Chapter 215 No Need to Envy
After Summer finally exhausted himself into a drunken sleep, Elbert turned to Quentin with a playful smile. "Well then, Quentin. How about we start a fight?"
Quentin, nursing his bruised pride and a growing sense of inadequacy, just shook his head. "No way. I'm far too strong now. Might accidentally hurt you."
Elbert's smile didn't waver. "I'm sure I can handle it."
"Nope." Quentin's gaze drifted towards Invictus, who was still trapped in his hallucinatory loop, spinning in circles and bouncing off invisible walls.
Invictus, powerful as he was, had been reduced to a bumbling fool by Paul Three. Moreover, Quentin himself had barely escaped a similar fate at the hands of Chain Bridge.
He sighed, feeling tired. He pulled out his deck of metal cards, his fingers lingering on the Two of Diamonds hanging around his neck. With a sigh, he unclipped it and offered it to Elbert.
"Here," he mumbled. "It's too heavy for me anyway."
Elbert accepted the cards, his expression thoughtful as he held the Two of Diamonds separate from the rest.
He glanced at the unconscious Invictus and Chain Bridge triplets on the ground. "These four... no need to check. They don't have the Joker tattoo."
Quentin nodded silently.
Elbert's gaze returned to the card in his hand. "You strike me as a man of faith, Quentin. What does this card, this symbol, mean to you?"
Quentin hesitated before saying lowly, "I'm not the real Two of Diamonds. My wife was. She... the Joker killed her."
A heavy silence fell between them. Elbert simply nodded, recognizing the grief in Quentin's words from losing a lover. Some things were best left untouched, acknowledged with only respect and silence.
"You believe one of the Jokers killed her," Elbert said softly.
Quentin's eyes flickered, but he remained silent.
"And you challenge strong opponents, push yourself to your limits, hoping to one day find this Joker and take your revenge."
Quentin frowned, but still, he didn't speak.
"You should talk to Gary sometime," Elbert said casually.
"Gary?"
"The one who trained Summer. He trained me too."
Quentin's head snapped up. "Gary's strong."
"Very," Elbert agreed. "You'll need to push yourself even harder." He paused. "When he gets back, I'll introduce you."
He flipped the Two of Diamonds back to Quentin, who caught it reflexively.
Quentin stared at the card, feeling complex. He rubbed his eyes, feeling oddly touched.
But Elbert had already turned away, heading back toward Lab Graveyard, his hands clasped behind his back. "Take care of Summer for me."
"What if he wakes up?" Quentin called after him, slightly panicked.
Elbert just laughed. "Then you're in for a long night."
Quentin chuckled wryly. He hefted Summer's limp form, carrying him back toward his tent. As he settled down at the entrance, clutching his remaining card and gazing at the moon, he couldn't help but reflect on tonight's events.
Paul Three, for all his stoic silence and intimidating presence, had a good heart.
Thud!
The sound of Invictus's latest collision with an invisible barrier echoed in the distance. It had been almost half an hour, and the assassin had already spun a full circle eight times, a human roly-poly trapped in his own personal hell.
Quentin shook his head, smiling tiredly. Paul Three was an enigma, a force of nature.
A buzzing sound drew his attention. He looked up to see a drone emerging from Paul Three's house, its navigation lights blinking in the darkness. It flew toward one of the fallen Chain Bridge assassins, extended a slender mechanical arm, and collected a blood sample before zipping back toward the house.
Quentin just shook his head again. Even Paul Three's toys were extraordinary.
Inside Lab Graveyard, Elbert arranged the forty metal playing cards on a table, their surfaces gleaming under the bright lights.
A faint, almost imperceptible black shimmer danced across the gold.
Robert had pointed it out when Elbert collected the first card. This strange, subtle energy signature was the reason Elbert had gathered them all.
He carefully placed the cards into a device of Robert design. The temperature inside the device began to rise, and slowly, the black substance separated from the cards, drawn out by the heat and some unseen force.
An hour later, the substance had coalesced into a small vial containing a swirling, pulsating mass of pure black.
Elbert watched it intently.
"It's metallic," Robert said, peering at the vial through a magnifying glass. He was dressed in a lab coat, his earlier amusement replaced by a focused intensity. "I traced it back to an illegal mine in North Afreco. The atomic structure is fascinating. Highly active, positive and negative charges in constant flux. Responds to magnetic fields..."
"It can hold any shape," he continued, his voice filled with wonder. "It can be harder than steel or flow like water." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Elbert, if we crack this, we're sitting on a gold mine."
"Focus, Robert," Elbert said, his gaze fixed on the substance. Its potential was staggering.
He thought of Jessica's gloves, the way they had sliced through metal as if it were paper. This substance was the key.
"Coating weapons is just the beginning," Robert said, echoing Elbert's thoughts. "They haven't even scratched the surface of what this stuff can do." He grinned, his eyes gleaming. "We need to buy that mine, Elbert. Today."
Elbert nodded slowly. The fluidity, the adaptability... that was the true prize. Find a way to control it and shape it, and they'd have a weapon unlike any other.
His gaze shifted to another vial on the table, this one containing a sample of the Chain Bridge's blood. Robert was analyzing it, searching for the genetic anomaly that granted them their powers.
"All abilities and powers stem from growth," Robert lectured. "Different paths of growth are dictated by our genes. Chain Bridge's genetic makeup and specific mutation allows them to manipulate magnetic fields."
He shook his head. "Identifying the mutation is easy. Replicating it, however..."
"Elbert," he whispered, "I can now record these genetic sequences and store them. When you reach the second stage of the New Human limit release and unlock your genes..."
"You can edit them," Elbert finished, his eyes widening.
"Precisely, if we gather enough samples and genetic blueprints from these B+ level Modified Humans..."
"Then the talents they possess, you can also obtain through gene editing!"
"I can decode their gene sequences, and your body can, under adjustment, combine such sequences!"
Indeed, the possibilities were endless. Chain Bridge's magnetic manipulation, Jessica's enhanced speed and reflexes...they were all within his grasp.
He finally understood.
New Humans weren't limited by the powers of Modified Humans.
They could become anything, achieve anything.
They were the next step in human evolution.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
