Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 55  Dark Experiments

"Good luck at training! I'll meet you tomorrow!" Zera said excitedly as she escorted Adam out of the car.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot. Take this." Zera leaned over, extending her hand forward, holding a simple-looking flash drive.

Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's this?"

Zera smirked.

"A gift, from me and our mutual friends by now. Open the file with my name first if you don't want to spoil your appetite."

Adam frowned slightly but didn't refuse. Something told him it might be something interesting because Zera was an unusual person. Then, Adam contacted Silvana and cast her a hard, annoyed look after the training in the virtual zone.

"Khm. I apologize, I should have warned you beforehand. It's just... things happened so fast, and I couldn't say no to them. I had to act on the situation." Silvana said guiltily, lowering her head.

Adam sighed.

"I see... First Ring is the center of the Citadel not only for its wealth and entertainment, it's the center of organizations and people with their goals." Adam touched his forehead with his fingertips, "Damn, we saw each other for the first time, and ten minutes later she offered to get her pregnant. That's definitely not normal."

Silvana coughed.

"It's not exactly like that."

"Hmm?"

"In fact, you would have gotten such an offer from many hardcore followers of the Crimson Path, because they consider polygamy to be the standard, as it helps spread strong genes faster. However... it has a dark side besides the lust and pleasure that may have entered your mind." Silvana's face grew paler. Adam listened silently. He wasn't a hypocrite, and he didn't hide the fact that he had such thoughts, for he was a young man, and Zera was pushy and sexy. But, Silvana's face showed that there was something cruel behind it.

"The women of Crimson Path have no appreciation for children who couldn't become Phantoms. When it turns out that a child doesn't have Spark despite having two Phantom parents, the best thing that can happen is exile from the family. The women of Crimson Path don't feel bad about it, because to them it's just a misfortune on the road to success - the birth of a new Phantom."

Silvana continued, "They might even send the children to the slums, or at best some of the common people who believe in Crimson Path will take them in."

"Common people...?" Adam asked curiously.

"Sure. In fact, most of the representatives of the Crimson Path, Azure Lotus, and Dark Order are ordinary people. After all, they're not closed sects but organizations."

"But... Aren't the Crimson Path in favor of blood purity?" Adam was puzzled.

"Yes, but they're not against humans, no one is against ordinary people. Their followers also hold to blood purity, which is why ordinary people who are members of Crimson Path will never have children with Phantoms so as not to decrease blood purity." Silvana explained.

Adam nodded with a deep gaze.

"I see... Well, at least they are consistent, and their goals are clear. Anyway, I want to see what's in here." Adam said, showing a black flash drive. Silvana nodded, and they headed from the kitchen to her room. She inserted the flash drive, and a file opened with two folders: [Zera<3] and [???].

Adam opened the first folder, and the screen filled with nude pictures of Zera's. She had obviously prepared for their meeting.

"Hmm... Honestly, after everything I've heard it doesn't seem all that surprising." Adam muttered, feeling strange, as if the forbidden fruit was no longer so and its value had diminished.

Silvana nodded.

"Should I open the second one?"

"Sure." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Click.

Silvana clicked the mouse, and their eyes went wide at what they saw. Adam's veins swelled, and his hands clenched into fists, and Silvana was ready to throw up, barely holding back.

If in the first folder, the main character was Zera, in the second it was Aiden Henk, or rather his experiments and hidden incidents. Blood flooded the walls, dead young men, adults, and even children, all of them were consumed by fear and suffering before dying under Aiden's cold gaze. Some photos showed people lying on operating tables, others were torn apart under the paws of monsters. Some screamed in despair, but for all of them, the outcome was the same - death.

"What the fuck is this...?" Adam muttered while his eyes traveled through the pictures, from the very first to the last one - which was different from the others. On the last one, there was a picture of a black swan whose wings were covered in blood. "Looks like what happened to you at Morton Observatory was no exception..." Silvana muttered with a dark face.

"Furthermore... It's Black Swan, right? So they're connected to either Crimson Path or Zera... and they're actually plotting something against Aiden Henk." Adam said with a dazed expression.

He hadn't expected things to escalate to this, and he didn't know what to do now.

Silvana took some time to calm down.

"I would suggest telling the military or the research department, but... we both know that someone is protecting Aiden Henk if he can afford to do experiments like this."

Adam nodded. He knew that because even Douglas was powerless.

However, if Aiden was untouchable in the Upper Ring, that didn't mean no one from the Lower Ring could get to him.

"In any case, it's too early for me to try anything. I'm sure the mad scientist has his followers. Perhaps Zera can tell me a little more about it." Adam pondered, rubbing his chin.

Silvana nodded.

They didn't speak again, and Adam returned home. They had fought against monsters, but that didn't mean there weren't monsters among humans, inside their souls. ...

The next day as agreed, Adam headed to the platform to leave for the missions.

Zera and the other members of the Scarlet River Squad were already there. Unlike all his previous missions, this time there were many more people. About ten Phantoms and thirty Harvesters, as well as several trucks. Everyone was fully equipped, for they were going on a Cluster Mission.

Cluster Missions were formed around clusters of anomalies, a rare but extremely dangerous phenomenon. Not all anomalies quickly appeared and disappeared in random places, some grew and were not going to stop spreading across more and more territory.

The process was slow, but it had to be stopped, otherwise, there could be too many anomalous monsters that would lead to unnecessary casualties among Harvesters and Phantoms.

Also, in some ways, Cluster Missions were similar to Golden Missions, but for the reward of monster genes and artifacts, titanic efforts had to be applied. The anomalies themselves were dangerous, not to mention the monsters that appeared with them and were enhanced versions of their fellows due to the anomaly energy.

"Hey! I've been waiting for you!" Zera vigorously said with a wave of her hand. Beside her stood two more Phantoms that were obviously in charge of this squad after her.

'Well, it's time to get into what's already become my favorite thing to do, isn't it?' Adam smirked, then glanced at his gloves, 'Hopefully, we'll get someone strong, and I can improve on you.'