Chapter 27: That's hidden?

The next day, while Tsukia and her companions enjoyed their rest day with no commissions or side quests, a gentle wind stirred the trees in their backyard.

Lori began training Jasmia in swordsmanship, hoping to give her some means of self-defense.

Tsukia, meanwhile, focused on strengthening her body and mind to handle her immense mana, learning from her experience in the lair, with Nightshade’s guidance.

Elsewhere, Lieutenant Ferguson who has a buzz cut hairstyle with a muscular bulked body and a tanned skin. Wore a crisp, dark-blue uniform with gold buttons and a silver badge that glinted under the office lights, his rank denoted by the sharp, silver bars pinned to his shoulders.

He arrived in the Dies Irae with his subordinate, Jesmyah Miller. A long wavy black haired girl, light-brown skin and wearing a silver azure petals earrings. She wore a stiff, navy-blue patrol uniform with factory-fresh creases and a mirror-polished badge that sat slightly crooked on her chest.

They had captured a criminal, restrained with an anti-potential collar.

They marched toward the entrance of Dies Irae, a bright and cheerful capital, bustling with vendors, public markets, and tourist spots– a true paradise, populated by kind people.

“Wait here, Jesmyah,” Lieutenant Ferguson instructed, his subordinate nodding.

“Enjoy yourself for a bit while I take this man to headquarters.”

He then dragged the criminal by his clothes toward the headquarters entrance, where two security guards saluted Lieutenant Ferguson and granted him immediate access.

A few military assistants relieved him of the criminal, gesturing an “X” sign, indicating they knew what to do.

Inside the headquarters, “most wanted” posters plastered the white-painted walls, each featuring individuals with potential.

One of them was named “Nishin Ve,” a fair-skinned woman with short, violet hair, snake-like eyes, and a slashed scar beneath one eye.

Suddenly, a mysterious figure approached Lieutenant Ferguson and led him to a secret base. An elevator took them down to the third underground floor.

When the doors opened, they revealed a laboratory filled with researchers and, on the other side, enslaved criminals undergoing experimentation.

“How is the syringe?” the mysterious figure asked a researcher.

The researcher, wearing protected gear and gloves, approached and presented the syringe.

“We have successfully created a potential syringe for non-potential users, and this modified version is even stronger than the original.”

The mysterious figure examined the long syringe filled with a violet fluid. “Sir Ferguson, let’s test this syringe on you,” he said, turning to the Lieutenant, who chuckled.

“I crave power. I’ll seize this opportunity,” he responded, The researcher, awaiting a signal, nodded when the mysterious figure gave it.

He then rolled up Lieutenant Ferguson’s sleeve, held the syringe, and plunged it into the veins of his wrist, injecting the violet fluid.

Lieutenant Ferguson cried out in agony. His body tensed and burned, his face flushed red, and his pupils dilated as the fluid coursed through his veins.

He felt as if his head would explode, a maddening pressure building within his brain.

The mysterious man smirked devilishly, as if he had finally succeeded in creating a potent modified potential syringe.

Lieutenant Ferguson collapsed to his knees, clutching his heart, his heartbeat now inhumanly rapid.

The pain of receiving such immense power was almost unbearable. Finally regaining control, he looked at his flickering hands and smirked, breathing heavily.

“I wonder what power I now hold.”