The Grand Council's immediate halt to the Guild audit was a stark, irrefutable message: High Sage Theronius was protecting his allies, and his reach extended to the highest levels of power. Elias knew his time was critically short. He needed to prepare, but the world around him was already reacting.
A new emergency bulletin flashed across the Bureau's internal network, superseding even the ongoing Grand Council decrees. The news was terse, brutal, and chillingly specific: Mei Lin's uncle, the Sutra AI technician, had been arrested. The charges were vague, "treason and corruption," but Elias knew the truth. His informant, his direct line into the Corps, was gone.
The bulletin then expanded: a total of 12 Sutra AI technicians across various sectors had been simultaneously apprehended. The official reason provided was a "necessary internal cleansing to ensure the integrity of the Karmic Ledger." Elias understood the chilling subtext: the Sutra Corps was covering its tracks, eliminating anyone who had witnessed, or assisted in, the "forced memory purges."
A cold sweat pricked Elias's skin. He pictured his midnight meeting with Mei Lin's uncle, the desperate exchange of information, the promise of protection. That promise now felt like a cruel joke. The Corps wasn't just tightening its grip; it was executing a full-scale purge. They were eliminating every potential leak, every witness to their manipulation of the Ledger.
He checked his own digital footprint, his heart hammering against his ribs. Had his name been discovered? Was he next? He pulled up the latest internal security logs, running a quick, silent diagnostic. His own unique spiritual signature, thanks to the subtle damping effects of the buried bootleg Earth Core's lingering resonance, still seemed to be masked. But how long would that last? The sheer scale of the purge indicated a thoroughness, a ruthlessness that defied the usual Bureau protocols.
The atmosphere in the Bureau shifted palpably. Analysts and adjudicators whispered in hushed tones, glancing nervously at their terminals, afraid of the next decree, the next arrest. The very air felt charged with fear and suspicion. No one knew who might be implicated next, who might have accidentally stumbled upon a hidden truth.
Elias knew the purge meant one thing for him: his identity as "The Accountant" was likely known to the highest levels of the Sutra Corps, if not already to the High Sage himself. They had cleaned up every peripheral witness. His actions, his subtle manipulations, had made him a marked man. The Corps was clearing the chessboard, and he was squarely in their sights.