After obtaining all the information he needed, Walt decided to head to the museum first.
"I'm going to the museum to hand this over," he said, holding up the flash drive.
Miranda looked at him with concern. "Are you sure? I haven't transferred the data to a Blu-ray yet."
Walt gave her a reassuring nod. "Don't worry."
He stepped out of the laboratory and reached into his pocket, pulling out a Poké Ball. With a soft click, he released his Espeon. The elegant, lavender-colored Pokémon materialized beside him, its forked tail twitching slightly.
"You know what to do," Walt said quietly.
Espeon's red gem on its forehead gleamed, and in an instant, the two of them teleported—reappearing directly in front of the museum.
Walt strode purposefully toward one of the guards standing watch at the entrance.
The guard, noticing Walt approaching, straightened up and asked, "State your business here."
Without a word, Walt flashed his Convinight insignia. "You know what this means, don't you?"
The guard's eyes widened slightly in recognition. "Part of Iron Castle. If you're here, it must be something important. You must be from Intelligence."
Walt nodded. "That's right. I need to go inside. I have data to deliver to Alfred."
The guard stepped aside. "Very well. Go ahead."
Walt entered the museum and made his way toward Alfred's office. However, along the way, he ran into Eon, who was busy installing catalysts alongside his Rotom.
"Hey, Eon. Long time no see. How have you been?"
Eon, who had been carefully placing a catalyst on a display pedestal, turned toward Walt. Rotom buzzed beside him, its plasma-like body crackling with faint energy.
"Same as always. I'm doing fine," Eon replied. "What about you?"
Walt shrugged. "Business as usual. But it looks like you're pretty busy here."
Eon sighed, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "I've been installing catalysts all over the museum for hours. And earlier, I ran into someone trying to steal some artwork—or maybe an artifact—from the warehouse."
Walt's expression darkened. "Sounds like today's about to get even more troublesome."
Eon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Walt lowered his voice. "I just received some intel. About the Epitaph team."
Eon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh no. Not them again. Last time I had to help with city restoration because of their warp shenanigans."
Walt continued, "This might be much worse. From the data I got, they're after a painting called *Good Luck*."
Eon blinked in confusion. "Good Luck? I don't recall any painting by that name in our records."
Walt frowned. "That's strange. According to the data I received, they marked that painting as being here."
Eon pulled out his tablet and quickly navigated to the museum's inventory list. He turned the screen toward Walt.
Walt scanned the list, his eyes narrowing. "Wait a minute... here it's listed as *The Night of Fear*."
Eon leaned in to look. "Oh, that one. But why that painting? It's not even special. Look at the design—it's just random splotches. It barely has any meaning. Honestly, the artist probably had no clue what art even is."
Walt nodded in agreement. "I have to admit, you're right. It looks like a regular scribble. Even the common art rares I pull from booster packs look better than this."
Eon asked, puzzled, "Then why are they after it?"
Walt replied, "You already know they're espers, right?"
Eon's eyes widened. "They must want it for a ritual... or some other purpose."
He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "I don't know why a painting this ordinary could become a symbol of anything... but I'm not going to let them take it. Even if it's *just* a painting."
---
Meanwhile, back at the Investigation Bureau headquarters, Aron was busy requesting security footage from the train station regarding the earlier incident.
"Finally, they sent it," he muttered, watching the video file load on his computer.
He carefully examined the footage, pausing on a frame that showed the model of camera Darian had been using. Aron then accessed the corporate and police databases, cross-referencing the information. What he found made him freeze.
Darian's camera had been manufactured by the third user of the Nexus Sapphire. And even more startling—Fye Ling was now listed as a Path User of Moltres.
"That's not right," Aron whispered.
He quickly pulled up the previous records. They had changed.
"Damn it! The data changed!" he exclaimed.
Ren leaned over, concerned. "Is it because of the Rewrite?"
Aron shook his head firmly. "No, this isn't the Rewrite. This just happened. Before, she was clearly a cultivator. But now she's a Path User. If it were a full Rewrite, all of history should have been rewritten. This is different."
Xian, who had been listening quietly, suddenly felt a strange sensation in his hand. He looked down—and his breath caught in his throat.
Azure noticed immediately. "Xian... why is there a symbol of Thundurus on your hand?"
Xian stared at the glowing mark on the back of his hand. It hadn't been there before. His mind raced. *This isn't normal. This isn't normal at all.*
"How could this happen?" he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Devon stepped forward, his expression grim. "If this is happening... then it's not just a Rewrite and Extension. It's a Rewrite... and a *Semi-Rewrite*."
Ren looked confused. "What's a Semi-Rewrite?"
Allied answered, his tone serious. "In short, it's an incomplete Rewrite. Only certain things are altered or merged. And it seems what was erased now is the concept of 'cultivators'—replaced by 'Path Users.'"
Allied turned to face Xian directly. "It looks like you're going to have to adapt to these new abilities."