CHAPTER 70: CHAPTER 69- HOPE AND BELIEF

Chapter 69- Hope And Belief

After giving Luna some instructions on what to do, Jack finally walked back to the room where he was before. There, he used his newest ability, Garden Of Eve and walked into his own world, disappearing from the face of the earth in a second.

’This thing won’t be able to run away if I’m inside this world. Makes it a lot easier to understand what it is.’ He said as he sat down in the gazebo and pulled the container out. Then, he slowly opened it and quickly moved his hand, right at the exact moment when the insect tried to jump out and escape.

"Got you."

He was faster than it so it was very easy to react faster to its abrupt jump. Pulling the insect closer under the brighter light, he could finally see more of its details. It was disgusting even by the standards of insects. The morphed and fused body looked like the creation of a futuristic lab rather than an actual living being. It looked like some sort of Frankenstein-like creature, except far worse looking.

"Hmmm..." Staring at the wiggling thing. "It is certainly smaller and weaker in its current state. But, I can tell that if it gets fed it will sooner or later become stronger than all those things. However..."

Remembering where Jack found it, he was quite confused. Why wasn’t it being fed humans or other things? Isn’t this the most important insect of them all?

"It didn’t seem like they were even guarding it properly, let alone feeding it. It was just alone in that room..." Jack frowned.

That didn’t make sense at all. A queen must be protected as it is the one who gives birth... At least that is what Jack assumes the case is for this particular species of creatures. However, this thing seemed almost neglected rather than treated with reverence and importance.

"What are you really...? Hm, what is your secret?" He muttered to himself, almost as if he were asking the creature.

"Killing it won’t be a good idea. What if that would only trigger those things more and make them far more aggressive?"

The way they reacted to the captured queen, Jack assumed they were afraid he might kill it, so this thing was more or less important to them.

"Hmm, what if I release it here? What would it do?" Jack wondered. Since he was going to experiment anyway and this was a sealed world, he could do that without worrying about it escaping.

So, with that in mind, the boy lifted his hand and released the creature from his grip. Almost immediately, it jumped away like a flash, landing on the other side of the gazebo. Then, it stared at Jack, almost as if it was threatening him with its presence.

The boy stared back, not letting it show any dominance. For a small creature, it had a very strong presence and a unique aura that made it stand out immediately. This was certainly the leader of those insects, Jack thought.

’Even those giant human-eating ones don’t have the presence this thing has. I have caught the real deal.’ Jack stood up as he thought.

"Go ahead, try to escape. The world is open before you." He said with a mocking smile.

The creature’s antennas wiggled before it suddenly jumped forward, aiming toward his face. However, the boy was ready this time as he caught it before it could touch him.

"No, no, not this time. It won’t always work." Jack said as he threw it away. The creature fell to the ground without flying.

"... Hmm, it seems its wings don’t work. Or they’re not developed enough yet."

Then, Jack walked down to the grass and followed the creature around as it jumped left and right, clearly searching for an exit from this place. The second thing Jack noticed was this insect’s intelligence.

It was far smarter than any normal insect. It showed a level of awareness and understanding of its surroundings that Jack hadn’t seen before.

’I wonder if it understands what I’m saying.’ He thought.

After chasing it for a while, he finally got bored and caught it again before he put it in the container.

"Well, as I expected, killing it would be the wrong step here. I need to at least do it in front of those things to see their reaction to it." Jack muttered as he walked toward the exit.

"Let’s just keep it here until I’m back. It’s safer than bringing it with me everywhere I go."

Even though it didn’t seem capable of piercing the metal container, Jack wasn’t dumb enough to assume that would be the case forever.

Putting the container on the table, he gave it one last glance and left the world. Back on Earth, Jack found the group already beginning the practice session.

While he was absent, Alex, Emi, and Evan started teaching everyone there everything they needed to know. From manipulating Aether to how they use it and everything else in relation to it.

The process caught everyone’s attention so the masses were watching the training outside with amazement in their eyes.

Seeing that, Jack nodded with satisfaction. These scenes will only further boost the morale and make these citizens want to awaken.

"I should go train too..." Rubbing his head, Jack turned around to head back inside. However, at that moment, he noticed something that made him stop.

Something passed before him extremely fast as he was blinking. However, his senses caught it.

Blinking, he turned left and right before he walked back out. His eyes turned left and right as he searched amongst the crowd. A feeling of dread started rising in his heart as the noises around him became an echo, and everything became blurry.

’What is this feeling?’ He frowned. ’What am I even looking for?’

He stared at every face, examined every body, and spread his senses as far as he could. His instincts were telling him that there was something dangerous around, something he had to get rid of before a disaster occurred.

However... As eerie as it was, Jack found nothing.

The crowd looked as normal as ever. If anything, the vibe was as positive as it could be. Nothing seemed to have disturbed anyone.

The world was as quiet as ever.

But, as Jack was randomly looking around, his eyes caught a particular person amongst the crowd. An older lady was watching the show with a smile on her face.

For some reason, that particular lady seemed rather different than the rest.

"Hm?"

Seemingly noticing his gaze, the old lady turned around and stared at him. Then, a smile formed on her face, one filled with hope for the future. Jack stared back at her, a bit confused.

All he could see in her eyes was belief. There was no fear anymore. Perhaps it was directed toward him, perhaps it wasn’t... But, Jack at that moment, Jack felt rather different.

He had given this lady hope. He had made sure she survived. Even if he didn’t do it out of goodwill, this woman had survived because of him.

Survived...

Survived.....

Surviv-

*SPLATTER*

Out of nowhere, and under Jack’s watchful gaze, the woman’s ear suddenly exploded as blood and other substances gushed out of it like a fountain.

"...!!"