Nick spent a total of six years with the Specter.
Right now, he was 79 years old, which was extremely old for a normal person living in this world but not very old for an experienced Extractor.
Veterans could work until they were 120 years old, and they would only die of old age at around 130.
Meanwhile, Heroes could live up to 500 years, which was a crazy long time.
And well, as a Specter, Nick could live much longer.
The Technician managed to get another ten elixirs, pushing Hirana and Michael to be ready to advance.
Nick transformed himself into Ghosty and led them to the Fiend of Darkness.
He had known Ghosty for a long time, and his ability to transform himself also gave Nick an intrinsic feeling of how to act as the person he was imitating.
Because of that, neither Michael nor Hirana questioned Nick.
They got the Nightmare's ability and returned.
When they returned, Nick said that he had to check up on one of their Specters since he wanted to test something.
He entered the Containment Unit and came face to face with the real Ghosty.
"Time's up," Nick said. "Gotta return to Aegis. The Champion is putting too much pressure on the Left Arm. We also won't get any Elixirs anymore for the others. For the foreseeable future, progress on research will be all on you."
Ghosty nodded. "The books you brought us were eye-opening. You can leave it to us. The prototype of the first nuclear fusion reactor is almost ready to be used. If everything goes as predicted, we will be able to create a bit of Star Energy."
"Good," Nick answered.
Nick said his goodbyes and left for Aegis.
Ghosty came out a bit later and told them that he was done performing tests on the Specter.
From now on, everyone could work together, but they still needed to be careful not to share too much knowledge amongst everyone.
The Envious Researcher was still a brutal threat.
Nick quickly reached Aegis' headquarters and entered with his usual disguise, created by his Barrier.
For the first time in six years, he entered Aegis' research and development department again.
"Oh, you're back!" the Technician said as soon as he saw Nick. "Everything going well?"
Nick nodded. "Yep."
"Good to hear," the Technician said.
Naturally, while his tone and choice of words had been casual, the Technician had actually asked about the researchers.
The Technician couldn't come into contact with them.
Any movement by a Shield was noticeable, and the Champion most likely paid a lot of attention to him.
They could only use Nick for their messages.
However, that wasn't really a bad thing.
The concept of the secret research team was built to work independently.
They didn't need Aegis for anything.
Well, except for the Elixirs, but the Technician had managed to sell that part very well.
The Technician had already come up with a way to make the production of the Elixirs about 7% more efficient, but he hadn't published that method yet.
He told the relevant people that he was creating a way to make Elixirs more efficient but needed a couple of them to experiment.
With that explanation, he had gotten 15 Elixirs, and soon, he would make his findings public.
While the loss of 15 Elixirs was significant, the increase in efficiency would be worth it in Aegis' mind.
"I probably can't help you with your research for now," Nick said. "I have to contribute in a more tangible way."
"I understand," the Technician said.
"I'm having a meeting with the Left Arm and the Champion," Nick said. "I'll tell you later what that's all about."
When Nick had come out of the pillar, he had seen an urgent message from the Left Arm.
It just said that the Champion wanted to meet him.
"Sure, see you later," the Technician said casually.
Nick left the research and development department and walked to the Left Arm's office.
"You sure took your time, Julian," the Left Arm said, reminding Nick of his fake name.
"I'm sorry, but advancement takes time. I still have to focus on my power if I want to continue to contribute," Nick answered.
The Left Arm threw him a stern gaze before standing up and wordlessly approaching the door leading to the Champion's domain.
She opened the door, and the two of them stepped into the brightly lit room.
Nick saw the Champion looking out of a window at the Sun.
"Julian Winter," the Champion spoke with his deep voice. "I have not received any relevant reports from you in quite some time."
"I must apologize, Champion," Nick said respectfully as he fell to one knee, "but I needed to adapt my Zephyx generation to my new level. I believe that my greater power will be of greater use to Aegis."
The Champion remained silent for a while.
Then, he slowly turned around, and his intimidating eyes fell on Nick.
"You haven't done a very good job at adapting our Zephyx generation," he said. "In fact, you seem to be producing even less Zephyx than before."
"I ask for forgiveness," Nick said.
That was all he said.
The Champion slowly walked closer to Nick and looked down at him.
If he wanted to, he could kill Nick in an instant.
This was a constant danger.
The Left Arm calmly watched from the side, but in secret, she had already prepared herself to die within the next seconds.
Nick had to survive!
If the Champion decided to attack Nick, she would intervene and give him a chance to escape.
As long as Nick was alive, humanity still had hope!
The Champion looked down at Nick for a while.
"Aegis is not your foodbank," the Champion spoke slowly. "Aegis exists to help humanity against the nuisance that is you Specters."
"The freedom we have given you is a privilege, and just like any privilege, it can be revoked."
Nick didn't answer.
"You have dealt a great blow to the Corruptors,which is why I have deigned to give you more freedom for a while, but this ends here."
"If you want Aegis' continued support, you must reciprocate."
"This is my first and last warning. Act like your kin, and you will find yourself treated just like your kin. Act like a human, and you will find yourself treated like one."
"I want results," the Champion spoke as he approached his throne.
"I don't care how you get the results, but I want more of them."
"Until your contribution returns to an acceptable level, I will be watching your every step closely," the Champion said as he sat down.
"Yes, Champion," Nick answered respectfully.
"Dismissed," the Champion ordered.
"Thank you, Champion," Nick said as he politely left the room.
The Champion watched Nick leave with narrowed eyes.
"The same goes for you," the Champion said after Nick left.
"Humans deserve a vacation after working hard," the Left Arm said. "If he were a human, I wouldn't ask him to immediately return to work after dealing such a blow to the Corruptors."
"That is not a human," the Champion said. "It is a Specter. It is a predator. If you offer your hand, it will devour your arm. Do not forget that."
"Yes, Champion," the Left Arm answered.
The Left Arm performed a polite bow before walking back to her office.
Yet, while she opened the door, the Champion said something.
"You were quite nervous earlier," he commented.
The Left Arm didn't let anything show on her face, but she was shocked that the Champion noticed that.
From what she had gathered, the Champion was less than a century old.
Most likely, the aliens had grabbed an experienced businessman and made him the most powerful human.
Despite having terrifying power and senses, how could someone that inexperienced win against an almost 2,000-year-old monster like the Left Arm in a mental battle?
And yet, the Champion had seen through the Left Arm's perfect disguise.
"I am human," the Left Arm said,turning around to look at the Champion calmly. "I'm not immune to emotions."
"Why were you nervous?" the Champion asked calmly.
"With all due respect, I don't want to share my personal life with others," the Left Arm said.
The Champion looked at the Left Arm for a while.
A couple of seconds later, he sighed.
"I just want to help you," he said in a helpless tone.
"Grow into your role as humanity's protector first," she answered.
Then, she performed a polite bow before leaving.
The Champion felt the sting of refusal.
But she didn't say no.
She just said that he should grow more first.
Naturally, the Champion had just tried to make a play at the Left Arm and was promptly turned down.
However, the Champion of Light was the most powerful human in the world.
There was nothing he couldn't have.
He was sure that, with time, he could have everything he wanted.
Yet, the Champion was still thinking about the nervousness he felt coming from the Left Arm when he stood in front of the Specter earlier.
It couldn't be, right?
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