Kill the Sun

When Nick heard that, he felt relieved.

For a moment, he had thought that his efforts of trying to help people was jeopardizing Aegis' power.

Although, in a way, that was still true. After all, the Champion of Light was still alive.

He just wouldn't be for much longer…

"You scared me there," Nick said with a sigh.

"I know, but it's still important that you realize our current predicament," the Technician spoke slowly. "In a way, changing our priorities means admitting that Aegis will no longer rely on the Champion of Light in the future."

"It's difficult for many of us to grasp," the Technician said with a sigh.

Nick could see where the Technician was coming from.

Aegis had relied on the Champion of Light for over a thousand years. In a way, the Champion of Light was Aegis.

But now, that would soon change.

"I wanted to talk to you about these things so that you understand the difficulties we face," the Technician explained. "You are part of Aegis now, and it's important that you understand the bigger picture so that you can make well-informed decisions."

Nick nodded. "I understand."

The Technician nodded back to signal that he was now going back to the main topic. "Now, we are naturally interested in sending you to a couple more cities. What are your thoughts about that?"

"Naturally, I am willing to do that," Nick said. "However, achieving the same thing in other cities won't be possible for me right now."

"Oh?" the Technician uttered. "How come?"

"Because of my personal power," Nick said. "I can survive almost all assassination attempts, but if a Hero actually tries to kill me, I will die."

The Technician rubbed his chin as he looked at Nick.

"Usually, your personal power wouldn't be very relevant due to how we normally run cities. After all, the government has to work together with the most powerful people in a city. Drastic changes that would motivate powerful Manufacturers to commit such a risky act would be very unusual and would not be what Aegis wants."

"However," the Technician added, "your way of running a city is very different. From what you have told me, you are much more authoritative in your approach to leadership. In a way, you are not working together with the powerful Manufacturers but forcing them to work for you."

"Our approach has worked well for over a thousand years, but your approach has not failed yet. Additionally, we are supposed to experiment, which means giving you much more freedom than normal and seeing what will happen."

The Technician shrugged. "I guess there's not much I can do if you need power."

Nick furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if we want this experiment to succeed, we need you to have the tools to make success happen. How powerful do you need to be?" the Technician asked.

"Preferably Initial Specialist," Nick said.

The Technician's eyebrows rose. "Initial Specialist? Only?"

Nick nodded. "I don't need to be powerful enough to kill my enemy. I just need enough power to survive and escape."

The Technician seemed skeptical. "Sure, but an Initial Hero is still ten times as powerful as you, and an Early Hero is 15 times as powerful. I don't see how you would be able to escape from such an assault."

Nick seemed a bit uncomfortable. "I have my ways," he said, avoiding a direct answer.

Naturally, Nick didn't want to tell anyone about his ability and what it could achieve.

Even if it was the Technician.

The Technician looked at Nick with skepticism for a while.

An Initial Specialist that could survive an assassination attempt from an Initial Hero…

That seemed unbelievable.

That was like a normal human surviving an attack by an Initial Adolescent.

An Initial Adolescent could already bend steel with a strong attack and run as fast as a normal bird could fly.

How was a normal human supposed to escape from that?

Yet, as the Technician thought back to the Champion of Light's conduct in front of Nick, he started to entertain the possibility.

After all, the Champion of Light appeared to be very interested in Nick.

Although, if all of that proved to be true, Nick would be the most powerful Runner in history.

Nobody could escape from such an ambush.

"Alright," the Technician said. "If you say that's all you need, I can help you with that."

"Thank you," Nick said with a sigh.

He had been unsure if the Technician would have allowed him to increase his power before continuing.

After all, the Liaison experiment involved all of Aegis.

Depending on how it went, the way all cities operated could change.

A delay in the experiment could end with decades of potential missed profits.

"On what level are you? How old are you? How long do you need to advance?" the Technician asked.

"I'm currently an Early Expert. I'm almost 37, and I need about three years of optimal Zephyx extraction to become a Mid Expert," Nick explained.

At that moment, the Technician's eyebrows shot up. "You're 37 and already an Early Expert?" he asked in surprise. "How did you achieve that?"

"Well, I became a Chief Zephyx Extractor when I was 16, and I always prioritized my own growth. I need to be the strongest Extractor as CZE," Nick explained.

The Technician's eyes widened again. "Since you were 16? I knew that you were a CZE, but I didn't know you already had that position when you were 16."

Nick nodded. "I captured my first Specter as an Initial Newbie with the help of another Mid Newbie, who was the CEO of our Manufacturer."

The Technician became quite interested in Nick's story.

After all, a 16-year-old CZE was unheard of.

However, they had already been talking for quite a while, and the Technician needed to get back to his other duties.

Because of that, he didn't ask Nick about more things from his past and went back to the topic.

"Okay, and how did you become an Expert this quickly? The Shell needs quite a while to form," the Technician asked.

"I used an Elixir," Nick said.

The Technician was surprised once again. "But you weren't part of Aegis back then," he said.

Nick nodded.

"So, where did you get that Elixir from?"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Can I only get one if I am part of Aegis?"

"Usually, yes," the Technician said. "Elixirs are very difficult and expensive to produce. We don't just hand them out to anyone."

"Well," Nick said before trailing off.

For a second, he wasn't sure if he should talk about his deal with Kugelblitz.

But then, he remembered what the Champion of Light had said.

He had said that it wasn't important what Nick had done. It was only important that Nick's heart was filled with conviction to do the right thing.

Additionally, Simon had probably already told Aegis about everything that had happened.

"I received it from Kugelblitz in exchange for dealing with Anatomy," Nick said.

"Kugelblitz was the biggest Manufacturer of Crimson City, right?" the Technician asked.

Nick nodded.

"Who or what is Anatomy?"

"The second biggest Manufacturer of Crimson City," Nick said.

Nick's answers only made more questions appear in the Technician's mind.

Why did Kugelblitz have an Elixir? Why did they ask a Peak Veteran to deal with Anatomy? How strong was Anatomy?

But instead of asking these questions, the Technician took out a pad and tapped on it a couple of times.

He quickly read through several pages while Nick waited for him to finish.

Eventually, the Technician frowned. "There's nothing about this in your file. Have you told anyone of Aegis about this?"

Now, it was Nick's turn to be surprised.

Simon hadn't made a report?

"I did," Nick said with discomfort.

"But?" the Technician asked after Nick stopped talking.

"I don't want to tell you who it was. By not telling you, this person is protecting me, and I don't want to cause issues for them," Nick said.

The Technician frowned and looked at the pad for a while.

Then, he scratched the side of his head.

Finally, he shrugged and put the pad away.

"Okay, so, tell me about Anatomy and that deal," he said, dropping the other issue.

Nick released a covert sigh of relief and told the Technician about the entire incident with Anatomy.

When the Technician heard that Nick had killed over 200 "Extractors" on his own without being noticed, he almost couldn't believe it.

That was unreasonable!

Yet, he had to accept it.

If Nick wanted to lie, he wouldn't use a lie that was so easily debunked.

"So, Kugelblitz receives an Elixir every three years from the Governor, right?" the Technician asked.

Nick nodded.

"That explains things," the Technician said. "We give the Governors one Elixir every three years. Those are being given to the most talented Peak Veterans of the city. In exchange, those Peak Veterans then enter Aegis as Bailiffs. This is essentially the only way to enter Aegis without being a Hero."

"However, it's very unusual for the Elixirs to be in the hands of the Manufacturers. Usually, the Governor hands them out directly."

Nick had known about that part since they had also handed out an Elixir.

He just hadn't known that this was the only way to receive an Elixir.

He had thought that it could also be purchased via contribution points.

"Anyway," the Technician said. "You are very young, and you're advancing rapidly."

"That's a very good thing."

"Keeping you here for two decades as training shouldn't be a big issue."