BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Chapter 965: The interrogation (2)



"Momentum," Erik said. "What's the deal with Dark Tendrils in this city? What are the blackguards hoping to achieve by sending him here?"

At that, Momentum began laughing derisively at Erik.

"For real? Hahahahahahahaha. This is the way you think an interrogation should go? Hahahahahahahaha."

Until now, Momentum had refused to answer any of Erik's questions, finding Erik's attempts at interrogation amusing.

Momentum let out a dry chuckle. "I expected more from someone with your reputation, Erik," he said, a hint of mockery in his tone. "But so far, you're acting like an amateur."

Erik's eyes narrowed as Momentum continued to laugh, but the only thing he did was reply with a grin.

That was because Momentum was unwillingly talking. Really, all of this was easier than stealing candy from a kid.

But Momentum then turned serious. Honestly, Erik's reaction was freaking him out a little. Why was he laughing? Shouldn't he be enraged?

"You think your little questions will get you anywhere? I have nothing to say to you aside from that you are an idiot and that most likely, the higher-ups overestimated you."

Of course, that wasn't what Momentum was really thinking. Maybe he considered Erik amateurish in his interrogation, but his strength couldn't be denied.

He made him unconscious with a single attack, but the man wasn't even sure about that because Erik had been too fast for him to understand what had happened back then.

But Momentum replied to Erik's questions. The truth was that Zakir had been sent here to thwart the rebels, simple as that, but also for the same reason as when he got sent to Caelora City: to apprehend Erik Romano.

Zakir fought against him back at school. At that time, he knew better than most how Frant's awakener did it.

However, the difference between Momentum, his team, and Zakir was that the younger man was a genius.

That guy had 45 neural links, and he was 18 years old. He was strong, insanely so, and at that age, he was already among the strongest soldiers within the organization.

At that information, Erik almost grimaced.

<45 neural links at 18? Zakir is stronger than Becker!>

It wasn't only that, because this information meant Zakir was as strong as the Hevadrin. Right now, it meant nothing to Erik.

He was much stronger than before thanks to the many level ups and neural links he made, and that was because he had fought with and against the rebels. The number of people and thaids who died around him gave him a ton of experience, DNA points, and mana.

Right now, Erik's stats were are almost twice as high as those of Zakir. Killing him would not be a problem.

But that wasn't what prevented Erik from doing it. Erik's problem had always been his mana, because he did lack it, and mana meant everything because it powered one's brain crystal power.

It was true he had a lot now, but he still had to fight alone against many, summed among them, the blackguards had thousands upon thousands of energy points. Seeing the blackguards as a single entity made him truly understand the difference between him and them.

One on one, he would lose to no one, but against an organization, things weren't so simple. That was not the only problem. Brain crystal powers were unpredictable. Erik could be as fast and as strong as he wanted, but someone like Zakir, who could intensify his tendrils' speed and strength through mana, could nullify the benefits of multiple brain crystal powers. Zakir might make his tendrils so fast that even Erik might struggle to resist them.

That would be the case if Erik didn't have a way to defend himself. However, he did now. Erik got a significant amount of mana, nearly reaching the A rank on the Ferebitz scale.

Simultaneously, he now had fewer but very harrowing powers. For example, the result of the merge of Exoshield with Nathaniel's brain crystal power had been a tremendous surprise. But of course, he would have rushed to kill Volkov, Zakir, and rescue Richard, if that was all. Of course, there were many things he had to consider in the current situation.

The number of opponents, the brain crystal rifles, and now Mechas artillery and the like, but most importantly, individuals with more than one brain crystal power.

That was because multiple powers might mean multiple neural links, meaning they could actually be stronger than anyone else.

What Doran's research did was create artificial awakeners. He still had no proof of that though, and didn't have that much information about how these powers worked.

If that was the case, the few people he saw wielding multiple brain crystal powers on the battlefield likely had few neural links, so they were strong, but not as strong as they could be. That was why Erik was focusing on the Chimaeric Demons. They were his cards to win this

war.

<It is sad. I could have wiped out the entire new Alexandria before all this stuff appeared. I could've been the king of this place.>

But things went this way, for good or bad, and he couldn't change it. Erik's thought went back to what he glanced at in Momentum's mind.

Zakir had been sent here because the blackguards hoped he could fight against him. In their opinion, he had the means, and for sure he would be supported by hundreds, if not thousands, of other blackguards.

<This says a lot about the situation here. Richard was clearly a lure, and that the rebels are still kicking, despite the overwhelming odds, meant that they left them alive on purpose. The blackguards have artificial awakeners, for fucks' sake. It's impossible they couldn't wipe out Fischer considering this and the many weapons they had.>

Then Erik asked a question to Momentum. "Do you know where you are?"

There, Erik's worst thought materialized. Momentum knew. He thought he was at the Red Palace, and that meant the blackguards knew the institution sided with the rebels.

"What about the spy?"

Momentum remained silent; now, most of the thoughts the man was having were mocking

ones.

Erik had to start using his instability brain crystal power to make him keen, at least on thinking about the answer.

"I'll ask you again. What about the spy?"

"There is no spy. And since you are insisting, I don't know where we are."

But there was indeed a spy among the rebels, the very same one that told the blackguards about the Red Palace, the very same one that gave them the idea to keep the resistance alive.

The problem was that this guy had been a high-ranking Colonel within Becker's government and was among those Erik rescued from prison months earlier. The spy was Colonel Stephen Middleton, one of Fischer's closest helpers.