Endless Evolution: Last Star

Kai had come up with his plan in a hurry and under serious pressure, but it had worked. Adam wasn't cruel enough to let Kai kill himself, given the circumstances.

Moreover, Kai's last words awakened something inside Adam. He realized that those words came from the depths of Kai's soul.

Every being wanted to live, especially those who had already accepted their imminent death from poverty and disease, but suddenly had the opportunity to climb out of this abyss, once and for all.

The reason was very simple - if Kai became a Phantom, his disease would simply disappear. The genes of the Phantoms were strong enough that their immunity could cope with all the diseases that were fatal to ordinary people.

However, it was worth realizing that there were no incurable diseases. For a certain amount of money, one could cure any disease in the Citadel, all it took was money, that's it.

Sure, for some people money was not a problem, but for some people it was just impossible to raise the necessary amount of money for treatment, even a few lives would not be enough for that.

"Come on! Answer me!" Kai exclaimed, pressing the knife against his neck even harder.

Adam narrowed his eyes as he released his aura, enough to scare Kai.

"Fine, I'll tell you everything and give you a chance. However, I wouldn't agree if I were you. Better to live out your remaining year than die today."

Kai smirked.

"Better to live dozens of years as a Phantom than to live one year being terminally ill in the slums. That's what I think of it." Kai smirked as his eyes sparkled. He already realized that Adam wasn't going to back down.

Adam shook his head.

"Whatever, then follow me. However, I warn you right away. I won't be able to help you."

"Agh...? Where are we supposed to go...? Weren't you going to tell me how to become a Phantom?" Kai was slightly puzzled.

Adam waved his hand.

"Just follow me."

...

Adam was not supposed to tell ordinary people that there was a second way to become a Phantom, however, Kai and this whole situation had actually caught him off guard.

It was clear that Kai had nothing left to lose. He was ready to kill himself because if Adam refused, all Kai would have to do was die a year later, poor, alone, and without his sister.

Adam had a simple choice: either watch Kai kill himself before his eyes, or give him a chance to change everything.

Adam felt bitter because he knew it was wrong, but in fact, he started to believe in Kai. After all, he had succeeded in becoming a Naturalborn Phantom, and he wasn't the only one.

Naturalborn Phantoms were a minority, but Adam wasn't alone. If it worked out for him, then Kai had a chance too, especially considering his motivation.

"Wait! Not here!" Kai exclaimed as Adam turned into a random alleyway.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Adam raised an eyebrow puzzled.

"Please, let's just get out of here!" Kai waved his hand when a random stream of wind blew in front of him causing the tips of his brown hair to ripple.

His green eyes reflected some sort of anxiety, the reason for which was unclear to Adam.

"Fine, suit yourself." Adam shrugged before turning around and walking out of the alley.

Bam.

Something or rather someone crashed into Adam, falling to the ground with an unhappy grunt.

"What the fuck...?" The man, with an empty bottle in his hand, looked at Adam irritably. He was obviously drunk.

Then, the man glanced at Kai and his eyes went wide as Kai flinched, it seemed for some reason he was afraid of this man.

"Oh, Kai, I was just coming to see you today. I hope you remember that you and your sister owe me money! Hahaha, I suggest you prepare the full amount tomorrow, or I and my guys will take payment another way!" The man menacingly said as he vilely licked his lips, causing Kai to be both disgusted and angry.

Step. Step. Step.

Adam walked on, ignoring the man. He had another, more important goal in mind.

"Hey! Bastard! Where are you going?!" The man exclaimed furiously, intending to grab Adam by the shoulder.

But... before he could do anything, Adam kicked him in the stomach, throwing him back several meters. The man crashed into a pile of trash, causing it to rumble.

Kai's eyes went wide with delight. He knew that Phantoms were powerful, but he had never seen one of them in battle.

'No way... I can have that kind of power too? I don't know what I need to do to become a Phantom, but it doesn't matter. If I can become like him, then I'm willing to do anything!' Kai internally exclaimed, he was full of motivation.

"Anyway. Listen to me carefully. You can back out at any moment until we get into action." Adam said seriously as he looked up.

The wall separating the Citadel from Dead Lands was pretty close, by the time they got there Adam would be able to tell him everything.

"Hah, do you really think I'm going to say no? I'm already unstoppable."

Adam didn't answer anything his gaze only grew deeper before he moved on to explain.

...

Twenty minutes later they reached the wall. Riska and Tron had helped him last time so he could bring Silvana out into the Dead Lands without getting permits or other bureaucracy.

He knew what parts of the walls might be empty, but given that there were no Forts nearby, Adam didn't even need to climb up or use his connections to get past the military.

Adam himself had grown up in the slums, so he knew there were places - big cracks that a person could pass through to get into the Dead Lands. Sure, it might have seemed dangerous, because monsters could enter the Citadel through those cracks at any time.

But, in practice, that had never happened in decades. The reason was simple - Operators, military, and departments knew about every monster that approached the Citadel within a kilometer or more.

If a monster was within three hundred meters, hadn't been destroyed yet, and was approaching the Citadel, it was definitely some weak monsters that had separated from their groups or Nests. Perhaps they were escaping after the Phantoms attacked them.

Thus, only the weakest monsters, even among the White Treat Level, could approach the few cracks in the walls where a human could barely fit in. And... they were destroyed by the military with powerful cannons if the Phantoms weren't around.

Whoooooooooooosh.

A torrent of wind blew through the crack next to the one Adam and Kai were standing by, cold and inhospitable, like the breath of death waiting to take its next victim.

"What... To become a Phantom without Spark I have to kill a monster in a 1 vs 1 fight...?" Kai muttered in disbelief, horror imprinted on his face.

Adam nodded.

"But... You're the strong one! Can't you help me defeat a monster?! I'm sure it's no problem for you!" Kai waved his hand.

Adam shook his head.

"It's not going to work. I've told you that several times already. My genes shouldn't affect the monster's genes, it should just be you and the monster, that's it. No one else."

Kai bit his lip, it was hard for him to decide to do such a thing, after all, this was not some bandit, but a monster! He must kill the monster with his own hands being a mere human!

"Look. This has already gone too far. Either you step into that crack now and we go to Dead Lands, or I take that as a rejection and leave." Adam said coldly, letting Kai know that this was an ultimatum.

After a moment, Kai clenched his fists tightly and stepped forward, struggling to squeeze through the crack and the shroud of fear that tended to consume his mind.