Nick went through the settings of the Containment Unit.
First, he activated the reversed Zephyx gathering.
This new function allowed the Containment Unit to intercept the Zephyx traveling to Nick and would directly put it into the Containment Unit's energy source.
Powerful Containment Units needed Zephyx to operate, and this would put the generated Zephyx back into the Containment Unit.
Of course, not all of it would be intercepted. Only about ten percent.
That was more than enough to operate the Containment Unit.
As long as the person inside kept suffering, the Containment Unit wouldn't run out of energy.
Another setting was to counteract any vibrations.
If the person inside the Containment Unit tried to break out, they would make the Containment Unit shake.
This would keep the Containment Unit hidden from any powerful person or Specter that happened to travel through this particular location.
It was important that the Containment Unit would keep operating as long as the person inside was not dead.
After all, the person would never come out again.
Nick had told the CZE that his sentence was only ten years, but that was a lie.
The CZE would stay inside the Containment Unit until he died.
'This guy sold his humanity. He sold his fellow humans to humanity's enemy. Aegis' policy is to kill every person who does that.'
'I will do the same thing, but in a different manner.'
'He deserves this. He suppressed thousands of people. He made the lives of thousands of people a living hell.'
'So what if I make his life a living hell?'
'I don't just do this just to make him suffer for the hell of it. His suffering has a purpose. His suffering will make me more powerful, and with more power, I can free humanity sooner.'
'His suffering will benefit humanity.'
'Also, he deserves it.'
After setting everything up, Nick looked at the last setting.
When he looked at it, he felt like he was about to do something horrible.
And that was exactly the case.
Nick activated the last function.
Meanwhile, inside the Containment Unit, the CZE was waiting nervously.
He didn't know what would await him, but he knew that it had to be bad.
As more time passed, he started to breathe heavily, and he grew even more nervous.
He started to sweat, and he felt a stinging pain coming from his neck.
The fear intensified more and more, and by now, he was holding the back of his neck in pain.
More and more panic entered his mind.
He felt like he was about to die!
He would die!
That was when he noticed something.
His Zephyx storage was dropping!
He was losing Zephyx!
And then, he realized what was going on.
'There is almost no Prephyx in here!'
He immediately launched an attack at the Containment Unit, but it barely reacted.
Outside, Nick watched as a small Barrier appeared around the Containment Unit that canceled out the vibrations.
Several minutes later, the CZE was critically low on Zephyx.
He had no energy.
He couldn't even properly move anymore.
He just lay in the middle of the Containment Unit, hastily gasping for air.
He felt like he was asphyxiating!
He needed Prephyx!
If he didn't get any Prephyx, he would die!
For a powerful Extractor, Prephyx was to them like air was to normal people.
When the body noticed that it couldn't produce its energy anymore, it sent a signal of absolute panic to the body.
If the body remained here, it would die!
It was no different from drowning.
The CZE's Zephyx storage hit rock bottom, and his Zephyx expenditure equalized with his Zephyx production.
As long as he didn't move, his body could generate enough Zephyx for him to survive.
And yet, the panic and terror kept attacking him.
He needed to escape!
Finally, the CZE realized the true terror of penance.
He would be drowning for ten years.
The only worse thing would be the Nightmare's influence.
Luckily, the Containment Unit had lights.
Ten years of drowning.
That was his punishment.
As long as he could survive ten years of drowning, he would be able to return to a relatively normal life as one of Aegis' conscripts.
He would be able to see his family again.
As long as he remained alive, his family would be protected by Aegis.
It was so difficult.
It was so hard.
But he would do his best to persevere.
It was just ten years…
That was as long as he had to wait out.
Every second that passed was one less second.
Even while thinking about passing time, more time passed.
This would not keep on going forever.
Aegis kept its promises!
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
He was slowly getting closer to release.
The urge to say the Sentence was so high, but he kept going.
There was hope on the horizon!
While the CZE suffered through the perpetual sensation of drowning, Nick waited outside.
The Containment Unit stopped shaking, and Nick's production of Zephyx increased tremendously.
Naturally, this Containment Unit had the power to isolate Prephyx.
Of course, Nick set it up to let enough Prephyx through that a Hero of the CZE's power could just barely survive and remain conscious.
After watching the Containment Unit for a couple more minutes, Nick turned into mist and collapsed the tunnel.
The cave he had dug completely collapsed, burying the Containment Unit under kilometers of dirt.
On the surface, Nick still felt his improved generation of Zephyx.
'Keep hope in your heart. The more hopeful you are, the more humanity will benefit from you.'
There was no way to tell time inside the Containment Unit, and isolation warped someone's time perception tremendously.
Nick would never let the CZE out again.
The CZE would remain inside until he died of old age or spoke the Sentence.
With the warped time perception, it was possible that the CZE would stay inside the Containment Unit for fifty years and still believe that fewer than ten years had passed.
This was the CZE's penance and his payback to humanity.
He would drown until he gave up.
And during that time, he would make Nick stronger.
'I have to save humanity!' Nick thought with reinforced motivation.
'But I also must not lose my humanity in the process.'
'He deserves this, but many others don't.'
'I can only use this on people who sold their humanity to humanity's enemy.'
And then, Nick left.
The wasteland was silent.
It looked like any other spot.
And yet, deep beneath the surface, someone suffered unimaginably.
But they would keep holding on.
After all, there was hope on the horizon.
At some point, they would get out.
They would not stay in here forever!
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