Transcendent Gene
Chapter 111: Recovery [1]

Chapter 111: Recovery [1]

It was quiet on the zephyr.

When Raymond was securely on Jason’s back, Ulver used his abilities to stop the blood flowing from his severed waist. Carefully, they moved him through the jungle and reached the rendezvous point as fast as they possibly could.

There were several jets awaiting them there, providing more than enough space for everyone to sit. The zephyr was also waiting nearby, allowing them to reach it as fast as possible as well.

They made it back as soon as they could. They hooked Raymond up to every healing machine they had and pumped serum into his body as fast as possible.

Yet, it was still quiet on the zephyr.

Gio and the members of the ground team were gathered in the main area. He was forcefully keeping himself awake until he heard the results from the medics watching over Raymond.

The situation came out of nowhere. The team was unaware of the entire chain of events. In their eyes, the trap was still a surprise that they only discovered when the Hammer fell.

Amaya looked at Gio with hardened eyes.

If it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have even found the facility. And, if it weren’t for him, they wouldn’t have made the decision to run.

If neither of those things happened...

’...the two of us would have been the only survivors.’

She gritted her teeth, not sure whether to release her rage and interrogate him or allow him to explain slowly.

Before she could reach a decision, the door to the room opened, revealing a man who looked feeble at a glance.

He lowered his head, addressing the team members. His body was pointed towards Natalia, as she was the current highest authority in the room.

"The Captain’s condition has stabilized."

The first piece of news was a good one. Several relieved sighs filled the room at once. The man waited for them to finish before continuing.

"However, his legs won’t heal, and we can’t be certain when he’ll awaken. We will continue to monitor his situation and report any changes."

There were frowns on all of their faces as the medic left, but, unfortunately enough, it wasn’t unexpected news.

’The Captain must be a Commander Grade Sequencer; on the verge of entering the Awakened State.’

It was the highest level of the second stage, consisting of Origin Levels 2-7 to 2-9.

’As a Sequencer gets stronger, the purity of their bloodline increases. This means the Bloodline Sequence they use starts to mold into their body and become their own blood rather than an additional entity.’

The purer one’s bloodline was, the stronger and more secure one’s internal systems became.

That security was great for combat. It ensured that one’s internal organs couldn’t be affected easily even if their flesh was penetrated.

’But it also means that healing serums can’t hold anywhere near the same efficacy when used on strong people.’

Stronger serums were made to fill in for this weakness, but stronger serums only existed to a certain degree.

Wounds of this level, wounds that would have been life-threatening without immediate treatment, could only be healed. They could not be restored.

’He needs to find a really good Healer if he wants any hope of getting his legs back.’

It wasn’t just a matter of his body, but the wound as well.

His lower half had been properly incinerated all at once. It was a clean wound that burned itself closed and festered. The cells and nerves there had already been torn to shreds and rendered useless. Healing such a wound was like traversing a labyrinth where touching the walls meant making things worse.

"Captain will live."

Surprisingly enough, Ulver was the one who decided to shatter the bleak atmosphere.

"Captain will live," he said again.

"So what are we doing?"

Several eyes went in his direction. Amaya wanted to respond in anger, but Jax beat her to the punch.

"Hahaha, you’re right," he said with a weak smile.

"With Boss’ attitude, he’ll still find a way to punish us if he wakes up and finds us moping like this."

It was an undeniable statement. That was always the kind of person Raymond was. The last thing he’d want was to see them worrying about him.

Amaya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. They were right that she couldn’t react explosively here. Her teammates weren’t her enemies.

"Vice Captain," she said, addressing Natalia.

"You’re in command now, so you decide. Do we wait for the Captain to wake up, or do we continue?"

She, for one, wanted revenge. It only took one look around the room to determine that many of them felt the same.

Natalia looked at them with a frown.

"We will not continue for the time being."

"What?!"

Alice, who usually kept silent, responded violently.

"I thought you were better than this, Vice Captain. They crippled Raymond! You expect us to do nothing?!"

Natalia sighed. She understood where Alice was coming from. It could be seen enough by the fact that she referred to him by his name alone. Raymond was the reason Alice and Mirei could live. He saved them from a hell in the past, so it was natural for either of them to feel outraged.

She, in fact, considered herself lucky that Mirei hadn’t come out in a while. It would have been much more difficult to deal with her.

"We can’t move right now."

However, before Natalia could say anything, Gio decided to speak up.

"Who do you–!"

"It’s not because we don’t want to, but because we can’t."

He didn’t allow Alice to interrupt him. They weren’t thinking straight. Their minds were too clouded by Raymond’s injuries.

Gio didn’t have that problem. It could be considered a "weakness" of his.

All eyes went his way.

"The Hammer was dropped," he said.

"That means the people backing the Apocalypse Church and helping them build these machines have power in Elysium. The forces involved in this matter are too strong for us to act hastily. What will you do if they discover we’re alive and target us again before Raymond can heal?"

Right, they used the Hammer, so they must have believed the team was either dead or incapacitated indefinitely. Anyone who knew of their escape had also died when the beam fell.

If they discovered otherwise, if they targeted the zephyr and destroyed it using technology on an equal level provided by their backers in Elysium, what would happen?

It wasn’t just about their deaths. The Captain they were working so hard to avenge would die alongside them before he could ever even wake up.

"Right now," Gio continued, "we need to gather intelligence. We need to find out as much as possible about what’s happening here so we don’t get caught off-guard again. After that, you can start thinking about revenge and anything else you want."

The only aspect holding them back was the danger of the unknown. At every step, they encountered a new variable that spun the situation further out of control. By the time they stepped back to look at what they’d been doing, it was already too late to realize how deep they’d gone.

These schemes weren’t just a matter of the Wasteland’s safety anymore. This operation wasn’t a preventative measure to stop the growth of a difficult djinn group anymore.

They were already facing a threat that could endanger the lives of Sequencers and civilians across all Strata.

It was impossible to face it head-on, and it was impossible to run away.

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