Adam entered the shower imdiately.
He washed in silence, letting the water steady his breathing before changing into sothing more comfortable. Then he sat on the edge of the bed, posture straight despite the fatigue pressing at his shoulders.
Everything had moved too quickly.
One mont he had been facing a tide. The next, a Lord. Now he was officially dead to the world.
The status quo shifted like a poorly written novel.
He almost found it amusing.
Adam let the thought go.
Acceptance was already complete. What mattered now was acceleration.
For Redy to keep dying and regressing, even with partial mories, ant repeated failure against the Family.
He corrected himself.
No.
It ans I have been failing.
He couldn’t properly quantify the scale of an organization capable of forcing that outco.
Even with his broken abilities. Even with a regressor’s intervention.
That implied layered power, institutional reach and strategic redundancy.
The Family had existed for a long ti in the Alliance and their influence likely perated multiple of its divisions. If a single Profound Lord was already a asurable threat, then the higher tiers of that structure would eclipse anything he had encountered so far.
To oppose them would require more than raw growth.
It would require systemic disruption.
Will this ti even be different?
The Family had endured across cycles.
Adaptation was part of their identity.
He exhaled slowly.
Those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat it and in this case, the history is the future.
Adam’s gaze steadied.
He would give everything.
And if it still led to death, then he would make sure the Family paid a price equal to it.
After calming his breathing, he shifted focus.
Growth first.
Revenge required capacity.
He sat cross-legged on the bed.
I need my own unique absorption thod.
According to Redy any technique other than that created ceilings.
If he wanted exponential growth, he needed structural efficiency unique to him.
But for now this would have to do, as he activated the upgraded essence technique.
Essence gathered naturally around him.
His pores opened and closed in controlled rhythm. Breath synchronized with intake. The mid-tier region’s ambient essence density was noticeably richer than the low-tier zones he had trained in before.
Absorbing here felt like standing in a stream instead of drawing from scattered droplets.
The flow entered smoothly, stable and refined.
Then he heard a knock.
Adam halted the absorption instantly and activated Connect, expanding his perception through linked threads and noticed a single presence with no hostility.
He rose and opened the door to see Ivy standing there.
****
As Adam opened the door, he was about to ask what she was doing there, but Ivy stepped forward as if to enter but his arm ca up instantly, blocking the doorway.
"What are you here for?"
She stopped. Seeing he wouldn’t budge, she sighed lightly.
"I’m here to implant the device that will help hide your identity."
That was quick.
Then a word registered.
"Implant?"
She nodded casually.
"Yeah. Sothing that keeps your identity hidden even from powerhouses requires at least that."
So it’s not a wearable, it’s an internal concealnt.
"Does it really work like that?"
She crossed her arms.
"Well. I’m an expert."
Adam observed her properly now, her pink hair was loose over her shoulders, she wore casual pink loungewear and a faintly boastful expression tugged at her lips.
For an expert, you don’t look the part.
He didn’t voice that.
"So how do we do this?"
"You need to be comfortable," she said. "Most preferably in a lying position."
He paused.
"Will the implant hurt?"
A small grin flashed across her face.
"Are you afraid of a little pain?"
He t her eyes evenly.
"No. I’m afraid I’ll be caught unaware and end up slicing off your head."
Ivy jolted, as goosebumps visibly rose along her arms.
Adam let out a short laugh.
"I’m kidding."
He stepped aside, but this ti, she entered cautiously and the earlier smugness was gone.
He closed the door behind them and lay down on the bed, while Ivy retrieved several items from her storage ring.
A spray can.
Cotton wool.
A compact tal box.
It was a systematic preparation.
"Please take off your shirt."
Her tone was professionally focused now.
Adam complied without comnt, pulling the fabric over his head. He lay back down, muscles relaxed but awareness heightened.
His eyes tracked her movents, as she handed him a thick folded cloth.
He blinked once.
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"It’s for your earlier question."
He looked at the cloth for a mont before sighing and placing the cloth between his teeth and biting down firmly.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Adam gave a quick nod.
Then the spray touched the side of his neck and a cool mist spread across his skin.
For half a second, it felt harmless.
Then the sensation shifted to a burning one, that wasn’t just at the surface-level but went deeper than that.
As if sothing were lting through layers.
His body jerked instinctively, but he gripped the bedsheets tightly instead, forcing stillness.
Pain detonated through his nerves like a collision, but he didn’t make a sound and endured it.
What a strong will...
Ivy kept her thoughts steady as she worked. Scott had passed out the first ti she implanted his. He had been completely unconscious before she even finished the surface preparation.
But Adam hadn’t made a sound.
A circular patch of skin along the side of his neck now looked charred and burned away in a precise ring as though a layer had been cleanly removed.
The spray had dissolved the outer dermal structure to create a no bloody compatible interface.
But the exposed tissue beneath was raw.
She took the specialized cotton and began cleaning the area.
The mont it made contact, Adam’s grip on the sheets tightened visibly.
His muscles flexed involuntarily.
Still there was no sound.
The cotton wasn’t ordinary. It carried conductive agents designed to synchronize with nerve endings and suppress rejection. The secondary effect was a necessary intensified sensitivity.
Ivy worked efficiently.
Any hesitation would only prolong the discomfort.
Once the area was fully prepared, she opened the tal box.
Inside lay a thin strip resembling dead skin. At a glance, it appeared fragile, brittle and lifeless.
But beneath the surface, faint micro-etchings ran through it, minute circuitry woven so delicately it was almost invisible. Layered fibers interlocked with nano-conductive channels.
This was one of her greatest inventions.
The Type 6 — Tier 1 Disguise Armant.
Fake Skin.
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