BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Now Zachary hadn't been informed by the Blackguards about Erik's fate.

Of course, they told Howell, but he couldn't spread that information, at least not for now, and especially not in Frant.

Those close to Becker knew what he wanted to do with him.

To say that Erik Romano, the awakener, was alive, could ignite something they weren't keen on seeing burning.

"Died? I don't know. I refuse to think that guy is dead," Zachary said.

"Why so?" Erik asked with interest.

Zachary felt something was wrong, but he couldn't quite understand what it was.

He thought he should have been less inclined to talk about this, but there was a sort of eagerness that prevented him from stopping.

"Well, you see. He wasn't really strong. Hell, everyone thought he was basically useless. Damn, I also went to his house to search for… I don't know what, honestly. He was poor, so fucking poor he didn't even have a room and likely slept on the couch."

<What? > Erik was confused. Did this guy just say he had been to his house? <Is this one of the guys that trashed my house? >

"However, despite people saying his brain crystal power was useless, he used it in a way that actually prevented us from capturing him. He hurled gigantic trees at us!"

"That must have been scary!" Erik said.

"Not really. But the guy was smart. That was his best trait. He created a situation that allowed the Red Palace's teacher to help him. We lost powerful members that day."

Zachary's thoughts went to Greg then, but Erik was really inclined to listen to something else.

"But why did you go to his house? You mentioned you had to find something?" Erik asked.

Zachary thought for a bit, battling with the unsettling feeling he was having.

"We got told the guy might have something a client was searching for, but we weren't told what. Our orders were to retrieve anything electrical that could store information, like PCs and the likes. In the end we got his PC, but I don't know if they found what they were searching for."

Those words confirmed two things. The first was that the Blackguards weren't exactly sure what his father retrieved from the Mur continent.

The problem was that what Erik got was pretty clear to them now, something that allowed him to have more than one brain crystal power.

The second was that it was indeed the Crystal Cross Gang that searched his house, at least one of the two times.

However, Zachary also talked about a client. He or she could have been anyone, but Erik had the hunch it really were the Blackguards.

At that point, Erik noticed Zachary was really struggling. It was clear he was trying his best to sort out what the hell was happening, and why he was so eager to talk to this man.

However, Erik wasn't done. He didn't come here to ask Zachary about the time he and those other men attacked him, but to find out where the Crystal Cross Gang's headquarters were.

"Who were the others with you when you attacked Erik Romano?"

He asked, doubling the amount of mana he injected into his Instability brain crystal power.

That question served a dual purpose: one to have the names of those he wanted to get his revenge on. The second was to lead to another question.

"Laser, Greg, Slice and Death."

"Death? He was there too?" Erik faked knowing who he was talking about, but he really did not know who he was among the four.

"Yeah. That shadow hopper bastard abandoned us mid mission, and we failed because of him."

That was what Zachary liked to think. However, Erik realized who Zachary was talking about. It was the guy who fought the Crombo.

"Death, ah. I always wanted to meet him," Erik said.

"It's not like you are losing something by not doing so."

Here, Erik had to be careful. Something too direct would mess up the delicate balance the two reached.

Zachary seemed to be eager to talk about anything Erik asked, but the truth was that the younger man couldn't ask things that were too direct or that he was really unwilling to talk about. Luckily, he could read his mind.

"Still, he is a legend inside the organization. Is there a way for me to meet him?" Here Erik pumped more mana.

The young man observed Zachary's struggle. The older man still felt he shouldn't talk about that, yet he couldn't refrain.

"He is at… the HQ, I guess." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Ah… it's a pity I've never seen him there," Erik said. That left Zachary confused. This time, though, there was no sign of a struggle in his eyes. Zachary wanted to know.

"You had been to the HQ?"

"Yeah, sometimes. But then I got moved here and got no chance anymore. I didn't expect it to be there."

Erik pumped even more mana. He needed Zachary to be trusting now.

Zachary had to think the officer had really been there already to make him more keen on talking about it.

"Yeah, the fact it is close to the park… its… also…"

Then Zachary realized. He said too much. It wasn't just that he had no proof the man in front of him had really been there, but also because there could be someone spying on him right now, and he just gave a precious information about the place's headquarters.

His eyes then sort of regained clarity. His mind unclouded, and Erik realized he couldn't influence the man anymore.

For that reason, he stopped using his Instability brain crystal power.

Then Zachary looked at the man with a murderous gaze.

Not because he realized what Erik did, but because Erik was grinning, and he wasn't using Max's power anymore.

In front of Zachary, now there was Erik Romano's face. One he couldn't forget, even if he tried.