Mika looked up, genuinely surprised.

"Another one? Just how many coincidences are there in this story?"

Astrid’s face flushed with embarrassment. "I don’t know, Mika! That’s just how it happened!"

She pressed on.

"This time, another call came into the police department."

"From an abandoned warehouse, there seemed to be some noise coming late into the night—the nearby residents were really annoyed by it."

"When the police went over to investigate, they were baffled to see that underneath the warehouse, there was another technological device being created."

Mika swiped on the tablet, and a new image appeared—a very advanced-looking apparatus, shaped like a pillar, covered in blue runes and wrapped with intricate wiring.

It hummed with contained energy even in the still image.

"And that’s where I come into the picture, Mika!" Charlotte suddenly perked up, her earlier smugness replaced by excitement.

She leaned forward eagerly.

"Astrid needed help figuring out what this device was, since her researchers couldn’t make heads or tails of it. And of course, she had to call the smartest person when it came to technology and innovation."

She puffed out her chest proudly. "That’s me!"

Astrid shook her head in dismay, but she couldn’t argue—it was true.

Charlotte’s expression grew more serious.

"I went there and took a look, and even I was baffled for a moment! This tech was unlike anything I’d ever seen before!"

"It was like it had been built from scratch, using entirely different concepts and principles. It was a fresh breath of air—completely novel and fascinating."

"But eventually, through some digging and analysis, I realized what it actually was."

Her voice dropped. "It was a beacon."

Mika’s fork stopped mid-motion. He slowly turned to look at her. "A beacon? You mean..."

Charlotte nodded solemnly.

"Exactly as you think. The same kind of beacons used to send the coordinates of our entire realm to other dimensions."

The air around the table grew heavy and Mika understood the significance immediately.

A portal from one realm couldn’t just artificially open into another because one side wanted it to.

You needed the exact coordinates of the other realm to accomplish something like that.

And these weren’t simple GPS coordinates or numerical values—they were incredibly complex, taking into account the entire structure of the world, pinpointing the exact point of intersection where the laws of space could be bent.

A tremendous amount of consideration had to go into such calculations.

That was why devices called beacons existed, to find and transmit these coordinates.

Fortunately, the Human Realm had extensive precautions against this exact scenario.

An entire safety net had been developed, ensuring that any signal emitted from the realm couldn’t reach another without explicit permission.

It was supposed to be impossible to give away the coordinates so easily.

But of course, even though it was extremely difficult, it wasn’t impossible.

Charlotte continued, her voice filled with awe and appreciation.

"This was unlike any beacon I’d ever seen. The way it operated, the principles it used—it was able to penetrate the barrier and actually send a signal out."

Mika leaned back in his seat, his expression unreadable.

"So you’re telling me that this beacon could have already transmitted the coordinates by now."

Charlotte hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "It’s possible. We don’t know for certain yet."

A grave mood descended over the table. If the coordinates had already been sent, then the Super Collider world already knew exactly where to find them.

They could be planning an invasion as they spoke.

"But that’s not confirmed!" Astrid interjected quickly, stepping forward. "We’re still investigating. We’re interrogating those three men to find out—"

"How exactly is that going?" Mika interrupted, stuffing more food into his mouth. "What progress have you made with them?"

"That’s where I came into the picture." Anya finally spoke, her voice cool and composed.

She folded her hands on the table, her expression serene as she explained,

"Because of my blessing, I was brought in to interrogate the three captives. They weren’t cooperating with simple conversation. So..."

Her lips curved into a cold smile.

"Certain more brutal methods had to be used."

Both Astrid and Charlotte unconsciously shivered.

Even though they had heard this story before, the reminder that they were sitting next to the world’s most proficient and deadly torture specialist sent a chill down their spines.

It wasn’t just that Anya was an expert at inflicting pain—though that was certainly true.

She could push someone to the limits of human endurance and beyond, wringing screams and tears and desperate pleas for mercy from even the most hardened subjects.

Her methods were legendary, studied by specialists across the realms.

But what truly made her terrifying was her blessing.

Anya had the ability to heal instantly. Even if she cut off a person’s hand, she could reattach it as if nothing had happened.

No matter how much blood was lost, she could return it to the body.

No matter how much she tortured someone, she could make them whole again—and then repeat the process.

Pain could be inflicted endlessly, without permanent damage.

Other torture specialists looked up to her in awe—and feared her at the same time.

She was the ultimate interrogator, a being who could break anyone given enough time.

"Unfortunately." Anya continued, her smile fading into a frown. "No matter what I tried, those three wouldn’t budge. They screamed, cried, begged for mercy—but they never admitted the truth. They kept their mouths shut about everything."

She shook her head with a grave gaze.

"That means whatever is on the other side of that realm is so terrifying, so powerful, that their fear of it completely overrides the pain I can inflict. That fear controls them more than anything I could do."

The other two sisters tensed even further.

For Anya to admit failure, especially in her area of expertise was unheard of. It spoke volumes about the threat they were facing.

Mika was quiet for a moment, processing all of this.

But instead of showing fear or concern, a strange smile spread across his face.

"Interesting." He murmured, almost to himself. "For them to not speak even after what Anya did to them...the other side must have quite a formidable presence."

"Someone or something that inspires absolute loyalty...or absolute terror."

He chuckled softly. "This is getting interesting."

Astrid blinked at him. "That’s...that’s not the reaction we were expecting."

Mika shrugged, taking another bite of his food.

"What can I say? I like a challenge."

Astrid shook her head, but a smile tugged at her lips despite herself.

"And that’s where you come in, Mika. We’ve gathered all the pieces—everything we can discover. But we need a confession from those three men. We need to know what they know."

"And since you’re the only one we can rely on when it comes to getting confessions..."

Mika frowned at her.

"Do I look like some kind of torture specialist to you? Some kind of sadist you can call for something like this?"

But to his dismay—Anya didn’t hesitate to nod immediately, a look of genuine admiration in her eyes as she enthusiastically said,

"Most definitely, Mika! People see me as terrifying—they tremble wherever I go, whisper about my methods, fear my reputation. But only I know the truth: I’m nothing compared to you!"

"Your methods, the way you can bring out the truth, unravel a person’s defenses, make them reveal everything..."

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, almost as if she were savoring the memory.

"...it’s simply a level I can never reach. You’re in a class of your own!"

The other two sisters stared at Anya in disbelief.

She was actually praising someone’s torture skills.

That was not normal behavior by anyone’s standards. It made them realize, once again, just how crazy their sister could be.

Though, of course, neither of them was entirely sane themselves.

Mika sighed, rubbing his head.

"I’m not particularly enthusiastic about this praise of yours. But nevertheless..."

He met their gazes, a certain resolve hardening his features.

"Seeing as how all of you are depending on me, I’ll make them speak. One way or another."

The three sisters felt a collective thrill run through them.

Just like always—whenever a problem was presented to Mika, he found a solution.

No matter how impossible, no matter how daunting, he always delivered.

The love in their eyes intensified, so palpable it was almost a physical presence. Each of them wanted to pounce on him right then and there, to show him just how much they appreciated his confidence.

Astrid forcefully snapped herself out of her daze, clearing her throat.

"It’s a good thing these coincidences kept happening." She said, her voice trying to be optimistic. "I can only imagine what would have happened if we hadn’t gotten all those calls."

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "We really are quite lucky. Everything worked out in our favor."

But Anya shook her head slowly, her expression contemplative.

"I’m not sure if it truly was luck or not."

Both sisters turned to her, their earlier optimism fading.

"I don’t have any evidence." Anya continued, her voice thoughtful. "But it almost feels as if everything was set up this way for us. Everything happened too perfectly—too conveniently."

Astrid felt a chill run down her spine. "You mean someone else is behind this?"

Charlotte’s voice grew nervous. "A mastermind? Someone guiding us?!"

Anya shrugged, her usual composure slightly cracked.

"I don’t know about a mastermind. But something about this definitely feels strange."

The somber mood descended once again, heavy and oppressive. If someone was manipulating them, that meant another potential threat, another layer to this increasingly complex web of danger.

But just as the gloom was about to crush them, Mika slammed his fork into the steak in front of him with a loud thud.

"Of course it’s not a bunch of coincidences, you dummies!" He scoffed. "Someone has obviously been leading you guys along the whole time!"

All three sisters stared at him in surprise. He had known this all along?

Astrid was the first to recover. "Who is it, Mika? Who’s the one who’s been doing all this!?"

Charlotte leaned forward urgently. "Is it someone dangerous!? Someone we have to guard against?"

Anya rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Is it someone from the noble parties? The Federation? The Authoritarian government?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe they want to disrupt the harmony—tired of us ruling over them for so many years."

They were all confused, their minds racing with possibilities.

But Mika just rubbed his head, looking more irritated than concerned.

He then sighed deeply, as if explaining something incredibly obvious to children.

"It’s not who you think at all...and she’s not a threat, either."

He paused, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he said while gritting his teeth,

"It’s the one who just loves to meddle in other people’s business."

"The one who sneaks around all the time, acting like an innocent soul with no blemish, even though she’s up to no good every single moment of every single day."

The sisters exchanged confused glances. "Who, Mika? We don’t know who you’re talking about."

Mika finally said, his voice dripping with exasperated recognition,

"Isn’t it obvious?...It’s your first aunt."

A massive bomb seemed to detonate in all three of their heads simultaneously.

Their first aunt...

The Maiden of Fate and Fortune!