'Fuck…' Zara cursed as she bit her fingers nervously. 'There was nothing that linked me to the incident.' The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became.
'Maybe I overreacted and that was not what he meant!' Unfortunately, she panicked and acted without a second thought. 'There's only one option left for me.'
Soon, her space vessel exited the hyperspace as Zara quickly took off towards the hidden location where her private forces were stationed.
Just like the previous one Alex was held in, this location was hidden in an artificially created space fold.
The technology used in making this possible was not publicly available. As such, anyone bypassing the area might assume it was a veiled space.
"Jason!" Zara called out the moment she made it in. "Prepare for the procedure. We don't have much time!"
Jason, along with other powerful hunters at his level were monitoring the many trials ongoing with the A-cells.
After many months of research, they have been able to come up with a way to transplant those cells to other people without them falling apart from the void energy.
Even then, it wasn't 100% safe as some of the 'volunteers' developed strange mutations from the integration.
They weren't sure what was causing it, but the effects diminished drastically when the volunteers were at a higher level.
But one thing was certain: all those who survived had an exponential increase in power. Additionally, they gained the abilities the cells carried-- light was expected but then they couldn't understand how Alex had flames too.
Jason turned around to see Zara rush to his side. He was confused about the rush, however, he knew not to waste time. With a slight bow, he went ahead to get the chamber ready.
'The only ready for her to be this worked up was if Alexander found out.' Jason deduced calmly. 'But the procedure isn't quite ready.'
Unfortunately, as Zara had exclaimed, they didn't have much time. It was now or never.
As Jason and the others prepared for the procedure, Zara went to the monitoring and defence teams to instruct them to be on the lookout for Alexander.
"And charge the cannons…"
She knew this measure was useless against Alex, but anything was better than nothing. 'At the very least, it should slow him down. A few extra seconds could go a long way…'
Sometime later, Jason returned and said, "Everything is ready. We can begin now."
Zara nodded and walked ahead while Jason and the others followed behind. Some would have wished to refrain from integrating with the A-cells, but Zara made it clear they were all undergoing the procedure.
"Lady Zara," The researcher in charge of the procedure gave a polite bow along with his team. "Everything is ready for you." The man gestured towards the many pods filled with a green-looking liquid.
The man was already told not to attempt to dissuade the lady from doing what she came here to do. All he had to do was make sure every went smoothly.
"How long will this take?" Zara inquired, jer gaze focused on the pods.
"About five minutes, my lady." The researcher replied. "Depending on the person, the duration can decrease."
"Mm," Zara nodded. She knew the procedure wasn't ready, but she didn't have time for safety checks. 'Hopefully, the mutations aren't too great.'
Once they all lay in their pods, the researcher gestured for his team to begin the process. Zara closed her eyes as she felt the cold liquid over her skin.
The tubes in the pods connected to the bodies of the hunters and they had to relax their skin to allow for penetration. Once inside, the researcher gave the order to begin.
'Even if it's not enough to kill that boy, tearing a pound of flesh off his body should be satisfactory.'
...…....
Alex knew exactly what Zara would do the moment he exposed her-- it was a deliberate action, wanting her to lead him to her hidden base.
With his unique resonance with the universe, Alex easily tracked her travel path. 'To think it was this close.'
The hidden base was only a few light years away-- about four to five-star systems from the Sol System. It was a mystery how the place wasn't found until now.
In the quietness of outer space, a location that appeared to be empty and devoid of any matter appeared Alexander dressed in casual clothes made entirely from energy-- a black jacket zipped to the neck with matching pants.
There was no need for specially designed armour as his energies were more than enough to conjure whatever he desired.
Beside him were Julia and the two remaining leaders, donned in their combat suits with cloaks on. To no one's surprise, Julia was fine in the void without her suit's helm.
"Are we in the right place?" Basso asked as he and the others looked around. "There's nothing in in sight."
"That's why it's the perfect hiding spot." Alex relied with his gaze forward, focused on a particular spot in the void. "There's a hidden space fold a few million kilometres ahead."
Under his gaze, nothing was hidden from him. 'So they really did it.' Alex mused silently, watching as the woman and a few familiar faces lay in pods with tubes connected to their bodies.
"Stay close."
Alex flew forward, maintaining a speed Julia could keep up with. Again, to no one's surprise, her connection with Alex had exponentially increased her power level, pushing her to the peak of Class D, soon to break through to Class C.
Sometime later, Alex tore through the fold, exposing the large facility floating in the centre. It was a spherical vessel in the shape of a doughnut, large enough to house millions of people with ease.
"Zara is prepared for us," Alex stated. "Don't make any moves, I'll take care of everything."
As soon as he ended his words, his companions noticed the base hum to life, cannons appearing from its sides. All the weapons were pointed at them.
"She can't be serious, right?" Jaseph muttered in disbelief. "She should know this is pointless."
"Oh, she knows…" Basso scoffed with a head shake. "She intends to buy as much time as possible for whatever she's doing in there."
"Well, she didn't have to." Alex shrugged. "To make her understand the foolishness of her ways, I'll give her all the time she needs. For now, a show is in order…"
Alex floated forward under the proud smile of Julia and the raised brows of the leaders. They couldn't believe how casual Alex was being right now…