Transcendent Gene
Chapter 134: Farewell [2]

Chapter 134: Farewell [2]

A farewell party.

It wasn’t the first Gio had been to. It wasn’t even the first thrown for him.

But it was definitely the first time he had a farewell party that he felt came too soon.

It happened outside the zephyr. They landed in the desert a day later when they were closer to Haven and set up camp. There were already some people waiting for them when they arrived, and more showed up throughout the day.

The entire Blue Steel Squadron was invited even though only a few of them actually knew Gio. Even if they didn’t care about the farewell, it was still an event they could relax at.

The atmosphere was great. They’d set up lights to give the small campsite an ambiance. There were multiple grills set up where several people from the team were cooking. Gio didn’t recognize most of their faces, but Jax was there, along with a man named Barry he’d met on the Service Crew.

All over the place, there were people laughing and talking with food and drink in hand. The sun was up for a long time as they celebrated, but they didn’t stop even into the nighttime.

Gio was the main character of the day. He couldn’t escape that role no matter how hard he tried.

The whole day, he was talking to people. Those he’d never met came up and introduced themselves, telling him he had a bright future ahead of himself if Raymond liked him this much.

Those he did know were less cordial. Garrison, Pierce, and the other secondary team members happily welcomed Gio and asked him about his plans for the future.

As for the members of the main team, they mostly left him alone so the others could say their pieces. After all, they’d still be seeing Gio for a few more days. If there was anything they didn’t get the chance to say today, they still had time.

Particularly, the Service Crew and the operations team were Gio’s main fans.

The Service Crew got to know him over the course of a month and respected his unbiased view on life. They liked that he was willing to work with them on even the most undesirable jobs. He was willing to become one of them and understand their struggles.

On top of that, he saved Garrison’s life. They weren’t going to treat him poorly.

Garrison himself came up and thanked Gio personally after finally getting a chance to, saying that he was willing to help with anything he needed in the future.

He was the first new contract Gio gained on his phone that day, but certainly not the last.

The operation team praised his abilities and told him to work with them when he was older. The pilots came up to him and asked him how he was feeling about the team. Everyone who was even remotely related befriended him.

And only when the nighttime came did Gio finally receive some respite.

"Huu..."

He looked into the sky above.

He was currently lying down on top of the zephyr. He’d climbed atop it to hide from the crowds. He was enjoying his alone time, but really, he was dealing with the bittersweet feeling in his heart.

"Ohhh, look who we have here!"

The silence was broken after only a few minutes. Well, Gio knew that he couldn’t hide from everyone.

He turned his head back to see Jax jumping onto the roof.

"Who are you trying to look cool for up here?" He said with a grin as he walked over and sat down nearby

Gio shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe there’s a princess on the moon who’s falling for me as we speak. What are you going to do when she descends?"

"You know how to make jokes?"

"I’ve heard the same thing from everyone except Alice."

"Yeah, Alice is even worse than you, so that makes sense."

Jax smiled.

"The others are coming too. Were you having fun alone up here?"

Gio shook his head.

"No. I was actually about to come back down. It might be better that way."

Jax nodded. He looked up at the same sky Gio was watching.

"Did you have fun?"

’Fun?’

It wasn’t a question Gio had ever asked himself. He was so focused on missions and improvement that he never stopped to think about enjoying himself.

But...

"Yeah, I think I did have fun."

He enjoyed his time with them, truly. When he thought back to the best moments of the past year, he always ended up with a smile on his face.

"It was a good time and a valuable experience. My only complaint is that it has to end."

"Haha, but we can’t do anything about that. This time, it’s gotten a little too big."

Gio nodded. He had no choice but to agree.

The benefit of his staying with them was that he’d learn a lot more about a lot of things. The downside was that he’d die.

There genuinely wasn’t a thing he could do anymore. They quite literally had to leave him on the zephyr instead of bringing him on missions if they started to investigate VNGRD’s involvement.

Because they couldn’t stop VNGRD from touching him.

By baring their fangs, every single member of the Blue Steel Squadron was putting their life on the line.

Whether they were secondary team members, operation team members, or ground team members, they would be targeted by VNGRD the moment they tried to pry too deep into secrets they weren’t meant to reach.

Maybe that was why everyone wanted to see Gio today.

"The Captain sent out a message. Anyone who thinks the mission is going too far is free to leave today. This was supposed to be their farewell party too," Jax said.

"Was?" Gio repeated.

"Yeah," Jax replied with a grin.

"It was supposed to be for them as well, but nobody took that offer. I think everyone cares about the Captain too much to let us go out without full support."

Regardless of how good he was as a Sequencer, Raymond would have always been guaranteed to succeed as a Captain.

Building this kind of relationship within the squad wasn’t easy. In fact, to have this relationship extend to all parts of the squad instead of just the ground team was almost impossible.

"Gio..."

Jax looked over at him.

"This life isn’t an easy one. I know you’ve already realized it by now. Something like what happened to Captain back then can happen to any of us at any time. When it happens, we’re also going to make the same decision he did. We’re all going to keep fighting until there’s nothing left of us. It sounds miserable, doesn’t it?"

It was the fact that he said "when," not "if."

"Are you trying to talk me out of it?" Gio asked.

"It’s not that," Jax responded immediately, shaking his head.

"It’s just that most kids see us the way we’re presented by the media. It’s a good thing. I don’t think anyone should see how bleak this life is until it gets to that point, because no matter how much it sucks, we need more people to live this way."

It was hard to support propaganda, but Jax understood its necessity as someone who was on the frontlines. Their numbers could never thin. If their numbers thinned, they wouldn’t be able to convince the ordinary populace that humanity had achieved peace.

Because it never had.

And only the Sequencers fighting to keep the people safe understood that.

Jax seemed to realize something and hardened his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something important, making Gio pay full attention to the words coming next.

"Gio, I know you’re serious about this. You don’t have to convince me about that. If you weren’t serious, you would have given up after the Captain’s injury, but that only made you more driven. That’s the character of a Sequencer, not an ordinary person."

A frown formed on his face.

"But this life...when the people you know and love become memories so often, something inside you breaks. Something in your heart and mind changes and can never change back. That change..."

Jax looked at Gio with concern in his eyes.

"...don’t let it break you when the time comes. Otherwise, you’ll end up like–"

"What are y’all doing up here alone? Where was my invite?"

Before Jax could finish his sentence, Amaya’s voice cut him off. She jumped onto the zephyr’s roof soon after with Jason, Ulver, and Mirei following her.

"Captain and Vice Captain will come in a little. For now, mind our company?"

She walked up and patted Jax on the back, causing him to smile wryly. There was no way she didn’t hear what he was saying before she interrupted.

But she was right. Today was supposed to be a day of celebration.

Those negative memories from the past, the ones that turned Jax’s heart into something he abhorred...

For now, it was best to keep them in the past.