BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

His gaze locked onto the younger man\'s face with an intensity that seemed to pierce through him.

"You," he said, his tone laced with incredulity.

"Are you surprised?"

For a moment, Zachary\'s expression faltered, revealing a flicker of uncertainty. "How did you?"

"It\'s just a trick."

Zachary wasn\'t stupid. That was not, by any means, a simple trick. He understood what Erik did. What he didn\'t understand was how that was possible.

Zachary\'s confusion deepened, his brow furrowing as he tried to understand.

Erik\'s presence should have been impossible for many reasons. For starters, he should have been dead, and last, he shouldn\'t have been able to enter the police station.

"I guess your boss kept you in the dark, huh? Did he send you here on your request, or was it more about him wanting to wash his hands of you?"

Zachary\'s stance stiffened. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice betraying a hint of apprehension.

Erik\'s reply was calm, almost nonchalant. "What do I want? I\'ve already taken what I came for."

At that moment, Zachary\'s eyes widened in understanding. "You wanted to know where the HQ was," he said. That was the natural conclusion anyone would have arrived.

The idea Erik had extracted such critical information right under his nose was a bitter pill to swallow, igniting a mix of anger and, surprisingly, grudging respect within him.

Erik\'s laughter filled the room, carrying a note of triumph. "Bingo!"

The younger man\'s eyes sparkled. With his Instability brain crystal power it wasn\'t hard to get this kind of information, but the idea he got it from Zachary, and that he was aware, made him feel ecstatic. It was a petty revenge for him.

"But, you see, I had to nudge you a little, get you to talk without you even realizing it."

Zachary\'s response was a mix of defiance and skepticism, his face etching into a mask of challenge.

"And just how do you plan to pinpoint the location? I didn\'t exactly hand you a map."

Erik\'s grin only widened at the question, his confidence undimmed.

"True, you didn\'t give me an address. But you overlooked one thing—New Alexandria isn\'t exactly overflowing with parks, is it?"

His logic was sound, and the implications were clear. The realization dawned on Zachary, his defiance faltering as the implications of Erik\'s words became clear.

"I\'m willing to search every building. One at a time, if necessary."

Of course, Erik got that information already. When Zachary thought about the place, the young man saw it. He was only saying those words to provoke Zachary.

"That\'s if I allow you to do that."

To those words, Erik laughed even more. Zachary wasn\'t aware of how stronger Erik was, and he didn\'t clearly know he was the famed Erik Kay from Etrium.

In his mind, despite him being an awakener, he should still have been much weaker than him.

And how could he think differently? To get neural links required years on average.

Amber and the others were able to make more just because they were rich and went to the Red Palace.

The brain stimulating serums weren\'t so pricey without a reason.

Zachary reached for his Panabas, Erik allowed him to do so, and the man noticed.

"You know. When I heard there was a guy named Zachary from the Crystal Cross Gang here, I didn\'t understand it was you. After all, I only heard your name once when you attacked me. Can you imagine the twist when I found out it was you?"

Zachary then stood from his chair. "You talk as if you have already killed me."

The man clearly understood what Erik had in mind. Vengeance was why he came here for, it was also the reason he asked for the HQ location. He wanted to destroy the Crystal Cross Gang.

"You are not well informed, Zachary, at least about me. I guess you would have been if your boss told you who I am."

"What\'s there to know? You are Erik Romano, the awakener. If you think I\'m scared by you, then you are mistaken. You can\'t have possibly reached my level in a so short time frame."

Zachary said with confidence. Erik didn\'t even use a brain crystal power. He took the ordinary sword the police officer wore with his uniform.

Zachary\'s confidence evaporated in an instant. Before he could even process Erik\'s movement, the blade of the ordinary sword was already in motion.

There was no time for Zachary to react, no moment for him to grasp the severity of his situation. Erik\'s movements were too swift, too silent.

The cold steel met his neck, and in one clean, precise stroke, Erik decapitated him.

Zachary didn\'t see Erik move; he didn\'t have the chance to defend himself or even register shock.

[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]

[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]

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[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 4374 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.] Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

It was over in the blink of an eye. It left the room in a stunned silence, punctuated only by the sound of the sword slicing through the air and of Zachary\'s head falling to the ground.

"Ah… That felt good."

Zachary was one of those Erik wanted to kill, a target of his revenge. But he wasn\'t the only one.

The guy called Death, the one that fought the Crombo back when Erik was attacked by the Crystal Cross Gang, was on his list. Though all the members of the gang were. He wasn\'t the only one remaining on that list.

Then Erik opened the door of the room and turned into a fly again, leaving the officer\'s clothes on the ground.

He quickly left the building. Someone found Zachary\'s body, because then alarms rang and people rushed in and out of the place. June must have noticed that, as he hid away from where Erik left him.

<Where are you? > Erik asked his clone through the telepathic link.

<I\'m close. Did you find Zachary? >

<I did, > Erik said.

<Judging from what is happening, you must have killed him, right? >

<Yes. He was one of the guys that attacked me during the Red Palace\'s outing. > Then understanding dawned on June. It was there he heard about his name.

<June, I left Zachary\'s body in the open because I\'m planning something. If it works, we will destroy the Crystal Cross Gang in one fell swoop. >