Neither Adam, Wilfred, nor Silvana understood how close Wilfred’s assumption was to the truth.
Aiden Henk had only one main goal for which he did everything else. No one knew what Aiden’s ultimate goal was, but it was obvious that he wanted to achieve sothing.
Despite Wilfred’s influence, he didn’t know that right now, sitting in front of him was one of Aiden’s best attempts — Adam Vinter.
Well, Adam and Silvana weren’t aware of this either.
As Gladius once said, Adam was one of Aiden’s "pretenders." Ironically, it happened by accident. Aiden had no particular plans for Adam. On that day, he was focused on soone else.
But he wasn’t the type to ignore the outco of events.
It didn’t matter whether he planned it or not. He was ready to accept luck and use it to advance his plan.
After a long period, when Wilfred cald down and his pressure disappeared, as did half a pack of cigarettes, Adam leaned forward.
"So, you would like the Citadel to have more powerful Phantoms, and Aiden Henk has the opportunity to influence this significantly, but he ignores this option and tries to achieve sothing else?"
Wilfred tossed his cigarette aside and took out a new one. "Basically, yes. Among the free scientists, he is the most influential and intelligent, and..."
It seed that Wilfred was about to say sothing else. Adam and Silvana narrowed their eyes, but Wilfred did not continue.
"Ahem." Wilfred coughed, changing the subject. "I’m sure in the early days after you beca a Phantom, you wondered why neither the governnt nor the military was doing anything about Aiden. Well, Aiden Henk is too important."
With a deep sigh, Wilfred glanced at Adam.
"No one cared about the children who beca part of his experints. What’s more, the governnt tried to sponsor various programs and tests to get Aiden to do this more than a few tis before he moved on to sothing else."
Adam’s eyes widened as old mories flooded back to him.
He rembered well how a governnt worker ca to his house and offered to participate in a test to see if he had a Spark.
His family was in no position to refuse. It wasn’t just a unique opportunity to take such a test for free and possibly beco a Phantom, no, it was much better than that!
The governnt official offered his family a financial reward for Adam’s participation in the test. It was a small amount, but by slum standards, it was substantial money.
Basically, Adam and his family were offered decent pay for a few hours of Adam’s ti, and he could potentially discover a Spark that would make him a Phantom.
Well, to put it mildly, things didn’t go according to plan.
"Fuck..."
Adam shuddered as he grabbed his head.
"What Aiden did is unforgivable, but... the governnt isn’t just not punishing him or covering up his cris, they set up these tests themselves to force him to work!"
Again, Adam found himself in a difficult situation.
On the one hand, he should be angry at the governnt and hate them for almost killing him at the hands of a monster, but at the sa ti, it was these events that led him to where he is now.
"Hah..." Adam smiled bitterly as his eyes darkened. "If it weren’t for the governnt’s desire to force Aiden to conduct the tests and Aiden’s mysterious goal, I wouldn’t beco a Phantom."
"Not only that," Wilfred said in a low voice. "You would have definitely died in seven years, during the World Wipe. I’ve studied you well, Adam, and for your eagerness to fight and desire to win, you have more to thank for the extre stress you experienced on your first day as a Phantom."
Adam ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, you can’t argue with that. But, Wilfred, why do you want there to be more Phantoms? Do you hate monsters that much?"
"Nah, that’s not it." Wilfred waved his hand, steering their conversation nonchalantly. "Like many other Phantoms, I believe that monsters are nothing but trouble and should all be destroyed. Right now, we can’t do that, and neither can the monsters. None of the sides has enough power to do so."
Then, Wilfred stood up as he leaned on the railing, glaring out over the Lower Ring.
"But I’m not going to discuss this with you. Soone else has to do that. I’ve already spent too much ti on you."
Adam and Silvana exchanged confused glances.
"So, that’s it? You want us to leave?"
"Yeah, that’s right. I don’t have any more business with you, for now. If you’re not going to join the Black Swan at the Lower Ring, you have no more goals. You should go back to the Upper Ring, I’m sure they’re waiting for you there."
Did Adam and Silvana have any questions left?
Sure, but they understood that there were so things Wilfred was not going to answer under any circumstances.
Adam may have already beco a K4-Phantom, but Wilfred made it clear to him that in the world of those who knew about the World Wipe and the imminent destruction of the world, he was at the bottom of the food chain.
Between Adam and Wilfred or the Lords, there was still the sa gap in power as when he was a K3-Phantom. He had beco stronger, but not enough.
However, he knew more.
Crack.
Adam got up from his chair and took one of the candies that Wilfred didn’t even touch. He had enough cigarettes for this conversation.
"Well, in that case, thank you, both for the talk and for saving at the Dark Shore."
Wilfred inhaled a cloud of smoke without turning toward them.
"Don’t flatter yourself. I did it because I am true to my beliefs. I want the Citadel to have more powerful Phantoms, and you have a real chance to beco one of the few Second Rank Phantoms that humanity has."
After a few monts, Wilfred added:
"Your death would be a great mistake on my part and a heavy blow to the Citadel."
Adam smiled as he left the balcony.
"Glad to hear it."
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