Ghosty remained still for several seconds.
"Are you serious?" he spoke out loud.
The others looked at Ghosty.
"Yes, I am," Nick answered. "I saw it die myself. I am 99% certain it is dead."
"How?" Ghosty asked.
"I'm good at sensing Specters, as you know. The Champion of Light is very powerful. I told the Champion where it was, and he killed it. Simple as that."
The Champion!
Yes, if the Champion could see the Envious Researcher, he could probably kill it!
Yet, it was still difficult for Ghosty to believe it.
"How do you think I got this huge file?" Nick transmitted. "The Technician knows the danger of the Envious Researcher, and he wouldn't distribute all of his knowledge if he weren't sure that it's dead."
"It is dead."
"You may share all you know with each other. You don't need to work in separate teams anymore."
"However, it is still important that you stay out of any source of light."
Ghosty took a deep breath.
He looked at his saved files and deleted almost all of his own notes.
"Send it to me," Ghosty told Michael.
Michael sent the file, and Ghosty looked at it.
It was so difficult to believe.
But here it was.
All of the Technician's knowledge.
It wasn't curated yet since the Technician was still in the process of trimming it down, but it was there.
It was too good to be true.
"You have to hurry up now," Nick transmitted. "Humanity will be hot on your heels in terms of technological progress. You need to make the Star Energy Generator as small as possible so that we can access the Seeds and research Pure Energy." ṝ𝐀ΝοＢĘś
"Humanity's technology will be progressing much faster now. I will do my best to keep them from involving themselves too much with Star Energy, but they will get there eventually."
"Our secret achievements of technology must remain centuries ahead of what humanity publicly has access to. Otherwise,the surprise effect will be lost, and the enemy will be prepared."
Ghosty felt a mix of relief and pressure on his shoulder.
He was glad that he could finally share his knowledge openly, but he also needed to stay ahead of humanity when it came to Star Energy.
"I understand," Ghosty transmitted. "We will do our best."
"I will be getting you new members as soon as possible," Nick transmitted.
"With the Envious Researcher dead, the more we are, the better," Ghosty transmitted back.
Meanwhile, the file had made its rounds amongst the researchers, and they were all busy reading.
"We are going to need a lot more Zephyx," Hirana commented as she read the Flexinator files.
"I'll get you some Specters as well," Nick transmitted to Ghosty.
"Sorry to put all the work on your shoulders," Ghosty answered.
"We are all on the same team," Nick answered.
Then, Nick left the secret research base.
He said that he would need several years to read through the file.
It would be strange if he showed up at Aegis' headquarters again just a couple of minutes after departing.
'I should get some good Specters first.'
Nick turned into a random Specter and traversed the vast wasteland.
The number of Hatchlings had increased drastically.
While almost all of them were below the surface, the wasteland was practically overflowing with them now.
The Envious Researcher's death had a huge impact.
Most likely, the born Hatchlings would increase humanity's suffering, and Nick would be partially responsible for that.
'The Zephyx I produce will not be as much as when a Corruptor died, but it will not be insignificant.'
'The four traitors are also still producing Zephyx. Seems like none of them died.'
'Based on my current speed of Zephyx production, I will advance within something like 50 years.'
'For now, I can't increase the suffering. I need to chase quality over quantity, and I shouldn't do anything conspicuous for a while.Death is still paying attention to the Great Triangle, and Aegis thinks I'm off-duty.'
'20 years of free time is not too much to ask. I can work on my Zephyx production after those are up.'
'My focus should be on the secret team of researchers.'
'They need all the help they can get.'
'They need humans, and they need Specters.'
'Just getting more Specters won't do much since they can only produce so much Zephyx without cannibalizing their research progress.'
However, Nick rapidly found a solution to the issue.
'We are not talking about years anymore. This entire project will continue for decades if not centuries.'
'I need to plan for the long term.'
Nick continued flying through the wasteland.
He saw many Specters, but none of them were very useful.
He needed a powerful Demon that was easy to work with.
It took Nick almost four days, but he found a fitting one.
It was a small red rose growing in the middle of the wilderness.
It looked rather harmless, but it was terrifyingly powerful.
While it looked unintelligent, it was actually very much sentient.
Additionally, it could move.
The actual Specter was a knot of roots and thorns below the rose.
The Specter grew more powerful by consuming blood, which it did by just eating any Extractor it found.
On the surface, it had the presence of a Mid Fanatic, but in truth, it was a Late Demon.
Nick took on the guise of a special Agent and rapidly suppressed the plant.
After putting it into one of his special Containment Units, Nick brought it to the researchers.
They quickly made a Containment Unit that could contain a Demon, and Nick put the rose into that one, freeing up his Containment Unit again.
The Containment Units he had received from the Technician were for Fallen, and using one to suppress a Demon would be a waste.
With the rose, the researchers had enough Zephyx for now. Working with the rose would be very easy.
Nick also made sure to tell the rose that it was not allowed to kill anyone.
As long as it left the humans alive, it would never run out of blood.
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