Chapter 152: That’s Strange

Adam’s influence on Eden had already begun to spread.

Scott training harder and Felecia pushing herself was just the beginning .

He hadn’t intended or commanded it, but his growth alone had shifted the atmosphere of the manor.

Still…

That wasn’t what occupied his mind.

His focus rested entirely on the headless corpse lying on his floor.

William.

Or what remained of him.

Objectively speaking, the body offered nothing through Equip or Connect.

It had been dead for over a week, the soul flame was long degraded and there was no intact talent to extract, not as if it would have been worthwhile.

But Adam wasn’t after a talent.

He was after Vanta.

He didn’t like how helpless he had been during that fight against William.

The feeling of his star power slipping while William’s surged, that suppression had given him a bitter taste in his mouth and if not for Judgement’s creation mid-combat he would have died.

And next time?

He might not be as lucky.

So if Vanta was going to appear again, he needed some type of resistance or countermeasure.

And that meant dissecting the source.

Adam crouched beside the corpse, eyes analytical.

“Connect won’t allow me to equip its affinity,” he muttered.

Affinities weren’t like talents.

Talents were functional constructs housed in the soul, simply put they were structured abilities Connect could latch onto.

Affinities were different.

They were born in the soul, but embedded into the genetic framework of the body.

A hybrid existence with a spiritual origin but a biological imprint.

Connect couldn’t access that layer.

It had nothing to grip.

Adam’s gaze sharpened slightly.

“But Cryogen might help.”

Cryogen wasn’t soul-based.

Cryogen granted Adam something most would consider impossible, cellular control through thermal dominance.

By lowering temperature at a microscopic level, molecular motion slowed, structures stabilized and with enough precision, they could be manipulated.

Affinities were born in the soul.

But embedded into genetic architecture.

If he could isolate the section where Vanta had fused into the host’s biological framework…

Then it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Equip might be able to latch onto it.

He had never equipped an affinity before.

Connect had made talents simple and

Clean.

So this, was an entirely different discipline.

Adam stopped hesitating.

“Cryogen D.”

Cold essence surged outward and a crystalline structure began forming over the corpse.

It was translucent frost layered into hardened geometric crystal.

Within seconds, the entire body was encapsulated and in the next moment Adam extended his perception through the crystal lattice.

Then…

He manipulated it.

The internal structure shifted under his command.

Microfractures formed along precise thermal gradients.

Cells began rupturing under controlled destruction, the corpse’s flesh started to collapse inward, muscle fibers disassembled and bone matrices splintered at a molecular level.

Adam placed his palm against the crystalline shell.

A secondary crystalline layer formed over his hand, as he connected the two structures…

Establishing a closed-loop control channel.

Cryogen continued breaking down tissue, flesh, bone and organs.

The corpse degraded into a dense, dark sludge suspended inside the crystal casing.

But Adam pushed further.

He wasn’t interested in surface decomposition.

He needed the imprint.

The genetic lattice where Vanta had embedded itself.

The sludge began to break apart further.

Protein chains unraveled.

Cell membranes disintegrated.

DNA strands exposed.

The process would have exhausted another person within minutes.

But Adam didn’t experience fatigue from equipped talents.

Cryogen could be pushed to its absolute limit. Like wringing a fruit until the last drop of juice fell.

The sludge thinned, then separated, as Adam’s focus sharpened.

He tunneled through molecular layers.

Searching and tracing anomalies.

Looking for the foreign signature.

The inversion marker.

But…

He still wasn’t there.

Not yet.

So he pushed harder.

****

Agent Ross sat alone in his office.

The curtains were drawn, so no light filtered through the windows leaving the room dark.

But he looked perfectly at ease.

A cigarette rested between his fingers before he brought it to his lips and inhaled it before exhaling slowly, as the smoke curled through the darkness like something alive.

The door to the office suddenly burst open, as Rita walked in without knocking.

Her hair was tied back this time and a short skirt hugged her frame, partially concealed by a white lab coat thrown over her shoulders.

She didn’t look amused.

“Aren’t you supposed to be preparing for a party?” she asked.

Ross didn’t look at her.

He took another drag.

“It’s tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

She stepped forward and sat on the edge of his desk, crossing one leg over the other.

“You know,” she said casually, “I was supposed to be the one running this operation.”

Ross exhaled smoke again.

“Maybe if you were more diligent, the higher-ups would have given it to you.”

Rita’s lips twitched.

“You’d really like that, wouldn’t you?”

He didn’t respond.

He never did when she probed like that and Rita was used to it.

She leaned back slightly on the desk.

“How long do you think the chaos will last before the Alliance catches on?”

Ross paused.

Then calmly put out the cigarette in the ashtray before standing as he adjusted his coat.

“It’ll last long enough to satisfy the higher-ups.”

His voice carried no doubt or hesitation.

Just certainty.

Rita didn’t reply this time as Ross walked toward the door.

But before exiting, he stopped briefly.

“I suggest you focus on your own work.”

His tone sharpened slightly.

“The higher-ups won’t be pleased if you fail to extract anything of value from the boy’s head.”

Rita’s expression faltered, as a trace of frustration flickered across her face.

Ross didn’t wait for a response.

He stepped out of the office without a care in the world, the mission assigned to him was practically like a vacation as their was no chance of anything going wrong.

****

Adam continued.

The corpse no longer resembled a body.

Cryogen had stripped it past flesh, bone and organ integrity.

What remained was suspended particulate matter within crystalline suspension, a broken biological slurry held in absolute thermal control.

Yet…

He still hadn’t reached it.

The genetic lattice had fragmented.

DNA strands floated like shattered threads.

He traced each anomaly carefully.

Vanta wouldn’t behave like a normal affinity imprint.

It inverted star power.

That meant structural deviation and polarity distortion.

So he focused deeper.

His thermal precision tightened, the Crystal density increased further and the molecular vibration slowed to near-zero.

Then…

He felt it.

A dark filament embedded within the genetic residue, coiled and compressing surrounding matter unnaturally.

Adam’s eyes sharpened instantly.

There you are.

He didn’t hesitate.

“Equip.”

The command triggered reflexively and a notification appeared in his vision.

[Do You Want to Equip The Affinity ????]

Adam paused, as his brows narrowed slightly.

That’s strange.

****

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