The Genesis God''s blessing rained down on An and bathed him with experience points and SoulTime. Slowly, they sunk deep into his skin and made their way towards his Soul System.


    [You have received 5000 years of SoulTime]


    [You have received 10,000 experience points]


    An looked at his current lifespan.


    [SoulTime]


    —5050yrs : 116d : 01hrs : 34min : 09s


    With 5000 years, he would be able to survive a fight against Specialist-level Canzers a lot better. ording to Ninth and her team, they usually lose more than a thousand years of SoulTime whenever they fight against one Specialist Canzer in a mission.


    This meant that he would not die in one hit from a Specialist Canzer. He would only die from five hits.


    Although that was a terrifying thought, An didn''t have to worry about losing Soultime with his battle suit. It was perfectly capable of deterring an attack of that kind of magnitude for at least 5 full-powered attacks.


    So in total, An could survive against Canzers in 10 hits.


    Although that seemed low, it was mighty impressive for a Student-realm Savior like him. Even those in the Pre-Intern or Intern realm would not be able to withstand the full power of a Specialist Canzer for one attack.


    [Experience: 114,911.2]


    An had no LifeSkill to pour his experience onto yet, so An''s only option for getting strong was to increase his mastery of mutations. However, he''d have to fight a Canzer and win only using his mutations for him to increase its mastery.


    Surviving is hard enough. Beating a Canzer three realms above me is impossible.


    "I wish you all the best, young man." The Reverend quickly departed once the blessing was over.


    "Have you finished your preparations?" Ninth walked over to An. Her team was ready to embark, and they were only waiting on the Star Porter.


    "Yes. I''m done with my preparations."


    "By the way, the Reverend left early. Did you say something wrong to him?"


    "Hm? Oh. It''s nothing. We just argued a bit about Gods and all that."


    Ninth gave An a weird look.


    "Whatever. Carmine inspected the Church and saw an increasing intensity of the Symptoms. They''re trying to get into the Church. We don''t have any time to spare."


    An nodded and quickly went over the barricades along with Ninth.


    In the middle of the empty and deste road was a circr portal with a ck shimmering liquid inside its area.


    This portal wasrge enough for the team to enter without breaking off their formation. The Elder Heads instructed the Operators to not skimp on the creation of this portal to make sure that the mission would go smoothly.


    They didn''t know whether a Canzer would be weing them as soon as they entered the Remedium, so they needed to keep their formation as tight as possible.


    As the team made their final preparations, Lizzie approached An.


    "It''s not toote to back out," she said.


    An smiled and whispered in her ears. "It''s not toote to kiss me."


    Lizzie''s cheeks immediately turned red. She bashed her arms on his chest repeatedly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I told you to forget that!"


    "How could I? It might be thest memory you''ll ever have of me."


    She punched his chest again. "Don''t joke about that."


    An took her hand and held it. "I''m serious. I don''t know if I''ll be able to get out of this mission alive. But I want you to know that I''m thankful for you.


    If I do take myst breath, then I''ll die happily knowing that you let me experience something wonderful—even if it was for a totally different reason."


    "It is! I…kissed…you only for your mastery!"


    "Sure," he said sarcastically.


    She looked up at him. "You better return in one piece, or else I''ll hack you into pieces!"


    "I''ll try my best."


    "That''s not enough. I don''t care if you have to fight a God, you better return to me!"


    An smiled. "To you?"


    "I mean, you better return to us—to your friends! Wemby and Neumann are worried sick for you."


    "I''llplete the mission no matter what it takes. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I won''t let that monster blow up the entire City."


    "No! You can''t let those monsters get you!"


    "You''re not making any sense. What if I need to choose between me and the City? You want me to save myself and doom the rest of you?"


    "I want you to save yourself and the City!"


    "That''s a hard task," An said with a smirk on his face. "I''ll need sufficient motivation. What you''re entrusting me with is impossible."


    Lizzie''s entire face was red. She muttered something under her breath that An couldn''t hear properly.


    "What did you say?"


    "...back…"


    "What?"


    She stomped her feet. "I''ll…kiss…you when you get back!"


    An smiled. "That''s a promise, right?"


    "Only on the cheeks!"


    "Sure," he said sarcastically. "I''ll triumphantly return and seek your luscious lips!"


    "Shut it! Whatever! Go away!" Lizzie turned around and crossed her arms.


    An chuckled and walked over to Ninth and her team.


    "Seems you''re bonding well with Lizzie," Ninthmented.


    "Yeah. We''re close."


    "I can see that. Not everyone could make her act this way. I can practically see smokeing out of her ears. What did you say to her?"


    An smiled. "She just promised me something."


    "And that is?"


    "We''ll practice my mutation mastery…all-day-long…"


    Ninth looked at An and couldn''t understand why there was arge smile on his face as he said that.


    "It''s good that you have some motivation to get back in one piece. We''re gonna need it."


    Ninth then looked over at her team and saw their eyes respond with strength and solidarity. They were more than ready.


    "Team, this mission will be hard. I can''t guarantee everyone''s safety, but it must be done. The fate of the City is on the line. Are you ready?"


    "YES!" they screamed.


    The Scout was the first one to enter, followed by the tank and the rest of the team.


    An took a deep breath and entered the portal.