Ten researchers stood on top of Aegis' headquarters.
The ten researchers looked around with fear.
This wasn't the first time they had tried to get past the Envious Researcher, but usually, they did it very differently.
The way Aegis used to get past the Envious Researcher was relatively simple but consumed a lot of resources.
Whenever they needed to distribute a new technology, Aegis gathered almost all their researchers in a powerful but open Containment Unit.
This Containment Unit was the second most powerful Containment Unit Aegis owned, and it could contain an Adversary.
The Champion and the Left Arm would be inside the Containment Unit together with the researchers, while the Technician would stay outside to operate it.
This Containment Unit was the only one that didn't have the safety feature, which delayed the opening and closing of its main door.
If the Envious Researcher entered it, it would be trapped.
Instead, it would attack the researchers from somewhere inside Aegis.
The Champion and the Left Arm needed to defend the researchers for some time.
While the Envious Researcher attacked the researchers, several scientists in different cities would receive their own copies of the research files for the new technology.
All of them would read them at the same time, and when they understood them, they would immediately distribute them.
The Envious Researcher would be occupied by the researchers inside the Containment Unit while the technology spread.
Eventually, the Envious Researcher would leave and go after some random people who knew the technology.
At that point, it was a race against time.
The technology needed to spread faster than the Envious Researcher could kill people.
At the same time, schematics for the new technology would be sent to all cities and made openly accessible.
The Envious Researcher would need to destroy almost all the cities to eradicate the technology.
Usually, 20 to 500 very intelligent people would be killed by the Envious Researcher all over the world.
Sometimes, but rarely, it would even destroy the network of an entire city.
There was even one time when the Envious Researcher destroyed an entire city.
Of course, the Envious Researcher wasn't dumb, and it tried to ignore the researchers inside Aegis in favor of killing the researchers outside.
But if that happened, Aegis would just escort the researchers to Aegis' headquarters.
There, they would do the same thing with a new batch until there were thousands who knew how it worked.
At that point, it would be impossible to stop the spread.
If the Envious Researcher ignored the batch in Aegis' headquarters, it wouldn't be able to kill a single person.
At least, by attacking this batch, the researchers outside would be left open and vulnerable.
In the end, it was forced to attack the researchers in the headquarters.
Every single new development needed to get past this tedious process.
It required the combined power of humanity just to spread a single new discovery.
It was horrendous.
Originally, this batch of researchers believed that it wouldn't be any different from the other times.
But then, they were ordered to go to the top of the pyramid, which was Aegis' headquarters.
This was very different!
From up there, the Envious Researcher could attack them from basically anywhere.
Inside the Containment Unit, an attack could only come from the open entrance, which wasn't very big to begin with.
How could the Champion guarantee their safety up here?
Why were they even up here?!
This was why they were so afraid.
They knew that a powerful Adversary would soon try to kill them, and they were essentially naked in front of this threat.
Above the pyramid was the Champion with the Technician and the Left Arm.
Nick stood close to the researchers and just waited.
The researchers kept reading about the new technology that was about to be spread across the globe.
It took longer than usual due to their fear.
The Champion moved his new pair of glasses up a bit.
"Please, move it down by three millimeters," Nick transmitted. "The angle needs to be perfect to assure accuracy."
The Champion did just that without any protest.
Naturally, this pair of glasses was Nick's new method of transmitting images.
He had essentially turned a pair of glasses into a Greater Relay, but instead of showing his appearance, the glasses transmitted what Nick wanted them to see. ʀÀＮộ𐌱Ëᶊ
Nick had created a new ability that allowed him to directly interact with the glasses.
In a way, it was like a one-way Greater Relay.
The glasses couldn't transmit anything back since Nick didn't have a receiver for the signal.
Nick would send a signal with his Specter Zephyx, which then was used by the glasses to interpret an image.
These glasses were specifically designed to only accept signals coming from Nick's ability, making it impossible for anyone else to send signals to them.
Due to security reasons, Nick had designed the glasses to be as mechanical as possible.
There was no computer or processor in there.
The Zephyx just went along manipulation lines within the glasses, and based on the Zephyx, different parts of the glass would change color to display an image.
Of course, the outside of the glasses was reflective, essentially hiding the Champion's eyes from everyone.
The Envious Researcher wouldn't be able to see the inside of the glasses.
Nick and the Champion had tested the accuracy of the glasses several times, and as long as they were in the correct position, they were very accurate.
The Champion didn't miss a test attack by more than a millimeter.
However, there were difficulties when it came to rapidly moving targets.
The glasses could only receive signals as quickly as Nick could send them.
The Envious Researcher was much more powerful than Nick, and if it moved rapidly, Nick's senses would fall behind, essentially sending an outdated image to the Champion.
Because of that, Nick had to predict the target's potential paths.
The spot where it currently was, according to Nick's sense, was colored with a deep red, and its potential trajectory was colored in a lighter red.
There was still a good chance that they might mess up due to Nick's weakness.
But this was the best shot they had at killing the Envious Researcher.
For several minutes, everyone waited.
And then…
Nick felt it.
'It's here!'
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