Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1763: No Third [Bonus]

The female Professor rocked back and forth on her heels, her metallic strap-on practically poking at Sylas every time she swung forward. But it was as though Sylas didnʼt notice it at all, his expression as deadpan as ever.

”Do you even know my name?” the female Professor suddenly asked.

Sylas didnʼt answer, as though he was still lost in thought. After a long while, he looked up and met her gaze.

”My name is Germaine. Sounds very French, donʼt you think? I particularly like the accent. Oh, right, youʼre probably not too familiar with France, are you? They had lengthy fallen before you were born. Should I just start speaking in a French accent now? Oui? Non?”

”Give me a reason not to kill you,” Sylas said.

The female Professor blinked and her spider leg bristled. But then her face was colored in confusion.

Sylas was here completely alone. There was no support around him, and though she was very restricted in her movements, was it really the case that Sylas believed her hands were completely tied?

One part of her thought that maybe Sylas was just an idiot who was overestimating himself.

It was true-Sylas had enslaved her to a contract. But then he had left her alone for weeks at a time with no one to monitor her. If she hadnʼt already figured out a way to slip out of that control, then she wouldnʼt be much of a Professor, now would she?

She was only staying here because Professors placed their own evolution above all else. What was undoubtedly most important to her was finding a way to improve and learn. And this Sylas Grimblade... was fascinating.

Plus, she wasnʼt quite willing to give up on the years of challenging work she had put in on Earth.

In almost any other situation, she would think that Sylas was just overestimating himself and hadnʼt noticed the chink in their enslavement contract yet. But... she had seen Sylas in action personally already.

While he was gone, she had also put a great many things together. No matter how she looked at it, it was this Sylas Grimblade that was the reason no one could seem to lay a firm hand on Earth.

So, when Sylas stood there, a mere armʼs reach away from a C-tier, without a care for his personal safety even to the point of threatening her boldly to her face... All of Germaineʼs instincts roared at her not to act rashly. She wasnʼt facing someone normal, she was facing a predator in human skin.

”... What do you need of me?” Germaine finally said.

”Thatʼs not the question I asked you.”

Germaine stiffened. She didnʼt know why she was so uncomfortable beneath this gaze at all. But she also didnʼt know what Sylas was expecting.

It was then she thought of something. The room they were in and Andromeda. Since she had been here, the only thing Sylas had ever asked her to do was help make Old Bramaʼs creations more efficient.

She realized it then and she grinned an uncomfortable grin.

”You want me to help you make me obsolete,” she finally said.

Sylas clearly didnʼt like relying on her, and he was implying that he wanted to do things here on his own. What he wanted from her was a method of Legacy.

What Legacy did best was gather information stores and learn. Professors were on another level on top of that— they were well and truly unhinged in what they did, but they were effective and efficient.

If there was one group in the universe that had a method of learning quickly that defied reason and logic... it was the Professors. In fact, the very foundation of their organization was likely such a method.

Sylas didnʼt reply, but Germaine could practically hear it echo in her ears nonetheless:

That wasnʼt what I asked.

Germaine had been there when Sylas killed Jala, and she had learned more about their relationship later. She knew... this Sylas was absolutely ruthless, and the moment his bottom line was crossed, he killed without the slightest hesitation.

She had long crossed his bottom line, and the only reason she was still alive was because Sylas needed her. If she gave him what he was looking for, with Sylasʼ talent, there was a future very near where she wouldnʼt be of any use at all.

Now Germaine understood why Sylas didnʼt just come outright and ask her for it. That wasnʼt good enough.

What made Sylas so fearsome wasnʼt just his abstract intelligence, it was his emotional intelligence. All he did was say two sentences and stand there, but Germaine was conjuring up all of the pressure and future possibilities herself.

Threatening someone would always be less effective than their own personal understanding of what they should fear and what they shouldnʼt.

Right now, the weight of the systemʼs punishment was still hanging over Germaineʼs head, and they had already slipped back into the Milky Way, the very location Sylas was acting Progenitor of.

She realized then why Sylas was so confident. Contract or not, it would only take him a thought to turn the systemʼs attention here as the Progenitor.

Would she be faster? Or would he be faster?

A cold sweat poured down her back.

There were very few people that had ever made her feel like this, and every one of them was an old monster.

Sylas, though... was he even 30 yet?

No. No, he wasnʼt. In fact, he was only 28 this year.

”...If I give you the methods of learning large amounts of information the Professors have, you will have to join. Otherwise, they will kill me.”

”No,” Sylas replied.

Germaine grit her teeth.

It felt like she was stuck between two wild beasts. The Professors... they werenʼt a group she wanted to infuriate, and they had very wild and unmanageable-for-most initiations.

The sweat coating Germaineʼs back grew denser, flooding through the bristles of her spider-fur.

”If they come for me with full force, they will definitely come after you too. I know that you are very confident in yourself, but please think about this.”

”I have my methods,” Sylas replied again. Then he fell into a silence that made it clear and obvious he wasnʼt planning on saying anything more.

It was either she handed over the learning method of the Professors or she died.

There was no third path.