Chapter 96: Mission Completed (Patreon)

Sorry, it took me one day longer than I expected, but this is the final chapter of Book 2. I hope you guys like it. Thanks again for the support. I promise more surprises are coming for all of you who support me. Thanks again.

The Operator ran over to Catherine and crouched beside her. Dark blood covered the back of her head and was tangled in her hair. “How are you feeling? Are you dizzy? Did you get injured anywhere else?”

I’m glad I killed that son of a bitch exactly as I did. And to think I actually felt a shred of pity for those bastards.

“I’m going to tell you, but you have to promise not to worry,” Cat said. “Honestly, I feel fine now.”

“Just spit it out and stop stalling. What happened?”

“The hit was really bad. I think my head actually split open a bit. But just as I knew they could stop the bleeding when Lessa had her arm cut off… I felt a parasite crawl out of my back and start healing me.”

“Well, bless those parasites. Let them keep up the excellent work. Rest. I’m going to check on Napoleon, Lessa, and Dan.”

“Napoleon is fine; he just needs a few adjustments,” Cat explained. “He defended us, but that man was really good at fighting. He got thrown against the wall, just like I did. I checked him, just like you taught me. He’s just a little out of alignment, so I turned him off.”

“Good job, Cat. You did great. Now just rest because we’re getting out of here soon.”

She turned to the others. “Lessa, Dan. I’ll check on you in a sec. First, we need to get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to spend another minute in this place.”

“Did the whole planet get destroyed?” Lessa asked softly. “Is anything left?”

“We’ll discuss that later. Please be patient.”

The Operator approached one of the containment units holding a Kanryx. She pressed her hand against the glass and waited. Several seconds passed. Nothing happened. She hurried to the containers, touching them one after another.

What the fuck is going on? Why aren't they pulling me out? Why isn't the mission ending?

She activated her HUD and reviewed the mission parameters.

[Objective: Extract four (4) living, conscious Kanryx specimens from the dungeon.]

[Reward: 50% progress toward Level 8.]

[Bonus: Additional specimens above the required four will be evaluated for further compensation.]

[Failure condition: Removal of mutation evolution.]

[Note: This penalty is one-time only and will not be applied again.]

She quickly scanned the instructions and spotted the error. “It says they have to be conscious. Okay, I’m a fucking idiot. Conscious, understood.”

Walking over to the panels beside one of the containment units, she inspected the edges. There has to be an emergency release button somewhere.

The sharp hiss of escaping gas echoed throughout the ship. She glanced at Dan, whose face was covered in purple bruises.

“The big red button on the side. The one that says Release. It’s easy to miss.”

I have all those great skills, but I can’t focus well when I’m stressed. “Thanks, Dan. Sorry, I don’t think clearly when I’m anxious.”

"We barely did anything."

The Operator began pressing the emergency release buttons one by one across the twenty units on the ship.

“Dan, you did the most important thing,” she said with conviction. “You survived alongside Lessa and Cat. Don’t underestimate what you’ve accomplished.”

A sudden realization appeared on her face. “Do you have Lessa's arm?"

“Yes, I have it right here, Operator,” Lessa answered.

Very good. You all did so fucking well.

She pressed the final emergency release button. The Kanryx inside the tubes slowly opened their eyes. A message appeared before her.

[Mission Completed]

[Objective: Extract four (4) living, conscious Kanryx specimens from the dungeon - Successful]

[Analyzing rewards...]

“Cat, Lessa, Dan, grab onto me right now,” the Operator ordered. “Hold on tight and don’t let go for any reason. Cat, please don’t forget my backpack.”

Dan helped Lessa to her feet, holding her severed arm in his free hand. Catherine slipped the Operator’s backpack over her shoulders, adjusting the straps while holding the deactivated Napoleon in her other hand.

“Don’t just grab my shirt or any piece of cloth,” the Operator warned. “If you want to get out of this place, hold on to me tight.”

Dan guided Lessa, assisting her in resting her remaining arm around the Operator’s neck. Cat stayed behind Lessa to support her, embracing the Operator’s back. Meanwhile, Dan held onto the Operator’s arm firmly.

[Reward: 50% progress toward Level 8]

[The Operator extracted 17 additional Kanryx]

Wait. How the fuck is it seventeen? Sixteen in the tubes, plus... Catherine?

She shouted directly at the HUD, saying, “No! There are only 16 extra Kanryx. The hybrid Kanryx is mine. She doesn’t count toward the reward.”

“Your property?” Catherine asked, voice filled with surprise. “What do you mean?”

"I have to do this so you can get out of here with me. I know it sounds bad, but there's no other way."

[Readjusting quantity...]

[The Operator extracted 16 additional Kanryx - Analyzing rewards...]

[Reward 1: Additional 50% progress toward Level 8 Completed - Level Up to 8 available]

[Reward 2: Alpha Spider Blueprint (Remaining 75%) - Blueprint completed]

A blue light glowed from a book inside her backpack. The Operator let out a long breath, looking down at the deactivated metal spider clutched in Catherine’s hand.

You earned it, buddy. You kept them alive. Now I can finally give you the upgrade you wanted.

[Reward 3: At the discretion of the Great Realm Portal - Meeting required]

It must have seen everything that happened here. Whatever it is, I don't have a choice.

[Penalties for incomplete missions revoked - Will not be applied again]

[Initiating transfer to Evolution Zone]

[Lifeforms detected alongside traveler - Confirm relationship]

Claiming them as property seemed terrible, but based on what Eron had told her, she believed it was the only way to keep them alive. “The three of them are Dan, Lessa, and Catherine! I claim them! They are my property, and they are coming with me!”

[Lifeforms under Operator's property confirmed]

[Initiating transfer to Evolution Zone]

As soon as the transfer started, a force seized her. It wasn’t a hand or anything recognizable, just a strange pulling sensation. Despite the huge ship moving alongside, her body seemed to bend, stretch, and fold, every muscle and joint twisting in response. Jesus, I forgot this feeling; I feel like clay again.

The violent pulling intensified. The air seemed to vanish.

Dan yelled, “What is happening to us?!”

“I can’t breathe!” Catherine cried, sobbing as she buried her face in Lessa’s back.

Lessa stayed silent, yet her only remaining hand held onto the Operator’s shoulder.

“Hold onto me!” the Operator shouted, struggling to get the words out. “Don’t let go!”

She couldn’t feel her hands or feet. Her vision flashed white, then faded to black before flashing white again. Gravity dropped them. The Operator slammed into the metal floor. The ship shook violently for a moment, then everything went completely still.

The world kept spinning. She pressed her hands against the cold floor, fighting dizziness as she waited for the room to stop spinning. The desperate, tight grip of her group was gone

“Guys?” she said as she pushed herself up.

Dan, Lessa, and Catherine lay scattered across the floor. She crawled toward them, heart pounding, and found them motionless but breathing. She glanced at the nearby containment tubes, where the Kanryx who had awakened moments earlier were asleep again. 

A cold draft brushed against her face as the ship’s exit door stood open.

"Welcome back, Operator. Congratulations on finishing the mission."

Guardian? I don’t know why I feel happy to hear that one-eyed freak… By the way, is it me, or is everything in this fucking universe related to a fucking eye?

“Don’t worry, they are just sleeping for now. We need to talk with you for a moment.”

Of course. He saw everything, especially that cosmic horror show at that place.

An Alpha Spider entered the ship, its thick metal legs moving over the floor. She recognized it immediately. An alpha spider? It was the same type of machine that reconstructed her body when she first arrived in this world.

The spider paid her no attention and moved directly toward Lessa, placing its front limbs over the stump of her severed arm.

“Don’t worry,” the Guardian called from outside. “You already know how it works and what it’s going to do to her. I’ll wait for you outside.”

"Give me a minute.”

She knelt beside them, placing her hand first on Catherine’s face, then on Dan’s shoulder, and finally on Lessa’s hand to make sure they were okay. After the bloodshed, the dungeon’s horrors, and their escape, they were finally here, safe.

The tension finally broke, and tears streamed down her face, dripping onto the metal floor. She didn’t wipe them away but gently stroked Catherine’s hair, her hands trembling while carefully detangling the dried blood.

“I’m finally strong enough,” she whispered, her voice breaking yet fierce. “Enough to protect the people I care about.”

She wiped her face and saw Napoleon lying motionless beside Cat. She gently lifted him with both hands. “You protected them too, Napoleon. You have no idea what surprise I have for you when you wake up.”

As she flipped him over, her thumb brushed a mark on his chassis. She looked down and saw a dark, eye-shaped imprint, deeply etched into the metal, the same mark N’vaa had cast to protect them. The cosmic entity’s words echoed clearly in her mind. Five souls marked with my blessing.

The Operator looked at them unconscious on the floor. Dan. Lessa. Cat. And me. That’s four.

She looked back down at Napoleon, resting in her hands. We are four, and there are five marked souls…. She stared at him in disbelief. Does Napoleon have a soul?

A small smile appeared on her lips as she touched N’vaa’s mark on Napoleon. “The Saga… when I finish fixing you?”

“I can only generate so many copies of myself at once, and other travelers are waiting,” the Guardian called out. “Please hurry.”

After placing Napoleon on Catherine’s chest, she slowly made her way out through the ship's rear exit. As she stepped outside, her eyes fell on the red door, the one that had transported her to a world that was now destroyed yet had also helped transform her into what she is today. Sitting cross-legged right beside it was the Guardian, his white body and massive black eye watching her emerge.

“Two evolutions now, Operator. It seems you brought back some valuable items,” he said, his gaze shifting to Mordran’s head.

Now this asshole wants the things I brought? Are we going to repeat what happened with the First Alloy? 

The Guardian likely noticed her defensive reaction. “Don’t worry. Doing business with you isn’t profitable; I learned that the hard way. Once again, I apologize for the penalty I imposed. There will never be another like it. Anything you obtain during your travels is strictly yours.” He paused, glancing back toward the ship. “Though I see you brought two other things that aren’t very valuable.”

"They are valuable to me," she replied firmly.

"My apologies. As you know, I do not understand human sentimentality."

She struggled to find the right words for her next question, dreading the answer he might give. “What will happen to them?”

“You claimed them as property, so they are yours to do with as you wish. However, they are not worthy of the Evolution blessing my Lord grants… though that shouldn’t worry you. Since you possess knowledge of that other evolution, you can provide for them yourself, a significant advantage other travelers cannot offer when they bring someone along.”

“So, you saw everything that happened inside that place? Absolutely everything?”

“It is my job to see everything…” the Guardian replied, a smile forming beneath his giant eye. “Except for a few strange, brief seconds when you disappeared. Twice.”

So it’s confirmed: he cannot see me inside the Shadow Library.

"And what’s going to happen to the Kanryx?"

"My Lord decided to send them to a place hidden even from me. I, along with other administrators, am still trying to figure out why the System had formulas for Kanryx compounds and what it intended to do with them… He would have liked to take the hybrid as well, but you claimed her as yours, unfortunately."

Suddenly, everything around her went dark. The walls and the ship vanished. Now, only the Guardian stood before her, and something else. She recognized the feeling instantly, the crushing, overwhelming presence surrounding her. The Great Realm Portal.

"You brought something dangerous with you, Operator," the Guardian said.

A black seed shot out of her pocket, flying upward at high speed before disappearing into the void.

“He doesn’t blame you for the Vorruhn following you to that world… You could say the destruction of the Winged Ones and their research into the new form of mutation was a satisfactory outcome. However, he cannot allow another civilization to be destroyed that way again.”

A high-pitched screech echoed from above, like a small animal screaming in desperation. A moment later, an explosion rang out. Even if she had wanted to look up, the sheer weight of the Great Realm Portal’s presence was too intense. She couldn’t lift her head.

"Open your hand, Operator," the Guardian said.

The seed N’vaa had given her dropped into her palm, but it had changed. The pitch-black color and sharp spikes were gone. In their place was a perfectly smooth, pure-white seed.

[Reward 3: Vorruhn Seed purified — Item obtained: Seed of Passage]

“The seed you now hold cannot be tracked. Wherever you travel, no one, no matter who they are, will be able to trace your origin. This is necessary to protect the worlds you visit.”

She stared at the seed in her hand. “Thanks a lot, though it was the System that sent me to that world, not you,” she said with a teasing tone.

"That is a bit unfair, Operator. I wasn’t in charge before," he said with a smile. "But after you rest, we can decide where to send you next."

“Rest? What do you mean, rest?” she asked, genuinely surprised. Running, fighting, and constantly planning to survive had become her new normal.

[Reward 4: Money 10,000,000 Quyns]

A cloth bag materialized on the floor. She knelt to pick it up, then opened it, finding it stuffed with money, both bills and coins. “And this money?”

Suddenly, everything returned to normal. The Great Realm Portal’s presence vanished, and she was back outside the ship, next to the red door.

“It is time for you to rest, change out of those clothes, and look after the group you brought back. After everything you have been through, you are not in any mental condition for another trip. I monitor my Travelers; when I decide you’re ready for another dungeon, I will reach out to you.”

“You’re awfully nice to me. What the hell is going on here?” she asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

“Well, you’re now one of my Travelers.”

She waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, she pressed on. “Just like that? You go from hating me to acting like I’m your new best friend? No explanation, nothing? And how exactly are you going to contact me?”

Holy shit, I think the Guardian is bipolar.

From the bottom of the stairs, she heard the hum of something activating, followed by a bright white light in the distance.

"That exit will send you and your group out of the Evolution Zone. The arm of one of your companions has been fully reconstructed, and all three of them have been installed with the local language, just as you were." The Guardian began sinking into the floor, fading away as he spoke.

"What is the point of all this? Evolving, traveling to other worlds? What do you actually gain from it?"

He closed his eye and, without answering, completely vanished into the ground.

I was expecting a cliché answer, like ‘you aren’t strong enough to know yet’ or some other bullshit like that. Okay, I guess I’ll find out someday.

Tera, why are you taking so long to wake up?

She walked back into the ship but stopped dead, surprised to find the containment tubes completely empty. The Kanryx were gone. The Guardian and the Great Realm Portal had already claimed them. I'm sorry, Cat. I know you wanted to talk to them.

We’re aboard a transport ship. I see that Dan, Lessa, and Catherine are alive alongside Napoleon. The nanobots verify there are no critical issues in your body. Congratulations, Operator. We are still alive.

“God, Tera… I needed to hear your damn voice. You have no idea how much I missed you.” She stepped off the ship, looking toward the dungeon exit. “Now all that’s left is for them to wake up.”

So, tell me what I missed.

The Operator unhooked Mordran’s head from her waist and sat on the cold floor. “I protected them, Tera…” she whispered. “I actually kept them safe.”