BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Chapter 922: Emma

She moved with her usual graceful yet measured steps.

Erik knew she came here because of the alarm. Wherever she and the others went, they still had a connection to this place, so they would know if someone entered.

Regardless, he was glad to see someone he knew. Whatever happened here, there was someone alive.

Emma stood in the empty room, waiting. Erik deactivated his chameleon veil and stepped into the light, becoming fully visible.

Emma turned toward the sound, her expression betraying surprise.

"Emma," Erik said to her with a nod.

"Erik," she paused.

"We were sure you were going to come here. Becker told us you are ready to take care of Volkov."

Erik nodded.

"I am. But what happened here? Why is the base empty?" He went straight to the point. But then he asked an important question.

"Where is everyone?"

"Somewhere else," Emma just said.

"We had some problems in the past few months. When you left, carrying out attacks on Volkov became harder, and things got dangerous. We had to move, but I volunteered to stay behind in case another ally arrived."

Erik nodded. That was a good move, but a dangerous one. Emma was going to be alone, and she couldn\'t know who the person reaching this place could be. What if it was a blackguard?

Though, it was also true that her staying there made it possible for him to find the rest of the resistance.

"I\'m glad you did. I would not have known if you were still alive, if not for that." He trailed off.

The woman nodded, then gave a quick glance behind.

"We better move. The Blackguards shouldn\'t have found this place yet, but for sure they will."

...

...

--

Erik and Emma left the empty building, stepping out into the street.

"Where is the new base located?" Erik asked her.

"Before I tell you, we must go somewhere we can talk safely," Emma said. "The Blackguards could be listening."

"Is the situation this bad?"

"Yes," Emma said. "It\'s even worse than it looks like at a casual glance."

"Why? How can the Blackguards be listening?"

Emma grimaced. It looked like she wanted to say a lot, but refrained. "I can only say that, after you left, we felt your absence. Those ideas you had, the strategies you used. They were much better than you gave them credit. When you left, we lost a fine mind that day, but that wasn\'t the only factor."

She paused. "Volkov must have been annoyed by the situation, and he asked for the Blackguards\' support. They sent at least a thousand members here, and as you can imagine, dealing with those motherfuckers is not simple."

Emma led the way, walking through the winding streets. Erik followed, scanning their surroundings for any signs of danger.

After several minutes, the woman turned into an alley and stopped in front of a nondescript three-story brick building.

The walls faded and cracked with age, and the windows were covered in dust. The door hung at an angle on its hinges.

Emma tried the door, and it opened with a loud creak. She motioned for Erik to follow her inside. After they went through a small corridor, there was another door, this time reinforced and with some security measures being implemented.

But it wasn\'t that much. At best, it could deter normal people from entering, for sure it wouldn\'t deter a blackguard.

The building was dimly lit and sparsely furnished. A few rickety chairs and tables were scattered throughout the place.

Emma waved Erik over to one of the tables in the corner.

"We should be able to talk here without being overheard," she said as they sat down facing each other.

Erik sat down at the rickety table across from Emma, eyeing her. "Can you tell me what happened now?" he asked. "Why did you have to relocate the base?"

"Well... part of it is because of what I told you earlier: the blackguards massively increased their presence within the city. Then it was because of the new weapons Volkov\'s bootlickers got. Aside from that, we weren\'t prepared or smart enough to face their generals. It\'s like those guys read our minds."

Emma explained everything to Erik. What the young man found out was a complex situation. But that was nowhere near enough to let him understand the situation in full, and he needed to do that to maximize the help he was going to provide.

Honestly speaking, Erik didn\'t care if he was used as a soldier, a general, or a spy.

All he wanted was to rescue Richard and kill Volkov. But there were many things to keep into

account.

Mainly that, if he didn\'t save Richard first, he couldn\'t kill Volkov.

Then Emma started talking about a particular event.

Emma let out a long sigh. "It started a couple of weeks ago."

She paused.

"Our scouts reported the Blackguards were becoming more active in the city, making arrests and carrying out searches more aggressively. Volkov also made many attacks on secondary locations, and we feared they might close in on our primary base\'s location soon."

Erik listened as Emma continued the story. "So we decided to move to a new safe house. We escaped without detection and set up base there."

She paused, glancing outside the window. Erik did the same; there was only one place where the resistance could have gone based on where she was looking.

"We had been in contact with those guys for a while after you left. We needed to get reliable soldiers and efficient thinkers. However," Emma said, her tone becoming more hopeful, "I would say we got the best of it."

Erik nodded. "Well, your new base is in the Red Palace. Was it worth it? Did they join you? Those guys are not the best people around, from what I remember."

"I know that, and yes, they joined," Emma said with a shrug.

"Unexpectedly, they helped us a lot. Few of their people died during the parasite attack, and thanks to that, their fighting prowess remained intact. They also have a vast information network, and that helped us a lot."

She folded her hands on the table. "What about you? We learned you found Shade. That\'s pretty impressive, considering that most people thought he was a legend. Even I didn\'t believe in his existence. Imagine how surprised I was when I learned you found him. It was a

man, right?"

Erik considered the question for a moment. "He was the brother of a very efficient investigator from New Alexandria. But to be honest, I couldn\'t have found him without the band of giants\' help. I was lucky to know some of them."

"Yeah, those guys are strong..."

That was a well-established fact. Emma paused again, seemingly thinking about something

else.

"I also heard about what happened in Fasard. The fact Becker joined the attack was on the

news."

Erik shook his head. "It wasn\'t me who attacked Fasard," he said. "That was my friends and clones. I wasn\'t there."

Emma\'s eyes widened. "Your clones?" She echoed in surprise. "June is not the only one?"

Emma and the others thought Erik could only make a few clones. When he was here in New Alexandria, he was only with June. That he could make more of them came as a surprise. Erik nodded. "It\'s a long story. But yeah, I have more clones than June alone. Strong ones at

that."

"That\'s... incredible," Emma said, still grappling with this new information. If what Erik said was true, and he really could make clones, the resistance might get their hands on an army of

Erik Romanos.

He paused, then asked, "What are the people saying about Becker? I imagine his survival

came as quite a shock."

"They had mixed reactions based on what I heard," Emma said.

"Some believed he was guilty of what Volkov accused him of, but many others saw how Volkov was acting in New Alexandria and across the nation. So, they were relieved when they learned Becker was alive and hoped he could take back the government."

"I see," Erik said, deep in thought. Emma looked back up at Erik. "Well, whatever happened in the past, Becker stirring people\'s will to fight can only be an excellent thing. We need all the allies we can get against Volkov and the Blackguards."

"I agree."

"That\'s why I came here today," Erik said.

"To offer whatever help I can provide to the resistance, but there is something you must help

me with."

"What?"

Emma stuck out her hand.

"Richard Stone had been kidnapped; I guess Becker told you."

"He did," the woman said. "You came here to free him?" "That\'s just one of the reasons; I mainly came here to kill Volkov." "That\'s even better; the mother fucker must die. That\'s for sure."