Chapter 270 Intentions

"Why would he do that? Why would he deliberately block my energy channels and make sure I had little to no Dark Matter all this time?" Lee Seng asked. "If it weren't for the deal I made with the God King, I would've lived the rest of my life wondering why I had no energy." The Protocol woman rubbed her neck and looked up at her host.

"You choose the strangest things to get mad about." She spoke. Lee Seng moved forward as Keng quickly appeared in between them. He grabbed Lee Seng and held him back.

"Let's just hear her out on this." Keng pleaded.

"I don't want to hear anything from her anymore!" Lee Seng pushed Keng away. He raised his hand as she flinched. Lee Seng stopped. The Protocol woman turned into a younger version of himself.

"Why can't you do anything right?!? You couldn't even get an ability with the Biohuman serum! You call yourself my son?!? You're no son of mine! You're just another failure!" The Creator's voice shouted in his head.

"No." He stumbled backwards.

"Lee!" Keng grabbed him and sat him down. "Look at me. Look at me, 'kay? It'll be fine." He lightly rubbed his arms and tried to get Lee Seng's attention. Lee Seng flinched and pulled away. He shielded his face. Keng's worried face turned defensive as he spun to look at the Protocol woman. She was watching them.

"What did you do?!?" Keng moved over and grabbed her shoulders. He shook her. "What did you say to him?!?"

"I didn't do anything." She told him the truth. "He's mentally strong willed but so fragile. That fragility cracks his mentality. It'll let more than me in at this point." Keng punched the woman. She directed her attention at Keng.

"Tell me what happened!" Keng shouted.

"Daddy put him in this exact predicament before. Daddy will do it again. He'll have his perfect son beside him. That's why he's like that." Keng shoved the woman backwards and stood up. He moved over to Lee Seng.

"It'll be fine." Keng whispered.

"Why do you think I lie, huh?" The Protocol woman spoke louder. "Your father just wants to turn you into his own puppet. That's why he inserted me into you. To block your energy channels even though you have an actual gift!" Lee Seng slowly peeled his arms away from his eyes and looked at the woman. "Your father really wants you by his side! He thinks if he controls you, you'll become the son who willingly wants to be by his side!

"That's why I was created. I was fused with a Failed One that produced a very strong ability but has little to no Dark Matter! That's why it failed. And you turned into that. A failed experiment that he couldn't hide because society talks about you!"

"That's enough." Keng stood up, shielding Lee Seng. Lee Seng tugged at Keng, pulling his attention away from the woman.

? "If it weren't for your pet here, you wouldn't have learned all the things you learned!"

"So what do I do then? Keep this information with me?" Lee Seng asked, peeking his head off to the side of Keng. The Protocol woman's body language was telling him she was being truthful. Her yellow eyes weren't telling him she was playing games.

"There must be information you can dig into somewhere." She moved herself into a kneeling position. "Don't trust the Numbers, don't trust anyone at the goddamn facility. Don't even trust the people near you. Find the answers through any means."

"And where would he go with that?" Keng asked. The Protocol woman looked at Keng. That's when Lee Seng realized why she felt so familiar. He stood up and moved past Keng, who lifted his arm to grab him. The Protocol woman flickered back and forth between two images.

"You look a lot like… Mom." Lee Seng crouched down. She looked at him in confusion.

"Who?" She asked.

"Down to the way her hair would kinda curl like this too." He pointed at her hair.

"What does this have to do with anything?" She asked, slapping his hand away. Keng took a step forward as Lee Seng threw his hand up. He sighed, fixating his eyes directly into hers.

"If I find any information that tells me you're right. I'll personally come back and talk to you here." Lee Seng began. She began to smile when Lee Seng continued. "If you're lying, whether or not you look like my Mother or not, I'll make sure to gain the Protocol without you here. I'll squeeze you out of existence with my bare hands." She gulped and nodded.

"Fine. I'm not lying about any of this so let's just wait and see."

Lee Seng stood up and started to step away.

"You never called me by a name." She mentioned.

"I think it's better if I don't give you a name." Lee seng turned to look at the Protocol. "Might just get attached to you. Protocol or XI will suffice." She nodded as Lee Seng removed his attention off of her and towards Keng. "Come on, let's get out of here. I need to figure out what the hell is happening with the progress."

"Mmm, let's go." Keng walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder. The two of them blinked out of existence, leaving the Protocol woman alone. The sounds of hissing grew and she shushed it.

"Why do I help him?" She asked aloud. She stood up, brushing off the dirt and dust. "The Creator will only screw us over if I continue to play by his rules. We'll make the kid think he has an actual chance and when it lets his guard down, I'll go in for the kill." More hissing was heard and she nodded. "Lee Seng Chang will be ours soon enough."

Lee Seng dropped into the lake with a wave goodbye to Keng. He found himself surrounded by huge tentacles wrapped around him. The water had disappeared. He pulled the large amount of DM tentacles back into his body and realized his suit was gone. He was in the running outfit. A large black box with green engravings glowed. He sat up and groaned.

"Man, did the pain really knock me out or did I get pulled into the world because of her?" Lee Seng groaned as he stood up. He stumbled around, landing onto a wall and knocked on it. "H-hello? Anyone there?" He couldn't hear anything and sighed. "Oh, what about Keng? If he came into the Spirit World then–" The walls shifted and pulled downwards. Lee Seng watched as sunlight poured in. He shut his eyes and shielded himself from the sun.

"He's awake!" General Halys shouted. Lee Seng could hear two people walking towards him as Halys pulled the black rocks away.

"Are you alright, Lee Seng?" Ysa asked.

"Y-yeah…" Lee Seng nodded.

"You were put into the black box because you would've caused harmed to the rest of us." Victoria told him. Lee Seng nodded. "Come, let's get you under the tree." The two women led him under the shade where the light wasn't as harsh. They helped him sit down. Lee seng could tell another person was near him.

"Who's all here?" Lee Seng asked.

"General and the Commander are here. Cori, the one who took Keng, and Valen, the one who sparred with Ritsuka." Ysa told him. At the mention of Cori, he tensed up. He opened his eyes, wincing as he searched for the curly haired woman. He found her standing near the Commander. Lee Seng leapt up and marched out of the shade, towards Cori.

"What did you do to Keng?!?" Lee Seng shouted. The light blinded him but his anger pushed him forward. Cori gave him a dissatisfied look and began to walk forward when an energy pushed onto Lee Seng. Lee Seng began to groan as he collapsed.

"C-commander, he's still hurt!" Ysa shouted. Ysa and Victoria ran towards him and grabbed him.

"Don't fight." Chimera spoke. "I already scolded her. I will punish her with more work because she decided to put her feelings first before the mission." Chimera turned to look at Cori.

"Where's Keng?" Lee Seng asked.

"What do you mean?" Keng poked his head out and waved at Lee seng. "I was literally by the tree." Lee Seng let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on, Lee Seng. You need to go back to the cabin so you can rest." Victoria told him.

"I'll beat your ass if you pick on Keng and Ritsuka!" Lee Seng shouted at Cori. Cori moved forward as Chimera looked at her.

"What did you say, vessel?" Cori growled.

"Enough!" Chimera shouted. Everyone became quiet. He sighed and looked at Ysa and Victoria. "Escort the twins back to base. Cori, you're to not return to the Village or stay near the cabin for tonight."

"C-commander…" Cori began to speak when Chimera raised their fingers up to their lips.

"Shhh. Don't interrupt me, again or you can be a rat for the next three weeks." Chimera glared at her. She gulped and took her stance.

"Y-yes, sir…"

"I'll come with you two ladies." Halys' voice spoke up. He looked at Chimera for confirmation.

"Let's go. Gather the list of ingredients like I told you before. Don't even think about coming near the Village and other close-by settlements until your punishment timeframe is over, got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Cori saluted.

"Go." Chimera motioned. Cori turned and rushed off with a huge parchment paper in her hand. "Shall we?" Chimera motioned.

"Yes, Commander!"