Chapter 116: Ch 116: The Sample Data

While Noah was being dragged into the room by Alan and Daniel after the bomb situation, Erin and the other teachers had their own situation to take care of.

Mainly, the threat of the bomb that had finally reached them.

"What a mess. Apparently, that first attack was not everything. We are still dealing with a bomb. Does anyone have any idea where it could be?"

A guide teacher asked, barely holding the espers back using her artifacts. The fact that they had lost their esper teachers (except Erin) was a tragedy.

"I can try looking around for the artifact, but I might need some time."

Erin assured while playing with his artifact. It was to show off that this was the reason he was not affected by the bomb waves.

Not that he was being doubted by the other teachers. They only nodded at him, knowing fully well that he was the only one who could move through the waves of espers outside.

"Alright, then we will leave this to you."

The teachers handed their authority over to Erin, who quickly got to work. He extended his hand, and a blue bird appeared in his palm. It looked around before splitting into five parts and running off.

His ability allowed the bird to act as a guide, and at the end of each segmented road was the possibility of the bomb.

Erin picked a direction and followed a bird. After doing this two times, he finally found the bomb. Now all that was left to do was defuse it, but Erin did not reach for the bomb.

Instead, he took out his phone to look at the message.

"What a hassle. I might be out of the labs, but I am still bound by them. I guess you and I are not that different, Noah. And I do hope you are able to break free, just like you wanted."

Erin’s hand unconsciously reached for his throat, where the mark of his imprisonment was hidden. It blended into his skin, making it impossible to see.

But as long as that mark was there, the labs could control him, and Erin would never truly be free. The same was true for Noah.

"One day, I will break the shackles for both of us, Noah. And that will be the day we will attain true freedom. Until then..."

The bomb had precious data that needed to be sent back, but Erin was not worried about an investigation.

After all, this academy was also a testing ground for the labs.

Noah was mistaken about a few things, and Erin did not want to break his heart by telling him the truth. His poor guide thought that the labs had started to decline after that fire and that was what allowed the other kids to run away.

But he could not be more wrong.

In fact, that fire all those years ago had also been a controlled experiment, and all the kids that "ran" away were being closely monitored. It won’t be long before those kids start appearing in the academy.

Daniel and Alan were no different. Even their easy-going current lives were a part of a controlled experiment, not to mention this academy.

"Tsk, the more you overlook it, the better your life would be. I wish I could overlook it all as well. Unfortunately, it was too late."

The only reason Erin, or rather Bluey, knew this was because he had been a bird small enough to be forgotten by the scientists. He had heard them talking about experiments and other things.

But Erin never had the courage to tell Noah about all of this and break his heart.

’This will be a secret that I take to my grave, no matter what. Noah does not need to deal with this bullshit.’

For now, he needed to send this bomb back to the labs somehow.

"Professor Erin, why are you kneeling here? Did you find anything?"

Ethan’s question surprised Erin. He had not expected the other kid to still be conscious, much less moving around and asking him questions.

But one look told Erin that the kid was only able to stand like this because of sheer determination and nothing else. This...reminded Erin too much of the experimental files of the labs that he had seen.

Perhaps Ethan was an experiment as well who had been left all alone because he was deemed too unstable or useless. This was something Erin would never know, nor did he desire to know.

His only goal was to help Noah attain freedom before his time ran out, and for that purpose, he would do anything.

So even if he had to smile and do the lab’s bidding, he did not mind. After all, this was all going to help him with his end goal.

...

knock

In the end, Noah ended up walking to Erin’s door to know more about the situation at hand. He had tried listening in to other teachers’ conversations, only to realize that they also had no idea what was going on.

So Erin was his only source of information right now.

Luckily for him, Erin was in his office when he arrived, and he opened the door for Noah to enter.

"Noah? Is it alright for you to be here? You..."

Erin’s voice trailed off as he looked at Noah’s neck, which was covered in marks. That intense stare started to make Noah’s face burn, but he pretended he was fine and not bothered by that look.

"It is nothing. Please do not pay attention to this. Anyway, I am here to discuss what happened yesterday. Can I come in?"

Noah asked, and Erin kept staring at his neck for a whole minute more before he realized what Noah was asking for. He flinched before stepping back.

"Of course. Please come in. What can I get you? Tea? Coffee?"

"Erin...are you nervous right now?"

Noah could not help but ask this question with his eyes narrowed and Erin flinched before letting out a nervous laughter.