Once Nanako stepped into his bedroom, Charlie promptly noticed that everything was wrong. Unlike the clean and tidy living room downstairs, his own room was a complete mess, with clothes piled haphazardly on the bed and wardrobe doors hanging wide open.The clothes still on the hangers were shoved to one side as well, with plenty more littering the floor, clearly dropped in a hurry while packing.Nanako could tell that it was strange too, and she asked gingerly, "Mr. Wade… Did Ms. Wilson not mention that she was leaving?"Charlie shook his head and admitted, "No. I tried to reach her parents too, but they're not answering either. So I called her office, but I'm told the company is dissolving in a month.""Oh..." Nanako blurted, incredulous. "I thought you were both getting along fine… Why would she leave without saying goodbye?"Charlie sighed, drawing a blank. "I don't understand it myself. There must be more to this."Nanako nodded and looked around. That was when she spotted

And why did Claire leave soon after he arrived in Australia?!Like a flood crashing through a dam, the questions left his inner peace completely shattered but also washed away all his doubts.Soon, clarity followed as the clogged mud that was his thoughts was completely washed away by the torrent of questions that followed.At this point, even Charlie could see that Stephen must have been the one behind Claire's departure—as well as the one who told Claire his true heritage, and the blood feud that his lineage carried.Stephen must have encouraged Claire to leave him, so that he could focus on destroying the Qing Eliminating Society. And to that, he was willing to let himself suffer that grievous assault at the hands of Bruce Brown in Australia.He must have sent the video to Claire, who dressed it up as a coincidence while she showed it to Charlie himself. Naturally, when Charlie arrived in Australia as Stephen had anticipated, the geezer quickly arranged a transport to get Cla

Hearing that Charlie was staying in Australia, Nanako quickly asked, "Shouldn't you come back soon if you want to find Ms. Wilson sooner?"Charlie sighed. "I'd already fallen into Stephen's trap as soon as I got on the flight to Australia. He must be working with a large group, with strong team cohesion and strict operational control. If anything, Claire has most likely left Oskia by now. Going back is almost pointless, and since I'm sure that Stephen planned this whole thing, I just have to find him! He will lead me to her, wherever she is!"Nanako nodded in understanding. "That's a good plan. I'll do my best with Rosalie on our end too, so don't worry!""Okay!" Charlie replied, still too confused to say anything else, and quickly hung up.Feeling a slight coolness over his cheeks, he reached up and realized he was touching his own tears.He quickly wiped them away and got out of the car.The Wades didn't have many connections in Australia and only owned one hotel in Melbourne,

The Wades had acquired numerous vending machines worldwide through shell companies, and the security footage from the embedded cameras in those vending machines would be uploaded in real-time first to those shell companies' servers, and back-ups would be made before being fed to the AI module.Hence, the AI module received terabytes worth of security footage, recording millions of people traveling worldwide. Every face automatically went into the database and was categorized based on different facial features and other physical attributes.While the AI module didn't have every person's name, it had their face and biometrics recorded into an individual profile. Whenever another camera captured the same face and biometrics with a perfect match, further data would be added to the preexisting individual profile, with details such as location and itinerary.With that, Earthnet naturally can track down anyone, anytime.For example, if the system caught Starlio Zee at Aurous Hill Airport,

Merlin's words sent a chill down everyone's spines, including Charlie's.Stephen had been Curtis Wade's close confidant to his death—he was good, but he wasn't supposed to be that good.Charlie couldn't help but remember that feeling he got back at Quiant Monastery in Mount Tason. That sensation was like a leviathan lurking in the shadows, fighting the Qing Eliminating Society just like him.While he couldn't quite put his finger on where said leviathan even came from, he could take solace in the fact that they weren't his enemy.Even so, he was furious that they would meddle with his personal life!Merlin then said, "By the way, Master Wade, may I suggest checking for any signs of the Wilsons on Earthnet, just in case they used public transportation?"Charlie sighed. "I don't think so. Stephen's plan must've covered every corner—he wouldn't possibly slip up with something like this.""No, that's just self-defeating," Merlin reasoned. "Even in criminal investigations, we try t