Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1028: A Fortunate Incident

Adam didn’t know that Hygon was watching them. Risha might have had similar ideas, but she didn’t dwell on it too much. She didn’t want her brother to always protect her, but there was nothing she could do about his desire.

But... neither Adam and Risha nor Hygon knew for sure that someone else had been watching them all this time.

It was a watcher beyond Hygon’s level since Hygon couldn’t sense it. Apparently, none of the serpents or Adam could detect the presence of someone else, even Arnoth remained in ignorance.

”You know, that wasn’t a bad fight.”

Gladius smirked, watching the video sent on the laptop, not of the lurking watcher but of Adam and Risha’s NEPs breaking in.

After a few moments, Aiden nodded deeply, his eyes growing thoughtful.

”You’re right, his strength, his new ability, and his unwavering will to fight... It’s what we need, but it’s too early to make a decision yet.”

Gladius stretched before grabbing a snack and making himself a simple black coffee. He was going to enjoy watching it in great detail.

”Sure, he needs to get a lot stronger. He’s not even K4-Phantom yet. Considering his battles before, we shouldn’t worry about him deciding to stop at this stage.”

Tap.

Gladius threw one leg over the other while taking his first sip of coffee.

”There’s no telling if he’ll be able to go any further, but... You shouldn’t have any questions about his warrior spirit, should you?”

”Hmm...” Aiden hummed, the white tips of his hair falling over his forehead. ”You’re right, but I don’t like what’s going on. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Instantly, a sly grin covered Gladius’s face.

It was rare for Aiden to deal with unforeseen events - this was a unique opportunity to savor his confusion.

”Of course. Of all the ’pretenders’ you’ve prepared, only a few have managed to make it to the K4-Level. However, you didn’t see in any of them what you saw in Adam. That said...”

Gladius popped a cookie into his mouth.

”Hah, you weren’t even planning on making Adam a pretender. You were too focused on that girl, what was her name...? Ah, right, Lana Tiates! Hahaha, you had high hopes for her and you didn’t even realize you’d left a simple young man alone in a chamber!”

What Gladius was doing was rehashing the very moment that made Adam into a Phantom. No matter what Aiden’s intentions or motives were, it was his actions that led to Adam killing his first monster and lighting his Spark.

Normally, this would have been part of Aiden’s plan, but then all of his attention was directed towards Lana, for he saw potential in her. Perhaps mistakenly, perhaps not, but Adam, as well as everyone else, had to stay in the shadows.

Gladius chuckled. ”In the end, you decided to just dump this guy in the Dead Lands. After all, he could have become a Natural Phantom, couldn’t he?”

Aiden answered nothing, he silently watched Adam’s fight, occasionally pausing at key moments.

He didn’t ignore Gladius, it was obvious from the slightest changes in his facial expressions and gaze that he just had nothing to say.

Gladius was retelling the events and telling it exactly as it happened. Aiden saw no point and did not want to justify himself.

Everyone makes mistakes.

Sometimes it could lead to unexpected outcomes, among which could be the much-desired one.

”But, oh wonder!” Gladius exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. ”This guy not only survived but has a chance to be the best among your experiments and the only one who can be a ’pretender’!”

Then, Gladius shook his head, maintaining a slight smirk.

”Isn’t that ironic, Aiden? You’ve used so many different methods to select strong Phantoms. To select talents among the common people. You even found a way to turn the Artificial phantoms into Natural phantoms, all to create more and more young talents!”

Gladius rose, practically putting on a theatrical performance in his desire to taunt Aiden.

”And, in the end, your one mistake could be your best option. How does it feel to know that everything you did turned out to be less significant than a simple luck factor?”

It seemed like Gladius was trying to piss Aiden off, but it was far from the truth.

”You’re wrong.”

Aiden’s cold voice boomed out.

”Whether I’m lucky or not, if I hadn’t made my countless attempts, I wouldn’t get this chance. If I weren’t in my position, I wouldn’t even be able to engage in experiments. If I noticed Adam, I’d just send him home like everyone else since he didn’t have the Spark.”

He adjusted his glasses, his eyes reflecting Adam and Silvana’s silhouettes in the final battle against Arnoth.

”You can be the luckiest man in the world, but if you’ve never once gone to a casino, you’ll never win the jackpot. You have to try at least once for that to happen.”

Gladius laughed briefly. ”Hehehe, you’re right. Unfortunately, you and I are far from being the luckiest people. If we want to make luck work for us, we have to try until we succeed.”

Aiden nodded weakly, leaning back in his chair.

His hands were folded in a lock, while his gaze glanced at Adam’s excited smile.

For a split second, something in his gaze changed as he touched his forehead.

”Alright, let’s keep watching. Maybe we’ll make it in time this once.”

Gladius’s corners of his lips went up, he knew what Aiden was talking about.

”You know, there’s a chance this could be your last shot. The guys at the very top are planning something interesting, for all I know.”

”I’ve heard about that, too.”

Aiden’s eyes darted to Gladius.

”Going to join in on the general fun as always?”

Gladius spread his hands apart.

”Sorry, I can’t help it. But, you know. If you have something important to do, I’ll always choose your side. Just like I promised.”

Aiden smirked weakly.

”Ah, I hope this won’t be my final attempt. I’ve tried so many times, I’m afraid to leave things to the last chance.”