"Oh, they're back," Hirana, the black-haired female scientist, said.
Michael watched as the big gate opened, and a moment later, he saw Ghosty and Ferdinand again.
Both of them had become Heroes.
"You are Heroes now, right?" Michael asked.
Ghosty nodded. "Yes. It went relatively smoothly."
"Congratulations! I can't wait to become a Hero myself!" Michael shouted with excitement.
"I'm more interested in the proof," Hirana said as she looked at Ferdinand.
Ferdinand seemed conflicted.
He hadn't had time to properly digest what he had learned.
"And?" Hirana asked with a bit of annoyance.
"It is… a lot," Ferdinand answered. "While I can't confirm every single thing Ghosty has said, I could confirm that they are on humanity's side."
Ferdinand frowned as he looked down. "I'm fine with working for them, and I don't think they want to simply incite some kind of revolution to gain control over humanity."
"I genuinely believe that they are on humanity's side."
Hirana seemed even more annoyed. "But what's the actual proof?"
"I can't talk about it," Ferdinand said. "It's not that I don't want to. I want to tell you."
"However, there are things that are too dangerous to talk about."
"Talking about these things might endanger all of humanity. You have to see them with your own eyes."
"The only thing I can say is that I trust Ghosty and that the world isn't as straightforward as it seems. Things are very different than I expected."
"You will see it for yourself when it is time to become a Hero," Ferdinand said.
Naturally, Hirana was not happy with that.
"Fine," she said with some annoyance. "I'm willing to give Ghosty the benefit of the doubt for now, but only until I become a Hero and see this proof for myself."
Ferdinand nodded. "That's all that I can ask of you."
Ghosty basically hadn't said anything while the three researchers talked.
"We can now start working," Ghosty said. "We will be splitting into two teams for now. Ferdinand and I will be focusing on something we can't tell you about yet, while you two should focus on manufacturing."
"You can't tell us what you're working on?" Michael asked with disappointment.
Hirana just snorted.
"We will tell you when you are Heroes," Ghosty said. "For now, everything has to remain secret. Not even Ferdinand knows what we are researching yet."
Ferdinand didn't comment.
"By the way," Ghosty said as he pointed to a door at the edge of the big room. "Have you looked around yet?"
"We weren't sure if we were allowed to. After all, we're prisoners," Hirana said with a venomous tone.
Ghosty just scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, there is a Peak Fanatic that is pretty easy to work with in there. You just have to go in, give it some blood, and come back out. It should be enough to get your quota in for the day." 𝙍á₦∅𝐁Êṩ
Naturally, in order to keep things as secret as possible, Nick had captured this Specter himself.
He had searched for a fitting Specter for several days and eventually found a good one.
While doing so, he had been disguised as Ghosty, making the Specter think that Ghosty had been the one who captured it.
The four of them talked about their jobs and how they should proceed before Ferdinand and Ghosty walked through a big gate.
This big gate led to the remaining 80% of the research facility, and the other two were not allowed to enter there yet.
Although, they also didn't have the power to open the gate.
Ghosty led Ferdinand to the other part of the research facility, which was completely dark.
Yet, the two of them could see without issues.
Just as Nick had expected, working with the Nightmare gave the Extractors immunity to the Nightmare's influence.
If the Nightmare were a living Specter, its natural power fluctuations would make its power usable against them, but since it was a machine, it only operated in one way.
The two of them stood in the dark research facility in silence for a couple of seconds.
They were just taking everything in.
"There's a lot of stuff," Ghosty commented.
He also hadn't seen the research facility yet.
Ferdinand nodded.
This part of the research facility had everything the other part had and many more things.
This was almost as advanced as the entire research facility in Aegis' headquarters.
And all of this was just for them.
"You will be our future," Ghosty said.
"You already said that," Ferdinand answered.
"No, I mean you specifically. Singular."
Ferdinand raised an eyebrow.
"I can't become a Protector," Ghosty explained. "I won't progress fast enough to become a Protector, and I'm already quite old. I maybe have 220 years left."
"As a Protector, you can live for a thousand years. You are also quite old, but younger than me. You have probably over 750 years left, almost three times as much as me."
"When I'm gone, I need someone to take over, and I think you're the right person for the job."
Ferdinand had an even look on his face. "I don't think this conversation is relevant yet. You still have a long time left. We can talk about that in a century."
Ghosty chuckled a bit. "I guess you're right," he said before looking up with a lost expression. "It's just that the things I learned also had an impact on me. I also hadn't seen these things with my own eyes yet."
Ferdinand raised an eyebrow. "And you believed all of that without seeing it?"
"You don't know the Technician as well as I do," Ghosty said. "He and my friend are very trustworthy people. I know that they put humanity above their own lives, and I was present while some revelations occurred."
"I trust them."
Ferdinand didn't comment.
"Well, back to the topic," Ghosty said. "We are going to focus on researching Star Energy."
"Star Energy?" Ferdinand asked with a raised brow.
Ghosty explained everything he knew about Star Energy and Pure Energy to Ferdinand.
Within a couple of minutes, the two of them already started to brainstorm.
They knew that it was related to nuclear fusion, which was something they hadn't achieved yet.
"The things we will be discovering will most likely become obsolete rather quickly, but I believe it will still help if we try to do it ourselves."
The next moment, Ghosty told Ferdinand about the Specter Nick had found and that it was the origin of this new knowledge about the different forms of energy.
Over the next years, they would try to create their own version of a machine that could produce Star Energy, and when Nick came back with the superior version of the Enlightened Ones, they could compare and learn from their mistakes.
This was a great learning opportunity.
"I almost feel like a student again," Ferdinand said.
Ghosty just nodded in agreement.
Then, they went to work.
While they were working, Nick was already entering Crimson City again.
Nick was not needed in the isolated research facility.
After becoming a Demon, he could finally focus on learning more about the technology of the Enlightened Ones.
He decided to enter Crimson City without being seen.
He wanted to keep the true value of the central pillar secret.
'I don't know how much time I have,' Nick thought as he flew through the molten metal. 'While three of the Shields know of the significance of my survival, the others don't.'
'I am still one of Aegis' experiments in their eyes, and they want to see proof that their investment in me is paying off.'
'Sure, I helped to stop Pride, but I can't just rest on that accomplishment forever. I'm not a human in their eyes. They want to get more out of me, which means I have to keep fighting the Specters and producing results.'
'At most, I can spend a select few years in here at a time before I have to leave again.'
'I should make it count.'
Nick reached the room of the dead Extractor, but before he went down to the Containment Unit, he stopped beside the impossibly powerful sword.
The next moment, Nick narrowed his eyes, and his body changed.
While his appearance remained the same, Nick's body had become as human as possible.
Then, Nick bent down and touched the edge of the sword.
Nick's finger immediately started bleeding…
But that was it.
His body did not start transforming into white dust!
'It works!' Nick thought with some excitement.
'In this form, I can touch Star Energy without being damaged!'
'However, I still can't properly use it. While my body can interact with Star Energy, if I absorb it, it will reach my Specter Core, after which I will immediately die.'
'While Star Energy is not toxic to me, I can't use it as a replacement for Prephyx or Zephyx. It's kind of like water for normal people. They can bathe in it, but if they breathe it in, it will become troublesome.'
'However, water is better than acid, I presume.'
Nick looked away from the sword and focused on the Containment Unit beneath him.
'Let's go say hi. It's been about two years.'
tg://resolv?domain=Kill_the_Sun_fastes