15 Book 3 Chapter 11

The time it took to return to Sanctuary 06 was even faster than it took to reach the secret facility, and it was all thanks to the power of the multipurpose contact lens. While multivision was certainly useful, the benefit of having twenty percent increased critical strike chance against common monsters couldn't be understated. The only downside was the critical strike chance fell to ten percent against elite monsters. It was sure to be even lower on bosses.

Hours later, Jason's party reached Sanctuary 06 safe and sound. After passing through security and making their way to HQ, they talked to the receptionist before riding the elevator up to Cable's lab. As soon as the doors opened, Cable excitedly rushed up to Shenlong. "Did you get it?"

"There was a mishap with the security system," Shenlong said as he calmly handed over the USB, "but we succeeded in the end."

"This is great news! Wonderful news!" Cable's cheeks flushed. He forced himself to calm down before grabbing the USB as carefully as one would handle a baby. He held it with two hands as he shuffled his way over to a large computer with hundreds of wires connected to different systems, before slowly inserting it in one of the ports. Simultaneously, a message appeared in front of every member of Jason's party.

You have received 25,000 reputation points with Sanctuary 06.

The GMS or Gene Modification System in Sanctuary 06 has been unlocked.

25,000 points?! Jason sucked in a breath. He'd never heard of an additional reward for unlocking the GMS, so this was an unexpected surprise. Twenty-five thousand points was just enough to purchase a Rare-grade serum. While Rare might seem low, serums weren't on the same level as equipment. They weren't even in the same ballpark.

"Gene Modification System?" Roy pointed at his notification as he turned to Jason. "Does this mean we can get m-serums and become as strong as Cable?"

Before Jason could respond, Cable tripped over himself. With a red face, he pointed at Roy and reprimanded. "Young man, what do you think the m-serum is? Some cabbage you can find at the local market?"

"Er," Roy looked at his companions before nodding naively. "It isn't?"

Cable's anger flared, only to remember he was speaking with a layman. With a heavy sigh, he explained. "Lad, the m-serum requires extremely delicate equipment and a quantum energy core." He shook his head. "Sanctuary 06 was originally meant for civilians. I might be able to gather parts to build the required machinery, but getting a quantum energy core is beyond my capabilities."

"We need those m-serums." Shenlong stated firmly. "Where can we acquire a core?"

Cable turned to Shenlong with a solemn expression. "From a noble."

"Not just any robots." Cable's shoulders drooped. "They are the only robots in the entire world with A.I.. Only twenty were created before they took control of manufacturing facilities and declared war. The human equivalent of a brain, for them, is a quantum energy core."

"So we just need to hunt down these so-called nobles then." Shenlong now understood. Hundreds of field and raid bosses had already fallen under his hand. What was one more?

Jason sighed inwardly when he saw Shenlong's confidence. He knew things weren't that simple. Unlike most monsters in the tower, nobles grew stronger as time passed. Even in the alternate timeline, not a single one of them had been killed. Baal, the final boss of the tower, had the same ability.

Cable chuckled bitterly. "You said you can sense my strength, right? Tell me: do you think you can defeat me?"

Shenlong narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying they're as strong as you?"

"Me?" Cable scratched his head. "I might be able to kill one of them if I'm prepared to lay down my life."

"Okay, I understand." Shenlong smiled. "So we just need to bring you a core and you'll handle everything else?"

"Uh," Cable raised an eyebrow, baffled at Shenlong's nonchalant attitude. "I think you're misunderstanding something. It's one quantum energy core per m-serum."

"I figured as much."

Cable shook his head in disbelief, unsure of where Shenlong's confidence came from. "Yeah, sure, I'll handle everything if you bring me a quantum energy core. You don't even have to worry about reputation points; killing a noble is a great achievement."

Shenlong turned to face his companions. "Looks like that's our next goal."

"I have a feeling it won't be that easy." Peter crossed his arms as they entered the elevator. "We should grind some reputation and learn more about the floor, then bring up our guildmates."

"Agreed." Shenlong nodded. "In any case, let's spend our newly gained reputation points to upgrade our strength as much as possible."

It only took a few minutes before they were browsing through the armory's shop once again. Jason laughed silently at his companions fundamental misunderstanding of the GMS. Before they spent their points, he quickly navigated the console and exclaiming in shock. "Wow, guys, check this out. There's a bunch of serums here!"

"Serums? I thought the m-serum wasn't available yet?" Amara leaned over to view Jason's console. What she saw caused her mouth to drop. "There really are serums for sale!"

Eboni found the list on her side and gasped. "Why are they so expensive? Just a Rare-grade serum costs all my points, and that's not even including the higher-grade serums."

"I didn't expect this." Shenlong smiled brightly.

Each serum varied in effect and price, but they all had one thing in common: only one serum could be active at a time. Using a second serum would erase the effects of the first serum. As such, everyone spent the next hour contemplating what serum was best suited for them.

Jason ended up going with a defensive Rare-grade serum. When he made his choice, a small syringe filled with glowing brown liquid appeared in his hand. Knowing what was about to happen, he sat down cross legged before inserting the tip of the syringe straight into a vein in his arm.

Immense pain immediately spread through his body. It was as if each individual nerve was being sliced into pieces and crying for help. Even with his incredible mental fortitude, Jason's vision went black as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

After what felt like eons, Jason awoke and found himself resting against the armory wall below the exchange terminals. On either side of him were his companions, convulsing so intensely that it looked like they were having a seizure. It was a disturbing sight. Thankfully this place wasn't populated with ascenders yet, or they might have been robbed.

Popping sounds rang out from Jason's body as he stood up and stretched. It was so pleasurable that he couldn't help but moan. Fortunately nobody was awake to hear it, otherwise he might have fainted from embarrassment. For a chad like him to moan in public? It was one of his worst fears.

Coughing awkwardly, he looked at the notification that appeared while he was unconscious.

Your body has been successfully modified by 'Rare-grade Troll Defender Serum'.

+0.5% Of Max Health Regenerated A Second

+20% Increased Health Regeneration

-1% Damage Taken For Every 5% Health Missing

Jason smiled in satisfaction. As long as this serum remained active, he would always regenerate point five percent of his total health every second, and that was in addition to the regeneration he already had. Even more shocking, this was just the effect of a Rare-grade serum. There were still five grades higher than Rare.

This was why speculation about the effects of the m-serum ran rampant in the alternate timeline. If a Rare-grade serum already gave a godlike effect, what would the m-serum give?