175 Massive fortune

Cain, Levi, Lurin, Ophelia, and many other cadets were drinking and eating as they laughed. After the graduation ceremony ended, they all came to a bar inside the fort.

While the Imperial Lightning Fort worked as the center of operation for the Imperial Military Force inside the Collapsing Lightning Sector, it was also a city with millions of soldiers, many of whom considered this place their home.

Humans were social creatures, so there were bound to be distractions, such as bars inside the fort, where the soldiers could gather and have fun. There were even special areas where the families of high-ranking soldiers lived.

Cain was now a Vice-Captain in the Imperial Military Force, while Levi, Lurin, Ophelia, and the others at the table were First Lieutenants. All the people present had already fought side by side during the defense of Korin City from the Wave Beast’s horde.

“Hahaha, when you arrived, the faces of Lumir and Zamir were epic. Those two thought they could accumulate all the attention and fame with their underhanded methods, but you busted their bubble.” Lurin laughed as he remembered what happened with the duo when Cain arrived and took his position as the N°1 Lightning Cadet. It was clear he did not have a good impression of them and enjoyed seeing them fail.

Cain only smiled and drank his beer as the group praised his feats. His constitution and mind were so strong that the level of alcohol in the beer could not affect him, and it tasted like mud.

Of course, seeing that everybody was having a good time, Cain would not bring it up and just continue drinking.

“Although I am surprised by the actions of that new Vice-Captain, the one called Uriel. He attacked without saying a word, and even though he was not using Wave Burst, that palm strike to the back of the head would have crippled any normal Level 4 Wave Warrior.” Levi’s voice was somber and cold as he remembered the actions of Uriel. There was even a flash of killing intent in his eyes.

The events with Uriel made everybody serious, but one person broke the tension.

.....

“Who cares about that guy? Did not Cain counterattack push him away? As time passes, the difference between their strengths will only diminish.” Ophelia’s face was red due to the alcohol, but her words were true.

Levi, Lurin, and the others remember how Cain managed to easily counter Uriel’s palm strike and the ferocious appearance of this one as his entire body was bloody red.

Cain saw the awe in the people across the table when they remembered his power. However, he did not let that trick him.

Whenever Cain felt he was strong, he just had to remember the attack of the Atrox God and how he could have done nothing to save himself. That allowed him to always push himself beyond his limits and never settle for his current talent or power.

“By the way, you really like the color red, don’t you?”

Cain almost spat his drink when he heard Levi’s words. The truth was that he indeed liked the color red, but it was just luck that all his techniques would adopt that shade.

Asura Form pushed his cardiovascular system to the limit, turning his skin red, while the charge of Blood Energy into his Lightning Armament also altered the color of this one. As for his Ego Wave, that was just chance.

“Hahaha, I guess you could say so.”

The group continued talking and laughing until late in the night when everybody returned to their residences, back in the cadet section of the fort. It would take a week for their new home to be ready.

Once Cain reached his residence, he bowed to his father’s altar for a few minutes before taking a shower, eating a small meal, and then going straight to bed. He slept very little over the last few weeks, and even with his mental fortitude and brain power, it still pushed him to the limit.

Cain woke up after almost twenty hours of sleep. That was an immense amount of time, considering how high his vitality was. When he finally woke up, he felt refreshed and full of energy.

“Great. I am in peak physical and mental condition.” Cain smiled as he analyzed the state of his body and mind.

He filled his stomach before taking a small bag from his waist, and inside it were dozens of space rings. Those belonged to Morgana, Orlando, Cristian, the scientists, and the youths and bodyguards that perished during the clinical trial.

During the time that Cain traveled from Saharo City back to the Imperial Lightning Fort, Apex hacked into all of them, and his A.I. Chip had already branded them.

Cain first analyzed the belonging of the youths, bodyguards, and Orlando. His body almost trembled as he saw the wealth he had gathered. There were all sorts of Wave Artifacts, Wave Viruses, drugs, cultivation resources, and more.

Although many of those resources did not suit his cultivation path, and none of the Wave Artifacts were useful, Cain could always rely on Apex to use the black market and change them for something he could use.

“Apex.”

“I know. I will keep the ones of use and change the others for things you need. Should we look for something other than Dragon Blood Grass to continue tempering your body?”

Apex was extremely diligent when giving a mission, and Cain was sure it would not take long before all those illicit goods vanished from his possession.

Cain’s body had grown so powerful and thoroughly tempered by blood essence that it was time to search for something new.

“Any suggestion?”

“You have improved your constitution to a very high level thanks to the Blood Refinement Art, and tempering it more with auxiliary techniques or resources before rising to the Wave Champion Rank will be almost impossible. Since that is the case, you should focus your energy on your marrow washing.

There is something called the Whale Lightning Orb. It contains a massive amount of lightning inside, and it is extremely useful to purify your body and help your marrow washing.”

When Cain heard that, he used the military network to look for the Whale Lightning Orb.

“So it is an object found inside Wave Champion Beast, and their price is...” Cain’s voice froze, and his eyes widened as he saw the price for a single one of the orbs.

“70.000 Imperial Military Credits! That is almost three times the price of the Dragon Blood Grass!”

The price shocked Cain, but after a moment, he sighed and nodded, indicating for Apex to obtain them.

Cain was perfectly aware of how important marrow washing was for an Astral Wave Cultivator and had a critical role in how far he could rise. Money meant nothing compared with the brute strength that high cultivation would grant him.

Now that he finished with those, Cain began to look into the space ring of the scientists. They were all Genetic Coders, and a large smile appeared as he saw the resources inside those space rings.

There was even a Recovery Capsule inside Cristian’s space ring, which would make things much easier for Cain in the future.

Finally, it was time for Cain to open Morgana’s space ring. He was full of expectations since the woman had lived a long life, and she was supposed to be a Quasi-Saint Genetic Coder.

What Cain saw inside the space ring left him in utter shock. Not only was there a massive amount of resources meant for Grand Genetic Coders, but there was something even more impressive.

“No way.”

Cain could not believe his luck as he saw a series of books inside Morgana’s space ring. When he scanned them with his Ego Wave, he saw that they were all of the woman’s Genetic Coder’s experiences.

Usually, people would not write things in physical format, as digitalizing the data into your A.I. Chip would make things much more manageable. Cultivators had all sorts of strange habits, and one of Morgana’s was to write on a piece of paper.

This chapter was first shared on the n(0))vel(b)(j)(n) platform.

Maybe Morgana’s fascination with physical writing was due to her old age and knowing that everything inside her A.I. Chip would be erased once her brain stopped working.

Whatever the case, Cain could not be happier with those books. In them was not only a thorough path from the basics all the way to Pak Grand Genetic Coders but also hundreds of recipes for Wave Viruses.

Cain took a deep breath and calmed his heart before speaking with the Spirit System.

“Apex, you recorded every word Morgana, and the scientists uttered when they spoke about the Genetic Chain, right?”

“Who do you think I am? Of course. I even hacked into all the Recovery Capsules so we could have all the data from the other 16 youths, not just Simon and Iris.”

“Great!” Cain’s smile widened as he heard that. He had not forgotten about the Lineage that Morgana was searching for, and since it was so powerful, he wanted it for himself.