Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday-Chapter 185: Good Offer (III)

The weight of Grace’s words hung heavy in the air, and for the first time, Professor Neil seemed to falter completely. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he looked back at his team, most of whom were staring at him with fear and uncertainty.

Taking in a deep breath, Grace softened her tone as she spoke again. "Professor, I’m not here to harm you or your team. I saved you because I see value in your work, and I want you to help me with my research. But I’m not going to waste my time and resource on someone who doesn’t want to work with me. The choice is yours, but I hope you will choose wisely."

Professor Neil swallowed hard, and his gaze dropped to the floor as he seemed to weigh his options. The silence lasted for a long while, but no one spoke at all. Finally, he looked up and fixed his gaze at his team.

Even before he could have voiced out his thought, a man from his team stepped forward and spoke in a determined voice. "We will follow your decision, Professor. All of us."

The rest of the team immediately nodded their heads to show that they totally agreed with the the man’s words. They all were ready to follow Professor Neil no matter what decision he was going to make.

Looking at the expression on professor Neil’s face, Grace felt like she was looking at herself. He was going through the same emotions she felt when her team showed this exact kind of faith and loyalty to her. Moments like these could leave a person wondering what they even did to deserve such loyalty.

She waited in silence, and a few more moments passed, but the Professor Neil finally turned to face her, ready to inform her about his decision.

"Fine." He said out loud and clear, looking right into her eyes. "We will work with you... or for you. But I want guarantees - my team’s safety comes first. You will not treat my team any less than your own."

The smile returned to Grace’s lips and she finally stood up from her seat and took a step closer to Professor Neil remained standing still. "Once you will join me, you and your team will become my people, and I know how to treat my people. You will be given the same treatment as the rest of the people here. No more, no less."

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Professor Neil nodded his head and took in a deep breath. When he returned his attention back to her face, the hostility and fear was almost gone from his eyes. "What exactly are you offering us, and what do you want from us in return."

The fact that he was interested in these details was a good sign, hence Grace didn’t dismiss the question. "You will have a safe, clean, and warm place to stay, good food to eat, proper clothes, my full support for your research, and my protection."

"As for your second question, you already know the answer. I want you to study the mutation that Shadow and Blood Rain have initiated in different species... including humans." The moment she added the last bit of information, Professor Neil’s expression shifted to that of confusion.

"What do you mean by humans?" He asked.

"Haven’t you wondered that if these rains can bring these changes in the plants and animals, then the same can be possible with the humans who came in contact with them? The clear example are the zombies out there who got infected when they came in contact with Blood Rain." Grace pointed out the obvious that somehow went unnoticed by Professor and his team.

"Are you saying that the... Shadow Rain... brought some kind of changes in humans too? But we haven’t noticed anything." Professor Neil was at a complete loss this time and the expressions on his team members faces made it obvious that they too had no idea about this particular matter.

"That’s right." Grace answered, taking the entire research team by surprise.

Professor Neil quickly exchanged a glance at his team before he asked, "What kind f changes are you talking about?"

Grace shrugged before she answered in a tone as if she was talking about weather instead of a really important topic. "Like the magical abilities you witnessed when I found you. The way I made all those boxes disappear and the portal we used to return to this place - they are the special abilities we unlocked because of the Shadow Rain."

Professor Neil immediately started shaking his head, not yet believing her. "That can’t be possible. We have seen no such thing so far." He stated in a determined tone while the members of his team exchanged nods of agreement between them.

Grace tilted her head to the side and observed Professor Neil and his team for a moment or two before asking, "Did anyone among you got exposed to the Shadow Rain?"

Professor Neil nodded his head before answering, "All of us. We were out on a field trip when the rain happened. We did find a shelter soon but we all came in contact with that black liquid."

"Then have you noticed that there are some sorts of changes in your bodies? Like getting healthy despite not eating enough food, good senses, increase in stamina, anything of the sort?" Grace asked and noticed as Professor Neil’s expression changed again and he nodded his head in a positive response.

"That’s because of the changes that black liquid is bringing in you all. Eventually, you all are going to unlock similar powers like me and my team mates. And so will the rest of the population that came in contact with the Shadow Rain. So, I don’t have magic, and the government will not be interested in me when every other person out there will possess a power similar to mine."

It was clear that Professor Neil had a lot of questions, but she was done talking for the day. It wasn’t easy to make someone completely clueless understand everything, that was going on, within hours.

But she soon realized that she was facing an even bigger problem...