Chapter 180: Luke

Alean and Lowengren were brought to a strange building. The moment they stepped in, Lowengren and Alean knew what they were on.

"This building…?" Lowengren innocently called out.

"Yes. It's a Transport." One of the Commanders replied coldly.

Lowengren marveled. This was actually a ship that could disguise itself to be a building.

Even Alean was stunned.

"They could go in and out of a country easily. I wonder how many ships in Pangea are like this? They must have some ships like these planted?" Alean asked Lowengren.

"I don't know. We shouldn't underestimate the World Governing Powers. It's a good thing we're making that call. I can immediately report it to Charles."

They were brought to a strange room with monitors and various strange devices.

"There it is… It's the same tech that the Empress mentioned. If we have those, unless a Presider uses their technology to hack on our device, no one else can hear us. This will greatly increase our means of communicating." Lowengren spoke in a low volume as he made casual chats towards the other Commanders marveling at the technology.

"Enough talk. Make your call and cooperate with us."

"About this call. I… I ask you to give me time to explain things."

"Why would I do that?" Magantae asked with a bored expression.

"Admiral. My priority is the life of my daughter. She's already weak and dying. With everything that's been going on, I've decided to come clean. It's only a matter of time when they find out. Either through you or through that other Admiral. My fear is that if I am away from my family during these times, and they find out about my affairs, my daughter may lose the will to struggle and die. If that happens, then its no different that you kill me here right now."

Magantae gave Lowengren a serious glare.

"You have ten minutes. Use it well."

"Admiral! That amount of time will deplete the energy-"

"We will be attacking soon. If what Vender says is true, we might have to attack the Caliphates. We will steal techs there to feed on our energy supply." The Admiral explained coldly.

The Commanders were silent. One wanted to argue but decided to keep silent and start the machine.

"Input the number of the comm device you wish to contact.

A small tablet was handed to Lowengren. Lowengren pressed the numbers and the call began.

"Please pick up. Please pick up…" Lowengren began to pray.

Suddenly, the line was answered. On the monitor before them, a middle-aged woman was shown on the screen.

"Vender! Thank God, you're alive! I was so worried when I heard the bomb-"

"Thessa… How is Natara?" Lowengren asked urgently.

"She's fine. The doctors are doing what they can and luckily, when that bomb went off, he wasn't in any dangerous or unstable conditions."

"Thank God…" Lowengren breathed a great sigh of relief.

"Listen, Thessa. I messed up. Please forgive me. I've been in an affair with Lieutenant."

Thessa's expression was strange.

"Wha-what?!" The woman cried sorrowfully.

"What are you…"

"I've slept with her. Many times. I am telling you this, because… some people will tell you sooner. And I wanted to make sure that-"

"What? Are you leaving me? Are you-" Thessa started screaming.

Magantae started to walk out of the room. When I get back, the call ends. I'll keep my word. Ten minutes."

With a wave of her hand the devices and gadgets around them suddenly became locked and only the monitor which continued to send the video feed remained. The commanders started moving out following the Admiral.

"Impressive acting. How did you do it, Charles? Drugs?" Lowengren asked in a different volume and frequency.

"Alean. Cover for me. I can't still divide my thoughts." Lowengren said as he focused on pretending to be weeping and confessing his mistakes to the real General Hirock's wife.

"Any word from Seeker?" Alean asked immediately. Lowengren gave a helpless sigh but continued on to talk and angrily order Thessa to remain calm.

"A lot since you last met me. The developments are amazing." Charles laughed. His voice could be heard at a different frequency. He was not shown on the video. And although the screams and arguments between Lowengren and Thessa were loud, the conversation between Alean and Charles progressed smoothly.

Charles began to detail everything he learned from Arthur. He told them the truth about the Lost Primordial, the ties between Nogard and the seeds left behind. Alean was quiet for the most part.

"And finally, here are the changes to Seeker's plan. Because we need all these Seeds to sprout, the best thing to do is really push this world into a near world-war scenario. Lynd's gamble has also become a worldwide gamble. Lynd will be facing an almost impossible odd of fighting 200 men in Generals."

"Impossible. Even for an Unlocked, it would be just impossible to do so. That isn't like Piercing where you can block attacks. This is a first-person shooter. What did Seeker give Lynd to make his victory sure?" Lowengren hastily asked.

"Peals of Thunder. Lynd will be using Peals of Thunder. Because we will set the game configuration, the volume that will be aired will be significantly reduced in quality and volume compared to those playing the game."

"But… wait… That's strange. Doing so will still make it noticeable to both the WGP and the Aragarians. Peals of Thunder may be detected there!"

"Right. It's part of Seeker's plan. He will make Lynd say something that will alert all the Seeds. Those who are the seeds of the Primordial will notice it and seek Lynd out."

"Lynd will be in danger. If those ninjas we fought were among the seeds, they are at most a Near Overcomer or a potential Ranked Hero. If one appears, Lynd could manage, but two or three? What's Seeker doing?" Alean reacted.

Lowengren sighed visibly and even took a second off his acting.

"Lowengren, calm down. You need to maintain composure!" Charles voiced out hurriedly.

"Don't worry. This is about the safest thing we can use to communicate. Unless the Presiders act personally, no one else, not even the WGP can hack into this line." Lowengren explained but still continued his charades of acting.

"I'm impressed. You managed to use this from them for free."

"We'll be using this soon. Do you have the Comm device numbers of Seeker and the rest?"

"Just Arthur. It's 1AX-4VNT-00N. Call him. I don't know why Seeker allowed Lynd such a dangerous mission. It's very-"

"Unlike him. Your theories were right, Lowengren." Alean turned to Lowengren.

"But… Now that I know this… I feel that there's something more beyond his memories changing his personality."

"So you guessed it too…" Charles replied.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions. We don't know why Seeker did this. Perhaps Arthur does. But I don't think he won't tell us the reason either way." Lowengren gave a quick glance towards Alean.

"Why?"

"Because if we know, or I know, you might force it out of me and eventually, Lynd will know. This is something that Arthur will not reveal. But let's trust Seeker. Or at least, trust in the part of him that was innocent. I'm sure that his future self would have been some morbid, negative, and very angry person with all that he experienced. But the Seeker we knew was a childish, arrogant but heroic guy. Let's just hope that he found the balance somewhere in between these two extremes. For now, we focus on the task at hand." Lowengren ordered Alean.

Alean frowned but nodded her head.

"Did Arthur give us any other instructions?"

"He said you're free to do what you will. The more chaos you create, the better."

"Then it's perfect. We will be using the WGP to enter the Caliphates. Is there anybody among them who is one of those seeds of the Primordial?"

"The Families. From what we learned from Rosa's example, the oldest families with the deepest roots ought to be among them. Only one among them must have held this knowledge. So seek out the oldest among the group. Can you do this?"

"It's easy. Lowengren's Path is stronger now. We manipulate the WGP to look for the families and orchestrate our meeting. We also prepared several dildos for this attack. We're ready."

"Dildos, you say?"

"Don't ask." Alean shook her head.

"What do you intend to do with these WGP? Who are they?"

"Fleet Admiral Magantae. She commands the Atlantis that is hidden somewhere near the Pangean region. As for what we plan to do to them… just don't ask."

"I… I'm sorry. I won't ask again. Lowengren. I've perfected the drug that can allow a person to easily reach Proficient of the Unbecoming stage. This drug also becomes a foundational material that promotes the development of carcinogenesis in a person's body."

"Is it safe?" Alean asked in an alarmed tone.

Charles laughed.

"It's in preparations for the mutation that Seeker developed. It's on its early phase but it should work. The Cancer we are using is a controlled one. It should allow you to have a slightly mutated cell. This makes it safer for a person to reach the Inhuman. Although we're not still there yet, it should be foundational to creating this Ranked Heroes body that Seeker mentioned."

"Controlled mutations? How did you manage that in three months?"

"What do you think I've been doing these past three months?" Charles gave an arrogant smile.

"You haven't told us," Alean answered rudely.

"Oh? You seem to be agitated, Alean."

"Of course. Her boyfriend's in a bind. But seriously, Doc. Tell us what you've been through. Have you been trying to develop the mutation by actually inflicting yourself with various diseases?" Lowengren asked.

"I thought you already understood what it is."

"I know there's more to it that you first stated. I can force myself to get a fever if I want to. With you, however, you've managed to do it with skin diseases and so forth. I can't do that. Are you using yourself as a human experiment to study the carcinogen? That's reckless. You should remember the burden that you bear. Ricardo's life is not worth our future."

"Wrong. I have been finding ways to make a Skill."

"Finding ways?" Alean then realized it.

"Are you saying that you've been trying to find ways to control those diseases through your body?"

"No." Charles smiled as he shook his head.

"I'm trying to find a way to make my body create diseases," Charles explained.

For someone as smart as Lowengren, he was still shocked at Charles' bold gamble.

"What? But how are you going to do that? That's almost impossible! You can't build your way into the Unlocking! Even Lennox has some abnormalities that allow him to do that!"

"She's right. You need multiple-, no, hundreds of thought-processes to be able to do that. How are you going to make the changes in every single cell in your body?"

"Muscle memory," Charles explained with a simple two-word statement.

It was then that everything fell into place.

"That's why you're getting yourself sick! To make yourself be able to reflexively create those cells needed!" Lowengren almost shouted and suddenly stopped acting on the surface.

Vender's wife noticed Charles motioning to her off-camera and she started to cry out and wail loudly.

"Muscle memory? Don't you mean cellular memory? But even if you can control your cells, how can your body create diseases? Unless…" Lowengren dreaded the next sentence for it could easily kill Charles.

"You plan to culture bacteria and viruses in your body!" Alean continued Lowengren's dreadful conclusion.

"That's insane! Charles, you can't forcibly break your way to become a Ranked Hero! You just explained that! You are not from any families related to the Seeds that the Primordial left behind! Wait… Or are you?"

"I'm not. But I am forcing myself to have faith in Seeker. Don't forget the freak that is Seeker. We don't know how he got that form of potential. He must have been one of the Seeds that were long lost. But who knows? Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But regardless, I don't want to wait around. I failed to save Ricardo in my past life. Maybe I met him too late, or maybe it was because of my fear of meeting with Ferna. Ferna Crest Corentine is the love of my life. I sought fame, when I needed love and could not find love when I had fame. Regardless, I know that I failed in the future and I could already guess what that pitiful me did. But in this life, I met Seeker. A different Seeker. Not that cold, calculative, cruel future him that he talks about. Even you guys prefer our version right?"

Alean gave a firm nod while Lowengren began to contemplate.

"That little bastard had the world on his shoulder. He knows the future and while it could've eaten him up, the child inside of him saved him from falling into a despairing mentality. I needed that little kid in me too. I listened to Eagle talked about a lot of things… but the one that struck me the most is a rather simple topic."

Charles moved closer to the device that was recording the video feed. A small voice, as loud as a whisper amidst the wailing cries of Vender's wife could be heard.

"Hope never fails. It's not that if you continue to hope you'll always succeed through some miraculous ways as God or the Universe will grant to you… But rather, being hopeful never puts one to shame. Because if I become a hopeful lunatic, I'll still achieve more than those who fall into despair."

Lowengren could not help but clench his fist. It was strange for someone who Treads his Path. He felt motivated and encouraged. Lowengren knew that this wasn't some Skill or Path that Charles developed. His courage and hope were simply contagious.

"I see." Lowengren laughed and he didn't even hide it.

"So what if you're not an Overcomer? You'd simply have to become one… I get it. I like your insanity, Charles." Lowengren approved.

Alean could not help but smile.

"I know it's impossible. The gap of the Ranked Hero is not so easily breached. Much more those that will try to tread to be Overcomers. I would say that your efforts will be fruitless. But I can't help but vie for you, Charles." Lowengren laughed.

The door opened.

Lowengren gave a visible tremble as he turned around.

"I'm sorry… I have to go."

"That's it? Just like that? The Lieutenant is just right there? Are you going to sleep with her again?"

"I don't know when I can call you again… I'm sorry. Goodbye."

The moment he said goodbye, Magantae shut off the computer.

"Now… Tell me what you know." Magantae ordered.

On the other end of the line, the woman was still sobbing and crying.

"Thank you for your efforts." Charles thanked General Vender's wife before turning his attention back to the real General Vender.

"Could you hear our conversation?"

"Bits in pieces only." General Vender gave a strange sigh. He was listening throughout the conversation between them and was practicing the technique that Charles had began to explain. Through several devices, General Vender managed to hear and catch the words that Alean, Lowengren, and Charles used on that call. The only thing he needed to do was match their speed and time perception.

"Not so much on the earlier part. But I did catch the last part. Why didn't you tell them?" Vender asked.

"Tell them what?"

"That you can already make people around you catch a fever? You even lost control there for a second and I got a fever!" Vender complained.

Charles just laughed.

"It'll be a nice surprise. I can't wait to see Seeker's expression when I see him!"

"What are you going to call yourself? I can't think of any bible names for you to take on, like your other friends."

"Well… there is one doctor in the Bible. The Beloved Physician, Luke."