Chapter 709: Lily Willing to Go

Steven quickly headed to the lounge next door and found Cindy and Lily.

He pulled them close and laid out the situation in a low voice.

He didn't want to drag this out — the opportunity was right there, and on top of that, Eroding Moon could make their move any day now. Time was everything.

If they were going to make a call, it had to be now.

Lily's eyes lit up the moment Steven finished talking.

The Nelson family almost certainly had a solid handle on psychic genetic technology.

Word was that the gene serums used in Blizzard City had been developed with their help.

Lily had been desperate to get stronger.

She turned to Steven and said, "I'll give it a shot. The risk is mine to take anyway — let me go first. If it works and there are no side effects, then the others can follow."

Steven glanced at her. "Have you always been this bold?"

Honestly, he didn't know what to make of her.

Lily had this strange, unshakeable sense of justice inside her, along with what he could only call a spirit of Sacred Devotion.

But from Steven's point of view, she just didn't seem to value her own life enough.

Lily threw up her hands. "What else can we do? We're about to go up against Eroding Moon again. If we don't get stronger, we'll just drag you down."

She thought back to last time — she'd basically been there for the sideline stuff, nothing that really mattered.

If she hadn't been right by Steven's side, could she honestly say she could have held her own against Eroding Moon's psychics?

Probably not.

Those psychics from Eroding Moon had absorbed the essence of god knows how many others.

And her? She'd been living off Steven's leftovers.

Sure, she'd absorbed the essence of two Eroding Moon psychics before, but the boost still wasn't enough for her.

She wanted to be stronger. Stronger. Strong enough to protect everyone around her.

That helpless feeling of losing someone who mattered — she never wanted to feel that again.

At that point, Cindy spoke up after thinking it through carefully.

"I think we might be able to accept their offer."

Steven nodded. "Cindy, what's your take?"

Cindy glanced at Steven, then at Lily, and said quietly:

"The Nelson family has no reason to hurt us."

"Blizzard City needs your abilities right now, and you've already taken on the mission. That means they need to keep you safe."

"So they're not going to do anything to you at this point. If anything, they'll do everything they can to help you take down Eroding Moon and protect the reputation of the entire Silvercrest District."

There was one more thing Cindy held back.

Even if the family had tricks up their sleeve, as long as it was Lily going and not Steven, the risk was acceptable.

In her eyes, anything that didn't involve Steven was small stuff.

Seeing that Cindy was also on board with accepting the Nelson family's help, Lily turned to Steven and said, "Let me go."

Steven looked at her for a long moment.

After thinking it over, he decided to work with the Nelson family.

Because if it worked for Lily, it might open the door for everyone else to get stronger the same way.

He gave a firm nod, walked back to Gerald's study, and made his position clear.

"We're willing to accept the Nelson family's help."

"That said, I have something to say that might come across as a little blunt."

There was a warning edge in Steven's eyes.

"You came to us with this offer. We both get something out of it. So we don't owe you anything."

"I'm grateful, yes. But the moment I find out you've been quietly doing something to my teammates behind our backs—"

Steven's voice dropped. "I won't just let it go."

Gerald smiled warmly, picked up his cup, and took a slow sip.

"Of course."

Steven and Gerald worked out the details.

The plan required Lily to come in and take part in their procedure.

In simple terms, it was essentially an artificial version of Devour.

Using genetic methods to rapidly unlock a psychic's potential.

Take Steven, for example — he had incredible power, but he wouldn't have reached this level without absorbing psychic energy multiple times.

Otherwise, even with LV4-level potential, his abilities wouldn't have been all that impressive right after awakening.

A psychic's level didn't represent how strong they were — it represented their ceiling, their raw talent.

Alpha, LV2, LV3, LV4, LV5…

Each higher tier of supernatural ability meant a higher ceiling and stronger natural talent.

It was like the rarity tiers in a card game — N, R, SR, SSR, U.

The era of widespread mutation had only just begun, so the classification system for psychics was still pretty rough.

It was based mainly on the obvious differences between levels.

In reality, even within the same tier, talent could vary quite a bit depending on the type of ability.

The higher the supernatural ability tier, the faster the growth and the higher the ceiling.

But that also meant there were powerful psychics with untapped potential who had died at the hands of lower-tier psychics — or even ordinary people.

Which was exactly why two LV4 psychics could be so different — like how the Blizzard City investigation squad captain could easily take down an outer city lord.

Blizzard City used science and technology to maximize a psychic's potential.

Most psychics in the outer city, on the other hand, had grown in almost a feral way, their abilities still largely raw and undeveloped.

As for Lily — her talent was like pulling an SSR, the rarest card in the pack.

Her base physical abilities were already at the edge of human limits.

Give her a blade and she could potentially take down a psychic in close combat without even using her abilities.

Now that she was a psychic, no one could predict just how high her ceiling might go.

Lily took it all in stride. She stepped up in front of Gerald without hesitation.

"Mr. Nelson, I'm counting on you."

Gerald's eyes practically lit up when he looked at her — the look of a man who'd just found something priceless.

Steven said, "I need to be in contact with her every day. That's non-negotiable."

Gerald nodded. "You're careful — I respect that. But I'm being completely sincere this time. If it would put your mind at ease, you're welcome to stay at the Nelson Manor and be with her."

Steven thought about it, then turned it down.

The situation in Blizzard City was still uncertain, and the last thing he wanted was to do something that might make people think he was part of the Nelson family.

Gerald stepped forward. "Actually, you could try our program too. There might be more room for growth in you than you'd think."

Steven gave a small smile and shook his head.

"That won't be necessary."

Gerald laughed. "Well, if you ever change your mind, come find me anytime. I have a feeling you'll be back."

Steven made some polite small talk and steered away from the subject.