Chapter 833 Invisible Strings

• Sebastian rested both elbows on the edge of the mahogany desk, fingers loosely interlaced as his gray-blue eyes settled on Anna. He had no idea why she had suddenly steered their conversation toward the Blue Research Center, yet, true to his nature, he offered everything he knew, holding nothing back. "The center's influence keeps swelling like a storm front over warm sea water, and every new gust makes it harder for any nation to keep the balance," he began, voice low but steady. "So governments do what frightened governments always do—pretend they don't see what they can't afford to fight. One eye closed, one eye cracked open, hoping the giant goes away on its own. Remember, the Blue Research Center has siphoned off more wealth than most small countries will touch in a generation, then lured the brightest minds from every discipline on Earth—physics, genetics, cybernetics, you name it. The papers the world calls definitive? They all carry the Center's crest in the header. Give that machine time and the narrative shifts. Before long, the center wasn't just influential—it became the official church of science. Monopoly follows. Any data that dares contradict them gets buried under funding cuts and peer-review assassinations. Naturally, an undercurrent of resistance has begun to swell. A good many researchers have started signing joint letters, condemning the center's behavior. Because when scholarship bows to a single throne, it inevitably—"
• "Strangles innovation and signs its own death warrant," Anna finished, her tone crisp, almost clinical.
• Sebastian fell silent, blinking as though she had yanked him from a private reverie. "All right, maybe not that apocalyptic," he conceded after a beat, lifting a palm in tentative truce.