Martha explained the status of the Legacy Masters. Many of them had failed to find their hosts, so they were unable to fully revive. They then behaved as zombies who craved for nothing but destruction and destroyed a few cities in their rampage.
The successfully revived ones did no such thing. Instead, after fusing with their hosts, they guided the zombie-like corpses to the borders of Paradox Dimension.
"Paradox Dimension?"
Ice Queen's eyes glinted with an icy spark. A smile appeared on her cold face.
"How unsurprising."
When Martha saw the smile, a current raced through her body despite her strength, and she trembled.
All she wanted was to see her queen happy, but she felt dread in the rare occurrences she saw her happy.
"Your majesty," Martha bowed further and spoke. "Can this servant ask why you are doing what you are doing?"
Ice Queen treated words like gold and rarely spoke unless it was necessary. But since it was her favorite subject, she made an exception.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"It is to see this world burn."
"!!" Blood drained from Martha's face, and her rosy-brown complexion lost color. The other servants in the palace similarly paled from terror.
But none of them dare even think of calling her insane or refuting her.
She was their queen. Her wish was their command.
If she wanted to see this world burned, they would eagerly jump into the fire and make her happy.
Ice Queen closed her eyes.
The times she has been waiting for were near. And for the first time in years, she was waiting in anticipation.
"Your majesty," Martha said after regaining her composure. "We have gathered information on the man you fought in Infinity Maze – Kiba."
Ice Queen remained silent and showed no interest, but Martha felt the need to continue.
"Kiba's a total degenerate!"
She exclaimed, rather far too loudly.
"Name a sin, and there's a 100% probability he has committed it!
"Not only that, he even treats women as objects of his d.e.s.i.r.es and does unspeakable things with them!"
Ice Queen opened her eyes and looked at Martha with amus.e.m.e.nt.
"What do you want to say?" Ice Queen asked.
"He's a threat to Eden!"
Martha replied with all seriousness.
"So please give me permission to use our sacred resources to destroy him!"
She was more than amused by Martha.
Martha was bewildered.
Did she say something funny?
✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
Meanwhile, Kirstie was brought to the operation room. Unlike the rest of the lab, everything here was made of crystals, including the room itself.
Zed placed Kirstie over a row of crimson shards.
"This is the last step?" Rebecca asked from the side.
Zed nodded and lifted his arms. Then, out of nowhere, streams of crystalline particles appeared and wrapped his hands, turning into crystalline gloves.
They were his operation tools!
He flickered his right hand, and as if on his command, crystal spikes emerged from the ceiling and extended downwards, stopping just before Kirstie's body.
She was unconscious; otherwise, she would have been frightened by the razor-sharp spikes hovering above her.
As if using surgical tools, Zed spread his hands and swept them down. Simultaneously, the spikes over her glabella, heart, belly button, and ankles pierced down.
They penetrated her, but there was no blood. It was like they were phasing through her body and invading her on the cellular level.
Zed saw where the spikes went through the projection floating before him. He examined the images and aimed the spikes further downwards till they approached what seemed to be black cells.
On the projection, they were zoomed in, and their appearance was crystal clear. They resembled cells, but instead of nucleus, they had what seemed to be teeth.
They were Genetic Degradation Cells!
They seemed to be a part of Kirstie, like they had fused with her.
"Not for long, though."
As the spikes approached the cells, they reacted like an angry swarm of bees. It was like they sensed danger and were responding to defend themselves.
Like a nail flying to a magnet bar, the berserk cells were rooted out of the genetic structure. They rapidly flew to the spikes.
Zed lifted his fingers up, and the spikes moved upwards.
At the same time, the top of crimson shards underneath Kirstie morphed into syringes. A serum that seemed no different than blood flew through them and injected into Kirstie.
"Phew~" Zed let out a sigh in relief. The spikes were up, and so far, Kirstie has shown no adverse effect.
This was to be expected given the preparations he made before this step. He had made her body ready with many medicines.
Zed looked at the spikes. He motioned towards them, and the cells sticking to them were released.
Whoosh~!
Once again, acting like a swarm of bees, the cells moved to attack. But if they had consciousness, they were bound to be shocked.
Because they were released only to be caged!
A swirl of glass particles spun around them, and in seconds, they were imprisoned in a glass container.
Zed took the container that was the size of his fist. Inside, the cells were attacking the glass walls with no success.
"They are behaving just like nanites!"
Zed recalled the nanites that harmed Felicity.
"Could they have similar origin then? If yes…then nanites must be made from the blood of some titan!"
This guess caused his eyebrows to crease together.
The nanites had a mountain in the core region of the Desolate Blood Forest. If they were made of a titan's blood, then that would mean the mountain was built on the body of a titan!
"Either a dead titan… or a slumbering one!"
He then thought of Lord Harley. If his guess was correct, Lord Harley was the one infected Kirstie with Genetic Degradation Cells…and perhaps him as well!
"But their effect on me was nowhere near Kirstie's… is it due to my father's bloodline or for some other reason?"
He wasn't sure, but his eyes flashed with the devilish glint that his other persona was known for.
"Maybe I could make something even more sinister with these cells!"
Zed thought as the d.e.s.i.r.e for revenge grew stronger within him.
He wanted to do something truly diabolical!
"Urgh!"
His thoughts were interrupted by a painful voice.
Kirstie was awakening.
She opened her eyes and grunted.
"M-mom…I'm feeling something down!" She spoke as soon as she regained clarity.
Her toes moved!!
"I can feel my legs!"
She exclaimed.
Rebecca rubbed her daughter's head and nodded. There was a watery sheen in her eyes.
She turned to Zed and mouthed, 'thank you.'
Zed sighed and nodded.
"It will take a few days before she could fully use her legs."
"I understand," Rebecca affirmed with a nod.
Kirstie looked at her brother with awe.
He really cured her! That too, without making her feel like she was some lab rat!
"You are really a genius!" Kirstie said with a sweet smile.
Zed smiled and said, "You are kind."
He then told Rebecca, "I will be taking my leave."
Rebecca nodded. She knew he needed some rest after all this.
Zed left the room, leaving behind mother-daughter pair who hugged each other.
✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
Outside, Heather and Leyla stood with nervousness. When the door opened, they noticed Zed stepping out with a calm expression.
"It must have worked!"
They rejoiced while looking ahead.
"Indeed! It has!"
They rushed into the room.
"Well, Claudia, where are the other mother-daughter pair?" Zed asked.
[[They are in the house.]] Claudia replied. [[They were sure you would succeed and wanted to give Kirstie and her family privacy.]]
Zed nodded and activated the teleportation portal. He stepped into it, and he teleported into the house.
The portal closed. Given Kirstie's condition, it was unlikely Rebecca and others would leave the lab any time soon. So, there was no need to keep the portal active.
✻ ✻ ✻ ✻
Zed stepped into the hall. It opened into a lush garden, and he noticed Sophia there, looking at the sunset.
"Zed!" Sophia felt his presence and turned to him. He smiled in response, and she instantly realized her optimism was well-founded.
Kirstie must have been healed.
Zed arrived next to her.
A hue of orange has overshadowed the sky, making it mesmerizing.
"You like sunsets, don't you?" Sophia asked.
Whenever she was with him, she has always seen him looking forward to sunsets. He never forgot to enjoy the beautiful scenery that followed. It was like the only scenery that deserved to be cherished!
"I do," Zed answered with a smile. "But there's something I like even more."
"Oh? What's that?" Sophia was curious.
"You."
"!!!!" Sophia was stunned.
Her eyes widened, and her face flushed with warm blood.
He only said one word, but it caused her heart to race rapidly. She felt as if it was going to jump out of her c.h.e.s.t and escape.
Zed looked into her misty blue eyes and said, "There's something I always want to do… Can I do it?"
Sophia couldn't think properly. But she still nodded to give him permission.
After all, knowing him, there was no way he could do anything wrong, just like her mom!
"Thank you."
Zed leaned forward and closed her lips with his.
"Mmm!"
He gave her the first kiss of her life.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Katherine was preparing tea. Suddenly, she flinched, and her head snapped in disbelief.
"No way…!"
Her perception moved outside the confines of the house and onto the garden. There, she "saw" her daughter's lips glued to Zed's!
Most parents in her situation would be embarrassed and pretend to be clueless. But she wasn't most parents!
She turned giddy from excitement!
"They are finally going to do it!"
She couldn't wait!
