Eva replayed a certain time frame from yesterday night's recording in slow motion, and Taya saw something strange when she observed the things in the room, especially a moving ball toy which continuously oscillates on its own.

"The frame in that particular second...it seems like...." Taya was surprised to see that the oscillating ball toy stood still suddenly in that second. This was not something that should happen normally since the ball was supposed to move to and fro on its own like a pendulum.

"It froze," Eva added with a frown and continued, "But everything continues perfectly the next second. I just don't understand if this is some visual bug or.."

"No....this cannot be a bug...Strange things that are beyond our understanding are possible in this world. And if it was really a bug, then where did my samples go?" Taya mumbled in a dispirited tone as she rubbed the sides of her head, feeling a headache about the current situation.

Eva pressed her lips together, seeing that Taya was facing big troubles, especially with having her samples stolen by someone they couldn't even see in the CCTV, nor did the security system raise any alarms.

It was no less than that of a perfect crime in a perfect security facility.

"Will this cause you huge troubles?" Eva asked since she had no idea how precious the samples were inside the freezer.

Taya slowly turned her towards her and said in a grave tone, "Probably chaos and destruction throughout the world if it ends up in the wrong hands."

historical

Eva's brows raised hearing her words, "Oh no...then we should tell Viktor about this."

Taya sighed and shook her head, "We can't...I can't even if I wanted to...unless I get the permission of a certain someone which I can't reveal to you or anyone else, including Viktor. I hope you understand. That is why if I tell him about what happened here, he would definitely need all the information to catch the culprit, and I wouldn't be able to give him that."

Eva nodded with an understanding look, even if she didn't get the full idea of what was going on. However, she could see that Taya was involved in something bigger than she expected.

Taya then suddenly remembered something and hurried towards the other side of the room where there was a small hidden safe made out of the strongest metal with extra security measures.

Eva walked towards her slowly, curiously looking on, and was surprised to see a small safe being revealed from behind the walls.

Taya didn't waste any time and quickly opened it when suddenly a white shining object shot outwards.

Taya unconsciously stumbled back and looked at the shining white crystal shaped like a small pearl floating in the air before her.

However, Taya's expression showed huge relief seeing it, feeling that the most precious thing in the room was not gone.

"Big Sister...w-what is that.." Eva asked with a stupefied expression seeing such a beautiful and mesmerizing crystal, making her feel like touching it out of curiosity.

Taya's brows pulled together when she saw Eva approaching it and frantically stopped her, "Don't touch it! It can kill you."

Eva immediately froze and asked in a perplexed tone, "Kill me?"

Taya nodded with a serious expression, "Yes...this is some mystical crystal that came from the stars. And any living being who touches it immediately gets obliterated till not even a speck of them is left."

She then continued as her expression relaxed, "Still...I am glad that the intruder did not steal this. It could be that he didn't know, or he couldn't steal it. But I can't keep this here any longer. It's not safe anymore."

"Then where should we keep it? And...what is this crystal exactly? What can it do?" Seeing this otherworldly crystal, Eva felt that it couldn't be anything ordinary, especially after hearing how no living being can touch it.

Taya said as she slightly shook her head, "I don't know. I have been trying my best to understand it for many years but still couldn't make heads or tails about it."

"Oh.." Eva could see why since this crystal was not of this world, but then she noticed something and asked, "But why is it floating before you?"

Taya looked at the Star Crystal floating before her and shrugged, "I don't know...maybe because I am the one that took it? Anyway, I am not risking my life by touching it even though I was tempted quite a few many times."

"Then where are we going to keep this now that it isn't safe here? Can we give it to Viktor?"

"No...then he will become a target, and his identity will be exposed. I wouldn't want his life to become a mess because of me. And he would also advise me to keep it somewhere safe since if he carries it on his person all the time, it would be putting all of us in danger as well in case some people had ways to track the energy signatures of this crystal."

Eva nodded, feeling that she was right.

Taya's eyes narrowed as she continued, "But don't worry. There is one last place left where I can safely store this. But first, let's put this in a special metal box, and I would need your help to drop me somewhere, though we have to make sure we aren't being followed."

Eva nodded and confidently said, "Don't worry about it, Big Sister. You can leave it to me."

Meanwhile, in the same country but in a different place, there was a large underground hall where a group of cloaked individuals was standing in a circular fashion, facing each other.

But there was only one man with a silver mask sitting on a throne-like seat on an elevated platform overseeing these individuals standing around.

The man on the seat finally spoke, "Everyone...I have an important announcement to make."