DING!

~----~

[System Reminder: Trial Catalyst is synchronized!]

[Host can attempt promotion Trial anytime!]

~----~

'Trial Catalyst is synchronized?'

At first, Leon was confused but quickly comparing the first line of the System notification to the second line, he immediately recalled. 'Talia also needed a Catalyst during her Trial!'

Leon's eyes constricted. 'But I've not found a Trial Catalyst yet, so what does it mean by synchronized and I can attempt a promotion Trial anytime?'

Leon's brain immediately began moving with ideas.

He recalled the conversation that he had with Talia. 'According to her, before being able to trigger the ADE Domain of a trial, each Ascendant must gather a special item or meet a certain condition in alignment with their Class called a Resonance Catalyst. That is what allows the Trial to start'.

'Wait, did I meet the condition? Is it because my Ascended Counter got filled up to 1000?'

He frowned. 'But if this is the case, it must've been recorded in history and Talia should have known about it'.

'There's no way I'm the first Ascended to fill my Ascended Counter right? Definitely not, not when this world has a history of over 7 centuries of Ascended knowledge'.

His brain whirred. 'If I didn't meet the condition and since I definitely didn't find a catalyst, then is it…?'

His gaze focused on the HUD screen again as he thought in suspicion. 'Is it the System?'

Leon's eyes widened. 'Can the System be categorized as a Trial Catalyst?'

Leon had no evidence, but he felt that he was right and it made dominoes explode in his head.

Once again, it made him contemplate the origins of the System. 'Where did it come from? Who exactly made it? What is its exact purpose?'

They were just rhetorical questions in his head though. Leon knew that to find the truth, he needed to recover his memories first and for that, he needed to get stronger, far stronger than he was now.

This made him began looking forward to tomorrow even more.

He didn't contemplate for one moment to attempt a Trial this night. After witnessing Talia's Trial, he would be a fool to blindly attempt a Trial without making sufficient preparations for it.

Despite this, his mood improved as he felt that he just took a big step towards unraveling the secret and origin of the System.

He joked. 'I can actually think of attempting the Trial as a last resort too to turn the tides with the chaos when the Neon Beasts come attacking rabidly'.

The four of them walked in silence through the night.

Tonight, community G was quieter than usual. The protests already stopped but even a blind man could sense the unease in the air.

A storm was brewing.

Every single one of them were lost in their own thoughts as they walked. In the end, as they returned to the inn it was Rex who broke the silence first.

The short Geneform sighed. "I still can't believe that the showdown is tomorrow, I thought I had an additional day to perfect my design".

"Your design?" Leon looked at Rex.

Kain and Daren also looked at the short Geneform as his words distracted them from the invasive thoughts in their head.

Rex forced a smile and looked at Leon. "You know, I've been thinking, especially after you told me and boss Kain to begin thinking outside the box and be more creative as Mechanists".

"You said that's the core of a Mechanist, being creative, and since then I've been meditating on that word".

The smile faded from Rex's face as he looked at the road in front of them. "I began to ask myself certain difficult questions".

"What if in the war against the Zmer gang things don't go according to plan?"

"What if everything falls apart?"

"Yes, I'm glad that Audrey bought us a whole new lease of life with her sacrifice. Taking on the Zmer gang no longer feels like suicide but still, what if… what if everything just falls apart due to a single mistake?"

"What if the boss can't hold back Parasite alone and we're forced to face an E Rank Ascended alone, what will we do?"

"I know Parasite is the only E Rank Ascended in the Zmer gang, but what if?"

Rex smiled in an embarrassed manner. "The thought has been keeping me awake, and it's what inspired me to create the first blueprint of my career".

Kain stopped walking immediately as he turned and looked at the short Geneform with a flabbergasted look on his face. "You created a blueprint?"

Rex shrunk slightly in the face of the question, but then he nodded. "Boss Leon's method is effective. I decided to think out of the box, and I found inspiration from it. I call the blueprint ADE Nullification Shackles".

"I don't know how effective in practice it is yet, but I'm confident".

"The core idea of it is suppression. It's a set of chains and shackles". Rex looked at his companions with a serious look on his face. "With it, I believe we can temporarily restrain an E Rank Ascended by shackling his ADE".

"In such a situation, even Parasite will lose the capability to use his abilities. And without his abilities, his Class and rank advantage will be mostly nullified".

"He'll just be a mundane man with superhuman strength, agility, and endurance, and that'll give us a chance".

"It can be the difference between victory and defeat". Rex added in a timid manner.

"…" Leon couldn't say a single word.

He just stared at the short Geneform in flabbergasted awe.

Rex shrank even more under his gaze, then he added. "The only thing is I don't know how long the shackling effect will last against an E Rank Ascended".

He looked at Leon expectantly. "Can I show you the blueprint? I want you to look and it and see if you can improve on it".

"Wow!" Leon finally recovered his bearings as he exclaimed in genuine awe. "You actually managed to create a blueprint after I simply told you to think outside the box?" He was amazed. "Maybe you're more of a genius than I give you credit for".

Rex smiled shyly.

Leon quickly nodded. "Of course, show me".

A few seconds later, a holographic projection lit up.

On it was an image of a pair of grayish black mechanical cuffs that were connected to thick black chains. Their virtual design was intricate and solid.

Leon's eyes sparkled. "Come on Rex, this is a solid design!" He grinned.

Having looked at all the characteristics of this blueprint already, including its design and materials, Leon's System registered it immediately.

DING!

~----~

[Congratulations! You have gained a new Blueprint: ADE Nullification Shackles!]

[Creator: Rex Mallow]

~----~

Leon's grin widened; the System acknowledging the blueprint meant that it was legit.

He patted Rex on the head as he beamed in clear satisfaction. "Don't worry, when we get back to the inn, I'll help you go through it properly and improve on it if there's any area to improve on".

Rex wanted to flare up at first as a head-pat felt like Leon was mocking his height, but the praise made him forget what he intended to do as he flashed a shy smile. Clearly, he was not the best at dealing with praise.

He looked at Leon. "Boss Leon, do you think I can craft it this night in preparation for tomorrow?"

Leon patted Rex on the shoulder. "Calm down bro, don't fret, Boss Leon is here for you!"

Kain rolled his eyes by the side, but even he couldn't help how impressed he felt at this moment.

He also felt complicated. 'I feel like I'm being left behind'.

After a few more minutes of walking and making sure that they were not being followed, they finally arrived back at the inn.

They didn't return to their own room, instead, they directly entered Talia's room.

There, they saw Talia, Brick, and Ghostwire all inside. The trio stood in front of Ghostwire's computer, staring at the holographic projection in front of them.

As soon as she saw them enter, Talia nodded at them in greeting and said. "Ghostwire has finally found the second warehouse".

Leon perked up immediately. 'Finally!'

They approached quickly and finally focused on the holographic projection.

From the feed being sent by the drone, they saw a large clearing in the middle of nowhere. This was outside the borders of community G.

The clearing was surrounded by a metallic fence. Inside the clearing, there were 3 small metallic buildings.

In the middle of the clearing was the most eye-catching landmark, a giant caravan that was easily 5 times bigger than the caravan that Cain rented for Leon and his companions to work on.

Leon was taken aback. "Is that where they keep the other slaves?"

"Probably". Talia said.

Leon didn't say another word but he clenched his fists as his rage bubbled. 'Those bastards! They keep people in a caravan like some livestock!'

"We've finally found what we wanted, so we know exactly how tomorrow's attack is going to be like". Talia said. "We'll storm the warehouse in the community first, then after that, if it's successful we immediately storm towards the other warehouse and rescue them".

They all nodded, but then Leon asked. "How exactly did you find the warehouse?" His question was directed at Ghostwire.

The taciturn NetRunner frowned almost like he didn't want to talk, but then he opened his mouth. "I've been keeping surveillance on them for days, even at night. The truck never moves at night, but tonight, that trend changed".

"I think it's because of the uprising".

"As soon as the truck moved, I followed it. This time, I didn't take too much caution like usual as I followed it with the drone out of the city".

"Also, since it was night, it is harder to detect the drone in the sky".

"I found the warehouse by following the truck. It's a 20 minutes' drive from the community".

Leon nodded as his face turned cruel. "Good, it's time we give them a taste of their own medicine".

At that moment, Talia threw the familiar layered leather harness down as it made metallic clinking sounds.

"These are the materials that I managed to find and buy today".

Leon's eyes lit up. "Actually, Rex created a new blueprint today so we can focus on that".

"Rex created a blueprint?" Talia was surprised.

Leon gave the short Geneform the stage as Rex gave a brief introduction to the premise of his blueprint and idea.

Talia was not stingy with her praise as she was genuinely happy for Rex.

After that, her eyes gleamed. "I will be paying a final visit to the cell tower base again with Ghostwire".

"Should I come?" Daren instantly volunteered.

But Talia shook her head. "This type of mission is more suitable for NetRunners".

Daren nodded, then Talia looked at Kain. "Before we return, you're in charge of controlling and monitoring the drones".

Kain nodded seriously.

"As for the rest of you, you can do anything you want. Just keep tomorrow in mind and make your final preparations at your own convenience".

"Yes boss".

With that, Talia led the way as she left the inn with Ghostwire.

The duo of NetRunners soon disappeared into the night.

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