nearly enough answers. But at least now, I had a starting point.

After a long pause, I finally replied to Dominic, “Understood. Save the data in memory, then destroy the file. No one can know we looked into this.”

“Also, find a way to bring Nocturne back to you. He doesn’t trust me. If he keeps running around like a rogue, I’m afraid something bad’s going to happen.”

“Got it. I’ll handle it right away.”

I read the final message, then severed the connection and shredded the data down to digital dust before closing the laptop.

Maybe it was all the sleep I got during the day, but lying in bed now, I didn’t feel tired at all. In fact, I was wide awake.

Staring at the ceiling, I asked myself, had I ever revealed my face in the world of elite physics? The answer was no.

Sure, I’d secretly taken part in a few international competitions just to spite Ryder—but that was after I’d already been targeted. So it couldn’t have been the cause.

Then I remembered that fake Dominic and his challenge, “Just wait—we’ll find you.”

Knock, knock—

The sudden sound startled me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the wall clock. 3 a.m.

Who could it possibly be at this hour?

Héra immediately stirred inside me, slipping into battle mode.

I slid out of bed quietly and tiptoed to the door, checking the peephole without making a sound.

No one?

I stepped back, frowning. Maybe I imagined it.

But I’d barely taken two steps away when the knocking came again—louder and faster this time.

Seriously? What kind of idiot pulls this nonsense in the middle of the night?

Annoyed, I stormed back and checked the peephole again.

Still empty. Not a soul in sight—not even a shadow.

I frowned deeper. Is it some brat pulling a prank?

That could be it. A small kid might not show up at the peephole’s angle.

But then—

Bang! A heavy thud struck the bottom of the door.