Nick captured ten more biologists and people who had been working for local hospitals.
Not every city had one of the Merchant's hospitals, which meant these cities had to create their own medicine.
Meanwhile, Ghosty unveiled the program to improve mental health to everyone in the research base.
It didn't go well.
Some people were angry since they were working while others would get to relax.
Some people didn't like the ethical implications of introducing mind alteration. They said that this could become a slippery slope.
What if it didn't work well enough? Would they create something to control their minds?
They were still human, and they wouldn't give up their control over their minds!
Others felt offended since this introduction was like telling them that they were weak.
In their minds, Ghosty was treating them like children.
However, Ghosty had a strong counter.
Any single person could blow this entire operation.
If even one person said the Sentence, every single one of them would die.
This meant that Ghosty had to respect everyone's opinion.
If they pushed too hard, just one person could ruin everything.
While Ghosty told them what to do, he couldn't force them.
After all, every single member had the power to indirectly kill him.
Then, he openly talked about the possibility of one of them cracking.
Not everyone was mentally strong.
Were they willing to put their lives into the hands of somebody who was so afraid that they would lose control over their emotions?
Lastly, Ghosty said that this would only be a temporary solution.
They were working on a way to isolate the calming component without otherwise compromising the mind.
But then, someone highlighted the issue of dependency.
What if somebody couldn't live without this anymore? That would make them dependent on this medication,and if something ever happened to this medication, the problems would be even worse. ℞𝙖NÓＢĚs̩
The talks continued for a long time, and in the end, everyone took a wait-and-see approach.
They would try it, but if they were not happy with how things developed, they would voice their disagreements again.
As time passed, the herb was introduced in its current form.
Yet, not a single person took it.
The reason was shame.
The strong people didn't need it, and anyone who might need it would definitely be shamed.
Giving the herb in secret was also not possible since the effects couldn't be hidden in front of so many brilliant minds.
However, all of this still had a positive aspect to it.
Hope.
While the solution was not in front of them yet, the weaker people could see that someone was working on it.
This gave them hope.
If they could really isolate the effect and turn it into a pill, the weaker people could secretly ingest it.
They would still be able to work, and they would feel better.
Just because the solution didn't work right now didn't mean that it won't work in the future.
Time was on their side.
Nick saw that he wasn't needed here anymore.
The Late Veteran had calmed down quite a bit since there was now a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
So, Nick returned to the suppressed Adversary and resumed his studies.
For the next ten years, Nick kept focusing on Zephyx Manipulation and Star Energy.
The knowledge the Adversary was sharing was incredibly advanced by this point, but Nick still didn't have any issues following.
While listening to it, Nick also kept working on his new ability, but it would still take a long time to be useful.
When the ten years were up, Nick returned to the underground research base.
Things had changed a little bit.
The new additions of people who had worked in a hospital had done a lot to weaken the resistance to letting people get help.
The researchers also made progress when it came to isolating the component.
Through a clever trick, Ghosty managed to bring the medication to the people who needed it.
Testing.
They needed volunteers to test the medication.
These people would get one day off per week but had to take the medication during that day and report the effects.
Since this was just mandatory testing, most people didn't complain.
After all, testing was necessary during research.
The Star Energy generator had also shrunk to an even smaller size.
"That should be enough," Ghosty told Nick as he looked at the newest notes. "We should be able to make a transportable generator with this. Give us ten years or so, and we will have it ready."
When Nick heard that, a bit of his anxiety vanished.
Finally, they got there.
In ten years, the generator would be small enough for the Seeds.
Now, they just needed some Pure Energy.
With the Pure Energy, they would be able to access the Seeds.
After talking with Ghosty for a bit, Nick looked at Aria.
Right now, Aria was in the dark laboratory with almost everyone else.
A couple of months ago, she had advanced.
She was the first Protector of the secret research base.
There was also something else that had changed.
The leadership was undergoing a change.
While Ghosty was essentially still the most senior member of the entire base, he was no longer truly the leader.
He was more focusing on research now instead of leading the teams.
Since everyone was working so closely together, the concept of leadership was not as strict as outside.
Everyone was part of the same team, and the team decided whom they wanted to follow.
In a way, Aria was in charge of security.
Whenever anything involved Specters, she had the final say.
However, when it came to research, someone new was rapidly becoming the person of trust for everyone.
Samar Melfion.
Samar had learned so much in so little time that it was scary.
She was brilliant.
Her ideas and methods were often unconventional, but their results couldn't be denied.
She changed many of the established norms with her bold ideas, and people started to ask her for feedback.
She gave her feedback freely and honestly, and the people realized that, more often than not, her feedback helped them.
Samar was not officially leading any of the two research teams, but the two teams and their respective official leaders kept asking for her opinion on things.
She also very often acted as a mediator and communicator between the two teams since she had been involved in both.
People saw Ghosty as a more experienced colleague than a leader now.
And Ghosty couldn't be happier about this change.
He was a researcher at heart.
He didn't enjoy leading people.
He just wanted to stay in his lab and uncover the mysteries of the world.
The new generation had taken over.
Samar was the unofficial leader of the research base, while Aria was essentially the general.
Samar was the CEO, and Aria was the CZE.
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