Chapter 169 Low Grade?

Andrew Collins looked visibly upset, especially with Alina glowering at him. But even if he had some complaints, he kept faithful to Alina’s whims, as his whole body stayed still, only waiting for Alina to give her command.

"Place your hand above the original metal ball, then state your real name on it." Alina said as she motioned Andrew Collins to move forward. "Remember to state your name only when you placed your hand on the metal ball. If you don’t you will be zapped until you’re cooked."

"Gulp." The man who received the command visibly gulped, obviously affected by what Alina just said.

But under Alina’s and Alex’s stares, Andrew Collins was left with no choice but to move forward.

It took him a few steps to reach the ball and once he did so, he ever so slowly and carefully placed his hands on top of the metal ball.

"My name is... Andrew Collins." The man said with a slight quaver in his voice. His whole body was tense right now, visibly waiting for something wrong to happen.

Exactly 10 seconds passed by, and what happened then was nothing like Alina said.

The metal ball, which was just like a lump of metal earlier, was now letting out some beeping sounds, as if it was doing something to start up itself.

These beeping sounds lasted for 30 seconds before the surface of the metal ball started to glow.

This glow can be compared to that of a metal glowing from heat. It was a mesmerizing glow, although Alex felt as if this glow could be dangerous.

As for the smaller metal ball and the helmet, they also started glowing with the similar colored glow as the original metal ball.

"Welcome, Sir Collins. A disembodied voice came out of the metal ball, startling the mentioned man into a retreat. "You have now logged in to your personal simulation. I hope you enjoy your visit here."

"Oh well, hello to you too." Andrew Collins replied as he looked at Alina warily. "So... are you really my creation?"

"...." Alex might be irritated with Andrew Collins, but he could still understand the raging curiosity inside Andrew Collins right now.

After all, what was in front of Andrew Collins was a secret conspiracy that he actually made.

For this man to be this curious was already expected by Alex.

"I am built with the sole intention of only following the voice commands of my creator." The metal ball replied as its glow started to alternate while it spoke. "Since I am following your voice commands now, it just means that you are my creator. It’s just as simple as that."

For a talking creation that was made up of metals and chips, it was actually able to talk quite fast.

"Is that so...." Andrew Collins muttered as he placed his hand on top of the metal ball once more. "So... you’re really my creation then..."

From the way that Andrew Collins looked right now, it seemed like he was still doubting what he saw seeing in front of him.

With that kind of expression on the man’s face, Alex was not surprised at all that the metal ball hurriedly said some words to berate him.

"Don’t doubt yourself Sir Collins. Your talent was something that created me, so you should be happy seeing me." The metal ball said, sounding somewhat peeved with the meek movements of Andrew Collins. "Denying your involvement with me is just a way of insulting me..."

"...." Alex might not like to admit it, but from what he can see from the conversation between Andrew and the metal ball, it was as if the ball was treating Andrew as its parent.

That by itself might sound a little endearing, but with the presence of Lauren nearby, the whole scene sounded somewhat awkward and tense.

"Ah ok, I will believe you for now." Andrew Collins replied as he started to go silent.

"..." The metal ball went silent too, as if it was unable to think up of things to say too.

Once they reached this awkward state, Andrew Collins stared to look pensive, as he started to think of something deep.

As for the metal ball, even if Alex could not actually see it, it seemed to be thinking of something too.

"....."

historical

"..."

The silence between the two continued for more minutes

In the end, the silence became so unbearable that Alina was forced to speak up.

She let out an audible sigh as she gave a pointed glare to Andrew Collins.

"Say the words ’Execute Safe Shutdown’ right now." Alina’s voice was taut and firm as she said these words. "Once you say those words, that whole set-up will shut down by itself, but that shut down won’t compromise the simulation that’s inside it."

"Wait, I just barely talked with my creation, and you want me to shut it down immediately?" Andrew Collins hastily asked Alina as he started to cover the metal ball with his hands. "Do I really need to do that?"

"Remember that agreement that we had before." Alina replied as her glare to Andrew Collins turned frosty. "You will give us the Legacy of Tartaros, and you will be free to do anything that you want with the Pantheon. That is our deal, and there’s no way for you to back down now."

"But-"

"If you are worried about your creation, don’t be." Alina said as she let out a sigh. "Your creation’s extremely important to me, so be assured that I will keep it safe with me."

Andrew Collins looked like he was about to say something in retort, but the resolute expression on Alina’s face rendered him unable to speak up.

"...Ok, I’ll do what you just said." Andrew Collins finally replied as he let out his own sigh.

He then looked at the metal ball once more, as he started to prepare himself to say the words that Alina commanded him to say.

It was only after a few seconds passed by that the man managed to start talking.

"Execute Safe Shutdown." At the instant that Andrew Collins said these words, the whole metal ball let out another batch of beeping sounds before its glow started to weaken.

"It’s good seeing you, Sir Collins." The metal ball said as its glow continued to weaken. "I’ll see you once you activate me again. Have a good da-"

"..."

Any words that the metal ball wanted to say was cut-off, with its lights disappearing entirely. The helmet and the smaller metal ball lost their luster too, making the whole set-up look exactly like it was before.

"....."

As the lights of the set-up disappeared, Alex used his power to sense the internals of the metal ball.

To his surprise, he could sense no electricity coursing through the entirety of the metal ball or its other components.

It was as if the whole set-up was rejecting any kind of electricity flowing inside it.

Even when Alex tried manipulating electricity to enter the set-up, nothing happened, as these electric volts were still blocked from entering the whole set-up.

Now, this was something that Alex did not expect to see, but maybe that was just how things work here with the Safe Shutdown.

"...."

Once the set-up was off, Alex had the uneasy feeling that the whole conversation between Andrew Collins and his creation seemed to be awfully short.

Well, with the way things are happening now, maybe for Andrew Collins to have a limited connection with his creation was the better choice.

After all, something bad could still happen to the Legacy that longer that it stays here, so getting it earlier will be better for everyone.

*****************

"Okay, so what should I do next?" Andrew Collins asked, as he and the others in room could see that the set-up was definitely turned off right now.

Alex looked at Alina with interest, as he was now feeling curious on what Alina will say next.

"You do not need to do anything now, Andrew Collins." Alina replied as she placed her hands on her hips. "Your job here is done already."

Andrew Collins’ eyes immediately went wide after hearing what Alina just said. "So does it mean..."

"Yes, you get to deal with them now." Alina said as she waved her hands in the already familiar motion.

"Woosh~"

Accompanied by the sound of displaced air was the reappearance of all the members of the Pantheon, with all of them still unconscious.

All the Pantheon members were still bearing the injuries that they had in the battle earlier, with Tetra still asleep from the effects of Alex’s Sloth Spell earlier.

Andrew Collins visibly gulped as he stared at the Pantheon members, with Alex noticing his hands starting to tremble greatly.

"...."

With their reappearance, Alex let out a sigh of relief, as he knew that their time in this world was about to be done.

"Tik, tak." Alina’s shoes clacked across the floor noisily as she approached the metal ball. She touched the metal ball with a light caress as she gave a sideways look to Andrew Collins.

"You’re free to do what you want to do with the Pantheon now, Andrew Collins." Alina said as he gaze landed on the Pantheon members. "But if you do not know what to do, you can consult my partner. He’s good at coming up with ridiculous things at times like this."

"That’s right." Alex said as he nodded his head. "If you don’t have any ideas, I can give you some suggestions..."

"..."

Needless to say, Andrew Collins looked skeptical with what Alex said.

*************

If Alex could have his way, he could have just stolen all the abilities of the Pantheon members using Greed.

However, Alex hesitated on doing this because of one thing.

And that is the fact that technically speaking, the Pantheon was not really at fault at the situation here.

After all, what they did against Andrew Collins was actually better compared to killing him. At least the Pantheon still allowed him to live with his family.

The only excessive thing that they did was the portion related to his memories.

But they only did the memory tampering as the Pantheon wanted to protect the world against the dangers that might come from the Legacy of Tartaros...

With that kind of reasoning, will it still be fair for Alex if he just straight up stole the abilities of the Heroes who actually does their best to help people out?

If Alex steals the ability of the Pantheon members, this Superhuman World could be plunged in chaos without the Pantheon existing as a deterrent against Villains... Many innocents could be affected, and many nations might be damaged too.

That by itself was not something that Alex was willing to actually see.

************

But aside from moral reasons, Alex also fears that his Main Mission Grade could be affected by indiscriminate power theft.

Alex had no real evidence on it, but he has the feeling that the Mission Grades of his Main Missions will depend on the level of positive impact that Alex left in the worlds that he visited.

For example, the first world that Alex visited, the Esper World, granted Alex with a Mission Grade of S, since Alex’s actions there freed the whole Esper World from a cruel blockage.

Then for Alex’s seconds world, the Monster World, Alex got a Mission Grade of A there, as he was able to avert the war between the Essence Humans and the Monsters, although he was not able to make them be at peace with each other.

Following these patterns, Alex started to have the slight inkling that if he does something that will affect a World negatively, he could get a much lower Mission Grade!

And the lower the Mission Grade, the lower his obtained lifespan would be!

"Tsk..." That realization was the main reason that Alex hesitated now, as he was not that confident of playing with too much fire here.

"That Endless Monarch guy really wants all of us to be good boys and girls here. Tsk, this is so damn irritating." Alex muttered to himself as he shook his head.

Since he cannot just leave this world with all the skills of the Pantheon members, Alex decided to just let Andrew Collins himself decide on what to do with the Pantheon.

At least that will allow the Pantheon to be dealt with by someone that can actually deal with them.

And that will also not implicate Alex on whatever happens to the Pantheon now, since it was Andrew Collins who directly did something against the Pantheon, and not Alex.

"Oh, please give us a good answer." Alex thought to himself as he waited for Andrew Collins to declare what he wanted.

Fortunately for Alex, he only had to wait for a few seconds before Andrew Collins replied.

But before Andrew Collins could say his words, all the Pantheon members started to stir, as if they were about to regain their consciousness.

"Oh boy, this just gets better and better." Alex thought amusedly to himself as he decided to allow the Pantheon members to regain their consciousness. "Maybe this time, Andrew Collins’ answer will be a good one..."