CHAPTER 202: GIUSEPPE

After Lukas was done with his purchase, he met up with the others.

They completed their sweep of the demonic beast cores and were waiting for him in the lobby.

Before they left the Awakened Center, Lukas decided to pay Dr. Uwe and Bundy a visit.

Riley and the others went back to the house while Lukas went and visited Dr. Uwe with Margaret.

Dr. Uwe had set up his lab in the South Battle Administration Area and continued his research work with the help of Rodney.

His new armor and plasma katana blades were the result of his research.

On the taxi, Lukas smiled when he noticed Margaret looking out of the window, twitching her fingers and sighing periodically.

He kept quiet, quickly looked away, not wanting to add to her anxiety.

Finally, they arrived at Dr. Uwe’s lab.

It was a building with white walls and a sign that said, "Uwe Research Lab" at the entrance.

Plain and nothing too fancy.

After they entered the entrance, they saw many machines with blinking lights and screens displaying graphs and statistics on them.

"Dr. Uwe." Margaret couldn’t help herself but cried out when she saw Dr. Uwe.

She ran towards him but stopped right in front of him.

Dr. Uwe was surprised to see her.

He thought for a moment, gave out a sigh and stepped forward, giving Margaret a hug.

Margaret returned his hug with tears rolling in her eyes.

It’s been so long for her.

"I’m so sorry... Didn’t see you there." Dr. Uwe said when he saw Lukas standing not far away.

Margaret quickly let go of Dr. Uwe and stood beside Dr. Uwe with her head lowered, trying to hide her flushed face.

"Hi, Dr. Uwe." Lukas didn’t want to make it awkward for them, and he went straight to the point.

"Do you think it’s possible that there are more powerful demonic beasts beyond Apex Level?" He asked immediately.

"Beyond Apex Level? I’ve never heard or seen any evidence of it." Dr. Uwe pondered for a moment and said.

"Why do you ask? Are there any indications or evidence for you to think so?"

Lukas nodded his head and proceeded to brief Dr. Uwe on what he had heard from the Apex demonic beast in the West Battle Administration Area.

That stumped Dr. Uwe.

In so many years of his research on demonic beasts, he had never heard of demonic beasts being able to think and speak.

And on top of that, there might be demonic beasts much more powerful than it was.

Dr. Uwe shuddered to think about what might happen if these so-called Elders descended onto the South Battle Administration Area.

He took a seat, reeling from what he had just heard, and said, "I can’t be sure if that’s the case.

"If only I had a demonic beast core of an Apex demonic beast, I would then be able to extrapolate from its structure whether there was room for the core to support more essence."

Dr. Uwe gave out a long sigh after that.

Margaret walked close and placed her hands on his shoulders to console him.

"Demonic beast core of an Apex demonic beast? Well, I happen to have one." Lukas said to Dr. Uwe’s surprise.

"What? But how..."

"It’s from the Apex demonic beast in the East Battle Administration Area. Kept it for myself this time as the mission was to annihilate it." Lukas said and took out the demonic beast core from the storage of his Darkmatter Vault Armor.

...

North Battle Administration Area.

The cold weather raged on in the airbase, bringing with it snow and chilliness that was many times worse than the West Battle Administration Area.

An airplane landed, and the passengers got out from the back.

A man and woman walked out from it, and they glanced at the surroundings.

They were the Dark Lord and his secretary, Olivia.

Their faces and looks were different now.

The Dark Lord looked like an average businessman wearing a thick coat and a suit.

Olivia wore a thick coat on top of her shirt and black skirt, typical of a secretary; only her spectacles remained the same.

The Dark Lord noticed that the security guards were all tense and on high alert.

His information must have been correct.

They must have been anxious about the First Awakened getting out of hibernation.

The Dark Lord and his secretary walked up to the checkpoint.

They handed over their IDs and waited.

The soldiers checked in the system and waited.

Beep.

When the computer beeped that the ID was valid, the soldiers glanced at the Dark Lord and Olivia.

Their faces now, under the effects of someone’s ability, were the same as those on the IDs.

The Dark Lord and Olivia had killed the owners of the IDs and taken on their looks.

Seeing that there wasn’t anything unusual, the soldiers let them through the checkpoints.

"Looking for a ride?"

A man with a thick moustache came up to the Dark Lord and Olivia when he saw them emerging out from the checkpoint.

The Dark Lord nodded, and the man with the thick moustache led them to his car.

Once they got in, Olivia gave out a huge sigh and said, "You better have things ready, Giuseppe."

The man with a moustache, Giuseppe, gave Olivia a smile, raised his arms and said, "Don’t worry. I’ve figured out where the First Awakened is hibernating."

The Dark Lord nodded his head.

Vroom.

Giuseppe stepped on the pedal, and the car moved out from the car park.

Along the way, there were cottages and huts and, occasionally, huge and grand halls sticking out from the skyline.

They were all hundreds of years old.

The Dark Lord glanced at the familiar sight, and memories came into his mind.

It felt like it was just yesterday when they went on the tour trip.

Things happened, and their fates were no longer the same.

And it was time for him to do what is right.

Something that they should have done a long time ago.