Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Well, turned out to be pretty expensive..." Adam muttered scratching the back of his head as he looked at his purchases.

Behind him was a drone that he was offered to rent from the store for a few hours. This drone could lift up to thirty kilograms, so it had no problem following Adam.

All in all, Adam spent over fifty thousand credits, and a good portion of that went on rare coffee that the average person or Operator couldn't afford.

"I hope Silvana will be pleased, though, I'll meet with her later than the others." Adam muttered before he stopped, glancing at the two-story house enclosed by a tall fence.

It was the house where his family lived, it wasn't his own, he paid rent, but by contract as long as he paid rent, his family had full rights over the area. Given how much money Adam had now, he could keep paying rent for decades.

Step.

Taking a few steps forward, the house's AI recognized him and opened the gate for him, letting Adam inside along with a drone that carried a huge bag of various purchases.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

No one ran out to greet Adam, as he didn't warn anyone of his arrival.

'Well, I hope everyone's home. It's a work day, but as I recall we agreed with mom and dad that they should take time for themselves and Trici, instead of looking for an ordinary job.' Adam pondered before opening the door.

Walking into the hall, he saw a simple but comforting picture that warmed his heart.

His mother, Leona, was stretching in a tracksuit, she was already covered in sweat and her muscles were exhausted, but it was clear from her fiery gaze that she wasn't going to stop until she collapsed.

'Hah, if she had become a Phantom when she was young, she would be a real beast on the battlefield. Agh, good thing she's an ordinary person.' Adam internally muttered before shifting his gaze to the couch where his father - Gary, was sitting.

He couldn't and didn't want to maintain such a strict physical training routine as Leona, as he was more interested in riddles and puzzles. Right now, sitting at his desk, Gary was doing a crossword puzzle, occasionally looking up information in a reference book.

Adam cast a glance at the stairs leading up to the second floor.

'Hmm, I bet Trici is up there playing her games. I think she'll be happy with her gift.' Adam nodded slightly before raising his foot high and stomping for his parents to finally hear him.

Thump.

The muffled sound echoed around the hall, quickly drawing Leona and Gary's attention.

In a heartbeat, Leona abruptly turned her head with a menacing look. She immediately realized that it wasn't Trici.

Gary, on the other hand, flinched in shock.

But, after a second they realized what, or rather who was the cause of that sound and their eyes went wide filling with parental joy.

"Adam!"

Leona and Gary exclaimed simultaneously.

Gary smiled weakly, while Leona rushed forward. In a few seconds, she was already in front of Adam and hugged him tightly, pulling him to her.

If it wasn't for Adam's strong body, Leona's tight embrace would definitely hurt him, but... now he felt only warmth in his heart.

"Hi, it's been a while hasn't it? Well, I think you'll forgive my absence. I bought you something." Adam uttered with a faint smile as he pointed to the drone.

Leona glanced at the many purchases, but her reaction was not at all what Adam had expected. She didn't immediately try to find out what kind of gifts Adam bought, instead, she put her hand on his shoulder and glanced at Gary.

"Good, but there's no need to rush. I need to go take a shower while you help your dad, he can't finish that crossword puzzle for the second hour. You're a smart guy, so the two of you will do fine." Leona said confidently before turning around and heading for the bathroom leaving Adam no other option.

Gary smiled bitterly, he understood exactly what Leona did. She didn't want to force things, thus allowing Adam to be with them first before he could show off his gifts.

After all, as soon as Adam entered the house they already received their main gift - the return of their son.

Adam nodded silently before walking over to Gary.

At the same moment, Leona turned the shower, washing off all the dirt and sweat from her workout. Her muscles were sore, but she felt better than ever.

Today, her family was in full force, her husband, son, and daughter. What more could a loving mother wish for? Compared to this, nothing mattered.

"Agh... It wouldn't be good if he saw me like this. I've become overly sensitive and emotional lately..." Leona muttered, looking into the mirror while strong streams of water poured over her.

In such a situation it was hard to notice that single tears were flowing from her eyes, but Leona could see it perfectly, her tears were as clear to her as fireflies at night.

After only fifteen minutes, Leona left the bathroom, returning to the hall and seeing a picture that made her face smile with joy and warmth in her chest.

"No! You're wrong, there's another word!" Trici exclaimed sitting to Gary's right, trying to figure out the last word in the crossword puzzle.

Gary frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What do you have here?"

Leona inquired as she walked over to them and leaned over, reading the clue to the last word.

"Nine letters... The latest innovation from the development department allows the military to temporarily gain an increase in their physical abilities... Damn, Gary, wasn't there something simpler?"

Gary scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Sorry, most of the questions here were weapons and military-related, but I didn't think it would be necessary to know something like that."

Adam smiled slightly before looking up at the ceiling.

"Amplifier, that's the word we need. I saw that thing work once, it's a pretty dangerous but useful one."

...

"Amplifier...?" Glara gulped, staring intently at the Code D in Aiden's hands, "So with this thing, I'll become strong enough to kill a monster?"

Aiden shook his head.

"If it were that easy, I'd be creating Phantoms on an industrial scale, but... the strength of a mere human and a monster differs too much. This will only increase your chances of winning as much as possible, nothing more."

Then, Glara looked at Natta, who was holding the second black case.

"If the first case contains Code D, then what is in there?"

Aiden waved his hand.

Natta nodded and obediently opened the case.

Inside was a syringe too, but it looked ordinary, the casing was plastic, the liquid almost transparent with a faint green shade, and a thin needle so it wouldn't hurt during the injection.

"This is your ticket to home."

Aiden explained, walking over to Natta and taking the second syringe in his left hand.

"This will make you faint and wake up a few days later. You are guaranteed to get amnesia and forget everything that happened in the last couple of days, forever."

Then, Aiden stepped forward.

"So, I won't burden your little brain with even more information and ask you a primitive question."

Aiden stretched his arms forward, showing her two syringes.

"Which one will you choose? The blue one or the green one? You have ten seconds to answer."