The Genius Evolution Store

”Please enter this way!”

The military had prepared its trucks to help the students. As Maya previously said, there was a chance for the worst to happen. The trucks carried tents and even supplies in case they needed to stay outside for a while or even move to a different city.

However, Auric and the others didn’t say anything. They knew what information could be shared and what couldn’t.

”Are you okay over there?” Auric asked.

”I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m more worried about you. You will be constantly in danger over there...”

”I will do just fine, Mom. Anyway, I’m about to leave now.”

”Okay. Just make sure to take care of yourself.”

”Yep, you too.” Auric hung up and took a deep breath.

After Auric put away his phone, Ellia handed over the earpiece to the group. ”We’ll fight like we did in the previous mission. In a beast wave like this, the situation will be constantly changing. So, keep your guard up at all times.”

The others nodded in agreement. Eric asked, ”Are we going around to help other students as well?”

”Right now, the third-year students and the fourth-year students are going to be the vanguard. They will try to take on as many beasts as possible. We are supposed to take down what’s left,” Ellia explained.

”Even though there are not many beasts that are going to pass through, it will still be a lot and the freshmen will have a lower chance of surviving.”

”I know. That’s why during the first phase, we will go around. Once the situation calms down, we will proceed with that plan.” Ellia nodded.

Eric thought for a moment before agreeing. He was also worried about his parents, but he still had his duty.

He chose to focus on the fight rather than his worries. Milinda wasn’t that scared, considering her father was one of the strongest people in this city.

In addition, there were at least four other people at the same level who remained in this city, such as the Lightning Emperor and the commander of the city. If she wasn’t mistaken, Ellia also had some bodyguards who remained on standby in case the situation got worse.

On the other hand, Principal Fernandes and Maya were dispatched together with the students. Even if their job was to take care of the smaller beast wave, they expected a few high-rank beasts to come, so it was only natural for them to help the students instead of letting them fend for themselves.

After everyone had entered the trucks, they immediately headed outside the city. A few students and teachers had already scouted ahead, allowing the group to travel without incident.

They stopped right outside the forest, considering that the trucks couldn’t enter the dense forest.

The teachers started setting up a camp while Principal Fernandes gathered the students.

Principal Fernandes pointed at the forest. ”Your job is simple. Enter the forest and fight there. I expect a lot from you. If you’re injured, try to get back to the base camp. We will do our best to heal you. Don’t be too far away from each other. If you are too far away, the others might not notice you.

”At the same time, if you notice other students, do your best to help each other. I’m not telling you to play nice with each other, I’m telling you to do what’s right under these circumstances. That’s all from me.”

Principal Fernandes ended his speech quickly, not wanting to raise another wave of anxiety. Raising the morale further might be good, but unnecessary words would lead to confusion, and wrong words would pummel their fighting spirit.

So he thought this was enough.

With the speech ending, Ellia immediately turned around. ”Let’s go.”

Other students were also going. Those who went first were definitely the stronger students. Considering this was a beast wave, the teachers must have expected rank 3 or even rank 4 beasts.

The teachers would be either helping the students or stopping the rank 4 beasts. Meanwhile, these senior students would focus on taking down the rank 3 beasts. This way, the only ones that would pass them were rank 1 and rank 2 beasts, which could be handled by the second-year students.

Ellia chose a slightly different position. Most groups were trying to stay far behind the seniors, creating a gap to filter them.

However, Ellia chose to stay right beside them. Their group’s target was to figure out the anomaly about these beasts, so she had to move to a place where they could observe the initial attack.

Still, their group’s power was below the seniors, so they couldn’t exactly stand at the very front.

That was why she chose this place.

”Right now, there will be a huge number of beasts heading toward us. That’s why I’m going to change the positions a bit.” Ellia turned to the rest of the group. ”Milinda, you will be with me in front. We will filter the beasts coming toward us.”

Milinda agreed without hesitation.

Ellia then pointed to each of them. ”Eric, you will be right behind us. Your position will be quite flexible. In case a beast slips through or attacks us from a different direction, it’s your role to protect Arina and Auric.”

”Understood.”

”Arina, control the battlefield. You observe the group’s capability and actions and determine how many beasts we’re going to take. If we can’t take them head-on, create a barrier with your power and redirect them to the next line of defense.”

Arina thought for a moment. ”I’m going to ask this just in case. What if we have to let a Tier 3 beast pass us?”

”It doesn’t matter. I trust your judgment. The teacher will be there to help the students as well.”

”Got it.”

”And Auric. Go wild.”

”Sure.” Auric waved his hand. Ellia didn’t need to say more than that, knowing Auric would understand what she was thinking.

Ellia looked at the clock. ”Ten minutes before the beasts arrive. Get ready.”

...

While Thunderer City was preparing for the beast waves, Arnie was casually walking in an underground facility.

”This facility looks nice. Seriously, an underground laboratory?” Arnie muttered while admiring the facility. ”What the hell are you making here?”

The laboratory he raided was heavily guarded. He could see a lot of equipment around, including large tubes. Some were still boiling, while others were filled to the brim.

There were no beasts within the tubes, so he thought the liquid itself was used to create the poison.

”Man. Judging from this size, I don’t think the size of the vials can be justified.” Arnie shook his head helplessly.

”You monster!” There was a man lying on the floor, his body getting covered in wounds. He was glaring at Arnie. His right hand had completely melted.

”I am a monster?” Arnie raised his eyebrows. ”Now, now. If I’m a monster, then what exactly are you? You built all this here for what? Isn’t it to do evil?”

The man gritted his teeth. ”You won’t be able to enter. You’ve just melted my hand, so you can’t use my prints to pass that door.”

Arnie was indeed standing in front of the door. It looked like he needed the fingerprints as well as the retina to open the door.

However, Arnie simply placed his hand on the door. ”Inferno.”

A flame, redder than a chili pepper, appeared on his hand. It burned the door with a temperature high enough to melt even the thick door.

”W-What? The door should be able to withstand...”

Arnie shrugged. ”I guess I’ve won this battle against the door. Not you, of course. You’re not even a challenge.”

The guy was trying to get up to stop him, but he suddenly fell again.

”Aaahhhh!” The guy glanced to the back, finding his feet melting.

”Anyway, I’ve got a job to do here. There might be a few people who will survive so that I can get the information, but you are not one of them.” Arnie snapped his fingers and casually entered the hole he had made.

”NOOOO!” The guy screamed, and it continued for a while as his body was melting.

Arnie saw two researchers in fear. They had already dropped to the floor with their backs against the wall. They wanted to run, but since they had been attacked, they thought the safest place would be this room.

It turned out that they were wrong. Arnie was more than capable of entering this room.

”Hello, fellas. I just need to ask you a couple of questions. I don’t care who I get the information from.” Arnie smiled. ”Maybe I will consider letting you live. Or you can choose the second option. Your whole body will melt... do you know what it feels like to be melting?”

The two researchers turned pale. They could hear the screams from outside. Even the toughest guard here was screaming so much, let alone researchers like them.

”Okay, first question. What does this laboratory want to create?”

”...” One researcher looked away, not daring to answer him. He knew he would be dead if he answered him. After all, the people behind this project would kill him.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the other researcher.

”I will tell you what you want... Don’t kill me.” This researcher crawled to Arnie, begging him.

”Okay then, start talking.”

”Oi!” The other researcher was trying to stop him, but he suddenly screamed. ”Aaaahhhhh! My foot... Aahhhhh!”

Both researchers looked at the foot and saw it melting. The guy screamed with tears streaming down his eyes.

Arnie looked at the one pleading for his life, as if demanding an explanation.

”It... It’s poison! We’re trying to extract elements from the ruins.”

”Extracting the element from the ruins? Turning them into liquid?” Arnie frowned.

”No, no. The liquid comes from extracts of other materials. Normal liquid won’t be able to trap the energy from the barriers, so we have to use the liquid extracted from materials. The liquid that contains elements has a much higher chance of allowing the element from the barrier stick.”

Arnie narrowed his eyes. It explained the poison’s creation.

”Do you know how to cure the poison?”

”No... There’s no cure yet. When the element sticks into the liquid, it enhances the concentration of the element within that liquid. As a result, once injected into the human body, the element will remain.”

”You are currently developing the drugs? For example, starting from a drug that stops someone from evolving to a much more vicious drug that tortures people for using their element.”

”How did you...” The researcher gasped.

Arnie believed Auric to a certain extent, but it was impressive that Auric could actually see through it just by looking at the drug. As he expected, there was something special about Auric.

”What about the vials that you are circulating in this country? You’re selling the drugs for what?” Arnie asked.

”I-I don’t know.”

”You don’t know?” Arnie narrowed his eyes.

”I swear I don’t know. If you want the samples here, you can take them from there.” The researcher pointed to the desk on the right side of the room.

Arnie walked to the table and realized that they were the same vials.

’Samples? These are samples?’ Arnie was dumbstruck. ’The things they’re selling are just samples. In other words...’

Arnie turned back and grabbed the researcher’s collar. He slammed him into the wall and said, ”Are all the tubes in this place containing the poison?”

”All the tubes in this room are the poison that has been successfully created. The room over there is the mixing room.”

Arnie widened his eyes in shock. It turned out that the amount of poison they had was very large. Why would they need such a large amount? Why would they sell the vials?

’It’s camouflage!’ Arnie gasped. He noticed that there were empty cylinders in this room. ”What about those two cylinders? Are you still trying to create more poison?”

”The boss asked us to send the poison... They have already been delivered.”

”To where?”

”Thunderer City.”

”!!!”

Arnie tossed the researcher to the side. ”If you run away from here, you’re dead.”

Arnie immediately turned around and exited the room, rushing outside.

It was a laboratory outside the city, so he needed to go back to the city to fly to Thunderer City immediately.

He first called his junior, Jennifer.

”Hello, sir? Aren’t we supposed to be a team? Where are you right now?”

”I see. We’re a team. In that case, let’s follow me to the Thun...” Arnie abruptly stopped as he looked up at the sky, finding a plane that had just taken off.

”Thun?” Jennifer was confused.

”You know what? Since you want to learn from me so much, then it’s time to teach you. Right now, I’m going to hijack a plane.”

”You’re going to WHAT?”