Transcendent Gene
Chapter 152: First Moves [4]

Chapter 152: First Moves [4]

’You’re more hopeless than I thought.’

Gio shook his head wryly.

That woman, a scientist named Anastasia, was quite popular in the past and the future. She went on to become one of the faces of the underground research society when it became a more public entity.

Most of the people around her, whether then or now, were those who wanted something from her or adored her. The only person other than Gio who fell into neither category was that man.

But nobody else would ever realize that. He wasn’t the type to open his mouth to explain himself.

’If he put his pride down and answered questions when people asked them, he wouldn’t even be here. He would be a proud member of the proper scientific society.’

However, he was here, secretly staring at a beautiful woman while looking as suspicious as he possibly could.

After ordering himself a coffee, Gio walked up and sat at the same table as the man. He looked over with a deep frown on his face.

"Get out of here, kid. I’m not someone you can play around with," he said roughly in a tone that was similar to a growl.

"I know that. I didn’t sit down without knowing who you were," Gio responded calmly.

"False bravado won’t get you anywhere. Don’t act like you know people you’ve never seen before. It might get you hurt."

"Maybe, but it would get me more hurt if I called you Da–"

The man shot a sharp glare at Gio before he could finish his words. He stopped mid-sentence without fighting and sat back in his chair.

"Should I call you Klyde, then?"

"What do you want from me?"

It was one thing to know the name he was currently using, and it was another to know the one he’d abandoned.

His gaze was hostile for a reason. There wasn’t a single person who knew that name and didn’t despise him.

However, Gio was a bit different.

"I’m not here to fight you or expose you. In fact, I even know that you don’t feel any emotions towards that woman over there. I know that you’ve been threatened several times because people believe you have ill intentions, but you have refused to stop. I know that even now, you’re being watched by two or three people who will attack you the moment she turns her back."

Klyde wasn’t a good person. He was still stalking the woman named Anastasia regardless of his reasoning. The people waiting for him were trying to dissuade him, but their methods would never work.

"I know what you were chasing," Gio said.

"And I’m not here to stand in the way of that."

Klyde’s eyes narrowed. He kept his mouth shut as the barista delivered Gio the coffee he ordered and only spoke once she’d retreated back behind the counter.

"What am I chasing?" He asked. Regardless of what Gio said, he needed confirmation.

"You want me to say it here?" Gio asked.

He nodded.

"It’s ’them,’ isn’t it? The ones in the shadows who pretend to be the sun."

That was a metaphor Klyde himself used to describe his targets. He could no longer doubt what Gio knew.

"If you’re here, it’s either because you want to expose me or because you’re having similar thoughts, but it can’t be either. You’re a child. Did someone send you to make contact with me?" He asked suspiciously.

"Negative," Gio responded.

"Actually, I am someone who’s thinking the same thing as you. I do think they exist, and I think you have a special knack for finding them."

He glanced over at Anastasia, who was still speaking to the crowd around her.

"You think she’s one of them too, don’t you?"

Klyde glanced at the woman and slowly nodded.

"She smells like them. I’m sure of it."

Klyde never stalked Anastasia because he was strange.

He stalked her because he believed without a shadow of a doubt that she was not a human and he needed to find a way to prove it.

Klyde was a unique seed. He questioned human society before anyone else dared to. He had the thought that humanity wasn’t as safe as they believed far before it was the norm.

His senses led him to people he found suspicious, and as he tried to study them and prove that they were not humans, but enemies...

Well, at that time, it was much worse than just stalking. He was banished and expelled from the Lunaris Federation and came to Polaris under a new name to start life anew, where he encountered the underground research society and somehow gained funding from them.

’That’s because the society’s president is an ally to humanity, but when it comes to those in the light...’

There were two main reasons why Klyde’s theories failed to see light.

Firstly, humans didn’t want to accept that the peace they’d fought so hard to earn was just a ploy manufactured by the enemy.

And secondly, the ones Klyde chased had infiltrated to far higher levels of society than he knew.

It wasn’t a hopeless situation. They weren’t controlling every piece of every government of humanity. Merely, they had their toes dipped in some important places that allowed them access to information that compromised humanity’s safety.

Getting rid of those hidden enemies was extremely important. Until they were gone, every move humanity made would be revealed to the Monster Race.

Therefore, ensuring that Klyde could complete his research and be recognized was important. It was the first step to disassembling the false sense of security in people’s minds so they could truly face the threats in front of them.

’The problem was that the first time Klyde actually tried something in Lunaris, he was wrong.’

He was unable to prove, in the end, that his target was inhuman.

’But Anastasia became a public figure later. When she revealed her true colors, the whole world saw it.’

Gio had a guarantee that the woman standing only several meters from them at this very moment was one of such enemies.

At the moment, she was still weak and gathering power. She was still becoming the figure she would be in the future.

Gio approached Klyde to say one thing.

"I’ll help you."

With the knowledge he had, it could be done.

"I’ll help you prove that she is what you think she is. I want you to continue your research properly until you have a way to unveil all of them."

Klyde’s eyes widened slightly.

"You’re being serious?"

"I am, and don’t discount me because of my age. I’m a lot more capable than I look."

"You can say that, but if it’s true, you only become more suspicious. If you’re so aware of my past, why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?"

Gio grinned.

Exposing the monsters hiding amongst humanity’s ranks as soon as possible was what he wanted. That was why he went to find Klyde as soon as he possibly could.

But to say that he didn’t have a personal agenda as well...

Gio wasn’t so kind as to ignore the benefits that were sitting right in front of him.