Chapter 270: Divine

"The… information came from Gerald?!"

Beatrice, who was busy coordinating with Sisa and the interceptor team from her office, threw her glasses away upon hearing what she heard. She tapped her desk, and a screen emerged from its surface, showing a satellite image of the Philippines.

She stared at the screen for a moment before a ping beeped, pinpointing a specific label tagged as '01' — the First Soldier's handle in the IBAA's system.

"This… is right in the middle of a major city," Beatrice muttered, her eyes widening as she scanned the map. "But… there are no reported Leaks anywhere near this area."

She pressed something on the desk, and four more screens emerged—each with different purposes. The person who passed her the information quietly made his way behind her, wanting to see what their director was doing.

He, however, just squinted as he couldn't understand the contents of the screens at all. Beatrice, on the other hand, seemed to be working with all the monitors in front of her without any problem at all.

"Connect me to Gerald."

"M-me…?" the man whispered, pointing at himself. "I… I don't think I have the authorization or clearance for—"

<Dialing the First Soldier.>

"Oh…" The man blinked, slightly lowering his head as he didn't realize Beatrice wasn't talking to him at all. He was about to leave Beatrice's office, but Gerald actually answered, and leaving now would probably disrupt their conversation.

"Gerald. Can you hear me?" Beatrice stood up, lightly biting her finger as she looked out the window. "Gerald."

<...Have you started evacuation procedures?>

"Yes." Beatrice nodded. "We take the warning of our X-tier Heroes very seriously. But Manila is a very populous place, Gerald. Evacuation will take… a while."

<That's okay.>

Beatrice squinted, staring at the dark clouds on the horizon.

"We're not detecting any Leaks, Gerald."

<Oh. They'll be here. I can feel them.>

"Feel… them?"

Like Adam, most X-tier Heroes… do not really make any sense at all. Gerald had an unquantifiable and unidentifiable ability, even now, when fifty years had passed since the start of the Games.

Chike, the second X-tier Hero, barely showed himself—only really appearing after calamities, or if he even does show himself.

Kyung Hye Park… could be spotted everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was impossible to find her due to her speed.

Adam, of course, became the fourth X-tier Hero.

And then, the next one who became one was someone close to him—Patient Eleven, or as she was known in public, Xuyue, the Goddess of Poison.

They were all different people, and they were all weird. But there was one thing people should always do when in their presence: you should always listen to whatever it was they were saying.

"Are you saying you can feel when a Leak is about to emerge?" she asked.

<No. Only this one.>

"Are you sure it's the race of the Emperors?"

<Yes, Ma'am.>

"And where do you think this Leak will appear?"

<Right here. In front of where I'm standing.>

Beatrice quickly glanced back at her desk, studying the map. Her eyes started moving wildly with Gerald's confirmation, seemingly calculating something.

"It will take several hours to evacuate the people in the Leak's affected area," she whispered. "You should get out of there while you can, Gerald. If it's a Survival Mode Leak, you'll become the Champion. It would be best if—"

<I can't do that.>

"...What?"

<My daughter lives nearby with her family.>

"Then just run and carry them—"

<She's pregnant with my second grandchild. I can't.>

"...I understand." Beatrice slowly made her way back to her desk, letting herself fall on her chair with a deep sigh. "I will try to contact some S-tier Heroes and—"

<Don't. We can't risk any of them dying—the planet needs them.>

"Then I will try to find the other X-tier—"

<You know they won't come. The only one who would is… out.>

"You can't possibly—"

<It's too late, anyway. They're here.>

"What are you—"

Before Beatrice could finish, all the monitors in front of her turned red.

<I'll try to keep the damage to a minimum until you can evacuate enough people.>

"I will send a helicopter for your family."

Beatrice turned off all her monitors, pushing herself away from her desk.

"Once they are out of the Leak's affected area, I authorize you to use all and any force necessary to get rid of the threat, Gerald," she said, the tone of her voice turning even colder than how it usually was.

<...And what about the people still here?>

Beatrice closed her eyes upon hearing Gerald's question. She clenched her fist, her lower lip almost bleeding from how hard she bit it.

"Eliminating the threat is more important. I will shoulder all the responsibilities, Gerald."

<I have a granddaughter now, Ma'am. And another one on the way…

…I'm not going to let them live in a world where their grandpa doesn't care about the lives of other people.>

"Gerald. You are more important than everyone there. It—"

Gerald cut off the line before Beatrice could say what she wanted to say. She just sat there for a moment after that, staring at the map, which now showed that a Leak had appeared right where Gerald was.

"Why…?" she whispered after a moment, breaking the silence. "Why now?"

The bellethers were already a threat that could potentially end humanity. And now… the emperors chose this exact time to make an appearance again?

"Does… the universe want us gone?"

***

"Are we… already taking off?"

Meanwhile, Adam and Sylvie were seated on the sofa, both strapped within the belt that came with it—all of them inside the ship, completely oblivious of the threat they were leaving.

The two were still awkwardly looking at each other, not knowing where to place their eyes at all.

Adam squinted, trying to feel if the ship was moving, but it felt as if they were completely still.

"I think so? V, can you show us the outside?"

<Of course.>

The ship's AI quickly responded to them, and the far wall that previously displayed the beach switched to the view of the airstrip… or at least, was the airstrip. It was hard to discern since everything around them had turned black or into ash.

And indeed, they truly were leaving the ground.

"Fantastic," Sylvie muttered. "I can't even feel a single vibration. The rockets we had can't compare to this."

"Of course, your family would have rockets." Adam closed his eyes for a moment. "Have you been to space, too?"

"I have."

"Of course." Adam nodded, then shook his head as he turned his focus back to the images on the wall. "We're… high up, now."

The clouds now surrounded them, with the view of the bright moon reflecting in his green eyes. And while he was staring at the wide screen, Sylvie was staring at him.

Adam noticed her staring, but he didn't say anything at all and just kept focusing on the view of the sky—well, space, now.

His eyes soon widened, and he suddenly felt everything getting lighter. He looked in front of him, only to see strands of his hair floating, seemingly frozen in the air.

<For acclimating and training purposes, artificial gravity will be turned off for the duration of your stay. Thank you for your understanding. You may now remove your straps.>

Adam glanced at Sylvie, the two nodding to each other as they removed their straps at the same time. Adam was expecting to float up… but he didn't. He remained where he was.

He gently stood up… only for that single motion to bring his entire body up in the air.

"Okay…" he muttered as he found himself rotating slowly. "...This might take some time to get used to."

He grabbed onto the strap, pulling himself back to the sofa before he noticed that Sylvie wasn't really having a hard time moving properly—she was even walking on the ceiling.

"How… are you doing that?"

"Oh…" Sylvie smiled as she saw Adam hugging the straps. "It's not much different from how I usually move. My body has never been completely solid since I gained my abilities."

Sylvie moved away from the ceiling, landing next to Adam before making her way to the wall and looking at the expanse of space surrounding them.

Adam looked around and then very gently pushed himself toward her. But of course, he once again ended up spinning in the air.

"You…" Sylvie couldn't help but giggle, covering her mouth and catching Adam before he hit the wall; his hair that was almost as tall as him, completely covering her face. Her giggles soon turned into laughter as she gently brushed his hair while planting him next to her.

"...Thank you," Adam quietly said, scratching his chin as he tried to remain still. "I think I'm going to be stuck in space once the fighting gets started."

"That's… not going to happen, monsieur." Sylvie waved him off, trying to stop herself from laughing again. "I… won't let it happen."

"...Hm."

And all of a sudden, the two once again became quiet after that. They just stared at the screen in front of them, even though there was nothing but darkness.

"Adam."

"Hm?"

"Both of us are getting older now. Maybe not physically… but we're older," she whispered, turning toward Adam as her voice became softer. "I might die here."

"I won't let that happen."

"And you will live on." She raised her palm, motioning for Adam to just listen. "So, I don't think I want to waste any more time."

"What… is it?"

"I am deeply in love with you, Adam," she said, not even a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"I have been since the day we first met."