Endless Evolution: Last Star

Thus, more often than not, the Phantoms only worked directly with the Harvesters when they were at K0-level.

Sometimes K1-Phantoms would do it, depending on their strength level, but K2 and stronger Phantoms just stopped working together with the Harvesters.

Sure, there wasn’t some conflict or misunderstanding between these two groups, it just became technically impossible.

Furthermore, no experienced Harvester would want to be around Adam, Katrin, and the Golden Light Squad when they were clearing the Igno Ants Nest. It was too dangerous and a mere human would surely be killed by the paws of some ant or lizard.

"Oh... I see... It’s been a while, hasn’t it?" Adam muttered while a smile appeared on his face that slowly grew brighter and brighter.

Verna nodded glancing at the middle-aged man in the distance. It was their commander who was at that moment talking to Oskar, it seemed they were familiar with each other.

"We have already accomplished our task, so we have some free time. Did you kill all those ants and lizards around the anthill?" Verna asked with genuine surprise.

Felix scratched the back of his head looking around.

"Well, your squad consists of six people. It’s no wonder you made it. I guess it took you a few hours of working together to kill all the ants and other monsters."

Adam glanced at Felix, his eyes filled with a strange emotion - a mixture of confusion, surprise, and incomprehension. Soon, however, Adam’s gaze returned to normal.

He didn’t bother to correct Felix and tell him that he had killed most of the ants and that it had taken much less than a few hours.

Adam saw no point in showing off in front of Felix and Verna, there was a better use for their unexpected meeting.

"Yeah, something like that. Looks like not only have I gotten stronger, but you have as well. Gathering resources in such a dangerous area takes experience and courage." Adam uttered completely sincerely while addressing Verna and Felix.

It didn’t matter that he was the strongest in the Black Cinder Forest. He wasn’t always Phantom. In fact, he had only been a Phantom for a small part of his life.

Thus, he understood how horrible the monsters and Dead Lands were in the eyes of ordinary people, because not long ago, he was this ordinary person.

Moreover, Adam was not disrespectful to Harvesters, Operators, or the military. Sure, it was an unspoken rule that everyone involved with Dead Lands had to respect each other, but in practice, it didn’t always work.

Many Phantoms mistakenly perceived the respect of subordination as absolute submission to their will and abused their Phantom status and power.

Adam respected the work of the Harvesters, for without them the sacrifices and battles of the Phantoms would lose almost all of their practical meaning.

Sure, the main job of the Phantoms was to kill monsters to defend the Citadel, but without the Harvesters, no one would be collecting materials.

If a beast needed food to survive and fangs were the way to get it, then for the Citadel the food was the materials and the Phantoms were the fangs.

So while Operators helped the Phantoms achieve their goals and understand what they needed to do, Harvesters made the outcome of the Phantoms’ missions more meaningful.

Felix and Verna glanced over, smiling slightly at Adam’s praise. They didn’t follow Adam as actively as Katrin or Osana, but they had heard of some of his accomplishments.

"Sure, we’re just like you trying to move forward. What are you going to do next? You know, it’s been a while since we last met." Verna said with a wave of his hand.

Adam nodded, but instead of his smile getting wider, his gaze changed becoming deeper.

"I’m waiting. I’m here for Scarlet Pyromancer, a Top-8 monster. I promised to help in its assassination, so... I’m standing next to this volcano, but so far there’s no one here."

Before Felix and Verna could say anything, Adam turned and glared at them.

"Go back out. It’s not safe here. Scarlet Pyromancer could show up here at any moment. If that monster wants to, he’ll just burn you like all the other Harvesters." Adam said calmly.

His speech sounded like it was a threat, but... Felix and Verna realized that this was how Adam actually thought. To him, it was the facts.

Verna nodded.

"Indeed. Dead Lands is a dangerous place and we must never forget that." Verna clenched her fists tightly.

"Yeah... none of us..." Adam said distantly, looking away, "And... this place is dangerous with more than just monsters and anomalies..."

Ten minutes later, after a brief conversation, Verna and Felix said their farewells.

"Take care!" Felix vigorously pronounced following Verna, who didn’t share his enthusiasm at all.

She felt strange, for the Adam she had just talked to was not the Adam with whom she had gone on his first mission.

It wasn’t that the flame in his eyes had been replaced by depth, and the awkward expression on his face gained a distinct coldness and sharpness, but how long he had already traveled to reach this state.

Verna didn’t think Adam’s changes were bad or good.

Change, especially in a person happens all the time and to define it as good or bad could be a big mistake.

Not all people who changed for the better in one year became even better in five years, and the same was true on the other side because change was impossible to predict.

Therefore, changes in oneself had to be understood, realized, accepted, and used to move on.

Clap.

A middle-aged man with a thick beard, the commander of the Harvesters clapped his hands several times to attract attention.

"Alright, let’s go back.

Bring that bastard in and let’s fly away." The man said in a powerful voice glaring at the Thunder Demon lying on the ground.

Then, he turned to Oskar.

"Are you leaving or do you still have some business to attend to?"

Oskar shook his head.

"No, but we’re staying here for now. We’ve completed all the missions, but until one monster shows up, we need to keep this area clear. We’ll keep one fighter to get home quickly."

The man nodded glancing at the SH-01 fighter that was in the center of the field.

"Good. Thanks to the work you’ve done, this fighter is perfectly safe here. I’m not sure if there’s even one monster within a kilometer radius here."

"Hahaha. If one shows up, I’ll kill it and you’ll quickly turn it into a few bones with fangs." Oskar laughed patting the man on the shoulder.

Thus all the Harvesters left this area returning home on the BH-01. Inside BH-01 there was one Phantom to escort the Harvesters back and forth, so they were safe.

Oskar returned to Erla, Lero, and Osana talking about something.

At this time, with an uncertain step, Katrin approached Adam.

"Hey. Where’s that flaming giant bug? It should have been here by the time we got here, but even after all the chaos that happened and a few hours, there’s... nothing." Adam said in a low voice.