Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1784: Reward in the form of power (Part 2)

For Adam and Silvana, this was their first encounter with Natta and Sano. In fact, if it hadn’t been for their meeting with Aiden and the information about the Zero War and the Gray Sea, they would have paid much more attention to these two.

There was nothing surprising about the fact that Gladius and Xyrea were present during the conversation. Adam already knew that Gladius was Aiden’s friend. He didn’t know what the relationship was between Aiden and Xyrea, but that wasn’t so important since wherever Gladius was, Xyrea was there as his Operator.

But Natta and Sano were definitely not on Gladius’s level. Adam still didn’t know how strong those two were or what was actually wrong with their auras.

However, during the conversation, they stood in the back, silent, with faint smiles on their faces. Ironically, they had known about the possible Zero War and the Gray Sea before Adam, who was currently one of the strongest K4-Phantoms, especially after his victory over Zin.

"Agh? You want me to fight Sano and Natta? Are they even the Phantoms?" Adam was confused, looking at the girls.

Aiden nodded deeply.

"Sure. They became the Phantoms relatively recently, but I wouldn’t advise you to underestimate them. That was my reward for them."

Despite Aiden’s attempt to explain, Adam was still confused.

Aiden touched his temples. "Look, I don’t want to go into all the details. It would take too long. We don’t have time for that, but when Sano and Natta started working for me, we made a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

Instead of Aiden, Sano decided to answer the question. She stepped forward with a confident yet grateful expression.

"One day, Mr. Aiden needed assistants. He needed people who were willing to help him with his experiments, no matter how immoral or cruel the situation might become. As you can imagine, Natta and I agreed, but on one condition."

"And... What was that condition?"

The corners of Sano’s lips turned up into a satisfied smirk.

"When the time comes, we want not only to learn more about our world, but also to become Mr. Aiden’s subjects for his experiments. We wanted him to use all his knowledge to help us become better and make us stronger, no matter how painful it might be or what the risks were."

Aiden shrugged.

"The risks were enormous. You can be sure of that, Adam. However, considering the power they gained, it was to be expected."

Gladius chuckled.

"Yeah, it was quite a spectacle. Basically, Aiden used every means at his disposal to fulfill the terms of their deal. The only thing that mattered was whether the method was effective or not. Huh, usually Natta and Sano are the ones inflicting pain on others, but the past year has been hell for them."

"Wait... One year?" Adam turned to Sano and Natta.

Natta nodded, placing her hand on her chest.

"We’d been working with Mr. Aiden for a long time, so by the time he helped us become the Phantoms, we already knew how to fight and knew more than most K2 or even K3 Phantoms. From then on, Mr. Aiden and Gladius helped us every step of the way."

Adam frowned.

"Show me your auras."

Natta and Sano turned to Aiden.

"Go ahead, there’s no point in hiding it anymore."

Light and crimson flames surged from Sano and Natta, powerful enough to make the hall tremble.

It was no problem for Adam to tell what level they were at.

"K4-Level? Are you serious?" Adam growled. "How can you call me a talent when there are these two who reached K4-Level in just one year?!"

Aiden waved his hand as Sano and Natta calmed their auras.

"When I was conducting my experiments, they often used exoskeletons and also voluntarily used the serums I created. Glara became a Phantom thanks to one of those serums. It was hard, but she did it.

"As a result, Sano and Natta already had plenty of combat experience, both against monsters and against other Phantoms. I think you should understand just how big an advantage it is when your sparring partner is Gladius."

Gladius waved at them with a silent smile.

"In short, their arsenal included every risky method I know of to become stronger. Gladius’s mentorship. Several years of training under me and battles tailored to my demands, as well as all the resources Gladius and I have at our disposal so they could fulfill their conditions as quickly as possible."

Aiden shrugged.

"If you’d put anyone else in their place, you, Zin, or the most talented bastard from the Twelve Branches, back when you didn’t have powers yet, none of you would have survived that path. The same would have happened to Sano and Natta, but as I said, they had several years of training."

A few moments later, Adam nodded deeply.

"I see... In fact, I’m starting to understand how they managed to do it. If I were to go back to my first day now, I’d reach my current level in half a year."

Aiden waved his hand dismissively.

"You’d do it faster, three or four months at most. If you subtract all the time you spent on recovery, on finding your conditions, on fights along the way, and so on, what’s left is a pretty short timeframe."

It was a compliment, but coming from Aiden, it sounded like a scientific fact, as if it couldn’t be any other way.

Adam nodded and turned to Sano and Natta.

"So, would it be fair to say that these two are your best creation?"

Aiden’s eyes grew deeper as he stared intently at Adam, as if wanting to give a completely different answer.

"Yes. Of all my deliberate experiments, they are the best I’ve ever created. But I wouldn’t advise you to underestimate them. They’ve survived and served me faithfully for many years because these two are the most sadistic, cruel, and cunning souls I’ve ever encountered. And I know many people, you can be sure of that."

Strangely enough, it was right after that that Adam’s expression relaxed as he stood before Sano and Natta.

"I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can compare to Zin."

Sano and Natta looked at him with slight smiles on their faces.

"We’ll try."

"You can be sure of that."