I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 975: Continuing

The room settled into a quiet rhythm as each of them took their seats. The soft hum of the consoles was the only sound for a few moments until Jessica broke the silence.

"The candidates are getting anxious," she said, glancing at the three of them in front of her. "They expected the next phase of the experiment to start right away. But it’s been two days without a follow up. So some of them are starting to get nervous."

Adrien, who sat with one leg crossed over the other, didn’t even look up from his screen.

"Just tell them we need more time for them to recover. Their bodies need rest before the next phase begins. That’s a fact, not a delay." His voice was calm but firm. The tone of someone who had given this kind of answer many times before.

Jessica nodded in understanding. "Alright. I’ll tell them."

Billy now had finished reviewing his set of reports and leaned back and turned toward Erend.

"So, what do you make of this?" he asked, gesturing toward the data in front of Erend’s screen. The same data that they were also reading.

Erend didn’t answer right away. He stared at the lines of text and readings as if trying to pull the truth from between the numbers. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and spoke, his voice lower and more deliberate now.

"I still think someone’s been tinkering with Marcus," he said. "There’s no way those compatibility with Magic are natural."

Billy frowned. "So you’re saying this really wasn’t an accident, like he was just so talented?"

"I don’t think it was that," Erend said. "I also don’t think it’s designed to trigger under normal conditions. Whoever did this they knew the Magic inside his body wouldn’t activate until Marcus came into contact with real Magic. Like now. In this project."

The weight of his words dropped over the room like a thick fog.

Jessica slowly straightened in her chair.

"Wait... are you saying that someone predicted all of this and they knew this project would happen, years before it was even conceived?" Jessica asked.

Erend simply nodded.

The silence that followed was immediate and heavy. No one needed to spell it out. If someone could foresee the future—or worse, engineer it—then they were really dealing with a force far beyond their current understanding. Just like what they feared.

Adrien rubbed his temple and let out a sigh slowly. "So what do you suggest we do now?"

Erend looked conflicted. He hesitated, then answered carefully. "I think the safest thing would be to remove Marcus from the project. At least until we know more. But..." He trailed off, frowning. "He’s already showing promising results. Cutting him now could mean losing the most stable candidate we have."

He fell silent again, weighing the risk against the benefit.

Jessica didn’t hesitate. "We need to pull him out now when he starts showing signs of that unknown factor. Better safe than sorry." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Adrien’s expression tightened. "The higher-ups won’t be happy about that."

Billy shrugged, arms crossed. "They promised we would have the final say on participant inclusion. Remember? That was part of the agreement."

Adrien didn’t look convinced. "Let’s see how long that promise holds."

Billy’s mouth twisted into a grim smile. "You think they’ll still interfere?"

Adrien sighed. "I don’t know. Maybe."

Billy muttered under his breath, "Hopefully not. I’m tired of them poking their noses into everything we do."

No one responded to that. The quiet settled in again.

Erend stared at the slowly turning projection of Marcus’s neural scan. The lines pulsed faintly. He didn’t know what will happen in the future and that, more than anything, disturbed him.

Erend finally leaned forward. His fingers laced together as he rested his elbows on the table.

His gaze was locked onto Marcus’s neural scan for a few more seconds before he spoke.

"We should just proceed with the next phase of the experiment," he said. "But we keep watching Marcus closely like we did right now."

Adrien raised an eyebrow and looked over. "So you think it’s good to let him go into the next phase?"

Erend didn’t answer right away. He rubbed his chin, then nodded once.

"Yes, Captain. We let him in. If we pull him now it will raise more questions. The higher-ups already have their eyes on this project. If we kick Marcus out right now, we’ll only make them more suspicious and decide to interfere even more. Letting Marcus proceed gives us, and my friends some space to figure things out without them breathing down our necks."

Adrien gave a slow, thoughtful nod. Billy followed, crossing his arms and saying nothing, though a slight crease had formed between his brows.

Jessica, however, sat up straighter. Her eyes flicked between them, confused. "You said you and your friends... who are they?"

Erend turned his gaze to her, calm and deliberate. "My other friends. They are in another world."

That answer silenced her immediately. Jessica blinked but didn’t speak. A chill seemed to brush the back of her neck and though part of her burned with curiosity, something deeper warned her not to ask further.

There were limits to what a person could know without inviting something irreversible. And Jessica thought that this felt like one of those lines.

She nodded quietly instead.

Moments later, they all rose from their seats. No more was said about Marcus or the hidden forces behind his existence. For now, they had to keep the project moving.

Together, the four of them exited the observation chamber and made their way down the corridor, the low ceiling lights flickering slightly as they passed.

A few researchers gave them glances but said nothing.

Their steps eventually brought them to the administrative wing. Outside the main office, the door was slightly ajar. Erend pushed it open.

Inside, Thomas and Conrad sat by a wall-length display, arguing in hushed tones over simulation adjustments. They looked up as the group entered.

Adrien didn’t waste time. He said, "Good morning, gentlemen. We need to move forward. The next phase has to start. Everybody is included."

Thomas looked surprised. Conrad leaned back in his chair with a curious expression.

"You’re sure about that?" Thomas asked, already reaching for his tablet.

"No," Erend said. "But we don’t have time to be exactly sure of anything."

Conrad exchanged a glance with Thomas, then stood up. "Alright. Then let’s begin."

And so, the gears turned again.

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