'Strange… You'd expect him to do everything possible to try and escape. Instead, he just closed his eyes like he's accepted his fate.' Dr. Venley observed Alex's vitals, not seeing anything different or any attempt to circulate energies.
'Well, in due time,' he shrugged and continued his research. He motioned to his team to begin studies on his blood.
"Get some of his stem cells as well…"
"Yes, sir."
Alex heard everything they were discussing and showed no reactions after his first outburst. There was no point in pleading his case to a bunch of people who had already made up their minds.
'They're after the power of the void. Are people that power hungry or is it something that I am missing?' Alex wasn't entirely sure.
Slowly, time passed as the researchers continued to study Alex's body and cells. He wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed as the researchers barely took breaks. As awakened themselves, they could go on for days without rest and have no issues at all.
But from his own estimates, he would say quite a few days had passed. And during one of those days when Alex 'slept', Jason came to pay a visit.
"Ah… Lord Jason," Dr. Venley welcomed his patron and Alex's eyes snapped open the moment he heard that name.
His abrupt actions caused the fluid in the stasis pod to ripple violently, prompting the researchers to flinch.
"Whoa…! He hasn't done that in days. Are you sure the drug is being injected on time?" Dr. Venley turned to his team with nervous eyes.
After many days of research, they had a bit of progress they wanted to share with their lord, and the doc couldn't afford any mishaps.
"Yes, doc. All is in order…"
Jason stepped closer to the pod and stared Alex directly in the eyes, unaffected by his piercing gaze or attempts to invoke a response; he simply looked at Alex expressionlessly.
"You fucking bastard… I'll kill you myself" Alex hissed in rage, but the man remained cool and collected.
"What have you learned so far?" Instead, Jason went ahead to hear from his researchers, not paying any mind to Alex's words.
"Right…" A display popped before him and he began his explanation. "So far, we've discovered that Alex's body is different compared to other Rank A awakened. His body continues to get stronger every day, a remarkable discovery."
Jason raised an eyebrow at those words. His own divine sense showed him exactly what was happening in Alex's body, and only he and other Class S hunters knew about that-- the secret of the S-Class.
And it was only a matter of time before the researchers made the connection.
"His body tissues, organs and cells are infused with so much mana it's frightening. And his mana organelles are something else entirely." Dr. Venley's expression turned excited.
"They seem to have evolved into some kind of rotating vortexes that siphon the surrounding energies."
Jason nodded, already expecting that much. 'He already has what made Class S hunters Class S…. But his vortexes increase his strength every day. That means he is stronger today than he was the day we captured him.'
"His regeneration, metabolism and other life processes are extremely efficient and are able to neutralize basically everything thrown at him." The doctor continued.
"He is adapting, sir. And if we weren't adjusting the concentrations of the drug we're injecting into him, he would have already been immune."
Alex looked at the doctor after he said those words and this got him thinking, 'So, that's why I have been feeling like my strength was coming back to me.'
"We studied the cells of his body and found out they all gave off traces of void energy. Alexander's cells or as we dubbed it—the A-cells, have remarkable properties."
"It virtually makes everything possible. It accepted whatever we injected into it and adapted. However, the infusion of the void energy within made it difficult for cell transplantation."
Jason turned to the doctor with raised eyebrows, and Alex the same.
"Sory. What I am saying is the A-cells kill any other organism we try to transplant the cells into. All our mouse models were killed on the first attempt." The doctor said with a grim tone.
With the kind of technology they had, it was but a simple issue to eliminate the issues brought about by cell-cell recognition.
"Are you saying it's impossible?" Jason asked for clarity. Their entire premise was to have the chance of using the same energy as Alex and if that failed, didn't that mean the entire plan was a burst?
"Of course not, sir. While the process is difficult now, it's not impossible. This is unchartered territory and any meaningful discoveries would take time. And we believe those cells are the keys to getting what you want."
"You're not being paid to tell me stories and beliefs, doctor. Just results." Jason said in a flat tone.
"Of course," Dr. Venley gave a curt nod and went on to explain the other thing they discovered. "In Alex's body is another thing that is impossible to study: The main vortex located in his solar plexus."
Jason turned back to Alex who returned the gaze with a glare. He also noticed that core, but unlike the mana ones, this one was entirely void energy and his divine senses couldn't do anything about it.
He once attempted to look inside and was surprised to find out that the core devoured his energies before they even had a chance to understand what was happening.
Basically, it was a no-go area.
Even then, Jason could tell, 'The amount of void energy in there is frightening! If he gets the chance to unleash that…' He gulped secretly.
"Nothing." Dr. Venley stated.
"What?" Jason turned to face the researcher. "What do you mean nothing?"
"Exactly what I mean, sir. None of our techs are able to study the core without its signals being devoured. The only we know is that the core is the source of his void energy."
"…"
Jason had no words to say to that as he knew very well what they meant. He turned to Alex once more and this time, the kid had a smug grin on his face.
"Forward some samples of the A-Cells to me…" He stated and then turned to leave. Alex watched him go in silence as he pondered on what to do with the new information.
"Of course."