36 Recovery and Lollipop
Adam, Nera, Katrin, and Mark successfully climbed into the fighter and left Desolate Forest as fast as possible.
Naturally, Damien was here as well. In front of him, on the table was a massive azure crystal - the only thing left of the Azure Salamander, as it was the most valuable part.
"We are approaching the citadel. We will arrive in ten minutes." The pilot said calmly as his voice spread throughout the fighter via the speakers.
"Alright! Soon, we'll be home, and this long day will be over!" Damien waved his hand, sitting relaxed in his chair with his legs draped over the table.
"Excuse me..."
Katrin timidly approached him, which wasn't like her at all. Usually, she acted much more confident and even cocky.
"Hmm? You need something hottie?" Damien smirked, directing his gaze from her face to her bosom.
'Naughty...' Beth muttered.
Katrin nodded.
"Yeah, I wanted to thank you for your help. Without you, we would have died!" Katrin bowed low, she sounded more than sincere.
Damien shrugged his shoulders.
"You don't have to thank me. I was going to booze tonight and spend the night in the company of lovely ladies, but you've given me a much more interesting time!"
"Mr. Damien... Pardon my rudeness, but didn't you only fight the monster for one minute?" Mark asked, scratching the back of his head.
Damien smirked.
"Rookie, sometimes even one second can be so important that your whole life is decided! Adam, am I saying this right?" Damien glanced at Adam, who was half asleep sitting in the corner.
He was very tired, more than the others, also he was badly hurt, especially his broken arm.
"Agh...? One second can decide a life...?" Adam mumbled slurred, "Yeah, I guess I'd agree with that."
Damien only smiled silently, putting on his sleep mask with a light slap.
"That's it, go sit somewhere out of the way." Damien waved his hand like an annoying fly away, turning to Katrin, "Your selfish intentions are as obvious as the fact that you need a shower. You stink."
Katrin blushed with embarrassment and shame, but she didn't fight with Damien, she had no right to.
Adam was falling asleep, and lastly, he glanced at Damien, who cast a curious glance at him. It seemed that their brief acquaintance would not end there.
...
The fighter descended, everyone was asleep, not just Adam. Damien was the only one who remained awake because for him it was nothing more than entertainment.
A group of military officers and medics met them and immediately sent them for medical examination. No one woke them up, instead, they were injected with sleeping pills and a dose of vitamins.
Among the military, there were several Harvesters that took the azure crystal, relating it to the research department.
On the way out of the fighter aircraft, a relaxed Damien was met by Layla - the woman who wanted to fight Adam in the forge.
"Would you like to talk? I think we have a lot to discuss." Layla offered casting a glance at Adam, the doctors carrying him away.
"Oh, I thought you were going to invite me to your place for the night. I wouldn't say no, you know?" Damien smirked.
...
Layla and Damien stood on the Citadel wall, overlooking a vast wasteland lit only by a lonely moon. The cold wind blew against them like a mute companion ready to overhear their conversation.
"Looks like you made it through without a problem, as usual." Layla waved her hand.
Damien shrugged.
"Yeah... but I'll be honest if he hadn't been among the missing, I wouldn't have pushed things so aggressively," Damien smirked.
"Sure. Naturalborn Phantoms have been showing up less and less lately. Not everyone in high places agrees with this intention of the government, but honestly, it is the right decision." Layla nodded with a slight uncertainty in her gaze.
Damien sighed.
"It's simple, I can see why they do it."
"Hmm?" Layla gave him a questioning look.
"They want to bet on quantity over quality since we already have quality. It's much more effective to make ten Artificialborn Phantoms than to send them to fight a monster 1 vs. 1. If 10% of them can win, it's already a success. Moreover, quantity is already a quality in itself. Ten Artificialborn Phantoms can definitely handle one Naturalborn One."
Damien replied while looking at a few silhouettes in the distance. They were the squads of Phantoms that had taken over the night missions.
Layla sighed heavily, scratching her forearm awkwardly.
"You say that... but if you had the power to change that, would you make your Phantom path different? I mean, would you change the beginning?"
"You know the answer to that." Damien shrugged nonchalantly, "If you've been through the ordeal of life, the real hell, there's no way you'd want to erase that event from your history because it's your greatest victory - the victory that became the sprout of your future self."
Layla didn't answer anything, she just bit her lip with a deep, thoughtful look.
"By the way... I heard that the development department has come up with something really interesting. You were the first to try out the exoskeleton, so maybe, soon, Naturalborn Phantoms will be a lot more." Damien said with a slight smile.
"Pffft!"
Layla snorted as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"That young man, Adam, he wouldn't even fight me even though I did my best to do so! He said he doesn't fight humans! Damn him!"
"Hahahahahahaha! Yeah, I heard that, not a bad line, by the way... what about my guess?" Damien's gaze became sharper, "With an exoskeleton, it's really possible to kill a monster and become a Naturalborn Phantom?"
Layla sighed heavily.
"No one knows yet. The exoskeleton that I tested a couple of days ago was the first one. Right now, it's being tested and upgraded, nothing more. It will take a lot more time and experimentation to find out about the possibility of becoming a Naturalborn Phantom. I'm sure it won't be as easy as we'd like it to be."
"Hah, yeah, it looks that way." Damien shook his head, then he smiled widely, looking predatorily at Layla.
"So? How about we brighten this night with each other after all? Military women are my weakness, you know that."
"Agh, you're lucky I like strong men."
"Hahaha, that's me!"
...
Adam opened his eyes.
It had been a little over twenty-four hours since they had gotten back, the fatigue and sleeping pills had played their part.
However, he was not on a bed with a white sheet but immersed in a green liquid inside a special medical pod.
In the end, besides the many bruises and scratches, he had one major injury: a fracture. However, a few muscles were badly stretched, on the verge of tearing, and that also needed a long treatment.
A normal person with a fracture would have to wait a month or more for the wound to heal, but it was different for Phantoms.
Turning around, he saw a girl with long purple hair tied back in a ponytail. She was monitoring his vitals on a tablet. She was sucking on a lollipop, moving it from one side to the other with a thoughtful look.
"Hmm? Awake? An hour earlier than I expected. Well, all the better." The girl shrugged, opening the pod and letting Adam step outside.
He came out completely naked, he didn't realize it since he was in mild shock.
The girl looked down at him, stopping her gaze on his face and just below his waist, longer than she should have.
"My name is Jena, I'm your doctor, but it's not that important. I have a question for you." Jena uttered, pulling a lollipop out of her mouth and pointing it at Adam.
"What...? Sure, ask."
"Will you be my lover?"
