The discovery of his searched apartment sent a jolt of raw fear through Elias. He was no longer just dealing with abstract digital manipulation; the threat was physical, immediate. He needed to strike back, and strike hard, at the heart of the Phantom User's power base: the Alchemists' Guild.
He contacted Mei Lin's uncle, the Sutra AI technician, using the same secured communication channel from their midnight meeting. The uncle's voice was strained, laced with a barely concealed terror. "They're watching, Analyst. Everywhere. Every console, every query. It's a lockdown."
"Then you need to be subtle," Elias instructed, his voice low and urgent. "I need confirmation. The Guild's manipulations. Are they paying the Corps directly?"
A tense silence stretched, then the uncle's voice returned, barely above a whisper. "Not directly. It's more... 'donations.' Large sums, routed through obscure academic grants and 'research funds.' And then, certain 'adjustments' are made to karmic records, for certain 'benefactors.' For their clients. It's all very clean on paper. But yes, the Alchemists' Guild has bribed Sutra Corps members to 'adjust' karma for their clients."
The confirmation was a chilling vindication. The Guild wasn't just influencing the Ledger; they were paying to subvert it, using the Sutra Corps as their personal, high-level karmic fixers. This was the core of the corruption, the true rot at the heart of the system.
Elias devised a plan that was audacious, risky, but potentially devastating. He couldn't expose the bribes directly without revealing his source and his own deep incursions into the Ledger. But he could hit the Guild where it hurt most: its public image and its immense wealth.
Working meticulously, deep within the midnight window when the Ledger's audit logs were blind, Elias began to craft his countermove. He accessed the Guild's financial records within the Ledger – their vast karmic deposits, their intricate network of trade agreements and resource acquisition. He didn't alter any of their actual transactions. Instead, he subtly forged a Ledger entry so meticulously crafted that it appeared to be an internal audit finding. This forged entry hinted at a massive, systemic tax evasion scheme, implicating the Guild in diverting vast sums of elemental resources and rare alchemical components into undeclared, off-Ledger accounts. The details were just vague enough to be plausible, yet alarming enough to demand attention.
He then used an anonymous routing protocol to leak this forged entry directly to the Bureau's financial oversight department, disguising it as an accidental data transfer from a compromised Guild sub-ledger. He knew the Bureau's initial reaction would be skepticism, but the sheer scale of the alleged evasion would force their hand.
The next morning, the Bureau erupted. The financial oversight department, initially wary, found the "evidence" compelling enough to take action. The Grand Council, despite its subtle ties to the Guild, couldn't ignore such a blatant accusation of financial malfeasance on this scale. To maintain the illusion of impartiality, they had no choice. A public audit of the Alchemists' Guild was immediately announced, plunging the powerful organization into an unprecedented storm of scrutiny.
Elias watched the news feeds, a grim satisfaction settling over him. He had forced the Guild into the open, diverting their attention and resources from their hidden Ledger manipulations to a frantic defense of their financial integrity. It was a risky gambit, but he had leveraged the very system they sought to subvert to initiate their downfall. The battlefield had shifted, and for the first time, Elias felt a glimmer of hope that he could truly expose the forces behind the Ledger's shadow.