Chapter 435: Collaboration?
Michael finally began to understand what was happening. At the same time, he realized, he did not know much about this world, not to mention what existed out there.
Stewart had just mentioned that there was a probability that the falling of the meteors was deliberately done, or it could be a coincidence. But if this was all just a scheme by someone or a certain entity, what could they be aiming for?
At the same time, Michael had his own doubts. Was it possible that the system had also entered this world in the same way as the meteors? If that really was the case, then, was there a relationship between the meteors and the system?
Michael had so many questions, but he had no answers. The system never responded to any questions related to its origin. Therefore, he did not even think about asking it.
Since he could not get any answers to this, he decided to focus on what he could know, and could have selections to. Therefore, he looked at Stewart and asked, "Is there any more information that you can reveal?"
This question, it made Stewart raise his brows slightly. He did not respond immediately. Instead, he looked at Michael, as if he was trying to understand the implication of Michael’s question.
But even after looking at Michael for a while, Michael did not seem to have any other reaction. It was the same expression from the start of their conversation until now.
This made Stewart believe that there was much more than met the eye about Michael. At the same time, he thought, it seems that it was a good idea that he did not come to make an enemy out of Michael.
As long as Michael was not already an enemy, then, he believed that they could form some kind of partnership or collaboration. That way, with Michael’s background, it should be easy for them to be able to handle some things.
It was just that, he was puzzled about the fact that Michael seemed clueless about these matters. This did not make any sense. After all, if Michael was not from a formidable background, how was it possible for him to become a mutant?
It had not yet been confirmed, but from the clues that they had gotten, it was clear that Michael was a mutant. That was especially with the abilities that he had demonstrated so far.
The things about Michael, they were quite contradictory. That was of course unless Michael was just joking around. Otherwise, being a mutant, and being clueless about the information related to mutants, it did not make any sense.
At the moment, Stewart could not exactly tell if Michael was an enemy or not. Therefore, he decided not to reveal the crucial information, especially about the alliance that he had previously mentioned.
When he previously mentioned the alliance, it was mostly because he believed that Michael already knew about its existence. Most of the top forces in the world already knew about it.
It was just that, they could not tell who exactly were the core members, and how many members of that alliance were there. They could make some guesses, but they could not be too sure.
After all, the way that the alliance operated was covert. Even when they were doing things, they would use other channels, not directly. For example, Stewart could be used to cause some waves when needed. But of course, there would always be an excuse for his actions.
"What I can say is that, we are very close to succeeding. The research is progressing well, and very soon, we will also have very high grade mutation serums." Stewart explained.
He went on and explained to Michael, telling him about the mutation serum that was produced by the other forces that were against the alliance.
Even though the grade of the mutation serum that they produced was high, it had some side effects. That was something that the alliance could not allow to be released to the ordinary people.
The side effects, at first, they could be ignored. But over time, with people losing their minds, or losing control over their abilities, it could easily lead to chaos.
If the alliance wanted, they could have already released that mutation serum earlier. After all, they had already succeeded, but the moment that they realized the side effects, they did not mass-produce it.
Instead, there had been research going on, to find a way of removing the side effects. And the way to do that was by relying on the innate abilities of humans.
This was why they had been looking for humans who were born with extraordinary abilities. Through them, they would be able to find a way of making up for the side effects, or completely eliminating them.
Another thing, according to the information that they currently had, it seemed that the mutation serums had already began being released.
The alliance was trying as much as possible to prevent the spread of those defective mutation serums. But, it was impossible to be able to completely prevent it, especially if those mutants who had used the mutation serums were stronger than their own mutants.
The only thing that they could do at the moment was to try and stabilize the situation. That was why several mutants had been dispatched, so that they could handle any popping up mutants that intended to stir up trouble.
Finally, Michael got a better understanding of the situation. At the same time, he made his own judgment about this alliance.
From the little bit of information that he had gotten, he had already asked Onyx to carry out some investigation.
Since Stewart was part of the alliance, clearly, there would be others. Therefore, all that they needed to do was to look for those that interacted with Stewart.
It did not have to be a direct interaction, but it could be a form of collaboration between them. It might be indirect, but if they were aiming to achieve the same goal, then, there was a high probability that the other person was also a member of the alliance.
Considering that there was no solid information about the potential members of the alliance, it would take some time for Onyx to come up with the final list of the possible members of the alliance.
So, while Onyx was busy with that, Michael continued chatting with Stewart. He tried to get a little bit more information, but Stewart was not willing to reveal more.
Of course, Michael could use some of the skills that he had, to bait Stewart to reveal more information. But, he decided not to do that.
That could easily ruin their relationship, especially considering that Stewart seemed to be sincere about befriending him.
Michael was of course not afraid of this alliance. But, he was quite curious about the possibility of the kind of technology that they possessed. And more than that, he was also wondering about the grade of the highest mutation serum that they had ever produced.
He did not believe that they could easily release the mutation serums of the highest grade to the public. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to be able to control many mutants of the same level of strength as themselves, or even stronger.
"So, would you mind letting me know the reason why you came looking for me? I believe that you did not come over just to ask me about my background, right?" Michael finally asked after a while of chatting.
"Ahem!" Stewart cleared his throat upon hearing Michael’s question. Then, he continued to say, "That is true. The reason why I came looking for you today is quite simple. First, we would like to know what you aim for. And secondly, as long as your aim does not contradict the goal of our alliance, we would like to form a collaboration."
"So straightforward, I like that." Michael commented after Stewart finished speaking.
Michael of course had no any intention of joining them. Joining an alliance meant that he would have to act according to their regulations.
That was something that Michael did not like. He preferred freedom, and the time that he had been working for the shadow assembly gang was already too much for him to handle.
Even though Stewart had just suggested a collaboration, nobody could tell what the future held. If they were in a collaboration relationship, Michael would have to consider them partners.
Therefore, whatever he did in the future, if he wanted to maintain their relationship, he would have to consider them as well. Otherwise, if you did something that negatively impacted the alliance, it was obvious that the relationship would break.
"I’m not really sure that we can reach an agreement for long-term collaborations. But, maybe, we can reach some small collaborations about some issues.
I believe that since you are from the finance department, there is someone who is in charge of technology, right?" Michael inquired.
Stewart was shocked by Michael’s question. Just from the conversation that they had, Michael could already make such a judgment? Just how talented was this kid? Or, what kind of ability did he possess?
Despite those questions in his mind, he still went ahead and nodded. He wanted to understand what kind of collaboration Michael was talking about.
Though, in his mind, he already had an idea of the possible collaboration that Michael was referring to.
"You should know about the company that I own. We have incredible scientists, who have already done their own research. Maybe, we could have a collaboration, to release high level technology. What do you think?" Michael asked.