Chapter 1442 - The Man Behind Pure Nervousness, anger, worry, and a mix of other emotions were going through Quinn's head right now as he walked through the facility. Just like the one on the north side, there were countless experimental rooms that had been set up, though none of them seemed to have any active experiments being performed. "These rooms were built here before Pure had taken control of everything, right? Doesn't that mean that this was either the Board's doing or the Supreme Commander's? Just what were they doing here?" Quinn asked. Now that he had someone on the inside, he was hoping to get some answers. For some reason, though, it seemed like Nathan was having difficulty answering that question. "Yes and no." Nathan replied. "You're right about it being set up before Pure had 'taken over' as you so put it, but it's really not like that. Most of the experiments that happened here had to do with enhancing the human body. "During and after the first Dalki war, the military became obsessed with creating some type of super soldier. After all, our bodies had proven useless against them and our bodies were clearly weaker than the Dalki. Initially, those with strong abilities had only been those like the 'Originals'. Those were desperate times… I'm sure you understand, Quinn." Hearing Nathan talk about that, sounded like a repeat of what Paul had told him at the time. However, while the military might have felt that the results justified the means, Quinn didn't like it one bit. After all, the people that had been selected as nothing but glorified guinea pigs had been those like the old him or Peter. Just like when certain people had been handed over to Truedream in the past, always the ones that weren't the most useful would be thrown into these situations to try to at least make them useful. Those in control saw no problem with that… but Quinn did. Still, he bit his tongue about this situation, as this was something that had already happened. "What do you mean by 'no', then?" Quinn asked as the two of them reached the gigantic, thick Glathrium doors. "You will find out once you go through there… I've been told not to come with you." Nathan answered, seemingly evading the question, though. Having to go in by himself wasn't an issue for the Vampire Lord. Honestly, Quinn thought it was for the best, as he had his own Shadow ability. He could always use it to get out by himself, so bringing someone else along just meant there was more chance of something happening to them. Knowing full well that this was a trap, Quinn headed in anyway, not fearing what was to come. Using Shadow travel, he found himself inside the same dark strange area that was surrounded by Glathrium all around. The slight smell of blood hit his nose. It wasn't too strong but unlike the last area he had entered, this one didn't seem to be filled with bodies. Looking up, he could see the glass observation room that stretched around the place, and on one panel was a whole screen instead, that turned on. "I'm glad you could make it, Quinn Talen. When I first heard your name, I couldn't believe it. To think I would live to see the day when a child like you could hold so much power that I would need to resort to all of this." The voice spoke, revealing the appearance of Zero. 'So this is what Nathan meant when he said everything would make sense…' Quinn thought as he looked at the man. The one Quinn was currently staring at, Zero… was a member of the board. He was the old man who stood on stage and the one who had done the most talking. However, there were still countless questions on his mind that didn't quite make sense. 'Who would have thought that a member of the Board could be the leader of Pure at the same time. This would certainly allow him to have Pure agents in the military whenever he wished. With the other factions sharing information, no wonder they knew what everyone was doing… 'The experiments that Pure ran, the experiments that the military ran, they weren't researching separate things. It was all the same, orchestrated by this person.' "Why?" Quinn asked. "What you're doing doesn't make any sense! I know who you really are. You're Leo's master, correct? How can you be doing all of this?! Why didn't you become someone great like Leo, and how come he didn't recognise you?!" This was what Quinn was slightly confused about. Surely Leo should have recognised his master's aura or frame, and on the stage he should have sensed that he had Qi. "Ah, Leo, yes… my foolish disciple who has joined you. Oh well, I have long since decided to forgive him for what he has done, but that is also why I thought that I wouldn't bring him along on my journey." Zero answered cryptically. "As the one who knows him the best, how could I not know how to hide from? Coincidentally, he is the main reason I wished to see you. "Why would someone who had been hailed a great hero from the war choose to follow a youngling like you out of everyone. I was intrigued to see the type of man he had chosen to follow." " 'Forgive him'?" Quinn repeated back, pointing towards the screen. "Why would Leo ever need you to forgive him?! If he learns what you've done… everything you've orchestrated… the more I think about it, I doubt even Pure knows that you are a member of the Board…" It then hit Quinn… he had no idea what that man's end goal was. Pure and the military service seemed like enemies, but if one man was behind both organisations, what goal did he pursue? As one of the mightiest men alive, why would he have needed to create an organisation like Pure in the first place? "What are you planning to do? And don't you dare give me some crap about 'trying to make the world a better place without abilities', that Sham is over!" Quinn shouted. There was silence between the two for a while, until eventually zero started to laugh slightly. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚 "You're not a big fan of Lucy's idealism, I see. It truly is a shame. That woman was so 'pure' and innocent in her belief. She truly wished to see her ambitions to create a world without leaders come to fruition. Her drive was what attracted people around her. When I heard about her plans and mission, I thought, surely there are more people like her that I can use in this type of situation. "I won't deny it, Pure, the military, both of them are ultimately tools… yet, I fail to see what reason I have to share my plan with you. All you need to know is that everyone at this event will die today, allowing me to achieve what I need to achieve… and that includes you, Quinn." After hearing this, there was a sinking feeling in Quinn's heart, he was worried about the others, and thought they needed help. Talking to Zero wasn't really going to get him anywhere. It didn't seem like he was in this room, he had to warn the others. Quickly, Quinn tried to use his Shadow travel, but something was wrong. In trying to do so, his Shadow wasn't summoned at all. He quickly checked his system, and it seemed fine, but he noticed that he was unable to summon any of the leaders by his side, and it was safe to say all communication was cut off as well. 'What is all this? This didn't happen in the last room! What is going on, why can't I use my abilities?' Quinn thought. Thankfully, it seemed like he was still able to use his blood powers, the Absolute Blood Control and also his Qi as well. It looked like he might have to really test himself to see if he could break out of such a room or not. "Hahaha." Zero started to cackle. "Judging by the confused look on your face, you just tried and failed to escape. You see, beast crystals certainly are fascinating little things, and they have far more uses than acting as energy sources or raw materials to be crafted into weapons. "When exploring planets and discovering new types of crystals, us members of the Board were the ones who received them. With how rare they were, we kept them to ourselves, Upgrade Crystals, Ability Enhancement Crystals, and many, many more." Zero explained. Hearing this, Quinn could make some sense of what the Pure leader was saying. One time, Quinn had received an Upgrade Crystal as a quest reward. Although the system was a mysterious thing, he didn't think it would just create something that didn't exist, yet he had never found any news about such crystals existing. If the Board had kept it a secret, hiding this information from the others, then they probably did the same with all the other crystals they had, and right now one of these special types of crystals was being used to stop Quinn from using his ability. "It makes me smile when I think about how much those real Pure members would have done to get their hands on such a crystal." Zero happily said. "Quinn, we all saw how well you did fighting against those Dalki… you did a great job, but there was only ever one of you. "Fortunately, our experiments finally brought forward a success. Let me see how well you do against our own superhumans." Zero finished with the TV screen turning off. At that moment, the sound of several vents were heard producing steam, and several of the side doors were opening.