The researchers looked with shock and fear at Ghosty, who seemed surprisingly calm.
What the fuck was going on?!
Their escorts had been killed, and one of their teammates had also been killed!
"You guys have officially died just now," Ghosty said with a calm smile. "At least, as far as humanity is concerned."
"During the journey, the Shark Mother attacked, and we lost a group of our most talented researchers. Truly, a tragedy for Aegis."
Ghosty looked at them. "But not a tragedy to humanity."
"Wh-what is going on?" Michael asked, voicing the question everyone had.
"I will explain everything as soon as we arrive," Ghosty said. "You do not need to fear. I am not going rogue and creating my own force for humanity. No, this entire thing has the backing of three Shields."
"You guys will not be forced to commit some atrocities or anything like that. No, we are not working with the Specters."
The black-haired woman furrowed her brows. "Isn't Aegis the true good of humanity?"
Ghosty slowly shook his head. "It is not that simple. The deck is stacked against us, and less than ten people in the world know about it. Well, with you, it will be more than ten."
"You are going to be the backbone of humanity's true freedom."
This sounded crazy and over-the-top.
They were all just Specialists.
How could they be the backbone of all of humanity?
"Hey, hey, hey! Aren't we descending a bit early?!" the third researcher, an older guy, shouted in panic as he saw them descending towards the ocean.
The other two also became panicked.
If they touched the ocean, the Shark Mother or the Salt Trident would kill them!
"Don't worry. Everything has been prepared," Ghosty said mysteriously.
The next moment, the researchers began shouting as the disk plunged into the middle of the ocean.
They thought their lives were about to end, but…
Nothing happened.
They were only submerged in water.
Then,they noticed that they were not touching salt water, and they also noticed that they were surrounded by a wall.
They were inside some kind of pipe leading down to the depths of the ocean.
The influence of the Salt Trident couldn't be felt.
After all, while the pipe was in the ocean, it was not part of the ocean.
Yet, as they continued descending, the next shock arrived.
It was getting darker the further they descended!
The Nightmare!
However, to their surprise, the Nightmare's influence never arrived.
Even when everything became pitch black.
As everyone looked around the darkness, they felt like they were in a dream.
They had never been in the darkness without being tortured.
This was a completely new experience for them.
After almost half a minute of descending, the pipe curved and moved upwards again.
They flew out of the water but were still in the dark.
Next, the pipe turned into a tunnel, and they continued traveling.
Eventually, they stopped in front of a gate.
The disk landed on the ground, and Ghosty walked towards the gate.
"Follow me," Ghosty said.
The researchers were still scared, but they were helpless right now.
Whatever had killed the two escorts was still present, but they couldn't see it.
The researchers looked at the gate and were surprised.
"Rank seven material?" Michael spoke in shock.
Ghosty nodded. "The same material Aegis' headquarters is made of. You can thank the Technician for this gate."
The next moment, light appeared from the ceiling.
The researchers looked up and saw a floating ball of light.
Naturally, that was Nick.
Keeping the Nightmare's influence at bay cost a lot of Zephyx, which was why he had switched to using his light ability.
This used far less Zephyx.
"This is one of our allies," Ghosty said, pointing towards the light. "Sadly, his identity is very sensitive, and it is imperative that it remains secret."
The researchers just looked with fear at the light.
Whoever was in the light could kill them without any issues.
Ghosty approached the gate, and his Barrier activated.
The next moment, the gate opened, and everyone could look inside.
"This is only a small part of the whole," Ghosty said.
'Only?' the researchers thought.
They saw a bright hall that was over a hundred meters wide. The hall was filled with different devices.
Even more, it was set up very similarly to the actual research and development department of Aegis.
"A Flexinator?!" Michael shouted in shock as he looked at an especially big machine.
"You are humanity's hope," Ghosty said. "Naturally, we will not treat you badly."
"But only the Technician knows how to operate one," Michael added in shock.
"Well, this is a simplified version of it," Ghosty said. "Due to the Envious Researcher, you three have to develop its more complex aspects on your own."
"For security reasons, no one technology developed down here can be known by everyone. I will leave the Flexinator to you three."
"We sadly do not have the luxury to get past the Envious Researcher. This means that everything in here is not 'approved' by the Envious Researcher."
The researchers were not troubled about this particular matter.
After all, they constantly developed new technology, and the Envious Researcher was essentially a constant fear and companion to them.
Since the hall was illuminated, Nick didn't need to create light anymore and just vanished.
"Can you explain everything now?" the black-haired woman asked.
"Part of it, yes," Ghosty said. "Sadly, I can't tell you the full truth as long as you can't enter the true core of the lab."
Ghosty approached a table near the edge of the room with a couple of chairs near it.
He sat down, and the other three followed.
However, they didn't feel comfortable sitting. So, they just stood near the table.
"Alright," Ghosty said before taking a deep breath. "The Champion of Light is an agent. He works for the Sun."
Shock and horror washed over the researchers.
"That doesn't make any sense," the older man said with furrowed brows.
"But it's true," Ghosty said. "Where did he come from? None of the Shields even knew him before he suddenly appeared in front of our headquarters. How can he use the Sun to speak to all of humanity? Why did he say that the Sun is our ally when it clearly isn't?"
Ghosty noticed that the older man wanted to argue some more but stopped him.
"The Sun is choosing a Champion to oversee humanity and to make sure that humanity doesn't become powerful enough to attack it. The old Champion of Light was also an agent."
"However, the old Champion of Light regretted his actions, and it is only thanks to him that we know all of these things."
"The old Champion of Light told the Shields the truth about the world during a rare moment without supervision."
"The Champion of Light has partial control over the Sun and can ask it to do something."
"The old Champion of Light isolated the Shields from its network and told them everything about the world."
"However, that action had dire consequences, and the Champion of Light was weakened by the Sun as punishment until a new Champion was ready to take over."
"The old Champion of Light paid for this transgression with his life."
The researchers listened, but all of this sounded a bit too fantastical.
"All of this information comes from the Technician and the Left Arm. The two of them are the ones leading this secret mission," Ghosty said.
"The authenticity of the old Champion's words has also been confirmed by a third party. Our unknown friend who escorted us here saw the truth with his own eyes."
However, the researchers still weren't happy.
"Explanations," the black-haired woman said. "What about proof? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."
"We will show you proof very soon," Ghosty said before turning to the older man. "How close are you to advancing?"
"A couple more years," the older man answered with a taciturn and careful expression.
The next moment, Ghosty retrieved something from his Space Bag.
"Elixirs?!" the black-haired woman shouted in shock.
"We are humanity's new backbone," Ghosty repeated. "The Shields leading this secret mission will not hold back with their support."
"All of these are for you," Ghosty said, pushing the Elixirs to the older man.
The older man looked at them with shock.
"But that's…"
"A waste?" Ghosty finished the sentence for him. "You are looking at things from a wrong angle. Five new Experts can't save humanity. You can."
"Take the Elixirs. You should be ready to advance within the day."
"And then, I will show you the proof you want."
At that point, Ghosty smiled a bit.
"In fact, it will also be my first time seeing the proof. Up to now, I just listened to the Technician and a friend of mine talking about it."
"I can assure you. Within one day, you will believe me," Ghosty said.
Kill_the_Sun_fastes