After binding Hewlett with her hair transformed into tendrils, Yvette didn’t kill him but quickly left the road and flew into a rural wasteland.
She was uncertain if Hewlett had set any traps and didn’t want to risk waiting too long, potentially inviting an armed response from Linthou Biotech. Thus, she needed a new location to interrogate him.
Once she released the hair that was gagging him, the thought of him possibly smearing saliva across her hair caused Yvette to sigh inwardly. She resolved to cut off that unnecessary part later. “Now, answer my question.”
As he spoke, Hewlett glanced at Yvette. “Though you seem older, your appearance closely resembles that of the silver-haired girl—almost like a grown version of her… Oh, by the way, according to the company’s investigations over the past two years, those two subjects were eventually identified; one was named ‘Yvette Loxivia’ and the other ‘Lianna Renee.’ Before becoming subjects, they were orphans supported by Black Tower in a welfare institution.”
He paused, then regretfully added, “Now you know why I immediately concluded you must be Zero, right? Even if it’s a false identity, your disguise is rather lazy…”
Yvette fell into thought.
If Hewlett were not inclined to lie before dying, then it meant “Zero” could indeed be confirmed as the original, i.e., her. As for Lianna Renee, she was less familiar. During her initial dream entry long ago, she hadn’t interacted much with the other genetically modified orphans from the Transformation Plan; she only knew that there appeared to be a girl by that name.
The original and Lianna were Zero and One—held under high secrecy, likely due to the “Eternal Life Project”…
She asked again, “Why did you say I’m using non-human means?”
“That’s a hypothesis… Miss Zero, if I may call you that, do you know about the ‘Corroded Seed’? Of course, that’s a codename circulating within Linthou Biotech; perhaps it goes by a different name at Black Tower Pharmaceuticals…”
Corroded Seed?
Hearing this unfamiliar term, Yvette paused momentarily, her mind recalling another name.
—Divine Transformation!
Related to the potential origins of extinction!
“Go on.” Yvette remained noncommittal.
“The Corroded Seed is a codename whose origin is unknown. We know nothing about it. It could be a living thing, a dead thing, a concept, or a remnant… Many scholars within the company believe it truly exists, possibly representing a technological legacy from an extraterrestrial or ancient civilization. The company obtained theoretical backing from it, allowing us to translate this into practical applications…”
“At first, everything was merely speculation, often a jest among us. But later, we heard similar rumors within Black Tower Pharmaceuticals. Only then did our academic circle start to genuinely believe that both Black Tower and Linthou possess something extraordinary, that our new technologies weren’t results of development but some special acquisition or even inheritance…”
“And you, Miss Zero,” Hewlett continued, “as escaped test subjects under exceedingly high secrecy within Black Tower, are definitively linked to crucial and powerful new technologies, perhaps even the elusive ‘Corroded Seed.’ The company’s keen interest in you stems from that, hoping to extract Black Tower’s confidential information through you.”
“I, personally, haven’t reported this to the company; instead, I chose to come visit you directly not just to seize credit, but also out of selfishness. I wish to receive an answer from you—a definitive answer before I die…”
“Miss Zero, before I die, can you tell me—does the ‘Corroded Seed’ or any technology like it truly exist?”
…
After giving Hewlett a confirming answer, Yvette noticed an indescribable complexity in his expression. Eventually, it seemed he released a long-held breath, as if he had completed a long-cherished quest for knowledge.
After he had sent tearful voice messages saying goodnight to his parents, wife, and children, Yvette ended his life, crafting a simple little box using earth magic.
This small urn would later be sent anonymously to his wife, a request he made before passing.
Standing on a large rock in the rural wilderness, Yvette gazed toward the center of Agash City, where the night’s veil failed to shroud the neon metropolis. The soaring holographic advertisements seemed to boast the city’s opulence to the universe.
She recalled the seeker-like glint in Hewlett’s eye earlier, speculating that he held back another unspoken question—was the Origin Civilization genuinely created by their hands?
Was the Origin Civilization merely a child standing on the shoulders of giants, yet boasting about its own height?
Such a difficult question to answer. Thankfully, as a traveler, whether true or false wouldn’t shake her sense of pride…
Yvette thought to herself, then shifted her focus to the remaining six corporations: the Black Tide Corporation, Linthou Biotech, Gravity Group, Ashen Chemical, Skytech, and Rift Space Corporation.
If Black Tower had “Divine Transformation,” and Linthou possessed the “Corroded Seed,” perhaps these two super companies chose to pursue medical and biological ventures as core missions.
What about the remaining six super corporations?
Did their technologies also relate to similar phenomena?
Or were they a mixed bag, with both normal and aberrant elements present?
Regardless, tonight’s gains had been substantial—solving the problems surrounding the Werewolf Killer while clarifying the identity of the original…
In this thought, Yvette suddenly realized something and felt a twinge of regret.
Earlier, she had used Hewlett’s magical terminal, employing hacking techniques to erase many of her information trails. While this wouldn’t prevent Linthou Biotech from noticing her, it could delay their response time significantly.
Then…
She had forgotten to extort money from Hewlett.
Originally, she had intended to demand money—maybe not a billion, but a simple twenty to thirty million should’ve been a breeze. Yet, as Hewlett left a heartfelt message for his family, she didn’t have the heart to act on that. Then during his execution, she felt a somber mood and completely forgot about the plan.
Fortunately, equipment was indeed available—one military terminal with a 100,000 symbol point cache, a semi-liquid biological armor, along with some bio-prosthetics fused with the body.
Among them, she could disregard the biological prosthetics; they essentially equated to part of the body with gene locks—useless if transplanted.
The Active Rune Sets weren’t un-recyclable, but collecting blood to refine them felt too wicked and troublesome.
The biological armor could be used, but since Hewlett had worn it daily, it had picked up an odor. After activation, the fully enclosed armor would hinder her use of her tendrils… She intended to sell it on the black market, estimating it could fetch at least two to three million.
Only the military terminal with a 100,000 symbol point cache was directly usable—definitely stronger than her 60,000 civilian-grade one, and during its black market surge, it had risen to over 800,000.
Weighing her gains, Yvette thought it was time to reunite with Irene, collect the bounty on the Werewolf Killer.
Tonight’s chaotic magical energy had drained nearly 1,000 points, which was absurd; she’d need to devour an entire district of aberrations to restore it. Thankfully, the rewards had been considerable—valuable intel, equipment, and a bounty.
Thus, she opened the messaging interface and responded to Irene’s messages, first assuring her of her safety and then instructing Irene to wait outside the police station with Tennyson for a quicker bounty collection.
After that, she noticed a long-missed red notification that piqued her interest.
She switched to it and saw a private message from the Fire Wielder; after more than half a month, the Civilization Continuance Society had finally responded.