566-570

Chapter 566: Superpower Combative Police

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In time, urban legends and myths of superpower users began spreading online.

People shared details of a recent bank robbery where the robber effortlessly shattered the tempered glass inside the bank merely by a wave of his hand. With that, the robber managed to get away with almost a hundred thousand dollars in tow.

There were also tales of a confrontation on a highway between a drunken redneck and a common office worker. It was said that the office worker managed to fling the redneck into a truck without so much as lifting a finger.

Someone told of their recent encounter where they saw someone leaping off the fifth floor of an apartment and landing on the ground unscathed. Then, the person simply walked away as if nothing extraordinary had happened...

Countless similar tales of otherworldly powers began to circulate online, some incidents backed with video evidence. As usual, there was a fair share of doubters, but even these doubters soon came to be convinced of these occurrences as the evidence supporting these tales began to pile up.

Two months later, while these online discussions were still gaining steady traction, Blacklight Biotechnology made a sudden announcement without any prior lead-up. Their biological department had once again achieved a breakthrough in stem cell induction technology and achieved a technology that people have only dared dream of until that point —

Stem cell organs cultivation!

The reveal of this technology caused a humongous uproar almost instantly.

It was always said that the human body was a mysterious device. The human body was akin to a gift from God to mankind and even with Blacklight BIotechnology's sophisticated study on human biotechnology, they had never been able to produce independent human organs.

This was how bionic technology emerged in the first place. Mechanical bionic parts were used to substitute organic organs and made up for a human's range of disabilities that stemmed from organ dysfunction.

Despite this marvelous invention, it was widely regarded that bionic technology would never be a complete, perfect substitute for organic organs.

However, history would be rewritten on this fateful day as Blacklight Biotechnology had once again achieved a never-seen-before breakthrough in the scientific field. They had successfully accomplished the recreation of independent human organs...

From here on, even with the most gruesome injuries that entailed decapitation of the arms or legs, humans would be able to resort to using stem cell technology to generate a new limb and transplant it to the disabled member. This was the same for people who suffered from critical failure of organs such as the heart, liver or lungs. Gone were the days where their life depended on the slimmer of chance where they could find a suitable organ donor since stem cell technology could be used to produce the required organs to save their lives.

This was the power of revolutionary technology. Whether it was a physical disability or a cardiopulmonary disability, this technology could be utilized accordingly to serve as a cure. The only shortcoming at the moment was the cost of these procedures which made it difficult to be directly implemented in the entire medical field.

With that said, the emergence of this technology was more than enough to ignite the burning flames of hope in those who suffered from disabilities and waiting for a lifeline.

Furthermore, it was also announced that Blacklight Biotechnology's branch of bionic police that was scattered all across the world would be the first group of people entitled to a free organ restoration program. After their year-long sacrifice fighting for the good of mankind, it was only right that these noble heroes would be rewarded with another chance at a normal life!

The world celebrated the news delivered by Blacklight Biotechnology, enthused by the exciting future waiting for all of mankind.

...

Meanwhile, Chen Chen stood in front of a giant screen. There were three figures shown on the display.

All three figures were in a comatose state and lying on operation tables. They were surrounded by a large crew of medical staff who were deeply focused on the operation.

At this point, the world could not be any more familiar with the faces of the three men lying on the operation table. They were none other than the members of the world-famous superhero squad – the BHB Bionic Combative Police Force!

Chen Chen nodded up and down contemplatively as he watched over the operation.

In truth, the "stem cell organ cultivation technology" had been developed for quite some time by this point.

It had been finalized as early as four to five years ago in Blacklight Biotechnology's Spire Experimental Base, inspired by the technology extracted from the other dimensions.

Furthermore, this technology was one of the key components of the "Mankind Anti-aging Project".

Chen Chen had once put it this way for the other members in God's Forbidden Zone, that the growth of mankind as we knew it was limited by a certain "ceiling". The purpose of the "Mankind Anti-aging Project" was to raise the ceiling, but the problem was that the "floor" of mankind remained unchanged. Even if the human lifespan was increased, it would not have a great effect on accelerating the growth of mankind. The only way to do this was to raise the floor of mankind and by doing so, continue raising the average life expectancy.

To accommodate the "stem-cell age reversal treatment" project, Chen Chen deployed additional cancer and Alzheimer's disease treatment projects as well as the "cloned organ transplantation".

At that time, Blacklight Biotechnology had yet to develop independent organ cultivation technology. In that duration, the use of cloned organs was used as a substitute. This was achieved by using a cloned person as a template to extract the required organs.

The emergence of "stem-cell organ cultivation technology" had effectively rendered the outdated organ cloning technique redundant.

The only reason Chen Chen held off on publicizing this technology four to five years ago was that it just happened to coincide with the peak usage of "Project Xingtian" bionic technology. Announcing this technology ahead of time would result in a significant loss of revenue since it would cause the effective value of the "Project Xingtian" to plummet.

Fast forward several years later, Chen Chen had achieved his original goal with the "Project Xingtian". Using the BHB bionic police force, he had successfully marketed the XTN robots on an international scale and shaped a stable military industry chain.

Additionally, many disabled people all over the world had gotten their hands on Blacklight Biotechnology's bionic implementations. This meant that "Project Xingtian" was an unqualified success.

The natural progression from here on was to move on to the "stem-cell organ cultivation technology".

This progression would act as another cornerstone to the "Mankind Anti-aging Project" and further extend the human lifespan.

The already established bionic combative police force under Blacklight Biotechnology was the perfect advertisement for this new technology. News of these combative police members that were household names at this point having their missing limbs restored organically would enhance the image of the new product.

Furthermore, Chen Chen had already incorporated the L compound into his long-term laid-out plans. The bionic police with their limbs and organs restored would soon be the recipients of the L compound and become transformed and upgraded into superpower combative police.

The "stem-cell organ cultivation technology" would be pushed to the general public while the L compound was simultaneously rolled out to the elite circles of the Earth Federation. This way, the existence of superpower users would be revealed in a natural order.

With this plan, Chen Chen could kill three birds with one stone.

...

Lane slowly awoke from his comatose state.

The moment he opened his eyes, his world was invaded by a piercing ray of light that immediately made him wince.

Lane quickly thought of why he was put into a comatose state in the first place. He sat up and was caught off guard by a strange, unfamiliar sensation that crept up to him from his legs.

It was an odd sensation that could almost be described as nostalgic, like sniffing the air from his childhood. Lane felt his heart skip a beat as he quickly lifted off the pale white sheets covering his body. The location where he was used to seeing the sight of an unnatural emptiness below his knees was now replaced by two all-too-familiar limbs.

They were two perfectly functional legs. They looked so natural that it seemed as if he had them attached under his knees his entire life without realizing it somehow...

There were two faint scars around the joints of the legs.

Lane did not know what sort of magical wonder Blackwatch exercised on him this time. All he knew was what was presented as clear as the day in front of him and that was the functional legs attached to the lower half of his body.

"You're awake."

Several doctors with medical sheets entered the ward. The leading doctor wearing gold-framed glasses smiled at Lane and brought the good news. "Congratulations, Lane, your legs have been restored. The nerve conduction has been reconnected to the joints in your legs. You should be able to stand up without any assistance after a short period of training."

"Is, is that true?"

Lane's lips shivered with excitement. He could barely string a sentence together because he was so overwhelmed with joy. His eyes formed pools of tears that drowned out his vision.

After a while, when the doctors had completed their inspection and prepared to give Lane some privacy, he asked them, "Hold on doctor, how long have I been asleep?"

Lane was curious how long it took for them to complete this miraculous operation.

"You've only been asleep for three days."

The doctor with the gold-framed glasses smiled and said, "We've injected a three-day dose of tranquilizer into you to prevent any unanticipated damage done by abrupt movements performed shortly after the operation was complete."

"Is three days all it takes?"

Lane was awed by this revelation.

"It's not all too surprising, especially considering that you're an extremely esteemed member of Blackwatch and we want to ensure the highest quality of operation for you."

Another doctor noticed Lane's amusement and chuckled as he mentioned, "By this point, you of all people should know just what Blackwatch is capable of. By the way, you don't have to worry about the bill at all."

"Hahahaha..."

Sensing Lane's perplexity, the team of doctors shared a merry laugh between themselves.

"Thank you, everyone, help me give my thanks to the great Blackwatch!"

Lane thanked them solemnly.

After the doctors finally left, Lane tried to start by carefully moving his toes. He watched with a childlike delight as the round toes at the end of his feet started wiggling around nimbly.

"It's a miracle..."

Lane smiled cheerfully. The last time he could remember himself being this happy was before he betrayed his previous comrades. He could still remember all the nightmares that plagued him every night since then. He only managed to find peace of mind after avenging his family and killing Brooke.

"Kraken... Wildfire... Digit..."

Lane silently summoned these familiar names from his lips and recalled their familiar faces in his mind. His eyes glowed with a firm determination. "I'm not like you guys. All you guys ever wanted was to take down Blackwatch, but the only thing I have ever wanted was revenge..."

While the deep remorse in Lane's mind was slowly drowned out by the bliss of having his legs restored, he heard sounds of footsteps slowly approaching his room. He could tell from the frequency of the footsteps that there were a lot of people approaching.

Shortly after that, he saw his agent, Austin, stepping in through the door, accompanied by the supervisor, Liu Zhijian.

However, Lane also saw several unfamiliar faces this time. Entering the ward with the superiors of the Bionic Combative Police Department were several people dressed in black suits that exuded an intimidating aura.

"Manager Liu, Miss Austin..."

Lane muttered blankly.

Austin looked into Lane's eyes and blinked several times while discretely pointing a finger behind her. Manager Liu also proceeded to look back as well shortly after entering.

Lane followed Manager Liu's gaze and saw the men in black forming two rows along both sides of the doorway in one swift motion. Immediately after that, a tall woman with a cold and imposing temperament strode in confidently. The sheer weight of her presence easily overpowered that of all the agents in suits combined.

"It, it's you!"

Lane exclaimed. There was no way he would ever forget about this woman. It was the B.S.S. agent that came to clean up the scene on the night that he killed Brooke!

"Pedro Lane."

The fierce B.S.S. agent had very minimal make-up on. She glared icily in Lane's direction. "I'm here as a representative for Blackwatch to sign a new agreement with you."

"New agreement?"

Lane immediately darted his eyes at Manager Liu. "Haven't I already signed an agreement with Manager Liu in the past?"

"Ahem!"

Liu Zhijian coughed shortly. "Lane, I'm sure you realize that now that your disability has been cured, the BHB task force can no longer label themselves as 'Bionic Combative Police'. In this vein, the past agreement is effectively voided as well."

"Does this mean I'm not eligible as a member of the BHB Combative Police Force anymore?"

Lane was stunned by this piece of information. This was when he realized how much he adored the attention that came with being a superhero icon. The sudden news of having to quit the BHB Combative Police Force dragged his mood to an unforeseen low.

"Of course not."

Austin immediately followed up with a quick smile. "Lane, the company would be making a mistake to fire an efficient officer like you. It's just that there had to be some slight changes in the terms of the agreement."

"I see..."

Lane took a breath of relief upon hearing of this. "What are the changes then? Will I still be wearing the combative police armor on missions?"

"Well..."

Austin hesitated her reply and glanced at the B.S.S. agent.

"Lane, this new agreement is completely confidential. I'm not even informed of the exact terms."

Liu Zhijian smiled gently. "Feel free to ask Miss Sarah for further details."

With that, the manager took Austin with him and they left the ward together.

"Miss, Miss Sarah?"

Lane eyes Miss Sarah nervously. Even with all his lengthy military training and accumulated field experience, he could still clearly sense Sarah's heavy aura towering over his own. He had a feeling that even if he got to put on his usual combative police armor, he might still face defeat...

Sarah flicked an eyebrow dismissively and tossed a file on Lane's lap then informed, "Here's the agreement, sign it right away if you don't have any problems with it. Of course, you're free to refuse to sign it, in which case you'll be terminated from Blackwatch effectively immediately. Following regular procedures, you'll be paid a severance fee worth three months of your usual salary."

Lane picked up the file and carefully went over it.

The terms in the first few pages were as standard as they came, consisting of the usual legal terms and jargon. It was by the fifth page when his eyes started to grow widened and filled with disbelief by what he was reading.

"Superpower combative police force? L compound?"

The terms of the agreement clearly stated that the BHB Combative Police Force would be renamed the Superpower Combative Police Force. The police force would comprise three to seven members, all with superpowers. The general operation was the same as previously. The only distinct difference was that the members would no longer be disabled members aided with bionic installations, but so-called superpower users instead.

Should Lane agree with the terms of this agreement, he as a former member of the now-retired BHB Combative Police Force would gain the privilege of receiving what was known as an L compound injection. This substance would grant him superpowers and become an official superpower user!

However, it was not without its risk. The potential side effects of this injection included brain deterioration and in severe cases, death.

Lane felt like someone was playing an awful prank on him as he read through the agreement. Superpowers? He suspected if this was all a fever dream...

Chapter 567: Injection

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A week later.

The trio of Lane, Hodge, and Blake arrived at the Blackwatch's branch building in New York City.

The moment they stepped out of the vehicle, they were swarmed by a crowd of reporters and fans. There were hundreds of them gathered outside the building and the noisy screams of the fans shrilled across the streets of New York.

"Black Panther Blake, I love you!"

"You're the best, Black Panther!"

"Lane! The messenger of justice, Lane!"

"Little Hodge! Little Hodge!"

They screamed endlessly in front of the Blackwatch building. Even Blackwatch's security team was almost drowned out by the pack of rabid fans.

"Hey! Everyone calm down, calm down!"

Confronted by this scene, Blake gathered his feet and hopped onto the roof of the vehicle without hesitation. He waved his hand and put on a cheery smile as he received the excited screams of the fans.

Shortly after the fans had their fill of screaming, they suddenly fell silent. Each one of them stared at Blake in disbelief.

Following the passing of Brooke, Blake was the one who had stepped in to fill the previous captain's role since his personality made him a perfect fit. His popularity rapidly ascended and became the most popular member of the BHB Combative Police Force.

"Are you guys seeing this?"

Blake pulled at the cuff of his pants and presented it to the people, "Whoosh! Take a look at this! Thanks to Blackwatch's advancement, my legs have been restored! I can finally become a normal person!"

"Ahh!!!"

The crowd produced a deafening scream. Among the fans, it was the girls who were especially enthused by this exciting revelation. They wept tears of joy as if their life-long dream had been accomplished.

Below Blake, Hodge and Lane exchanged a glance, communicating their speechlessness at Blake's celebrity display.

The two of them tend to be more reserved and could hardly match their energy level to the always passionate and optimistic Blake.

After that, at the request of the fans and reporters, the trio had their pictures taken and gave short interviews. Another hour went by before they finally managed to retreat into the building.

"Phew, these segments always feel more exhausting than any of the other missions that we're assigned to..."

Hodge said with a quirky smile.

"That's true, I'm drenched in sweat already."

Lane shook his head and expressed. So many years had passed since the BHB Combative Police Force was founded and even Hodge who was once the youngest was inching toward his thirties already. Currently, the youngest member was Lane who was also the most recent member. He was sometimes called Puppy among the fanbase.

"Hahahaha!"

Blake, who was leading them ahead, laughed at this mention. "Tired already? Back in my youth, I'd service more than ten girls a night without complaint. Now that I have healthy pairs of limbs, I think I just might try to challenge my record!"

"..."

Again, the other two could only stare at him wordlessly.

"Then I'm afraid I have bad news for you. I've reported your repeated violations of the agreement to the company and there are plans set to restrict your personal life."

Just as Blake was fantasizing about what was to come for him, the elevator at the end of the corridor opened and a gorgeous lady with fiery red hair and a body like that of a model stepped out. She immediately turned her attention to Blake whose head was lost in his own world.

Blake's smile vanished almost instantly and his entire temperament turned somber.

"Miss Austin."

Lane and Hodge immediately lowered their heads, afraid of stepping out of line before the fierce manager. The only person who ever dared oppose her was the late captain Brooke. The remaining members were terrified of offending her and behaved themselves like students being reprimanded by their teacher.

"Alright, why don't you guys come in."

Austin suddenly shook her head, her harshness melted away like ice on a summer day, calming the trio slightly. "Since you guys have already signed the agreement, why don't we head straight for the rooftop. They have been waiting for you since you arrived outside the building."

"They?"

Lane was shocked. "And where are we going?"

"The international airport."

Austin replied nonchalantly and looked at the trio. "You'll be taking the company's private flight and heading for the Eco Science City."

"Eco Science City!"

First, they took a double take, then Lane exclaimed, "It's the headquarters of Blackwatch!"

"That's right."

Austin confirmed. "The newly developed drug is only stored in the headquarters. You guys will also train there for a certain period before returning to your posts."

"Unbelievable..."

Lane and Hodge exchanged amused glances. Even Blake who was usually arrogant and loud was floored by this notice.

"Miss Austin..."

While the elevator was rising, Hodge opened his mouth and took a moment to collect his courage before asking, "I've seen a lot of reports of tales about the appearance of superpowers on the Internet. It was around this time when we were presented with the new agreement. Could the superpowers the people talked about come from..."

Hodge did not dare to finish his sentence. Everyone knew what he was trying to imply with this remark. They were familiar with just how much Blackwatch was capable of.

"Don't ask questions you know you shouldn't."

Austin remarked briskly and eyed them scrutinizingly. Hodge and Lane immediately felt numbness in their scalp while Blake covered his mouth to hide his reaction.

After sensing their silent reaction, Austin shook her head and noted. "To be honest with you, I don't have many details either since I'm not connected with the core of the organization. Anyway, you guys better refrain from discussing these matters, got it?"

"Got it!"

The trio replied immediately.

After the elevator reached the rooftop, they saw a helicopter parked there. The trio, accompanied by Austin, quickly boarded the helicopter and were taken to the international airport.

Since Austin was the agent of the BHB Combative Police Force, she would also follow the three to the company headquarters.

...

A day later, the BHB members arrived at Walvis Bay International Airport. Upon stepping out of the airport, they found themselves taken by a strange sense of nostalgia.

"Blake and I also came from Namibia. At the time, this airport was just an ordinary, common-sized airport. In just the span of a few years, it has grown into this unrecognizable spectacle..."

Hodge expressed his sentiments.

"That's to be expected since this is the international airport connecting to the company's headquarters."

Lane commented. The three of them had already put on masks and sunglasses to keep a low profile. When they arrived at the airport entrance, they would once again be surprised by what they saw.

There were countless high-rise buildings in the vicinity of the airport. The skyline of the glorious city of Namibia was a delightful spectacle in no way inferior to the world-famous downtown region of New York City.

"Eco Science City..."

Hodge found himself lost in another world upon witnessing this. Growing up in Namibia, he of all people would certainly be familiar with the sight of the city. However, his hometown had transformed into an international metropolis. This incredible transformation simply could not be put into words...

Furthermore, more buildings in the distance were in the midst of construction, some of them only establishing their foundation. There were easily more than a hundred buildings under construction, the development speed was unfathomable.

"This is Eco Science City?"

Lane was just as much enchanted by what he was seeing. He was a member of an organization against Blackwatch so he was familiar with how much the company was capable of. Despite that, he found himself stupefied by how a company could force the world to submit at their feet to achieve such incredible feats.

While they were admiring the city skyline that went on and on, two black cars suddenly approached them. The doors promptly opened and several men in black stepped out. They each had earpieces attached, with wires hooked underneath their shirts.

The leading agent was tall and slender. The trio suddenly placed themselves on guard without noticing it when the agent approached because they could sense the aura of a lurking beast underneath his common appearance.

"This aura surpasses even that of Sarah..."

Lane was especially alert.

"My name is Clark Brando."

The agent stepped forward and raised his hand. An odd symbol could be seen on the thumb on his right palm. It was the logo of two fingertips touching against each other, one was the finger of a man while the other was the finger of a robot.

Austin immediately bowed as a show of respect and greeted politely, "Sir Brando!"

"Are these the ones who will be inducted into God's Forbidden Zone?"

Brando tipped his head courteously at Austin then diverted his attention back to the BHB members.

"Yes, they have signed the agreement and are now eligible candidates for God's Forbidden Zone."

God's Forbidden Zone!

Lane remembered seeing this strange phrase included in the agreement he signed. He only brushed it off, thinking that it was unimportant but now it seemed that his judgment could not be any more wrong than that.

"Alright, come with me."

Brando made a signal and with the permission of Austin, the three entered the designated vehicles and made for the Eco Science City...

Two hours later, the three of them were stripped naked, save for a pair of pants, and lay down in a laboratory in the Blacklight Biotechnology Research Center.

"Since you guys have signed the agreement, that makes us family now."

Brando was in the laboratory with them as well. He looked at the trio who were all hooked up with large machinery. "You've always been members of Blackwatch, but what you may not know is that there's a deeper connected ring in the upper echelons of the company.

"It's the God's Forbidden Zone..."

Brando paced in front of the three of them. "I know you still have some questions, but all you need to know is that God's Forbidden Zone oversees most of the operations of Blackwatch. This means that by joining this organization, you have become a part of the true core of the company. In the future, each of you may be qualified for greater positions in the company."

The three of them lay quietly on the bed and listened to Brando. Lane, of all people, was especially baffled by this revelation. All this time, there was an organization known as God's Forbidden Zone hidden in the deeper sectors of Blackwatch? Who would have thought!

"Hold on, Brando."

Blake, who had held his tongue all this time, suddenly raised a question. "Are we going to be injected with the L compound now?"

"Yes, do you have any questions?"

Brando looked at him.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd stuff a cotton ball or something of that sort in our mouth after injecting anesthesia in us?"

Blake asked, slightly embarrassed.

Brando frowned and smiled darkly. "Anesthesia, I never mentioned that we'd be using anesthesia."

"Not using anesthesia? But that's what I always see in movies."

Blake suddenly became oddly excited. "The evil faction injects anesthesia into the protagonists, then they are out cold. By the time they wake up they find themselves transformed, isn't this how the story usually goes?"

As usual, Lane and Hodge only looked at him in perplexed silence.

Brando only chuckled, completely ignoring these childish remarks. After that, he made a gesture and signaled for three lab personnel in large white lab coats to begin the operation. Each one of them held a blue vial in hand.

"Androids..."

Lane could feel his racing heartbeat. He stared at the Android, his breathing tightening, as the needle was injected into his veins. He heard the sound of air pressure being released and felt the foreign substance flowing into his veins.

"Ow ow, be gentle!"

Blake cried out beside him.

Lane was in no mood for the little games the childish Blake played. He felt his body temperature skyrocketing. It felt as if all the fluid in his body was boiling. His heartbeat, his blood flow, everything in his body accelerated to unnatural levels...

This feeling...

Before Lane could properly register what was happening, a sharp, apprehensive pain took over his body!

"Oh my God!"

All Lane could do was cry out in pain before his conscience was drowned out by the wave of agonizing pain...

Austin suddenly appeared from another corner of the laboratory. She looked at the trio who had fainted almost immediately after the injection and were now twitching occasionally on their beds, then she looked at Brando with her eyes painted in concern. "Sir Brando, are they going to be alright?"

"Even though L compound is a completed product, it's not well optimized just yet."

Brando shook his head. "After injection, there's a fifty percent chance of acquiring superpowers, forty percent chance of it being ineffective, and another ten percent of brain damage or in worse cases, death. This is all written as part of the agreement..."

"It's that bad?"

Austin's expression turned gravely. She looked at the trio who were twitching repeatedly on the medical bed and her concern was growing. "All three of them are prized assets of the company. Any one of them dying would bring monumental losses."

"These odds are as good as it gets."

Brando remarked blankly, "At the end of the day, you and I only have to worry about carrying out our orders. Besides, do you have any idea how much information credit these vials cost in God's Forbidden Zone?"

Austin shook her head.

"Ten thousand!"

Brando answered, "Just ten millimeters of this substance costs ten thousand information credit!"

Austin was floored by this extravagant pricing. As a member of God's Forbidden Zone, she was certainly familiar with how precious information credits are. Ten thousand information credit was directly equivalent to a hundred million U.S. dollars!

Upon hearing this, Austin looked at the trio again, this time with a bewildered look wiping over her previous concerned look. How could a vial of substance be this expensive?

Chapter 568: Changing Times

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

While their attention was occupied with the emergence of superpower users, Chen Chen requested another Lilith Assembly.

During the Lilith Assembly, Chen Chen held up a vial of blue substance for all to see.

"This is the result of your research over the past months?"

They looked at the vial of glowing blue substance with great intrigue. "How did you do it? Was it extracted from the superpower users?"

"To be precise, we extracted it from their blood."

Chen Chen nodded, not displaying the slightest intention of allowing the other members to inspect the drug closer since the assembly was merely held using holographic projection. Even if he gave them the vial, it would just be a holographic projection and would not help any of them obtain a closer look at the substance.

"Our biology department discovered a specific component in their blood that we've since named as the 'L factor'. We used this extracted L factor to create what is now known as the L compound."

Chen Chen stated surely and confidently, "After conducting a series of experiments, we've concluded that there's a ten percent chance that the injection of this substance would grant the user superpowers. Truthfully, the odds aren't optimistic but if successful, the person will obtain powers similar to that of the Consciousness Stealer..."

With that, Chen Chen played a particular experiment footage for the assembly to see. The shown footage included the series of tests they conducted on the Delta-level subjects and a presentation of their powers.

In the shown footage, the Lilith Assembly members could see these subjects exerting their superpowers by bending spoons, lifting glasses, and sometimes even moving large tables without so much as lifting a finger. Though these subjects had not displayed astounding use of their powers yet, the visual was already intriguing enough.

"What is this, some sort of telekinesis?"

02 asked.

"I call it psionic power."

Chen Chen smiled. "Isn't it amazing? The power they obtained using this substance is the same as those powers we saw originating from outer space."

01 took a deep breath in an attempt to contain his delirium. "Is this the extent of their abilities? If all they can achieve is lifting common household objects, I don't see how it can be of any use to us. It makes these powers look like a mere novelty."

"Of course not."

Chen Chen quickly disagreed with this notion. "Based on our research over the last months, we realized that these powers can be trained."

Although there was no way for Chen Chen to note the expression on the faces of their dark silhouettes, he could tell based on their body language that they were enticed by the idea.

"Still, it's only a ten percent likelihood of success."

04 suddenly raised an arguably valid concern. "Are there any side effects that these lucky individuals should expect? Also, what happens to the other ninety percent?"

"This is a good question."

Chen Chen made a show of heaving a long, deep sigh. "There are no side effects for the lucky recipients of these psionic powers, at least there are none that we have discovered so far. However, we did notice slight changes in their genetic structure and these changes we noted may be inherited by future generations. This means that there's a roughly ten percent chance that their children will be born with similar superpowers.

"As for the unfortunate ones, two-thirds of them shouldn't experience any major issues other than mild discomfort after the injection. However, the other one-third of this population may experience symptoms such as intellectual disability or in worse cases, brain death."

"The drawbacks are so severe?"

This immediately shifted the mood of the room, "This means that there's a ninety percent chance of failure and among this bunch, one-third of them may lose their life in the process?"

"This fatality rate is unacceptable..."

"The success rate itself is discouraging as well.."

This discovery greatly influenced their opinion of this substance. Even 02 tossed his pencil on the table and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

"These odds are considered quite favorable already."

Chen Chen noted solemnly. "This injection is equivalent to borrowing the psionic powers directly from the Consciousness Stealer and transplanting it into the average human body. All things considered, the risk and reward factor is highly optimistic."

"Another problem is we don't know the extent of these powers yet."

02 shrugged and stated, "05, if these powers can be improved to the level you have displayed in the past, then we more than welcome it. However, based on what we've seen from the footage, it seems unlikely that they can get anywhere near your level. Even the Consciousness Stealer had to claim millions of humans to raise its power to be on par with yours."

"Gentlemen, I'm an extreme outlier."

Chen Chen could not help himself from chuckling as he stated this, "My power is an inheritance from 'that person' and you'll never see anything like this anywhere else in the world. Even if the recipient of this psionic power cannot reach my level, this shouldn't discourage them from further honing psionic mastery. Even I cannot gauge what the ceiling of this psionic power is just yet.

"Perhaps their current level barely matches that of a regular adult's punch, but who knows what may happen in the future? These powers may very well be developed to an unprecedented level."

"Alright, in that case..."

01 was the first to make an offer, albeit quite hesitant still. "How much is the technology for extracting this L factor from the psionicist's blood? We'd like to negotiate."

"I'm sorry, it's not for sale at the moment."

Chen Chen immediately went on the offense. "However, I'd be interested in trading it for your most recent reactor core technology."

"Are you kidding me!"

01 was appalled by Chen Chen's audacity and almost roared.

"If you're not willing to sell the technology, then at least state the price for the product."

"Two hundred million dollars each."

Chen Chen raised two fingers. "I can offer a lower price if purchased in bulk. 180 million U.S. dollars each if you order in a single batch of one thousand units and 150 million if you order ten thousand units in one shipment."

"What?"

"What!"

They cried out in unison, "These prices are a highway robbery!"

"It's not expensive if you think about it."

Chen Chen shook his head impudently then stated in earnest, "I don't think you all realize the tedious process of extracting this L factor component from the blood of the psionicists. The cost of producing each L compound vial reaches up to 140 million U.S. dollars, pricing them at 150 million U.S. dollars each is the best deal I can offer."

The other members of the Lilith Assembly would not let it show, but they were rolling their eyes behind their screen at this mention. They knew better than to take the offer of a businessman at face value.

"With that said, I welcome any other offer that may include trading of other resources or technology."

Chen Chen added. "To be honest, Blackwatch doesn't have much use for monetary funds anymore."

"We'll have to give it some thought."

They eyed the room suspiciously then answered almost in unison. They would be lying if they said they were not at least still slightly intrigued.

"I'll leave it up to you gentlemen to decide then."

Chen Chen nodded and added. "I should also inform you that the current availability of the L compound is extremely limited. We can only produce approximately ten to fifteen vials per day, which comes to hardly five thousand a year. Therefore, the orders shall be shipped on a first come first serve basis."

The current reception of the L compound among the Lilith Assembly seemed rather controversial at this point.

"There's one more thing that I need to inform you about."

As if the previous news was not enough, Chen Chen added again. "We already have plans in place to upgrade our bionic combative police officers. The current bionic police officers will all be replaced with psionicists in due time so that our police forces are well equipped to deal with more psionicists emerging in society in the future."

"You should have disclosed your plans to us earlier."

01 sounded rather upset at this point. "Don't forget that our official representatives are employed in the bionic combative police departments as well."

"If you're against this plan going forward, I can have them resign from their positions."

Chen Chen did not raise his tone despite the aggression displayed. "How much longer do you think we have until people eventually catch on to the emergence of psionicists? Our best move now is to take the initiative and arm ourselves accordingly before it becomes a problem in the future as more people gain psionic powers and we find ourselves overpowered...

"Have you ever considered how things will turn out when these psionicists develop their abilities to a point where they no longer fear the threat of thermal weapons and the likes? How are regular police officers supposed to enforce the laws on superpower users?"

Chen Chen was not interested in waiting for their reply to these hard-hitting questions and logged off immediately after leaving the final note.

The other four members were left to their own devices, basking in the silence of the room.

"Phew!"

After Little X turned off the holographic projection, Chen Chen heaved a sigh of relief.

All this time, he had always made a point of taking a passive stance in the Lilith Assembly. This was the first time Chen Chen took a strong-arm approach.

The reason Chen Chen could afford to do so was all owing to Blacklight Biotechnology's rapid development.

Over the last decade, Blacklight Biotechnology had displayed what could only be described as terrifying, exponential growth. The rapid expansion of the company had squeezed the medical system of many other countries out of the market. Only several state-owned pharmaceutical companies managed to hang on at this point.

The handful of these state-owned pharmaceutical companies simply could not afford to give up on the pharmaceutical sector. They were stuck in a hard place because on one hand, they were operating at a tremendous loss of nearly hundreds of billions of dollars each but on the other hand, they refused to surrender the market monopoly to Blacklight Biotechnology. Even if they were operating at a loss, they had to continue their persistent, losing efforts.

In terms of the military, the gradual improvement of Blacklight Biotechnology's military industry system allowed them to regularly reiterate and refine the XTN series army robots. Furthermore, Blacklight Biotechnology's deployment of the only qualified spacecraft in the world capable of transporting to Mars had cemented their influence in the military and aerospace sector. The company's impact easily trumped all the other major continents combined.

All four major continents had to submit to the imposing might of Blacklight Biotechnology!

"This is merely the beginning. After we establish a permanent colony on Mars, we can officially say that we've overpowered the Earth Federation..."

Chen Chen got up and pondered. "With that, I'll gain further authority in the Blacklight Foundation due to the number of assets I have. Whenever any crisis occurs in the future, I'll be able to thoroughly coordinate all the available resources of mankind."

All this time, Chen Chen's persistent efforts of suppressing the Earth Federation was not merely to gain power, but to assume control of the Blacklight Foundation again. At this point, mere influence could not satisfy his palette anymore, especially considering that Blacklight Biotechnology was the most powerful faction on Earth by a mile.

In terms of influence over the world, Chen Chen's Blacklight Biotechnology had reached a limit. The only way to further his agenda was to monopolize the global economy and suppress the Earth Federation!

Blacklight Biotechnology was fated to become the titan with a firm grasp on the global economy...

Chen Chen's eyes glowed with bright determination as he proceeded to get up and head outside.

Little X got up and followed him as well.

"X."

Chen Chen looked at the young girl approaching him and asked, "Any progress on the L compound dilution process?"

"We've established the dilution patterns."

Little X answered in a sweet and gentle tone, "The color of the diluted L compound takes on a lighter texture from dark blue to light blue. The effectiveness of the altered solution is just as projected, its success rate drops from fifty percent to ten percent. With this formula, a single vial of concentrated L compound can be diluted into ten deconcentrated vials.

"This method allows for greater distribution since a single concentrated vial may be less cost-effective but diluting it into multiple vials allows for greater variance in generating psionicists."

"Certainly."

Chen Chen agreed with a firm nod. "Alright, we can sell these diluted L compound solutions to the members of the God's Forbidden Zone members and the buyer in the other continents. Save the concentrated L compound formula for the B.S.S. department, don't disclose its existence under any circumstances."

"Should we continue performing selective injection into the general population?"

"Of course."

Chen Chen remarked with a sly smile. "Continue using the concentrated formula to inflate the number of psionicists in the general population. When the Earth Federation discovers the growing population of psionicists, they'll eventually justify the purchase of our diluted L compound."

Chen Chen suddenly thought of something upon stating this as he noted with mild disappointment, "There's nothing we can do about the thirty-percent fatality rate of the diluted L compound formula. For what it's worth, it may further dissuade the higher-ups from injecting themselves with it.

"A thirty percent fatality rate is a risky enough gamble that they would never justify using it on themselves."

Little X remarked with a fox smile, "They would never suspect the existence of a concentrated L compound formula with a fifty percent chance of success and only ten percent fatality rate."

The two conspired together as they left the Spire Experimental Base.

...

In just five hours, Chen Chen received the first order for the L compound solution. It was the Northern American Continent submitting a bulk order for ten thousand vials of L compound solution.

Chen Chen did not provide an order confirmation immediately and instead stated that it would take some time to produce an order of mass quantity.

After another hour, both the European and North Sea Continent submitted similar order requests.

Meanwhile, Chen Chen's uncles also tried to get in touch with him as well. Since they were unable to contact him directly, they went to his father instead in hopes of securing a backdoor connection from his father and obtaining the L compound solution at a cheaper price to supply the Central Continent...

It did not take long before word got out to other buyers. News of Blacklight Biotechnology extracting the L factor from the existing psionicists to create artificial psionic power injections quickly spread across connected circles in the Earth Federation. Within days, Chen Chen had countless countries jumping on the bandwagon and coming to him with offers.

To accommodate for the sheer volume of these orders, Chen Chen decided to send someone to the Earth Federation and stated point-blank that they could only produce four hundred vials per month. Any interested buyers had to buy the entire months' stock in bulk and those buyers would be limited to only a single bulk purchase each year.

Naturally, this came off as a great disappointment to the interested buyers. In response to this, they immediately dispatched their best negotiation experts to Eco Science City, all of them wanted to acquire the highly sought-after psionic power injections ahead of any other competing nations.

On the very day that Blacklight Biotechnology disclosed the existence of the wondrous L compound, the Earth Federation had a collective notion that something almost magical but irrefutable was occurring...

The times were changing.

Chapter 569: Recruiting Psionicists

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Phew!"

It was early in the morning. John Oppenheimer slowly opened his eyes on the hotel bed.

He looked at the unfamiliar naked girl lying beside him who was still in a deep sleep and got up without a care to put on his clothes and headed to the bathroom.

This was the thirty-fifth day since he had acquired his superpowers.

Ever since the day when he flung the overly aggressive redneck into a truck, John had trouble falling asleep at night, occupied with thoughts of how he suddenly attained such powers.

During the first week, John was deeply disturbed by this unexplainable phenomenon. He even went to the hospital for a full body checkup for fear of it being a symptom of a disease, but the reports showed that he was perfectly healthy.

In the following days, after verifying that there was nothing abnormal with his body, he began to calm down.

Still, John continued monitoring his situation closely and dedicated a lot of time to researching similar superpower reports on the Internet. He quickly discovered that in between June to July, many similar cases were discovered all over the world. There were a handful of such reports surfacing every day. He even saw reports of his confrontation on the highway.

Due to the poor resolution of the pictures taken, John believed that his identity was not exposed just yet.

John went through a rollercoaster of emotions ever since he acquired his superpowers. He went through from periods of excitement to agitation, and finally to being cautious and keeping a low profile. He was worried that if the government had discovered him having superpowers, he would be forcefully taken to a laboratory to have unethical, inhumane experiments conducted on him.

Just like Einstein's brain...

Not only did John maintain a low profile, but he even lived an even hermit life than he did in the past. The first thing he did after finishing work was to head straight back home where he would experiment with his powers.

Throughout John's experimenting and training, he started to notice changes to his physique. The more he honed his powers, the tougher the texture of his skin became.

Last night, John went to the bar for a special occasion and a drunkard was trying to pick a fight with him for no reason. At the time, when he was provoked by the drunkard, he felt a scorching sensation around the corner of his eyes and had a feeling of some kind of power inches away from bursting out. Fortunately, the rational part of his mind knew better and immediately suppressed it.

"This power is as much a blessing as it's a curse..."

John muttered to himself as he stepped into the bathroom. He came in front of the mirror and looked at his reflection, then he combed his beautiful golden locks, fashioning them tidy the way he liked them.

John had always been a handsome man and his hairstyle only added more to his charismatic appearance. John could be easily slotted into any Northern American fashion magazine and fit in like he had been a model all his life. Coupled with the fact that he was an eligible bachelor, he was always showered with attention from young ladies whether he was at the company or mingling at bars.

This was to say that his private life was very eventful, to say the least.

The girl sharing the bed with John was one of his many conquests throughout his adulthood...

John could not care less about the girl. His head was still replaying the scene of the drunkard challenging him last night. Due to his increased physical strength, things certainly did not end well for the crazy drunkard, but this was not what he was fixated about. He was thinking about the burning sensation around the corner of his eyes last night.

"What's with that burning sensation I felt?"

John thought about it, still confused. He took a long, deep breath and held it in then stared at the mirror for a long time.

Staring at the mirror, nothing abnormal seemed to be happening.

After trying a few more times, John was ready to give up. It was around this point when he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

Somebody was at the door of his hotel room.

John quickly exited the bathroom and went to the front door and asked, "Who is it?"

"Room service, sir."

John heard the brisk remark of the hotel employee.

John gently opened the door without suspecting anything. He was surprised to see that instead of a hotel employee, three men in suits wearing sunglasses although they were inside a hotel corridor were in front of his door.

"We're from the FBI. We have some questions for you. Would you mind taking a walk with us?"

The man who spoke presented a card that was his FBI identification.

John felt his heart sink as soon as he recognized the FBI label. He knew what they were here for but he feigned innocence. "Can I know what this is about? I don't think I did anything illegal."

"You'll know soon enough."

The leading agent flashed an indiscernible smile and left it at that.

'Oh no, did I slip up last night?'

The disguised remark only served to raise John's alertness. He looked at what he was wearing and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry gentlemen, do you mind if I get changed?"

"Sure. We'll be waiting for you right here."

The FBI agent nodded.

John closed the door calmly and his complexion immediately transformed dramatically. He looked around the room to weigh his options and his attention quickly landed on the half-opened window leading to the balcony. He changed into proper attire immediately and crawled out the window without sparing a glance at the girl in the bed still sleeping.

John was staying on the fifth floor of the hotel. After looking out the window for a brief survey, he quickly planted his foot on the thin platform protruding along the exterior of the hotel.

After that, he gripped another window next to him firmly and slowly, carefully shuffling over to the next room.

In the past, John would never be mad enough to perform such a lunatic stunt. However, ever since acquiring his superpowers, he found himself experiencing significant growth both in his physical prowess and courage as well.

"Ding dong..."

Shortly after climbing out the window, John heard the crisp sound of the doorbell ringing from his previous room. His heart tightened and he quickly sped up his pace. He tightened his firm grasp on a brick and in one swift motion, swung himself toward the window in another room.

"Bang!"

The tranquility of the morning was suddenly invaded by a ferocious crash that came from his previous room. It sounded like a door getting barged down. It was quickly accompanied by the horrified shriek of a girl. John was frightened by the sudden invasion. He briefly glanced below him and immediately jumped down from the window!

The wind whistled in his ears as he fell. When John fell near a window on the third floor, he immediately grabbed the exterior window sill with both hands and stopped his falling!

"He's getting away, get him!"

There was a noisy commotion just a small distance above him. He saw an FBI agent poking his head out the window and they both made eye contact. Then, the agent disappeared from the window and informed his fellow agents of what he saw.

"You want to catch me?"

John became as mad as he was desperate. He let go of his grip again and descended to the second-floor window this time, suspending himself over the window like a stuntman shooting an action movie scene.

After adjusting his balance, he repeated the same sequence and this time, landed with both feet planted firmly onto the ground in front of the hotel entrance.

"Phew..."

John's shirt drenched in sweat clung to his back stubbornly. He knew that the slightest slip up earlier could have easily resulted in a gruesome injury. He would never have attempted something like that if not for having gained superpowers.

Before he could decide his next move, John heard a thunderous voice coming from behind him. "Don't move, put your hands in the air!"

John was startled by the sudden command. He slowly turned around and saw yet another FBI agent stepping out of a car who was holding a gun, aiming at him.

John held his breath in utter shock the moment he looked into the barrel of the gun!

"Put your arms around your head and get on the ground, now!"

The agent barked the same orders at John again.

John realized the precariousness of his situation. He fixed his gaze at the barrel of the gun and he felt the same sensation that he felt last night at the bar rushing at him...

John winced irresistibly. It felt like his eyes were going to burn and melt into their sockets. Even his vision had turned stark red like someone had pasted a red overlay on the world...

"Put your hands in the air now!"

The agent ordered again. To John, this voice sounded like it came from afar, distant shore and slowed down to a crawl like an audio clip in a slow-motion video. It seemed like the entire world had slowed down to a snail pace!

While the world was glowing red, John saw the unthinkable. The muscles along the agent's fingers trembled slightly!

John could sense the looming danger sweeping over him, ready to consume him at this point. He slowly opened his mouth and emitted a sharp roar, something burst outward in between his eyes!

"Boom!"

John saw the world trembling within his eyelids. The bright red overlay immediately vanished as well. He saw a gigantic ring bursting outward, then he saw the gun disintegrate into nothingness, and a hollow, red-shaped hole appearing at the center of the FBI agent's chest!

The gun was melted without a trace and a gigantic hole formed out of nowhere in the middle of the agent's chest. John, horrified by what he saw, could smell the horrid scent of charred flesh lingering in the air.

Wide-eyed, he watched as the agent collapsed lifelessly onto the ground. That was when John realized that he had accidentally killed an official FBI agent!

"Crap!"

John cursed out loud, realizing that the situation had made a sharp turn for the worse as if it was not bad enough already. This was not the time for empty regrets. He planted his pivot feet to the ground and immediately took off into an alley, not paying any mind to his car that was parked by the roadside waiting for him!

John ran and ran for more than ten minutes before he arrived at an isolated alley that he deemed safe enough to rest. He leaned against a wall and gasped for air.

"What, what did I just do?"

John closed his eyes, the haunting image replayed in his mind against his will. It was not his intention to kill since all he wanted was to get away. If he had not done what he just did, it would be him lying on the ground now with a bullet lodged in his head.

"I have to get out of Northern America..."

John resolved. Just as he prepared to take off again, he heard the abrupt sound of tires screeching to a halt. A black off-road vehicle stopped at the mouth of the alleyway.

The driver was a woman so beautiful that she looked like a dream. She flung the passenger door open and yelled at John, "Get in!"

John hesitated for a moment and asked, "Who are you?"

"Just get in, the FBI is almost here!"

The woman's voice was anxious. "If you still stand there, both of us are going to get caught!"

John clenched his teeth and sprinted into the car. The drumming of the muscle engine echoed across the alleyway as the car took off into the distance...

After they drove away from the previous area and were in the clear, John finally allowed himself a moment to calm down. He looked at the driver and saw her very minimal make-up, then he sensed that she exuded a fierce atmosphere around her. It was like looking at a thorned rose, so captivating and yet so dangerous.

"Who are you?"

John probed cautiously.

"I'm a part of Blackwatch."

The driver held up an identification card. "The company has had its eyes on you for some time now."

"Blackwatch?"

John was not expecting to hear the name of the world-renowned mega-corporation. He immediately connected it to his superpower discovery last month and asked, "Does this mean that you guys are aware of what happened to me?"

"Of course."

The Blackwatch agent nodded and handed her identification to John. "The company has been aware of your existence since the day you've awoken your 'psionic' powers. But don't worry, we don't come with any hostile intentions."

John was unsure of what to make of this. He carefully took the identification card and saw the label "Black Security Service" printed on it. He jogged his memory and was sure he had never heard of this unfamiliar phrase before.

"The mission our department is tasked with is to get in touch with psionicists like you who have recently awoken your powers. We want to recruit you into our organization. If you join us, we can take care of the previous incident involving you killing an FBI agent."

"Psionicist..."

John tasted the syllable on his lips then asked, "Does this term refer to the power that I've obtained?"

"Of course."

There was a subtle smirk on the BSS agent's lips. "'Psionicist' is the universal term for anyone who has awoken their psionic abilities. I'm sure you've also heard of others branding people such as yourself as superpower users. The reason you have come to possess these powers is due to your previous contact with the deadly virus. I'm sure you remember that as well."

"Is that so?"

John immediately connected the dots. Half a year ago, the world was struck with an odd and dangerous virus that caused the infected to fuse into a disgusting monstrosity. At the time, nobody knew what was happening. After everything was wrapped up, only then did the details become public knowledge. The entire mess was taken care of when the Earth Federation and Blackwatch combined their efforts to find an apt solution and rescue mankind from the brink of death.

"That means everyone who has contracted the virus has obtained this power as well?"

John raised another question.

"Of course not."

The BSS agent quickly shook her head. "Only an extreme minority managed to awaken these powers. Based on what we've discovered so far, the psionic powers awoken vary from person to person. Yours is an especially peculiar sort."

With that, she pressed "play" on a recorder and the previous footage of John's confrontation with the FBI agent immediately played on the screen built into the infotainment system in the car.

That was when John realized that this car had been trailing him the entire time during his escape. Only he did not notice it since his mind was occupied with running.

John paid close attention to the display and saw the FBI aiming a gun at himself in the footage. Then, he saw his eyes glowing bright red with an ever-growing intensity that made his appearance resemble the Devil.

"Swoosh!"

In an instant, John saw two beams of light shooting out of his eyes. It instantly pierced through the gun and penetrated the chest of the FBI agent!

John gasped. He could not believe that something like that was summoned from his eyes. The sheer idea of it was baffling!

"Everyone has different psionic power manifestations."

The BSS agent explained, "At the moment of their psionic awakening, it's usually manifested as common telekinesis abilities. However, as time passes, the psionic potential in each individual will slowly develop and undergo changes. That's when it manifests into different forms...

"Some people gain the ability to fly, some gain superhuman strength... The manifestation of your psionic power is known as optic blast. We haven't discovered any other psionic manifestation so far.

"However, based on the data we've collected, psionicists aren't restricted to only one psionic manifestation..."

By this point of their conversation, they had arrived at Blackwatch's New York branch office building. They entered the underground parking lot of the building...

Chapter 570: Shocking

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Just like that, John was taken by his mysterious savior to Blackwatch's New York branch office building. They arrived at a large banquet hall in the building where he saw many new faces.

The demographic was vastly diversified. There were black people and Caucasians, middle-aged men, and youths who looked like they could not have been older than fifteen years old. This gathering was not particularly well behaved. They were causing a loud commotion in the middle of the banquet wall.

"Joey, you insolent brat, you better watch out before I break your neck!"

"Hahaha, bring it on, Robert! Let's see if your psionic strength holds up to mine!"

"Hey Jenny, give me another round of beer, I want more beer!"

"Drink up! Is a large pint good enough for you or do you want two pints?"

"That's more than enough, thank you, Jenny! Jenny is the best!"

"Could you people shut up and at least show some class? Hey f*** you!"

John looked at the frenzied group then shot a confused look at the BSS lady. "These people are...?"

"Just like yourself, they're the psionicists we've gathered from all over Northern America."

The BSS lady stepped into the banquet hall, announcing her proud presence with her high-heeled leather boots clicking loudly against the marble floor while she informed John, "You're the last one on our list."

John surveyed the banquet hall vigilantly and noticed that many of the others were looking in his direction. Some of them even whistled loudly when they saw the BSS lady who accompanied John into the banquet hall. There was a frivolous look in their eyes.

"Hey, so when are you going to tell us why Blackwatch gathered all of us here?"

A large, drunk man approached with another comrade whose both rows of teeth took on a horrid-looking yellow texture trailing after him. The drunken man reeked of alcohol and he audaciously stumbled into the BSS lady's path, then boldly put his hands on her shoulder.

The BSS lady glowered almost instantly upon feeling the touch of the drunken man on her shoulders. She took a short step backward and produced a dagger that seemed to appear out of nowhere, which she flung at full force to her side. The piercing scream of the drunken man immediately resounded across the banquet hall!

"Ah! My hand, my hand!"

The drunken man wailed in pain. His hand was nailed into a section of the wall by the sharp tip of the dagger!

"You crazy woman!"

The drunken man's comrade was immediately enraged by this aggression and charged at the BSS lady. Everything happened in a flash, so quickly that John could hardly register the fluidity of the BSS lady's actions.

This time, a chrome pistol was produced out of nowhere and the barrel of the gun was stuffed into the mouth of the yellow-toothed man.

"Please don't kill me!"

The yellow-toothed man raised his hands in the air and gestured for surrender.

"Hmmph, pathetic!"

The BSS lady put the chrome pistol back into her holster. Then, she held her hands up and clapped twice. Upon receiving the signal, the main entrance opened and dozens of soldiers wearing black combat suits and armed with live ammunition marched into the room. They assumed their positions in an extremely trained and disciplined manner. The hall was immediately surrounded by soldiers before John and the rest could realize what was happening.

Everyone fell silent and slowly rose to their feet as they eyed the surrounding soldiers cautiously.

"Psionicists."

The BSS lady broke the silence. She rested her hands behind her back, slightly above the hips, and slowly strutted to the center of the banquet hall like a field commander. Then, she turned to face the gathered group. "I'll put it bluntly. As far as I'm concerned, all of you are garbage."

This quick, insulting remark certainly had its intended effect. Several members of the crowd were riled up by this but they decided against doing anything rash since they were surrounded by live ammunition.

"With that said, there may still be hope for garbage like you lot."

The BSS lady stated coldly, "You people are the lucky bunch because Blackwatch has noticed your potential and is willing to polish you into viable tools."

"I didn't come here to be degraded as mere garbage!"

It seemed like her repeated insulting remarks had upset several psionicists. One of them, who was a large, stocky man covered in tattoos shouted, "If this is how Blackwatch is going to treat me, we're better off joining the FBI, let's go!"

With that note, the man gestured for two of his comrades to follow him. The three of them quickly stormed out of the venue.

Upon seeing this reaction, a subtle wipe of a smile appeared on the BSS lady's lips. "Did I ever give you permission to leave?"

At the end of her note, the tattooed man heard the sound of gusts of wind whistling past his ears. He felt a subtle breeze caressing his cheeks, immediately followed by two sickening "pop", then felt a splatter of wet substance washing over him!

The tattooed man looked stupefied by what just happened. He quickly turned around and saw that both of his comrades had their heads cleanly popped off with pulse rifles.

"Ah!!"

The crowd descended into panic upon seeing this. Many of them tried to flee from the scene but were quickly shepherded back to their original positions by the surrounding soldiers!

"Do you have any idea what you just did?"

The tattooed man immediately realized the severity of the situation and glared at the BSS lady in utter disbelief. His instincts were telling him that these people were not going to let him leave this place alive!

To escape, the man would have to take down their boss first!

After having decided this, the man charged at the BSS lady like a football quarterback. In an instant, whisks of flames appeared on every part of his body and burned his clothes into fine crisps! His entire figure transformed into an enormous ball of flame as he continued accelerating toward the center of the banquet hall.

However, the BSS lady seemed unfazed by this ludicrous display and only flashed a mocking smile at him. The man's vision suddenly jolted, then he caught the faint silhouette of the BSS lady suddenly appearing beside him. She kicked on the ground with the back of her heel which immediately deployed a sharp dagger at the tips of her heel!

"Swish!"

The tattooed man felt a sharp pain radiating from his legs. He lost his balance and tumbled onto the ground!

"Hiss..."

Due to the velocity of the man's fall, his burning knees scraped against the marble floor and left a charred trail!

"Ah! My leg, my leg!"

After collapsing onto the floor, the man winced in pain. The flames on his body began to extinguish as well!

"You've led a pathetic life. Even if you acquire psionic powers, it won't change the fact that you're worthless."

The BSS lady stepped in front of the defeated combatant and grabbed him by the hair to expose his neck, then made a clean slice at the artery with a knife on another hand!

"Swish!"

Hot, steaming blood poured out between folds of torn skin. The man's eyes immediately became frozen with lifelessness.

"Ah..!"

The others did what they could to muffle their screams as much as possible. They stepped away as far as they could from the BSS lady as if they were afraid of upsetting her with their puny presence.

The BSS lady stood beside the pool of blood and looked back at them. At this moment, her presence seemed to take on the form of a blood-red rose blooming amid a lake of blood. They would forever have this devilish sight imprinted in the back of their minds.

"My name is Sarah. I'm the deputy director of Blackwatch's Black Security Service."

Sarah licked the blood that splattered onto the corner of her lips and smiled menacingly. "But I prefer going by my codename. My codename is 'Blood Rose' and I'll be your coach for you psionicists."

John could hardly recognize Sarah who took on a one-eighty transformation from when she picked him up from the alley. That was when he realized that these people were serious.

A small part of him felt like it would have been better to surrender to the FBI.

"Why are you killing people ruthlessly, what are you going to do with us?"

Somebody in the crowd collected the courage to ask.

"To train you all, of course."

Sarah replied, "Do you think that the Earth Federation will simply adopt you psionicist freaks into regular society? The answer is no. You have two choices. One is to join us and the other is to join the officials and see what they do with you. There are no third options.

"And about the killing? I'm afraid that the training involves a certain risk of death. My best advice if you don't want to die is to put in your best effort to survive in the upcoming training sessions!"

With that, Sarah gave another signal and the soldiers immediately stepped forward and began escorting everyone to another area.

Left without a choice, John followed obediently as well. They left the banquet hall in an agitated state and slowly went to the rooftop helipad...

...

"Sir Godfather, the fifteen psionicists in Northern America have departed. Estimated time of arrival at Eco Science City should be around ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

On the top floor of the Blacklight building, Little X went beside Chen Chen and reported faithfully.

"Fifteen?"

Chen Chen was perplexed by this. "I remember there were eighteen, wasn't it?"

"Three of them were killed to send a message to the rest of them."

Little X pouted. "Sarah killed them."

Chen Chen only replied with a short "Oh.", followed with an understanding nod. "Alright then."

After that, Chen Chen redirected back to the virtual display.

Three figures were shown on the virtual display. They were Lane, Hodge, and Brooke, the past members of the now-defunct BHB Combative Police Force.

The footage showed the three of them in a training room, honing their newly acquired abilities. When Lane made a short wave with his hand, a bolt of lightning appeared from the tip of his finger and hit a target nearly fifty meters away, obliterating it instantly.

Meanwhile, Hodge displayed his abilities by staring at a caged chimpanzee in front of him. Within moments, the chimpanzee began making a series of complex movements, mimicking the behavior of a regular person.

As for Blake... Chen Chen saw a bizarre sight of articles of clothing floating in the air, the opening around the cuffs of the shirt and pants were empty.

Lane, lightning manipulation.

Hodge, organism manipulation.

Blake, invisibility and steel body fortification.

These were the awakened psionic abilities of the trio.

Chen Chen never foresaw something like this happening. All along, he was under the impression that these psionic powers in his mind operated under a fixed set of rules. However, it began assuming various sorts of transformation after the extracted L compound was injected into others, allowing them to obtain different abilities.

However, regardless of the forms these psionic abilities took on when applied on others, when they inevitably return to Chen Chen and fuse with his base psionic potential, they would still revert to their primordial form.

This was what Chen Chen discovered when experimenting with the Delta-level subjects in the Spire.

This meant that at its core, all these variations of psionic manifestation were still the original, primordial psionic power at the end of the day. These manifestations were merely another form that they were represented in different individuals.

Chen Chen found himself in awe as he watched their training sessions. He remembered that when he first acquired Field, his power was barely noticeable at all. He had a hard time even lifting objects of several hundred grams alone. The early psionic potential shown by the trio was several magnitudes greater than his in the past.

However, it should be noted that there was a difference between Field and psionic powers. The explosiveness and potential of Field greatly could not be compared to that of psionic powers.

Field was a manipulation of electromagnetic force at its core. Its range entailed both macroscopic or microscopic and altered both gaseous and solid substances. Since electromagnetic force was present in all particles, it could be said that the potential of Field was unlimited!

"I didn't expect the psionic power to manifest into all these different forms."

Chen Chen pondered. "Judging by this, I'm sure that there are many more secrets to psionic powers that I haven't discovered yet. I doubt that the Consciousness Stealer's usage of it to absorb the consciousness of other humans to fuel its resurrection is the extent of these power's capabilities...

"Field has greater potential and broader uses, but its growth is significantly slower..."

Little X stated, "Meanwhile, psionic powers can grow rapidly in the initial phases and may manifest into thousands of different forms. It's directly connected to the user's mental psyche and inner conscience, but its overall strength doesn't match up to Field... I suppose this is the general difference between the two?"

"There's more than that."

Chen Chen shook his head and added. "I suspect that there's a greater secret to these psionic powers... I've discovered a certain pattern."

"What pattern?"

Little X asked curiously.

"Haven't you noticed?"

Chen Chen smirked. "In the movie Chronicle, Field originated from an alien plant. Meanwhile, in the real world, psionic powers were brought to our planet from a meteorite. Despite the glaring differences between these two powers, there's a distinct similarity between the two which is that they both came from outer space..."

With that, Chen Chen craned his neck and looked at the boundless sky. "The universe is full of wonders. First, there are alien plants, then the Consciousness Stealer appears. I've expected no less from the boundless stretch of space full of looming dangers and countless opportunities. This was why the predecessor of the USB drive stated that mankind's understanding had been false all along, that the 'safety' on Earth was merely an illusion. The slightest disturbance in the scope of the universe can easily wash over Earth and destroy the measly civilization that we've taken pride in shaping..."

Having said that, Chen Chen suddenly got up and asked, "Is the USB drive fully charged yet?"

"Based on estimation, it should be nearing full charge very soon."

Little X nodded. "In the past, it took us three years to bring it to full charge. These days, with the expansion of the nuclear fusion reactor, its output is greatly improved and it would only take a year to achieve complete charge."

"Ah..."

Little X suddenly gasped, cutting herself off. "I've received a message from my cloned copy that the USB drive just reached maximum charge moments ago. How did you know, Sir Godfather?"

"I have no idea."

Chen Chen frowned. "It just suddenly struck me like an idea out of nowhere. It feels like the USB drive somehow spoke to me."

"Considering how the USB drive mysteriously found its way back to you so many times, it has recognized you as its owner."

Little X noted excitedly, "Doesn't this mean that you'll never have to worry about it getting lost ever again?"

"I wouldn't know about that. Anyway, it's time to try something new."

With that, Chen Chen stepped out of the room. "I plan to create a new Rosen bridge, one that leads to the DOOM dimension."

"Huh?"

Little X followed Chen Chen out of the room. "Is this why you secretly injected the God chip into several researchers and left my cloned copy in that dimension the last time?"

"There's a fully developed human civilization in that dimension."

Chen Chen stated, "Which means that it's a viable subject for our L compound plans as well. It has greater potential than the future dimension the other half of myself is currently stuck in."

Chen Chen came to a newly built teleportation room and teleported to the Spire instantly.

"But before creating a permanent Rosen bridge gateway, I'll have to send someone in there to investigate. After all, it's been a year and there's no telling what changes may have occurred during this period."

"True."

Little X agreed. "Chances are nothing major has happened in such a short time, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Exactly."

Chen Chen collected the USB drive from the charging room, then he went to the great hall.