Chapter 24

The Jackal's headquarters always exuded an imposing aura to anyone who entered for the first time. With state-of-the-art technology hidden behind metal walls and large windows looking out over the vast expanse of the mesospheric sky, this place always managed to make me feel small. However, amidst that sophistication, there were also quiet corners that were rarely touched by other members.

Today, without any plans, I decided to be alone for a while. After the long conversation with Jimmy and Miranda yesterday, my mind felt full. Too many questions and confusions were ruling my head, especially about Jhonny who was a figure that was getting more and more confusing by the day.

I walked slowly through the deserted corridors filled with the dim light of the automatic lights. The creaking of my steps on the metal floor was the only sound I could hear. It was quiet, but at the same time it gave me time to reflect. Without realizing it, my feet led me to one of the rooms that I had rarely visited before, the information room.

The space is huge, divided into two main areas. In the first section is a digital information room with holographic screens displaying various data and statistics of the outside world. While the other section was more classic, containing tall shelves full of printed books, perhaps the only legacy of the old civilization that Jhonny still cherished. I smiled a little when I saw the mini-library at the end of the room. Despite the rapid development of technology, some of us still preferred to read from paper pages.

I approached the shelves, inhaling the distinctive smell of aged paper. Her finger traced the spine of the old books, looking for something interesting to read. I didn't really have a specific goal in mind, I just wanted to calm my full mind.

Suddenly, in the corner of a dark and dust-filled shelf, I saw a pile of books that seemed to have been untouched for a long time. The books were so shabby, some even looked almost destroyed. I picked up one of them, the dust clinging to the cover flew out, making me sneeze a little. This book looked different because it didn't look like the usual scientific books or history texts here. On the cover, there was only a small name written with the name 'Jhonny'.

I looked at the book with a careful gaze, several times I wondered in my heart who the owner of this book was, even though I had seen the name engraved on the book but I was actually still not sure if the owner of this book was the Jhonny I knew. But if you look logically, surely everyone's thoughts will be directed there. But how could this book be located here in a place that is rarely reached by other people and even the location is not important at all.

If handwritten notes like this are supposed to be kept in a private room, even if it's just a personal note like a diary, it should at least be kept in the room with the intention of not being thrown away like a waste.

Curiosity got the better of me. Without thinking, I opened the book and started reading it. The first page contained scribbles analyzing the state of the world after the alien invasion. I was transfixed by how good the contents of this book were because I felt like I was researching the contents of someone's scientific journal that had been scientifically proven through various theses and studies.

Jhonny wrote down his hypothesis in great detail, as if he was trying to solve the greatest mystery mankind has ever faced. Besides being great at tactics and also making impromptu strategies and organizing leadership, it turns out that this man also has a very extraordinary scientific mind as seen from the notes I read now.

"...The arrival of aliens is not a coincidence," he wrote on one of the pages. "There are too many coincidences intertwined in this event. The systematic emergence of the Mutiiner groups is also inseparable from the grand scenario that was planned long before the invasion began."

My heart began to beat faster. Sentence after sentence that I read opened up new thoughts about this world and thoughts that I had never imagined before. Jhonny had a theory that the alien invasion was not purely extraterrestrial. Instead, he suspected that there was a group of greedy humans who were deliberately manipulating this situation for personal gain. They want to create a new civilization, where their power is no longer limited to the boundaries of countries or territories, but rather through total control of the remaining human civilization.

I paused for a moment, trying to digest all this. Jhonny... did he really believe in all this? He even mentioned several names that had important roles in this grand scheme, and names that were familiar to me, including Michael. Michael was one of the people Jhonny suspected of being involved in this plan. Reading that, my heart instantly felt heavy. Michael's betrayal was still fresh in my mind, and knowing that he might play a bigger role in the destruction of this world made me feel both angry and scared.

I continued reading, further immersed in Jhonny's deep thoughts. He wrote about how the Mutiiner groups formed not by natural choice, but as a result of very carefully orchestrated chaos. The aliens, in this scenario, were merely a means to a greater end. There are parties seeking to create a new world order, and they are using this invasion as a starting point to control the remaining population.

My eyes widened reading this hypothesis. I've seen a lot of crazy things since joining The Jackal, but this... This is beyond my expectations.

I could hardly believe what I was reading. Johnny's whole theory sounded crazy, but at the same time, it made perfect sense. He was connecting dots that no one had thought of. How could someone like him keep all this to himself? Did anyone else know? Or was this just a wild theory she kept to herself?

My hands shook as I turned the next page. There were even more detailed notes and analysis, some of which even looked like future plans to reveal this truth. I felt myself being sucked deeper into Jhonny's thoughts, more and more immersed in the conspiracy theories he was building.

However, before I could proceed any further, the sound of footsteps came from behind me. I gasped, turned around, and saw a familiar figure in the doorway.

Jhonny stood there, arms crossed over his chest with a piercing gaze. Instantly my chest tightened. I was caught.

"Alice," his voice sounded calm, but there was a cold tone that was hard to hide. "Looks like you found something you shouldn't have read."

I froze in place, not knowing what to say. The book in my hand was still open, and clearly I had just violated Johnny's privacy. Even though we were quite close these days, this was definitely not something he wanted me to read without his permission.

I felt really bad that I had done such a presumptuous thing and that I had been caught by the owner of this book in person. I was like a thief secretly rummaging through the contents of someone's private sphere without that person's permission, I couldn't show my face properly because of this embarrassment.

"Sorry..." my voice barely came out. "I didn't mean to. I was just... curious."

Jhonny approached, reached out his hand and took the book from my grasp. His gaze never left me, making me feel even more cornered. I had never seen him this stern before, and it made me tremble slightly.

"You've read too much, Alice," he said quietly, but firmly. "This isn't something you should be worried about."

"But... what you wrote here..." I couldn't help asking. "Is it true? About the aliens, about the Mutiiner group, about Michael...?"

Jhonny was silent for a moment, closing the book quietly before finally looking at me deeply. "The truth is a tricky thing, Alice. Sometimes, the more you know, the harder it is to go back."

I swallowed, feeling the weight of his words. "Why did you keep all this to yourself? Why didn't you tell me... or anyone?"

Jhonny let out a long breath, then put the book back in its place. "Because not everyone is ready to face the truth, Alice. Not everyone can bear this burden."

His eyes softened, for a moment his face showed a side I rarely saw, a more vulnerable content that he had been hiding behind his cold and stern demeanor. "I'm trying to protect you, Alice. From all of this. From the truth that is too big to comprehend."

I wanted to argue, wanted to say that I could handle whatever he was hiding. But at the same time, I knew that he was right. There are some things that are indeed better not known, at least for now.

"So... what are you going to do?" I asked, feeling a little scared of what he would say next.

Jhonny smiled slightly, a smile that somehow felt both comforting and scary. "We'll see, Alice. We'll see what happens."

And with that, he turned to leave me alone in the room, with my mind increasingly filled with unanswered questions.