Transcendent Gene-Chapter 305: Return [1]

Their flight back to Celestelle was scheduled the same day. Gio had an easy time fitting himself into such things on a tight schedule because of his clan’s name.

On top of getting plane tickets on a day’s notice, he was able to find them a good hotel to stay at while they waited.

After everything was said and done, they needed some time off before they could indulge themselves in more excitement.

Shiro and Serene especially started to come down from the almost month-long adrenaline rush on the car ride into the city. When they got to the hotel, the two of them found themselves beds and passed out.

Neriah wasn’t as burnt out, but she still needed rest. As for Gio...

Well, in his mind, "rest" and "planning for the future" were one and the same.

When they were comfortably settled at the hotel, he instantly pulled up his holowatch and called Farrah, who picked up after three short rings.

"Is this a call from Gio, or is this someone calling to tell me he died?"

"The former. Why would they call you if I died?"

"Wasn’t I near the top of your recent calls list? It’s not an unbelievable scenario."

He smiled wryly. Farrah wasn’t one to celebrate the fact that he was safe. What she’d said was already her way of saying she was glad to hear him on the other side of the line.

"I heard you planned some stuff while I was gone. Something about a summit...?"

"I like that you’re a business-minded person. Yes, the summit will take place in a week. It was scheduled specifically because you were supposed to finish up around now."

"Oh?"

"The main purpose is to reveal Sequence Enhancers. It’ll take time for v1 to come out, but that’s only because of the necessary tests and procedures. Our current prototype is essentially complete."

"That’s good to hear. If you scheduled it around me, then I assume you want me there?"

"Naturally. Do you expect me to present it without the person who brought me the idea? You’re an important part of the project, and, well..."

"You want me to be a face for it."

"Correct. It’ll sell better with the Atmos Clan’s name on it. It’ll be even better if we advertise you as a genius who helped create it."

"Fair enough. It’s beneficial for me, too, so there’s no reason to say no. Formal wear?"

"Formal wear."

"Great. I’ll be back in Celestelle in three days. We can talk in detail then."

’It’s good that everything is going according to plan. For now, my job is just to get stronger and make connections. It’s as easy as it can get.’

With such thoughts easing his mind, Gio finished conversing with Farrah and hung up the phone. After sending a few more messages to let certain people know he was alive, he turned off his holowatch and passed out.

It took no more than a minute for him to fall asleep, and when he woke up, he felt like he was filled with even more energy than he had after his rank-up.

’It’s settling in. My body feels a lot better now.’

His strength was more controlled. He was almost ready to go find new enemies to test his growth on.

’But the first hurdle to cross is something else.’

Specifically, airport security.

The check-in process was a lot easier with Gio’s status, but getting through security wasn’t any different from the average person’s experience. In fact, in this instance, it was more difficult.

’Is something happening?’ Gio wondered as they went through much more thorough checks than he was used to.

"...every airport in the area is on high alert. Apparently, something big went down in the mountains over there. They don’t want people leaving with things they shouldn’t have."

’Aha...’

The conversations of the agents explained it. Gio’s party was technically in the group that shouldn’t have been allowed to leave, but nobody suspected young First Institute students of being part of anything so grand.

’Well, I guess it’s fine as long as we make it through.’

He sighed and shook his head as Shiro and Serene finally made it through the scanners. He was behind them while Neriah was in a line nearby.

’Hm...’

The buzz of the airport was almost comforting, knowing it was a space where so many humans connected to each other, but it was also filled with a strange staleness that couldn’t be explained.

’Maybe it’s one of those things.’

Even if he’d been in this world for several years, some of his old habits were still very much present and were taking a long time to die.

The ability to feel secure in such a crowded space had to be learned after what he’d been through.

Gio slowly followed the line, listening to the drone of machines and the occasional intercom message. His eyes randomly landed on the people around him until he noticed a stirring among the agents handling the lines.

’Did something happen?’

The moment a mild curiosity appeared in his mind, it was crushed.

An intercom announcement clearly cut through the airport, repeated across countless speakers.

"Attention, all travelers... Attention, all travelers... All flights to Celestelle have been canceled. I repeat, all flights to Celestelle have been canceled. Please visit your gate agents or airline representatives for more information."

"What?"

"All flights to Celestelle? Why?"

A wave of confusion spread through the airport. Celestelle was a popular city, and even those who weren’t on their way there were shocked that all flights had suddenly been canceled.

The words flowed into Gio’s ears and instantly provoked a frown. His heart jumped as a terrible feeling entered his heart.

’No. Nothing is supposed to happen yet.’

There were still two months left before the first major event in Celestelle took place. There wasn’t anything else with enough severity to cause the airports to be completely shut down.

The wave of gasps he heard spreading through the crowds didn’t slow his heart rate in the slightest. He unlocked his holowatch, but before he could look for any news, the screen was covered by a call notification.

’Farrah...’

With an even deeper frown, he answered the call.

"Gio, there’s no time. Find somewhere secluded."

He acted without question.

He looked over at where his friends were past the security checkpoint before ducking into the crowd and rushing in the other direction.

Farrah didn’t wait for him to find a safe spot before she started talking.

Gio didn’t wait either. With the call minimized, he went on the intranet, and his eyes were immediately met with tens of articles coming out every minute that highlighted exactly what was happening.

Farrah’s explanation was practically a spoken version of the words on the screen.

"The First Institute has been attacked."

Gio gritted his teeth as Farrah requested the call to be switched to a video call. He accepted it and looked at the hologram of her with cold eyes.

"Details. Now."

His head went cold. In a single instant, he understood that it was impossible for him to reach Celestelle in time to do anything unless Farrah acted as his connection point. He had to rein in his emotions and listen to her.

"I don’t know if you knew about it or what, but the sensors you had me install were set off several minutes ago. Unfortunately, they must’ve had people on the inside. When the bombs went off, the sensors became irrelevant," she said.

"Tch!"

"There’s already fighting inside. A barrier was put up around the school, but it broke down almost immediately. The helicopter footage showed hooded figures invading the school grounds, and the smoke..."

"Understood."

The fact that the school was still airborne meant that Farrah called as soon as she heard the news. There was still time.

"Can you get me there?"

Gio’s voice went quiet, but he couldn’t delay the question. He had to get there. He needed her to take him.

Farrah looked at him through the hologram.

She had seen him fight before. After he fooled, evaded, and escaped an Asura and made it through an unknown Riftworld, she believed in his strength.

She could see him on the other side of the phone and could clearly see the difference in his appearance and aura. The fact that he’d improved from the last time was just another layer of assurance.

She was almost sure that he knew something about the attack, so it was worth bringing him, and if it was a matter of risk...

"...you’re not someone to run away from risks, and I’m not one to govern your life choices. I know what you’re like, so I’ll bring you here if you want me to, but only you. The other three will have to stay behind."

She didn’t care what kind of justifications he had prepared.

"I have no way to guarantee their strength or safety, and I won’t be responsible for the deaths of three random students."

"Understood."

Gio never planned to bring them along in the first place. They could go on adventures and slowly experience the world, but he had no plans to throw them into the trauma of watching their own friends die.

"Open the door. I’m coming through now."

He needed to save the First Institute. It wasn’t a personal desire, but a necessary step in saving the world.

It was one of the major events in the timeline that he prepared before regressing. He knew every detail about what would happen in the First Institute, and he knew what he needed to do to save the people and things he needed to save.

’The details are the same. Only the timing is different.’

Even the time of day was the same.

4:44 PM on a Thursday. It confirmed that the information Gio had wasn’t for nothing.

’This is unexpected, but I’m in a better place than I expected to be,’ he thought to himself as he entered a door into Nightreign.

’I don’t know what’s already gone down, but that’s not my concern.’

He had become more sympathetic. He had become more human.

His desire to only save those who had importance to either him or the world was growing into a desire to take all of humanity into the future, but those were the emotions of a Gio who existed in the modern day.

The moment he saw the news, his mind reverted to an old state. It became something it had been prepared to be for decades.

When Farrah saw him in Nightreign, she almost didn’t recognize him.

"You don’t look like you want to talk," she said with an unchanged expression as she opened a door and let him through.

It led to the street a distance away from the lab. He could even see the chaotic skies above the academy in the distance.

Evidently, Farrah made an effort to make his journey more convenient.

"Go. It’s been three and a half minutes since everything started. My people are already moving, and a lot of others are being mobilized as well. I won’t try to hold you back, but don’t die. We have important events coming up."

He looked at her for a moment before nodding thankfully.

"I won’t miss any of it. Don’t worry."

In an instant, he was gone. A blue trail outlined the straight path he made towards the First Institute.

’Three and a half minutes. At this point, the academy’s own security forces are still enough to keep the attack at bay. People have definitely died, but only in the smallest numbers.’

The explosions covering the entire sky in smoke looked like they were aimed at the school. Some of them were, and they were the ones causing the show of debris and smoke.

’Most of the explosions are inside the island, not on top of it. Five minutes after the attack started, they brought the entire island down, and that’s when the real terror began.’

He swerved through the streets of Celestelle and made it to the academy in less than a minute.

’I can’t stop it from falling.’

The moment he set foot on the small island, he felt its foundation collapsing.

’But I’ll be inside the barrier, and that’s what matters.’

Precisely eleven seconds after Gio stepped foot on the academy grounds, the island would fall to the ground, the beast control array would activate, a barrier would appear to create an inescapable hell, and the First Institute would turn to ash.

That is, unless he could stop it.