Chapter 29: Chapter 29 Cell Essence
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Thirty minutes after meeting with Nina.
Nina, looking like a mechanic apprentice, finally calmed down… She couldn’t possibly have imagined that her ‘brother’ would be alive.
On the way home, Nina finally mustered the courage to ask something she had been keeping to herself:
“You… aren’t ‘my brother,’ right?”
Actually, Nina had expressed similar sentiments before Han Dong entered the
Fate Space.
“How did you figure that out?”
“Valen, my brother, is just ‘different’ from you. He’s lazy and unreliable… Totally unlike what a ‘brother should be. He was always unwilling to do anything, just idling his days away at home.
When he was forced to participate in ‘Fate Space’ and wear that wind-up device, he had already given up on life completely.
On the morning that Fate Space was about to start, he rushed out of the house by himself. I thought he committed suicide early out of fear.”
“He did commit suicide… By chance I found him, and that’s how things ended up this way.”
Han Dong decided to tell the truth only after careful consideration.
From what Nina said, she didn’t like Valen Nicholas at all and even looked down on such a brother.
Now that Han Dong was a ‘Returner’, Nina wouldn’t do anything harmful to Han Dong, she would likely accept everything.
“Suicide… You are?”
“Don’t worry, I’m essentially human. Since I’ve taken over your brother’s body, I’m a part of your family now.”
Nina’s eyes flashed with worry, but after a moment, she nodded slightly:
“Actually, this is quite good… At least, mum won’t worry about my brother anymore. Thank you… I promise I will keep your secret.”
“Yeah.”
As long as Nina trusts him completely, the chance of his identity being exposed will be significantly reduced.
Just then…
Nina, with her brown short hair and safety glasses, took the initiative to take
Han Dong’s hand and said with a beaming smile: “Let’s go home, brother… Mum could never imagine that you could come back alive.”
Han Dong, an older man who had spent most of his previous life in the lab, felt a slight tremble in his body as the young girl took his hand.
“Hmm… by the way, is my ‘Returner’ status helpful to your family?”
“Definitely, at least I don’t have to be forced into the ‘Fate Space’. I can have plenty of time to prepare.
Also, once you start studying at the Knight Academy, the school will allocate a special school district house across the Moslabi River. Both mum and I could move out of the civilian area and live a worry-free life.”
Upon saying this, Nina laughed secretly. She was overjoyed.
“Okay! So… this evening, come to my room… I have a lot of things to ask you.”
“Sure, no problem! I’ve learned a lot from my mechanic master that most civilians don’t know about.”
With his identity issue resolved, Han Dong followed Nina back to a densely packed public building in the civilian area.
It was just as crowded and chaotic as Kowloon Walled City.
Nina, who had walked through countless times, weaved through the snake-like dark alleys that only allowed one person to pass through and found a damp and dark upward stairway after crossing several branches.
The seventh floor.
A simple two-bedroom and one-living room apartment.
Due to the lack of sunlight on all sides, the room was lit by several small paraffin lamps.
Unlike the ‘City of Machinery’ it appeared to be from the outside, in these lowest-class civilian homes, metal was scarce and furniture was mostly wood.
Hearing the door open.
A slightly hunched ‘mother’ with some white hair mixed in her brown hair came out.
Unlike the voluptuous western woman in Han Dong’s perception.
Nicholas’s mother gave off a frail and old feeling, this family had difficulty even meeting basic needs… only Nina’s body was slightly better.
“My god! Valen… am I seeing things? You’re still alive?”
It was odd hearing these words from his birth mother, but no one would believe, Nicholas, this sick and needy spendthrift could make it back alive.
Han Dong simply nodded in response: “Yeah… Mum, we’ll be able to move out of here soon. I’m very tired today, so I’ll go rest first.”
“Rest soon, dinner is ready, I’ll have Nina bring you food.”
The joy-tears of ‘mother’ and the concerned gaze made Han Dong feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He lowered his head and quickly retreated to his room.
When he just called out ‘Mom’, Han Dong felt a tiny ripple in his heart… After all, he was an orphan since childhood and had never come across the concept of parents.
“Let’s leave the family issue for now.
Since I’ve come clean with Nina, the possibility of my identity being leaked should be at its lowest.
Plus, considering this nation’s desperate need for talent and the demand for young people to enter Fate Space, as a ‘Returner’, even if people knew I snatched Nicholas’s body, it shouldn’t be a big problem.
What this nation needs is talent. As long as the position of talent is completely inclined to the Holy City, they should accept it.
Of course… not revealing my identity is best.”
Han Dong lay down on a somewhat comfortable wooden bed, preparing for the next major event.
Having just returned from the Fate Space, Nina and her mother probably wouldn’t disturb him.
Activating the ‘Faceless Skull’.
Han Dong had appeared in the prison area… However, this time, he wasn’t here to see Miss Chen Li.
He opened the door of the sterile laboratory, Han Dong’s goal this time was to examine the ‘Cell Essence’ he had collected.
As expected, the syringe placed on the central platform contained the ‘Cell Essence’ Han Dong had gathered from the special lifeform corpse during the event.
He took out the syringe and came to the ultra-clean workbench.
Despite conducting numerous cell inoculation experiments on such a workstation previously.
He was somewhat apprehensive now, worried that he might damage the cell clump symbolizing his body.
“Every beginning is hard… just need to succeed once.”
Han Dong concentrated hard, observing the cell clump on the workstation.
If there was any discomfort in the cell clump during the injection, he would stop right away.
However, things were simpler than Han Dong thought.
Just as the syringe approached the cell clump, a pore opened by contraction from the plasma membrane, just right for the needle to extend into…
Injecting!
He slowly pushed the plunger, a bit of essence was slowly injected into the cell clump.
When the injection was finished, an alert sounded:
“The cell essence has been injected. ‘Load Limit’ increased by 25 points (5 points from the Plague Sample, 20 points from the Wraith Sample)”
“Only 5 points for five Plague Monsters… a single Evil Spirit is worth 20 points!”
Han Dong was astonished.
The load limit really increased!
In this way, he could look for new body parts, slowly repairing or replace this weak body.
“Let’s start with the [Hand]….”
