Ashes still drifted over the ruins, and the air reeked of char and decay.The investigators stood around the wreckage in silence, as if waiting for someone else to speak first.
Ethan shook his sleeves, brushing off the dust."Alright, everyone," he said, "let's be clear—this isn't some lab explosion gone wrong. Some lunatics decided to use humans for a black 'wargame simulation.'"
No one laughed. Even Karl's mouth was tight with tension.
A female agent picked up a half-melted metal plate from the ashes. Strange symbols were etched on it:A serpent coiled around the outline of the Earth, tail biting its own head, with blurred Latin letters circling the edge.
"This doesn't belong to any known military," she whispered.
Ethan took the plate, squinting at it."Ouroboros, huh… classic. Symbolizes eternity, cycles… or more realistically—'eating your own kind.'"
Karl frowned."I've heard rumors. In the international arms smuggling circles, there's an organization that used a similar emblem. They never published their name. In secret files, they're just called… the 'Curtain Wall.'"
The European Division of the Investigation Bureau brought in intelligence files, which they spread across the table.The documents recorded transnational fund flows:
Anonymous foundations from North America.
Hidden expenditures from an Eastern European research lab.
Black market transport channels from Middle Eastern arms dealers.
Seemingly unrelated threads, all connected through financial chains, ultimately leading to one mysterious code name.
Curtain Wall.
On the last page of the folder, the name was scrawled in black ink.
"So… they're the ones manufacturing these Nightmare soldiers?" an agent asked in disbelief.
Karl shook his head."Not just manufacturing. Look at the accounts—they're funding multinational medical research, neurological experiments, even clinical trials for sleep disorders. Nightmare energy isn't a side effect—it's being actively exploited."
Ethan leaned back in his chair, sighing."Perfect. We thought we were just fighting monsters… turns out we were fighting someone's massive 'investment project.' The final product just happens to be Nightmare half-breeds who can shoot and tear humans apart."
The female agent spoke coldly:"They're not just after soldiers."
The air grew heavy.
Outside the window, distant alarms echoed through the night, as if another city was falling into chaos.Ethan stood and stared at the serpent-wrapped insignia, his gaze sharpening.
"If the Curtain Wall really is the mastermind… then we're already being watched. Or rather…"He paused, a wry smirk tugging at his lips,"…we were written into their script from the start."