Endless Evolution: Last Star

The day after the incident at Alienated Rocks, it was early in the morning:

Silvana stood in front of the mirror, preparing to go out, for today, they were to go to the Miracle Observatory, a laboratory owned by one of the influential scientists - Magnus Zephyr.

Last of all, Silvana always styled her hair in a way that emphasized her austerity and coldness, her hair was an important part of her look.

But...

"Oh... I can't..." Silvana mumbled confusedly, touching her hair, then she smiled slightly, carefully fixed her hair, and walked out.

Adam was waiting for her downstairs, as was the car, standing quietly and discreetly on the curb, waiting for its passengers.

Adam turned around and glanced at Silvana.

"You're faster than I expected." Adam smiled.

Silvana nodded as she turned slightly to the side.

"Yeah, it's just that I had to skip a stage this time. Because of someone, I'm going to have to do that for another month." Silvana's corners of her mouth lifted.

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"You mind?"

Silvana smiled kindly, she seemed to be literally glowing, completely relieved of all the weight that would have been on her shoulders the past few weeks.

"Of course I haven't. Have you forgotten? I can't be against it."

"Hah, well said." Adam uttered before getting into the car. Silvana followed him with a hurried stride.

Once they were in the car, Silvana's face changed completely, becoming cold and hard.

Throwing a glance at the driver, she sternly said, "Let's go, we have an important meeting and not much time."

The driver nodded silently before pushing in the gas.

Adam smiled slyly, clearly pleased with the way things had turned out. It might have seemed like he'd been unnecessarily harsh and rude yesterday, but it had worked out, and it wasn't easy for him to treat Silvana that way.

He had to do everything right without making any mistakes, so he felt relieved at the way things had ended.

The ride was quiet and fast, such drivers in such black cars were reserved for those who were connected to the Dead Lands, so the drivers were real masters, knew every turn in the whole Citadel, and had access to most of the areas closed to ordinary people.

Thus, after half an hour, Adam and Silvana found themselves in the far western part of the Citadel. Strangely enough, this area was right next to the slums, or rather, the Miracle Observatory was outside of the Third Circle.

However, the Miracle Observatory was not among the ruined houses and beggarly neighborhoods, for it was a dedicated area protected no worse than a local military point, with high white walls, hidden observation towers, and hundreds of cameras all around.

Adam's eyes went wide. He was clearly shocked. He had only been to one laboratory before, Morton Observatory, and to put it mildly, it had been an unpleasant experience. Aiden Henk was in charge there, and Adam's visit to his lab was almost the end of his life.

However, to some extent, that is exactly what happened.

Entering Morton Observatory, Adam was an ordinary man, leaving it, he soon became a Phantom. Sure... it didn't happen the way it was supposed to, but that was the fact that Adam became a Phantom that day.

'Shit, this all belongs to one man? What's more, he's not some rich guy or Phantom, he's a scientist... with enough influence to control this area at will.' Adam inwardly muttered.

Thar.

The door opened almost silently as Adam and Silvana headed towards the main gate. Oddly enough, no military or any guards were standing in front of the entrance. Well, that was because Magnus Zephyr had his defense system.

"Adam! Stop!" Silvana spoke up, warning Adam against taking the next step, but it was too late.

He hit the red line, causing many mechanisms to activate.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Almost instantly, plates opened up from the walls, which were more like two towers, hiding dozens of turrets underneath. Moreover, on the far observation towers, two electromagnetic cannons rose up, capable of harming even Green Threat Level Monsters.

"Oh, this level of defense is impressive." Adam embarrassedly scratched the back of his head, looking around. He hadn't expected it to have such an effect.

Then, a security camera on a long mechanical rod, headed towards Adam, examining him from every angle. Oddly enough, the camera didn't look at Silvana and spent a lot of time focusing on Adam's right arm, or rather the absence of it.

Then...

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

A delighted laugh, slightly mad and satisfied, erupted from a dozen speakers. The laughter seemed mechanical because of the noise, but it was obvious that it was a man.

"Alright, come in. My assistant will guide you to me. Let's see what we can do. Hahaha." Magnus said caustically before disconnecting.

The turrets quickly fell back into place, as if this entire lab, walls, and several interconnected buildings, were one whole, a living organism obeying a single will.

Crackle.

With a loud crack, the massive gate opened, letting Adam and Silvana inside.

"Seriously?" Adam tilted his head with a strange expression, looking at the speakers that disappeared into the wall only after the gate closed. That means the gate was silent, and the speakers were there specifically to make a frightening rumbling noise.

"Well..." Adam sighed heavily, "Everyone has their quirks, right? Meet a scientist is a new experience, and it's something strange every time."

Step. Step. Step.

As they approached the main, building they caught a gaze of a tall girl. If she had worn heels she would have been taller than Adam.

She had shoulder-length scarlet hair, black eyes, and pale skin with sharp features. In some ways, she looked like Silvana, both in appearance and clothing, it was a formal suit with a short black skirt.

"Hello. My name is Nessa, I am Mr. Magnus's assistant. I hope you won't waste our time." Nessa replied coldly.

Silvana frowned heavily while Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Tsk." Nessa snorted and gestured for them to follow her.

Scientists did all sorts of things, usually some kind of research, be it monsters, technology, weapons, or something simpler like new methods of resource management.

Entering the main building and walking down a few corridors, it was instantly clear that Magnus Zephyr was focusing on monsters, their physiology, parts, various poisons, and so on.

On the walls were displayed different stands with claws, jaws, or tails of monsters, as well as vials of poisons, toxins, or valuable liquids. However, all of this was just decoration, something truly precious was below, in protected and secret rooms.

'Damn, it feels like we're in a museum, but there's obviously something wrong here.' Adam frowned, looking around.

Everything seemed perfect and peaceful as if he were in the house of a hunter-earl rather than a strange scientist.

Moreover, as soon as they followed Nessa, Adam felt a strange tension, as if some creepy things were going on in this place.

He could be wrong, but his instincts behaved the same way they had when he saw the pictures of Aiden Henk conducting his experiments. It was very similar.

"You lost your arm during the fight with Thunder Demon." Nessa uttered.

"Yeah, that was a great battle." Adam replied.

"That wasn't a question. There's no point in answering it." Nessa coldly replied, "You acted foolishly leaving your hand in the monster's jaw. However, it will be a useful experience for Mr. Magnus, so you did well."

Adam once again got a puzzled look on his face.

'Shit, what kind of scientist is what kind of assistant, right? They're both weird.'

Coming around the corner, Nessa stopped and pointed to an opened door from which the red light could be seen.

"We're almost there. Get ready, Mr. Magnus doesn't like his time wasted." Nessa said with bitterness in her voice, she seemed to have felt the consequences of this on more than one occasion.