Chapter 30 - Calm before the Storm

Don't forget to give me a comment, reply, or power stone! They give me motivation!

Thank you!

-SR_2027.

=====

Rurik only wanted the best outcome he could get out of the current situation he was in.

Ryo took a deep breath as he continued, "We cannot let ourselves be mere pawns in their game any longer. The Empire needs to be freed from the grip of corruption and injustice. We have the power to change its course, to restore balance and fairness. And..."

With a serious look on his face, he placed his hands over the table as he said, "I need your help. Please."

-

Wave's fists clenched, his voice filled with determination. "You're right, Sir, Omega. We cannot stand idly by and let the nobles continue to manipulate the Empire for their own gain. We must expose their crimes, bring them to justice, and rebuild a nation that truly serves its people."

Seryuu followed and nodded in agreement. "My father fought for justice, and I will honor his memory by doing the same. No longer will I blindly follow the nobles' orders. As long as you prove to me that the Empire is corrupted, I will fight for the innocent, for those who have suffered at the hands of their cruelty."

Rurik, though still processing everything, knew that aligning himself with Ryo was the only best option, at the moment. At least for now. If he decided to walk away, he was sure that he would be killed the very second he set foot out of the room.

"I've seen enough of the Empire's corruption firsthand. It's time for a change, and if that means risking everything, so be it. I will stand by your side, Lord Shadow."

Ryo smiled, as they observed a 'glimmer of hope' in his eyes. "Thank you, all of you. Together, we will challenge the status quo, expose the truth, and bring about a revolution that will shake the very foundations of this Empire."

"I know that you want me to prove the guilt and corruption of the Empire, but please, I have a very serious series of tasks for you guys.", Ryo said as he spread out the map of the Empire, showing the whole area covering the Empire.

"Wave, Seryuu, Rurik, I will be giving you each an important task which is of great importance. Wave, I want you to go to this place on the Empire's outskirts. I want you to find former Prime Minister Chouri and give him this letter."

Ryo took out a page a page that he had prepared several weeks ago as he was planning to rope out the guy. This information contained confidential information that only the people very close to the Imperial Family knew. 

Ryo bought that information in exchange for 1000 UPs.

"And I want you to use your Imperial Arms to reach this place as soon as possible. I am very much positive that the Empire will be sending various experienced warriors to kill Prime Minister Chouri."

Saying that Ryo stamped wax to close the letter and slipped the letter to Wave, who gave it to him. Wave nodded seriously and securely placed it in his inner coat.

Ryo then looked at Rurik and said, "Rurik, I want you to lead a group of our armed forces to the West of the Empire and get into contact with the leader of the Path of Peace and give him this letter."

Rubbing his chin, Ryo continued, "Most of us can complete the task in a few days, going too quick with Path of Peace might put us at a setback."

Ryo was an entity out of the parameters of time and space of the world he was in, if one could say, he could as well be considered an 'anomaly', something whose presence caused damage to time and space itself. 

Even with that, Ryo was sure that if he approached 'The Lord' who could see the 'lines of fate' in a rush, it could set back his plan as that guy might be able to see the lines of 'previous fates' which were still unchanged but not the fate which is currently getting affected by him.

This would make him very confused and make him vary between the 'Shadow Gadern' and the associates.

A person who constantly sees into the future perfectly would definitely feel vary of this and would not trust him fully. But Ryo was sure that 'The Lord' was most probably a good naive guy, so he would vary but not against him.

Even if he was against him, it wouldn't matter. The moment he performed his first act as 'Shadow', his plan was already set in motion. 

.

With that done, Ryo looked at Seryuu and replied, "Seryuu... You... Your task will be to work under Dr. Franxx and maintain the balance and security of our main base."

"I was not expecting this to happen but since things are going too fast and going on a completely unexpected path, I want you to be prepared for anything.", Saying that Ryo straightened up as he continued, "As for Franxx, I want you to continue doing the tasks of research. And... Zero Two, I want you to accompany Wave."

"This journey will be dangerous and I think there is a very high chance of General Esdeath's Three Beast subordinates attacking the outskirts of the Empire."

"This concludes the meeting, Soldiers. Goodspeed."

Wave, Seryuu, and Rurik nodded in understanding and prepared to carry out their assigned tasks.

Wave left the room with a determined face, Zero Two looked at him and called out, "Wave, you can go ahead. I will be outside in a short while. Use this time to prepare yourself."

With a confused face, Wave looked at her and decided to nod.

As soon as he left the hidden hideout, he quickly equipped himself with the Grand Chariot, making a hard dark-colored plate cover his whole body as he felt a sudden increase in stats.

Looking at his Teigu, Wave sat on the nearby rock as he contemplated his situation and he felt the burden put on him. The trust of the future emperor of the Empire, the weight of the people he has to save.

He really wanted to solve it peacefully, but after looking at the situation, he decided to trust Ryo, or 'Omega', the only name he knew of. His eyes became foggy as he felt his mind tense. It has only been a few months since he met 'Omega'.

But the things and information that he saw or heard made him realize how much responsibility 'Omega' was carrying.

As he contemplated, he suddenly realized that someone walked out of the base looked toward his direction, and started to run toward their destination as wings sprouted behind the back of that person.

Then he looked back at Zero Two in embarrassment.

"Ano... Huh? W-Wait for me!"

Just before that person left the base, Wave was able to get a glimpse of the person. It was none other than Zero Two, but her eyes were brimming with tears as she looked toward him.

'What happened!?'

-

While Rurik also left the room along with Frnaxx but as Franxx was leaving a voice ordered him something.

<Franxx, put some moles in Rurik's squad. Do not use genetically modified soldiers, get mercenaries, no more specifically the of Empire who are very closely associated with General Esdeath. Also, send a dozen our soldiers Rurik to maintain order.>

Franxx continued to walk as if nothing happened but he replied back, <... As you command, Sir Omega. But won't he notice the difference? Our soldiers are emotionless but mercenaries not.>

<Don't worry about it. Do not question my orders. what you are tasked to do.>

<As you wish, Lord Omega.>

With that done, Ryo sighed as he sat on the chair, lost in thoughts. His eyes were unfocused as he stared into the empty air. 'What a great time... The end of the plan is approaching... probably two days at maximum...'

An amusing empty smile hung over his face as he amused himself, but just as his mind got its focus back, in front of him, a holographic screen of 'Ai Ryo lit up', making him raise his eyebrows as his expression returned how they actually were.

With an empty expression, he looked at the holographic expression and asked back, "What do you have now? Did something go off from the plan?", tens of scenarios formed inside his head as he instantly conjured out contingencies for several scenarios.

The holographic 'Ryo', kept staring at Ryo, making the room turn quiet as they both stared at each other in silence, as tension began to rise between them. 

Finally, not being able to keep himself, or itself, from stalling, the holographic Ryo resorted to its final key. "Otsuki Ryo... Let's make a deal. I can help you. I can help us. We have long caused thousands of disasters. We have killed so many people." 

With a pained expression, 'it' looked back at Ryo. "Join me. The System... If I am right, which is inside 'us', won't be able to do anything if I get the control. I can not only save us, but this world... No every single world we will be going in!"

With a crazy frowny expression, it continued, "Think about all the things we can achieve, if you give me a bit more freedom! I can save Zero Two as well! We can then live happily ever after we completely defeat both the main and second Ryo, as well as that DIO guy!"

Then as if calming itself down, it looked at the 'Ryo', in front of itself. They were but one the same, much to the hatred of his. Their origin was the very same, but...

'It's' thoughts came to crash, as it saw no change in 'Ryo's' expression, making its face turn sour in both defeat and 'sadness', as it looked at 'Ryo'. "Please... At least save our child! It has done nothing wrong!"

"Hmm~!"

Humming, 'Ryo' looked back at the holographic image of himself and replied, "No. It does not meet my goal and idea. I get nothing from it as well.", A simple and short answer.

Yes, they were one the same, in the sense that they were but a byproduct of the creation of the 'second' Ryo, who created them for various purposes, but it didn't matter to them. They had different goals.

Looking at the 'Ai' Ryo, Ryo tilted his head in thought. "You know, that there is no way you can manipulate me. Nor can you change my goal, just like how I am not trying to change your 'goal'. You and I are two different sides of the coin."

Knowing full well that there was no way to talk out of the 'plan', Ai Ryo scoffed and started to fade away. On the other hand, Ryo's expression suddenly brightens up, as he senses someone walking up to the outside the lab door.

Knowing full well, and sensing who was outside, his expression returned to normal, and his smile became 'normal', as his emotionless face brimmed with happiness.

Standing up from his seat, he opened the door, leaned into the presence of the person, and hugged her, taking deep breaths of her smell, he asked back, "What happened Darling?"

As he hugged her and asked that question, he suddenly felt an almost miniature amount of chaotic 'feeling' from the person he was hugging as he heard a chuckle. "Nothing, Darling, before I left, I wanted to know what experiment you were working on."

With a frown, he released the hug, looked at her, and asked back, "Well, Darling, as I said, I am working on improving our biological body. But it's still 'incomplete'. Why do you want to see it through?"

With a pout, Zero Two looked back at him and replied, "Well, I just wanted to know and make sure you were not working on something to meet that 'Wrench' you were talking about.", her reply made Ryo 'speechless'.

Zero Two looked at his expression and with a pout, asked, "You won't be working on that project, right? Why don't you let me look at it."

"But..."

"No buts, Darling! If you are not working on the device that you can use to reach that 'vixen', then you should have no problem showing it to me, right?", Her glowed 'unknowingly', making Ryo's eyes glint.

His face instantly transformed from smiley to expressionless, within a second, as he looked back at her and asked, "You won't regret it, right, Darling? I hope after this, you don't have any problem."

For a second, Zero Two felt the temperature in the air drop by several Celsius when she heard him say that, she almost took a step back, but suddenly an unknown energy, helped her get hold of herself.

"What are you talking about, Darling? As long as you are not working on the 'machine' to reach back to your old world, I will not regret it~", With a smile, Zero Two replied back. 

Looking at her, Ryo chuckled and started to walk toward Franxx's Lab. With a 'swish' sound, the door opened as he entered it, followed by a 'jolly' Zero Two who had her wish complied with like usual.

Unknown to her, she wasn't able to understand that she had changed.

.

As soon as they entered the lab, Ryo and Zero Two looked at Franxx working on a holographic screen. And as if feeling them enter the room, he slowly closed his screen back and focused on them.

"Hmm? What bri-"

"Franxx, get out, I have some important work.", Interrupting him, Ryo forced Franxx out of the lab, but followed him to the door, and as soon as the door closed, he entered the code, making the door get locked.

"Huh? Darling, why are you locking the door?", Zero Two looked back puzzled at Ryo, who walked toward her, and before she could react, grabbed her neck.

*Bang*

"Khek--!"

Feeling air knocked out of her lungs, Zero Two stared in astonishment at Ryo's face, which looked back into her eyes, as a shiver ran down her back.

Those emotionless eyes, which stared back at her made her feel fear for some reason, as tears started to form on her face. But Ryo showed no mercy to her, as he looked back at her without losing his grip on her neck.

"You wanted to know what I was working on, right? Let me show it to you.", Lifting her by her neck, he calmly walked over to a cylindrical hollow tube that was occupying a part of the lab and stood over, under it.

As if sensing the weight and person standing on it, the tube suddenly wrapped its exit and started to make a 'buzzing' sound and started to descend underground. As soon as the lift started to descend, a breathtaking structure revealed itself in front of them.

"Khew~ D-Darling!", Knowing full well that it would take a long time, Ryo loosened his grip and let her fall to the ground, showing no regard to her.

Feeling the suffocating pain in her chest, Zero Two, looked down at the floor with unfocused eyes as she wondered, 'W-Wa-What is going on?', this was the first time in her life, she was threatened like that, especially by her darling, himself.

*Shiwh* *Shiwh* *Shiwh* *Shiwh*

Bright pillars of light flashed across the glass surface of the elevator tube they were in as they descended into the pure blue futuristic structure, built underground into the whole structure.

"..."

Even the silence was so suffocating for Zero Two, that in fear of getting 'punished' again for asking something she shouldn't have, she kept looking at the ground during their whole descent. 

*Ding*

With the soft chime of the lift, Zero Two was finally able to process anything, but before she could say or ask anything, Ryo grabbed her by her hair and forced her to stand up and follow him.

"Ughh-! *Sob* *Sob*", Although it was not very painful for her, Zero Two could only give a muffed cry because of who was hurting her.

"...", Ryo, looking at her silently sobbing, just looked at her actions coldly and continued to walk to the deeper part of the 'structure' they were in front of. 'Once the fear of abandonment takes over her heart, she won't speak anything about this incident.'

Walking through the first door, a huge stench came flooding out of the door, the scene was so cruel, that even after experiencing torture previously and seeing some gruesome scenes before, Zero Two felt like vomiting as her body started to tremble in fear.

Before them was a hall that had tens of hundreds exactly look-alikes of 'Ryo-s' and 'Zero Two-s' handing on a mechanical string, brought forward, into to tube-like structure that was hanging on the ceiling.

As soon as the bodies entered the experimental tube-like structure, a green fluid-like substance came flooding into it, filling it completely as the body either started to slowly melt or was affected slightly.

Then after a few seconds, the bottom half of the tube instantly opened, flushing off all the liquid alongside the 'clones' inside of them, causing them to fall through a funnel, which flushed out the liquid part, and only left behind big chunks of body parts.

The funnel was then collected by robotic parts, and stored in smaller containers depending on their sizes and was sent to get sorted and further studied upon.

Walking through the bloody and gruesome hall of the structure, they walked into another elevator, which further brought them to a small lab that had a huge tube-like structure in the middle of the whole laboratory.

Finally coming to a stop, Ryo brought his face close to Zero Two's eyes. As their eyes met, he looked deeply into them and saw them shake unconsciously as her eyes were filled with tears.

With twitching lips, Zero Two finally gathered enough courage to finally open her trembling lips, "D-Darling, I a-am sorry! Please don't h-hate me! P-Please! Punish me, hit me, do whatever you want, b-but, please please please, don't hate me!"

Tilting his head, Ryo studied her expression. She was not scared of dying, she was more scared of getting hated by him. A miracle of 'portion'.

With a smile, he finally opened his mouth, "You were so curious about what I was doing right?", taking her face, he planted it against the tube-like structure, making her cheeks squashed against the tube. 

"Look at it."

Forcing her head against the glass tube, he brought his mouth near her ears and whispered, "This is the body that you will be sharing with my girl on the other side of the world~!"

Licking his lips he continued, "Well, you see, I was planning to make the dimensional hopping device to hop back into my old world, and after finally meeting my old, Darling, I would have used this device to merge your bodies~!"

Releasing her head from his grasp, he hummed a song that was saved in the back of his mind as he hopped to the side of the laboratory and pressed some button on the holographic screen, as two tables extended from the wall.

Each of these medical stretchers, had some sort of headgear, on the upper part of the table, which was made specifically for collecting neural memory from neurons of one brain and transferring it to another neuron brain matter.

Walking back to her, he grabbed her and placed her on the structure, while she looked confused at his actions, "D-Darling, can you at least say that you still l-love m-me?", with a crazy but scared look, she still asked back.

Ignoring her question, he forcefully put her flat and began to lock her body on the table, and after making sure that her body was finally strapped completely, he bent his legs, such that his face was in front of her, but horizontally inverted.

"Darling~ Darling~ Darling~ Who asked you to be so curious?", Rubbing her face with his right hand, he observed a blush cover her teary face, as he continued, "Well, you see, you getting pregnant was not a part of my plan~ But anyway, we can convert our babies into egg form."

"With that, I will keep them safe till I finally find a way to return to my old world, and find my other Darling~! With me, her, and you; I would use you both's brains, and transfer it into the body that is in front of you~"

Walking away from Zero Two, Ryo walked up to the tube-like structure, and continued, "I am planning to transfer my body to this body first, then make something similar to this for you both. In this way, we will all be equal~"

With a final look at the complete black body with blue lines pulsing on it, Ryo's finger twitched as he finally walked back to Zero Two and whispered, "Do you hate me for this, Darling? I hope you understand me for what I am doing..."

While her chest was moving up and down, due to quick heavy breathing, Zero Two looked back at him with a crazy look, "H-Hehaha, Darling, oh Darling~ Y-You only belong to me and me only!"

"I cannot let you merge her with me, that w-will mean I will have to share you with her.", Ryo calmly listened to her and slowly removed all the bindings, making her feel happier that she might have some chance.

*Slap*

Just as she was almost about to jump and hug Ryo back, she suddenly heard a slapping sound as suddenly her right cheek suddenly began to sting. With disbelief in her eyes, she brought her hand to her cheeks.

Just as she processed what had happened again, she heard a deep voice, "You disappoint me, D... Zero Two. I hoped you to understand me, but oh well."

"I am giving you a final chance. Run away from me. Complete your task, and I might consider sparing your life and get back at you like you.", Walking to the other end of the lab, Ryo sternly continued, "Never talk to anyone, not even me... regarding this experiment. Or else I will never talk back to you."

"H-huh?", Before she could process anything, two humanoid androids entered the room and dragged Zero Two out of the structure, to the surface, and left her at the center of the middle of Franxx's Lab.

On her way, Zero Two's eyes went dull as she stared into the air until she was left in the middle of Franxx's Lab. As soon as she was left on the floor, she stood up with trembling legs and started to walk toward the surface, to complete her task.

'T-There is n-no way Darling will h-hate me, right? He l-loves me! I just have to complete the task given to me. He might be using this as a motivation for me. Yes. That-Thats right!', With mashed-up thoughts, her legs gained speed as she shot out of the base with tears streaming out of her eyes.

On her way out, she passed Franxx, who looked at her rushing out with an astonished face as his mind also went into confusion. 

-

"Everything done. Now I just need to wait." Looking at the body floating in the liquid, a question entered his mind, "Say, System, if my plan doesn't work out, and I die, what will happen to you?"

[The system will go into shutdown. Until the System senses a spark from the core of your Origin.]

"I see. Can you tell me more about the 'Cores' and 'Origin'."

[Checking Host's current status...]

[Host is eligible for a minor level of data.]

[[Cores] are the imaginary cores that are present in every organism, living or not, as long as it is sentient and able to physically, mentally, and spiritually evolve and adapt from very birth.]

[Each [Core] has ranks. These ranks actually signify the potential their [Astral Body] and [Origin] have.]

"Hmm~ Astral Body? That is something new... System, tell me more about it."

[Host does not have enough authority to know more about it. Just know that is more or less similar to 'Higher Dimensional Embroidment of [Souls]']

Pinching his chin, Ryo went deep in thought for a second as he panned out all the possible ways of its existence. "I see. Can you continue more on the previous topic?"

[On the other end, [Origin] is different. Let's put it this way, there are infinite layers of time, and each of its 'volumes' is divided between different slots of space, each having its own reality. But there is only one thing in common. This common thing is 'Origin'.]

[[Origin] is present in all time but is signify only one thing. The origin of a creature till the true end of its existence, where even its knowledge, power, and even its name are forgotten.]

[There can only be one [Origin] but it is shared between all of the beings.]

[The main difference between, the [Soul], and Origin is that [Soul] is present in every being, but it is separate from its other realities, but [Origin] is common and eternal throughout each being.]

[One damage to [Soul] will stay in one reality, damage to [Astral Body] will be transmitted in a linear motion of time, that is past, present, and future but it is detectable; while damage to [Origin] will be transmitted to not only past, present, and future, but it will be transmitted to anything related to one's self.]

[Damage to [Origin] will rewrite the reality as well as its parallel timelines, making it so that the 'present' will not even realize that something has happened to any of its future parallel selves. It will be considered common among all of reality.]

With narrowed eyes, Ryo's face married a frown as he thought, 'This is bad. This means anything that could happen to my origin will rewrite my perception of reality and make me think that something was already there to begin with.', But shaking his head, he removed all these thoughts.

'No need to think and delve deeply about this. I am not at that level. Not at least for now...'

With that thought concluded, he clad his 'Shadow' persona clothing as he prepared himself for the storm that was coming. 'One single mistake and it will all go down.'

There was only one thing left, and that was to move 'Night Raid' which was recently formed from its latest location to another one. 'I'll let my minions handle this. I am already in control of 40% of the members of the Revolutionary Army.'

Sending a message out, he walked to his main office and sat on his chair as he swirled in it.

Sitting there quietly, he enjoyed the silence that was there before the storm. Enjoying the sweet time he had left before everything went down.

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[4550]

Don't forget to give me a comment, reply, or power stone! They give me motivation!

Thank you!

-SR_2027.

=====