New Game+

Blood.

Burn wounds of the second degree.

There were even several holes that pierced through his body with the flesh around it that was beginning to show signs of rotting.

His figure was so marred that you wouldn't believe he was alive. Around the room were monitors that displayed the detailed status of Cliff.

The detailed display of Cliff's status on every aspect of his body were all on critical status. Several doctors were in the room. Lara even recognized some of the doctors in that room.

As for Charm, she had no time to look at them. The mere sight of his figure brought Charm to a petrifying shock.

Memories of their talk last night flashed by. What Charm did was practically bullying. She had forced Cliff to tell her everything about who he is, and his mission. And although Cliff finally revealed that he had fallen for her, she didn't give him even a small ounce of compassion or sympathy but berated him and called him a liar and a manipulator.

She even managed to make Cliff tear up. It was only then that she gave up. She knew that she liked Cliff and perhaps even loved him, but in her pride, she had sworn to make it hard for him.

And now, she may never see him again.

At the convulsion of her emotions, Charm fainted.

"Charm!" Lara shouted as she ran over to catch her friend.

Cliff was lain down in a transparent chamber. It had several thick layers of glass that seemed to be emitting a strange light.

Lara glanced at it and frowned. She knew that the technologies her eyes had could not pierce through and analyze the biology of Cliff. But now was not the time to do spy on that soldier. Charm was in so much shock that it caused her to faint.

She held on to her as several of the nearby doctors immediately rushed towards them.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" A superior asked as he glared at Lara.

"They are with me." Harker arrived and commanded.

"General!" The doctors all called out together.

"How is Specimen Triple-0?" Harker asked.

This title was the title that Cliff had.

"He's the first?" Lara was stunned.

Harker heard Lara shock and turned to her.

"Oh? I shouldn't have been careless." Harker laughed as if he made a mistake.

"Pangean counting begins with Triple 0. If you named him in such a lazy manner, then it proves he is the first."

"Why are you angry?" Harker was bemused.

"I wouldn't have cared less. But she's my friend's friend. And that makes it different."

"Oh? A Diamon cares for a man like Cliff? You do know that he is simply a Regular? He's citizenship is that of the lowest. If this was another century, he would have been a slave." Harker laughed.

"Isn't the EAA known for that? You push it to an extreme. Even within the Elites of your country, they emphasize the Junior and the Senior."

"Trust me. I belong in a clan that would make a Regular look at one of the top noble classes. In my world, who you are born as will set your faith forever. So I don't need your lecture. But not all the elites born of us loves this." Lara glared.

"Hmmm… It seems my approach is ineffective. Truth be told, I merely brought this façade out. In reality, I place great care in this boy called Cliff. However, if I were to show any signs of favor, my political enemies would eat me alive." Harker smiled.

Lara's eyebrows rose but then turned soft. In the secrecy of how her guard was down, her eyes were secretly utilizing the techs in her eyes which constantly kept scanning and determining whether or not Harker was telling the truth or not.

Her technologies prompted her that Harker was telling the truth. But something… felt off.

Harker was secretly laughing.

With how he could see things in his perception, he knew that the very minute expressions of Lara meant she was doing something beyond the norm. And so Harker came prepared to meet this Presider.

He had been releasing small bits of his killing intent. This was to provide shade over how Lara would react and deduce. She hadn't noticed the growing fear in her heart.

But at the same time, Harker had also released another form of intent. This was something that not even Meng or Lennox could create. Only individuals of such charisma could release it.

Lara then relaxed. Although she could not understand it, she began to trust Harker.

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

"What of your training in politics?"

"The best. Naturally." Lara boasted.

"Then I don't need to get into the detail. As of now, any actions I make, be it good or bad will be challenged."

"I know. Your political enemies will always oppose your stance. You take a stand that supports the Regular, then your political enemies will charge you with disrupting the culture in which your society has shaped. People will accuse you of not honoring the utopia that the Pangean nations have built and may even look into your descent and spread rumors that you, someone of a Rising background is trying to usurp this nation. You take the view of supporting the Royals, you will be portrayed as someone who does not view people equally." Lara narrated in one breath. She paused to consider the pros and cons of siding with the Rising.

"Of course. Siding with the Rising is the worst. You'd be seen by your enemies as someone who wants to make every Regular a Rising and that would cause envy to the current Rising and may demand to be a Royal making the Royal hate you more…"

"Impressive. It is as you say. Each stance I make will be my disadvantage. So I do my best to hide all intentions. Everything that I revealed, every stand that I took and even the image I crafted for myself are all calculated moves. It is loved by the media, as it fuels their gain, and most of my political enemies in Pangea have all been trapped. I am now waiting for the backstabbing attacks of that organization."

"The Underworld?" Lara asked.

"If only it were that simple." Harker laughed mysteriously.

Lara ignored his mysterious statements but her heart was pounding.

"Going back to my question. I wasn't asking about what you meant by your political allies. I am asking why you take pity on Cliff."

"Oh… It's personal. Simply put, it was my hand that ended his family tree. The Fangwoods are Underworld agents. Cliff has been secretly living a dual life as you know. But the drugs he had weren't just ordinary drugs. It is the Fangwood trying to regain their lost Fangs."

"The Fangwoods… aren't they simply Regulars?"

"You don't employ people of lowly births as hitmen? The Fangwoods are one of the hitmen groups that both Rising and Royals employ. They're like the foot soldiers!" Harker gave a strange expression.

Cliff had to stop himself from cursing as he listened inside.

Lara noticed something and glanced at Cliff.

Cliff panicked and used his Unlocking to increase his temperature.

"His temperature is rising." Harker immediately voiced out.

The doctors panicked and began to move.

Harker was cursing at Cliff in his mind. But he wore a serious expression as he glanced at Cliff and clenched his fist.

"I won't let him die. I promise you, Alean." Harker whispered.

Lara turned and glanced at Harker. Although Harker whispered, Lara was able to make out what he said thanks to her superior hearing.

Lara gave Cliff a complicated look and then realized something.

"What is it that you want from me? I'm sure you didn't bring me here for anything."

Harker was awoken from his dazed look and noticed that Cliff's vitals were stabilizing.

He gave a relieved sigh and looked back at Lara.

"While it is beneficial to have you as allies, it's too risky. Take it as a sign of goodwill, since you are Charm's friend and alert your family of the undercurrents the world will soon face. The reason why I brought you here was to hide my original target."

Lara understood and immediately rushed towards Charm and stood to cover her from the doctors and even Harker's glance.

"What do you want with Charm?" Lara angrily shouted.

"Relax. I brought her here to talk to her of course. I know of her real status after all."

"Real status?" Lara asked.

Harker was silent but his eyes gave a curious impression.

"You… you don't know? Interesting. But if you didn't know and wanted to be her friend… then… it was real friendship?" Harker gave Lara a strange look.

"Know what?" Lara asked.

"It's best for her to tell you. As such, allow my doctors to treat her. I have a way of awakening her from her shock. If I told you, you might not believe me anyway." Harker then turned his attention back to Cliff.

Lara was silent. She stood nearby glancing at Charm now and then.

"What could it be? That even my sources don't know?" Lara pondered. But then she realized a more pressing matter.

"I need to contact the others… That organization is real… And it looks like it's about to betray Harker?"

After a few minutes of pondering, Cliff's status suddenly became unstable and everyone in the room was taking action.

Lara took the opportunity and tried to send out an alert through her cells.

After a few minutes, she stopped.

"Too many distortions. Looks like I need to get out of here first." She sighed.

She then approached Charm who was now left alone as the doctors rushed off to their positions to help Cliff.

She brushed Charm's hair and sighed.

"What is it that you didn't tell me, Charm?" She sighed.

---

A hundred kilometers from London was the Forest-Megalopolis of Central England.

Utilizing their highly desired weather-controlling technology, the former destruction that had caused England to fall into a vast zone of desolation, now became an area teaming with wildlife. Houses were intricate and built with designs that allowed trees and all sorts of plants to grow anywhere.

The Lightning technology was the cause which allowed New Great Britain to give birth to weather-controlling technologies that stunned the world. Even the World Governing Powers applauded this technology and even purchased the tech at the price of giving them another tech in their arsenals.

And so, with a technology that focused on plant biology and soil science which was a perfect pair with weather control, New Great Britain became the foremost suppliers of almost all farm-related vegetables and grain.

The Forest-Megapolis boasted the cleanest place this world has ever known.

The name of the megacity was Eden.

In the heart of Eden, a middle-aged professor returned to his private quarters in the Central England School of the Future.

The professor did as what most scholars of the supra-modern era would do; turn on his console and play his favorite video game. The intrigue of Casual Carlean's miracle had opened the world to pursue world-breaking attempts at various games. Everyone started pooling and studying the different versions of each game in hopes to find a loophole to complete it.

Various of the older games have been revived and most games that generally had over sixty hours of game time were tested to the limits.

What intrigued the professor, other than his interest in the game, was the strange sensation that the Professor had while watching all of Seeker's video.

As a shrink with an extremely sharp observational skill, the mystery that Seeker Carlean displayed was fascinating. He wasn't the only one. Experts in Psychology had started to study and made researches focusing on Seeker Carlean. Was he lying? Or was he simply a miracle?

The common theory that circulated was that Seeker was extremely skilled at the game. He and Lynd were already champion players and that their sudden appearance as well as the skills they displayed instantly shot them to the peak of popularity.

However, this professor believed to be different.

It was impossible to find out about the bugs. And as a strong adherent of the classical work of Conan O' Doyle, he eliminated the impossible. And that impossibility being Seeker knew beforehand the bugs that the just-released game had.

With his previous connections to several prominent names in the Underworld, this professor had long since crossed out the possibility that Seeker knew the game's bugs beforehand. Other theories that insisted Seeker was working with Piercing grew dimmer and dimmer when the Professor continued to analyze everything.

And so, his obsession led him to play the game itself. Actively recalling every single detail and expression that Lynd and Meryl had.

He was confident in his observation of human psychology. Meryl and Lynd were not acting.

Seeker surprised them with his show of skill.

This revelation puzzled him deeply and so, he began to seriously ponder the mystery brought by Seeker Carlean.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed it. It was when he sat down on his couch that he realized it.

"Are you here to kill me?" The professor sighed.