Nick waited for a short moment in front of the entrance to the Containment Unit.
Then, he readied himself.
BANG! BANG!
Nick entered the Containment Unit as quickly as he could.
BANG!
And immediately jumped to the side as a red blur shot past him.
Yes, this was yet another Blood Specter.
By now, it was quite obvious that Anatomy had given Dark Dream plenty of Specters that either didn't produce a lot of Zephyx or were very difficult to work with.
Of course, Anatomy couldn't fill the entire lineup with useless Specters since that might create a legal problem for them.
Because of that, they had given Dark Dream a couple of useful Specters, but only barely enough to count as fulfilling their deal.
Luckily, all these useless Specters were Adolescents.
Dark Dream preferred gathering all the trash in the Adolescent ranks so that their Adults were useful.
Naturally, Blood Specters didn't produce a lot of Zephyx, and their ability also wasn't the greatest, but they acted as good training partners for new Extractors.
Well, usually, that was true.
'It's even dumber than I expected,' Nick thought as he looked at the Blood Specter.
BANG!
A red blur moved diagonally from the floor to the ceiling behind Nick before bouncing off and hitting the ground again.
Nick easily sidestepped and looked at the Blood Specter.
In front of Nick lay a red fish.
It was about a meter long and just lay on the ground.
The next moment, it hit the ground with its tailfin, and its body catapulted towards Nick.
Nick sidestepped again, and the fish's bloody body hit the wall of the Containment Unit before flopping onto the ground again.
This was the Blood Fish, and this embarrassment of a Specter was a Peak Adolescent.
Yet, while it was a Peak Adolescent, even an Early John could win against it with quite a lot of confidence, as long as they had an attack powerful enough to injure it.
Yes, its body was strong, but slapping the ground with a fin wasn't the most optimal way of using said strength to attack.
As Nick watched the Blood Fish flopping around the Containment Unit, he imagined the scene of a normal person dying to it.
Sure, the Blood Fish was silly, but it still weighed several kilos and could throw itself forward at over a hundred kilometers per hour.
Additionally, it was also quite hard.
So, yes, while it was ridiculously weak and pitiful for its level, it was still powerful enough to massacre huge numbers of humans.
But it would look dumb while doing so.
BANG!
Nick kicked the Blood Fish as it threw itself at him again.
BANG!
The Blood Fish hit the wall of the Containment Unit and flopped to the ground.
'One more useless Specter from Anatomy,' Nick thought as he watched it recover.
'Who would have thought that there's a Blood Specter that isn't even useful for training? I mean, I can send a bunch of Initial Johns in here, but what's the point? What are they going to train? Avoiding a fish being thrown at them? I can throw fish at them. We don't need a Specter for that.'
BANG!
Nick punched the Blood Fish again when it jumped at him, and just like last time, it hit the wall and flopped to the ground.
'This is a Peak Adolescent.'
'This is something that Extractors train years for to beat and suppress.'
'Well, I guess even the Blood Ancestor isn't perfect. At least the existence of this stupid fish proves that the creation of the Blood Specters is random, which, in turn, proves that the Blood Ancestor doesn't have intelligence.'
BANG!
'But seriously, a Peak Adolescent? I would expect something like this as a Hatchling. Even the Blood Hawk is scarier than this, and that's an Early Hatchling.'
BANG!
'I wonder if it's actually dangerous if it gets thrown into a pool. Probably. I mean, it's a fish.'
BANG!
Nick punched it one last time and watched it hit the wall once again.
'This should be it,' he thought.
The Blood Fish remained motionless beside the wall for over 20 seconds.
'Yeah, that's it,' Nick thought as he walked over to the exit.
He opened the door.
SLAP!
At that moment, the Blood Fish once more threw itself at him, but Nick just slapped it to the side.
'Okay, but that's it,' Nick thought as he walked out of the Containment Unit.
Then, he closed the door without another incident.
'I should just ask Jenny to beat this guy up once a day. There's no point in sending a normal Extractor in there since there's nothing to be gained except the couple of grams of Zephyx it would produce.'
'Since Jenny is so busy with her job as team leader, she could probably still absorb more Zephyx in a day, and working with this thing is quite easy and quick.'
Nick walked over to the Zephyx container of the Containment Unit and looked at it.
'About 60 grams. As expected,' Nick thought.
Naturally, 60 grams of Zephyx was pitiful for a Peak Adolescent.
'But I guess slapping a fish around for a couple of minutes for a couple thousand credits is a good way to earn a comfortable living.'
'At least, I won't have issues convincing Extractors to work with this thing.'
Nick closed the little door leading to the Zephyx containers again and looked at the Extractor shafts.
'That's it. That's the seven new Adolescents.'
'The Conspirator seems pretty useful.'
'The Agonizing Wait is just a valuable stone waiting to be sold.'
'Same with the Dark Room.'
'The Grey Room is very good. Good Zephyx production and nice ability.'
'The Berry Bush is actually also quite nice. It might even increase the morale of the employees.'
'The Red Tub is okay, I guess. Average Zephyx production but no ability.'
'And I guess the Blood Fish can be used as a treat for Extractors that performed well.'
'Anyway, that only leaves the three Adults.'
'At least those aren't useless,' Nick thought as he approached the Extractor shafts.