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While the battle continued, Lynd finally went backstage evading the many odd toys, underwear and other objects that were being tossed at the stage.

Lynd's expression was pale and difficult.

Halley Vagrant waited at the back.

"You alright?"

"I don't get it!? Why am I more famous than Danny?" He cursed.

Halley laughed.

"It's because your tall, successful and sweet. Danny has his playboy thing but you appear to be a much more realistic guy. Even the average girl would feel that they have a shot at you because of your down-to-earth and shy expression. The more you react in embarrassment to your fan's treatment the more they will love you. Be calmer if you want that to go away."

"They were throwing those-those… things! How the nutterballs can I remain calm?!" Lynd shouted in frustration.

Halley simply laughed.

"I have your next assignment. Looks like there were changes in the plan. Seeker has important business to complete in China. And so, you will be the player who will be playing for that bet in Generals. Harker has placed a large bet and you will be facing more than two-hundred players alone."

"That's a little too much even for me."

"That's right. Seeker will allow you to use Peals of Thunder and other intimidating skills in your possession."

Lynd frowned.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?"

"It's a way to get the Underworld's attention off Seeker. If those groups in the Underworld realize that they have you and Meryl to worry about, other than Seeker, they would probably give up or give in to Harker. Seeker said that Harker's Skill is becoming more of a Path. You should know about how Colestar has now become our allies. He'll use that Path to shelter you from whatever harm you have."

"Oh? It's that strong? Wow. I was right in trusting Harker to help Seeker with his strange… emotions." Lynd smiled.

"I guess the pressures on me for that gamble. I gotta think of ways to win a 200 player battle…" Lynd was in deep thought.

"Yes. The gamble has been set to two billion credits."

"Two billion? That's crazy! Or perhaps…" Lynd then realized something.

"I see… Seeker's using a different method to train me… Instead of my life, he's using our resources on the line to pressure me…" Lynd's expression grew sour.

"But why Peals of Thunder? There should be subtler ways to affect a crowd." Lynd wondered.

"Oh well." Lynd decided to just stop pondering.

"Is Meryl ok? I'm still worried about her."

Halley's brows rose as if she heard a weird joke,

"She defeated Typical. One of the most dangerous assassins on Earth that could easily kill a squadron of soldiers with Exoskeletons and Armors. I'm sure a single pervert won't be a problem for her."

"I'm just not too comfortable with this. Our actions are so drastic now. We are changing the world at such an alarming rate. I was even surprised by Seeker's plan to bankrupt those organizations around the world! That's just crazy!"

"Seeker did say those enemy organizations allied with the Aragarians like a whore to her pimp. If you ask me, they deserve this." Halley casually retorted.

"Oh well… Although revealing Peals of Thunder could be dangerous I'm sure Seeker has plans for this…" Lynd shrugged his shoulders.

"You'd just be frightening kids and disturbing their concentration with your sound. How can that be dangerous?"

"Well… it's like this. Ever since we've discovered the strange Paths… we've vastly underestimated Earth. For some strange reasons… there were more people with the potential to become Ranked Heroes and Overcomers in this world. If I reveal Peals of thunder… they might notice it. I don't know what Zeek's planning. I'm guessing he's trying to lure more people to check me out."

"Well… knowing how overprotective your boss is of you, I'm sure he has interesting plans to make them stop."

"Yeah. He must be using other means to ensure that I continue to grow. And 2 billion credits just seem to be the best way to pressure me. Anyways… tell me if you feel that Arthur's acting odd. I'm guessing Zeek's planning on using Arthur to train us. Just like the Tyrant Empress will be used to train the Overcomers, Arthur might be used to train us in another mock battle."

"A mock battle? What do you mean?"

"Ever since we got back from China, Zeek's been putting up a shroud of emotions that masks his true emotions from me. I can't see through it. It's…strange… He's hiding something from me. And what worries me is that although he was the one who told Arthur that he must protect Meryl because of their future romance, Zeek's been turning a blind eye to Meryl and Danny's growing relationship. And worse… even Arthur seemed to be doing nothing about it."

"So you're thinking that Seeker's going to use Arthur to attack you once he gets too jealous of Danny?"

"I know Arthur likes Meryl. He tries to hide it but I know he does. That's why I assume Zeek wants us to go into some form of civil war."

"Sounds reckless." Halley frowned.

"I'm just confused about this current arrangement. Arthur's away from Meryl. I know they could have made more arrangements to not separate the two. And I thought Seeker was after Kristine. But ever since China, he's been keeping himself distant to her."

"He's an Overcomer now… Perhaps… his desire for love has changed." Halley concluded.

"I'm just worried. Seeker's adult memories are messing with him… I'm just afraid he'd go on and do something… reckless…" Lynd sighed.

While Lynd and Halley continued to discuss the future plans of their group, a meeting of lesser importance was taking place on a small café near Seeker's house. A pair of young teens sat down and started to eat, ordering an extremely normal dish.

Yet the normal dishes that were being ordered could not much the status of these hungry customers.

"So this is what we've resorted to…" Charm smiled as she noticed Lara's eyes.

"Wha-what?" Lara was confused.

"Why have we been eating near Seeker Carlean's apartment?"

"What?" Lara was surprised.

"Oh come on. Despite my poor family, I'm still someone who could get the right information. I was trying to dig where Seeker has been hiding for the past few days to tell you. Who would have thought you already knew? No wonder you wanted to eat here!" Charm laughed.

Lara giggled.

"Fine. You caught me. Well… it's not like we'd actually meet him. He's probably staying at that military base."

"Yeah. I heard about that too. General Harker's quite a paranoid guy."

"Oh well."

The two continued chatting about Seeker.

After a few minutes, the person who was seated behind the two received a message on his comm device and immediately stood up and went for the back exit.

Standing at the back, a man who wore the exact set of clothes of the exiting person stood and waited.

"Is that them?"

"Sir, yes sir." The soldier answered back.

"They have been talking about you. It seems that the Diamon has a crush on you, Sir."

"Mind your own business, soldier. How long have you been in this area?"

"About three hours. I've changed locations various times to make it look like I've been here a while."

"Good. Go and change. A spare set of the clothes I wore coming here is in the closet. Leave and take a roundabout trip back to the base. As long as your figure makes an appearance, there'll be fewer chances that the WGP or the Aragarians can track my movements."

"Sir, yes sir." The soldier walked towards the bathroom and Seeker strode in.

As Seeker entered the room wearing the exact clothes and having the exact height and build of the soldier who had just left, Seeker glanced at Charm and Lara from afar.

Seeker then observed every small and micro-movement that Lara gave. Suddenly, his vision grew more powerful.

Forcing his vision to reach the level of Surmounting, Seeker employed Surmounting Sight to analyze the girl Lara to the cellular level.

Seeker frowned. The dissatisfaction on his face was shown for a few seconds.

Almost immediately Seeker realized it.

"I'm actually disappointed that it's not her…" Seeker sighed.

It was then as if his consciousness had created a visual representation of his own self and appeared before him.

"Of course I am… You know what she did before she died." A figure which had the exact looks of Seeker's future self stood next to him.

Seeker was surprised to see an older Seeker appear. He was dressed quite casually, but his appearance was exactly what it was when he 'died.'

Eventually, Seeker calmed down.

"Really? Visualization? You could actually manifest and exist in this way?" Seeker frowned.

The adult only smiled.

"The cons of an Unlocked mind." The adult laughed.

"How did you manifest into that form?"

"When you inherited my memories, the fact that you are also me, allowed me to take advantage of something. It's like your brain has actually revived me. Think about what you have been doing. You have been immersing yourself in my memories allowing the current you to understand me better and better. But at the same time, you also have been trying to seal me off. With these two conflicting actions, and the fact that you have a brain that is more sensitive, powerful and capable than a normal human being, wouldn't it just be logical for me to appear?"

"Logical? Going by the way you have been explaining these things to me makes it look like you are smarter than me. How do you explain that?"

"Ah… Such a cute kid. It's because you were trying to seal me off but have also immersed yourself in my memories. Think about it. Even without the Unlocking, there are people in this world who suffer from split personalities and have severe hallucinations. These people suffer from those psychological disorders because their minds have been going beyond the intended limitations and have been working against itself. So what would happen to someone who has such unique circumstances as yourself?"

Seeker was silent. Suddenly he almost laughed.

"So you mean to say… the reason why you appear smarter than me and have been explaining things to me, is because I have been communing and, at the same time, avoiding you? So in short, I am equally as smart as you, but because of the Unlocking, I divided our personalities, our wisdom, and intellect?"

"Bingo. Truth be told, you knew the answer as to why I appeared, but you sealed that off making it only accessible to me. In short, you're insane." The adult laughed.

"But why now… Wait… don't tell me!" Seeker was then in deep thought.

If the Adult Seeker was right, then he should know this answer already. The process of thought that Seeker underwent was so strange. No normal human being could comprehend the act of what Seeker was doing. It was as if, he was thinking and drawing knowledge from another person.

Seeker then sighed in relief as he managed to break the seal that divided the knowledge and wisdom between the two.

"It was back then. When I used Surmounting Thought and created an extra thought process. You took advantage of my additional thought process and manifested yourself through it… That was you earlier. I thought that those strange thoughts would only be limited to being thoughts. I never expected it to become like this. That you'd actually manifest." Seeker recalled the odd thoughts that spoke when he used Surmounting Thought.

"Right and wrong. You knew I would manifest… well, a part of you did. And that part is me. You both knew and didn't knew that doing so would create me. A part of you made it possible to create me. Sounds complicated right?" The adult laugh.

"I really am insane." Seeker felt a headache and grasped his forehead.

"Yes. But don't worry. I'll come in handy in battle. The stronger you get in the Unlocking, the better it is for me. Think of this way. With me around, you have a permanent extra thought process."

Seeker was stunned.

"You mean… I managed to grasp Lennox's foundations?"

"Of course. He's been training me to do that on my timeline, remember? But now that you met Lennox earlier, it was easier to develop it. What helped was Arthur."

"I see. The foundations of Instant Calculation. It allows complex thought processes to become simpler because of the basic calculation skills…"

"Yes. The need to create an additional thought process was extremely taxing to the brain even if it was Unlocked. But with Arthur's skill, the process became simpler. With instant calculation the energy, effort and focus needed to maintain an additional thought process became lighter. But don't think you can pass this one to your friends. Only those who have Selective Unlocking can do this."

Seeker sighed. An additional thought process would prove extremely beneficial for the Unlocked.

"Not to mention, you are a special case. You have another memory in you. And that other memory is still you. That naturally made it easier for a permanent me to appear. Don't worry. With me by your side, I can easily help you with my vast experience and you can even make me take over you."

"Hmph. I guess that's one advantage. At least this way I know who's thought or desires I'm listening too."

The adult laughed.

"Right. With us being seperated, I won't be able to manipulate you."

Seeker raised an eyebrow.

"Won't be able to manipulate me? Yeah right.. You clearly want me to go and talk to that girl. And I'm sure that that emotion stems from you! Isn't that manipulation?"

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