Transcendent Gene
Chapter 120: Deployment [6]

Chapter 120: Deployment [6]

Bang!

In what felt like an instant, the weeks flew by.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In total, it had been almost two months since Gio first started training with Raymond.

No, more aptly, it had been almost a year since he first started accompanying the team.

When he first stepped foot on the zephyr in preparation for this internship, he was powerless.

He did the best he could to train, but it didn’t mean much at that level. Even the training he did with the team would have been worthless if he remained as he was.

But he always improved. Any time he was given the opportunity to get better and stronger, he got better and stronger.

It was the same this time as well.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three metal balls clashed against a target near the wall, shattering into pieces that crashed into the ground.

Raymond clapped with a smile.

"Good."

He nodded with some pride in his eyes.

"With this, your little position control ability is battle-ready."

The last two months weren’t for nothing. With Raymond’s help, Gio was able to break the walls that blocked his growth like nothing.

’I learned a lot.’

In some ways, he didn’t learn much at all. A lot of what Raymond said was information he already knew from his own experiments in the past.

However, Raymond’s view of Sequences was different. He took a more systematic approach when dealing with them, and even when he spoke of the more esoteric aspects of their power, he was somehow able to properly define everything.

Having someone around who could put those things into words was surprisingly beneficial. To hear what needed to be done instead of following a vague feeling allowed for unimpeded learning.

And unimpeded learning ended with Gio’s position control ability being trained to a battle-ready state.

’If I had to fight that Crimson Ash Bear Amaya weakened again, I’m sure I’d win without being forced to let it bleed out.’

It was good news. At the very least, he could now say he had the strength to defend himself.

"How’s my level?"

"You’re asking me again?"

Raymond rolled his eyes.

"If you’re looking for praise, you won’t find it from me. Go impress someone else for that."

"So you were impressed?" Gio responded without missing a beat.

Raymond frowned just slightly.

"I was, but..."

"Just let me come. I won’t try to do anything crazy and I won’t get in harm’s way. Just let me observe."

Gio’s request to join the final mission had been made a week ago when Jax and Natalia started their return journey to the zephyr.

Their mission was the only one that didn’t end in the destruction of a facility. To keep their identities hidden, the two of them decided it was best to leave the facilities standing and only take the data with them.

They had gained much more than the other two teams. In fact, what they gained was enough to change the Blue Steel Squadron’s story if it was used properly.

But that was a story for a much later time when that data was analyzed. For now, the most important thing was that the last two members of the team were returning. They would be back at any moment.

Raymond shook his head wryly.

"It’s not a matter of whether you’ll keep yourself out of harm’s way or not. It’s a matter of if harm’s way decides to find you."

Mother Baba was powerful on her own. The guards around the camp were too strong for Gio to even hope to escape from, and the camp itself was already nefarious enough.

There wasn’t just a little bit of danger awaiting them.

"But you said you would let me face danger now. You said you wouldn’t keep blocking my growth."

"That’s true, but is this blocking your growth?"

"Yes."

Gio didn’t let Raymond make the point.

"I have a feeling about this one. My gut is telling me I have to go on this mission. Unless you tie me up somewhere, I’m going to find a way onto the field."

"For someone so desperate to go, you sure are giving me some great ideas on how to stop you."

Raymond still joked, but he could tell that Gio wasn’t in a joking mood. He’d been getting more tense for the past few days. It wasn’t hard to see that the cause was this very decision.

’I don’t have a reason to deny him. It would be different if he was still green, but the others trust his rationality if nothing else. I have no reason to say he won’t keep himself safe.’

The concerns he stated were real, but so were the things Gio said. He just had to weigh the two in his mind and decide which was more important.

"Haa..."

He sighed to himself.

’I can’t really fault him this time...’

This time especially, there wasn’t an excuse he could use to hold Gio back. Anything he said about danger would become inconsequential the moment they finished the mission briefing.

After all, this time...

"Fine," he said.

This time, Raymond planned to personally participate as well.

"You can have a chance. It’s up to you what you do with it."

As for what that chance was...

"I’ll give everyone a day to rest after Jax and Natalia get back. We’ll meet after that to discuss everything, and well..."

Raymond grinned a grin that Gio wouldn’t understand until three days later.

"...when the time comes, we’ll have more than just a little bit of explaining to do."

***

And so, once again, all relevant personnel gathered in the zephyr’s main area. Once again, Natalia set up the necessary screens and Raymond started a more detailed briefing on the final facility.

It really did look like he planned to control the operation from the safety of the ship. When he told the team about the several infiltration plans he’d made, he made it sound like he wasn’t a part of them.

If it weren’t for that, would the bomb have dropped so hard?

No, it was probably also a matter of how he chose to reveal the news.

The briefing reached a close. Anything that needed to be said had been said, and as the team waited for him to give them permission to disperse...

"By the way, Gio’s going on this mission..."

The sentence would have been protested much more violently a year ago. Even despite their current relationship with him, certain team members were still ready to state their misgivings.

However, Raymond continued his words to their true conclusion before his subordinates could speak even a single syllable.

"...and I’m coming too. Anyway, go get all your gear ready. We’ll meet in the cargo bay in ten."

’Did he just teleport?’

Gio stared at where Raymond was a second ago with a flabbergasted expression. Somehow, he managed to completely leave the room before anyone could protest his decision.

There was just one slight issue with that.

See, Raymond did a good thing for Gio. He announced Gio’s participation early so the shell he dropped later would drown out their concern for his participation.

But then he left.

He left, so the gears in the heads of these intelligent Sequencers started spinning until they all reached the same conclusion.

There was only one person who’d been with Raymond constantly over the past two months...

Needless to say, the moment he disappeared, all eyes fell on Gio.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.