"Ha…Ha…" Panting uncontrollably, Kai used his hands to support him to avoid falling down.

"Kai?!" Ria, who was beside him this whole time, looked at him worriedly before checking his condition.

"Is there any problem with my body? If not, I would like to eat…" Kai looked at her with a pale face. It had been a tortuous six days. "I have never thought that it will take this long, and I can't do anything about it."

Ria monitored his data before nodding her head. "There is nothing wrong with the data. You should be able to eat, just don't eat too much for several hours because your stomach will reject it and can't digest it properly."

She handed nutritious food she ordered not long ago while taking off every single instrument that was attached to his body. "You have done it, right? Would you like to rest first or talk while eating?"

Kai forced a big haul inside his mouth before nodding his head to answer her question. After having a few bites, he finally started talking. "That was insane. I didn't want to do it again. Anyway, it was better to do it since my memory was still fresh. I hadn't slept for almost a week, so I didn't know what would happen after waking up."

"I see. I have supported you with some machines, but I need to check your body again later. Anyway, what happened?"

"If I need to say it, it's like reading a packed-action novel. You will find a smooth opening, climax, another climax, and a few more climaxes before reaching the ending." Kai sighed. "At first, everything went smoothly since it was still building up. When the blood became active, I felt severe pain all over my body."

"Pain? Do you know what caused it?"

"I am not sure, but I feel that the two blood in my body is clashing with each other, trying to assert their own dominance. It turns into a full-fledged war from a brawl, so you can imagine the pain…That I am not sure of myself whether I can stay the same."

"You are becoming a masochist?" She smirked as she couldn't help but tease him. "Well, looking at the girls' personalities, I am sure Michelle will be the perfect one…"

Kai shrugged. "Anyway, I don't think I can experience something that is more painful than that. Anyway, I can suppress the animal blood with my strength, slowly taking over the blood. As you know, those who had experienced what it meant to have animal blood injected into you would understand what it means when your consciousness got taken over by the magical beast power, right?"

"I see. It was something like that but several times more powerful?"

"Yes. I mean, the animal blood that I have in my body stemmed from a Protector that could be said to be the ruler of the jungle. If you think it that way, I don't think people need to be alarmed since they might not experience the same thing. Either way, they still need to be prepared for it." Kai nodded.

"I will note it down for future research."

"Well, the pain kept increasing every single day until it reached its peak on the fifth day. You should have noticed the fact that I didn't scream during the sixth days, right?"

"Yeah. You only let out some groans every now and then, so I thought you had either grown accustomed to the pain or felt less pain." She nodded.

"Yeah. The pain slowly decreased, and I could endure that kind of pain without a problem." Kai nodded with a serious expression. "After the pain receded, I could feel that the blood had finished its "war" and stop confronting each other."

"What do you feel about your blood? Anything new?"

"I am not sure. I can sense the animal blood better, but I think it's more docile than I've expected. If I stimulate it again, I think it will be lending its power."

"Is it something like a parasite inside your body?"

"Nope. I don't think it's like that. It doesn't do anything to me, but if I stimulate it, it will come to me like a dog meeting its master after being away for months. You can imagine how they will go to your foot while wagging their tails, right? That's the feeling I have right now, and yes, I believe this blood will give me power more than I have before." Kai smiled.

She nodded and took note of all his statements while maintaining her focus on Kai's food, making sure that he didn't eat too much.

"Of course, I can't let you see for now because the "war" has just been concluded. Besides, I need to take over the entire "government" system."

"I see. It's like you have finally made it as your subordinate, but you still need to get used to it, so the other party would help you willingly." She nodded with a serious expression.

"Yeah. Still, I feel it will give me more strength…Probably, I can reach two thousand kilograms strength with the addition of the exoskeleton."

"It's double of your previous power then?"

"Yeah. No matter what you said, the blood contained the previous protector's blood, so I should say as expected…Even with a very low portion, the power contained inside it was still far too strong than your average person."

"That's indeed something encouraging in terms of research, but I doubt I can publish something like this either." She shrugged. "I mean, we will become too dangerous for the government. I doubt they will sit still when they learn about this."

"Yeah. I don't even know whether to give this method to Ayaka due to the dangerous level she would face. Besides, Exoskeleton should be enough for now, considering I have promised everyone a present."

"That's good then. I don't think anyone can surpass you in terms of strength…"

"Yeah, but you need to know that I will fight against other protectors, especially the ones that seem to target us." Kai furrowed his eyebrows. "If I don't have enough strength, I will die. In other words, this will be a race of time whether I can get enough strength first or they realize everything first and kill me."

"Indeed. Unfortunately, the future spotlight would be on you. I will be sitting on the back while watching your heroic deeds." She grinned.

"Stop with the jokes. I am too tired to do that." Kai sighed. "Anyway, make sure you camouflage my intention in getting a new source of power from the higher-ups. With how they act so perfectly, I have a feeling that there is a spy among the higher-ups."

"Fair enough. From time to time, they have perfect timing…" She thought for a moment. "I will only be talking about this mission with our President Brent while his supremacy lasts. He has done a pretty good job, so I guess we can see him again in the next period…So, we will see him for at least five more years."

"That's good. Five years should be enough to do many things."

"In that case, I will be doing what I need to do." She nodded.

"Anyway, I think I have finished my food…Although I am still hungry, I can't eat more than this, right?"

"Yes. It won't be good for your body. Just have enough to drink first and go to sleep."

Kai then took the water bottle and drank it in one go. As soon as he finished, he sighed. "Then, I will be leaving everything to you, Teacher. You can bring me to the usual operation room to monitor me, but I really need to sleep. It's been six days—"

Before he finished, he already fell asleep.

Seeing that Kai would fall to the ground, she pulled him to his embrace, letting him sleep comfortably. She looked at his big black bag under his eyes and stroked his hair. "Seriously…What can I do to you? You have been reckless this whole time. Well, this personality of yours saved me when I had no motivation to continue living. It is true that we need to do whatever we want when we are still strong enough. Sleep well, my beloved student. You've worked hard."

She predicted that Kai would sleep for the entire three days if she calculated the torture he experienced during the process, but to her surprise, Kai only took two days before waking up.

He found a familiar ceiling when he opened his eyes and instantly recognized it. The pain started becoming more apparent when he woke up. It was normal since humans usually felt a headache after having too much sleep.

Even so, he felt that his body moved very well, and his senses improved slightly. However, he couldn't really sense the difference in his ears. It might be due to his ears being too powerful to begin with, so he didn't think much about it and continued to check his body.

'I can move my body without a problem. Other than the headache that will go away soon, I don't think there is a problem with my body. I only need to adjust to my current state…' Kai thought before rising from the bed.

Coincidentally, Ria came inside the room and stared at him blankly for a few seconds. In her hands were piping hot instant noodles. She noticed that Kai's eyes were glued on that, so she awkwardly asked, "Ehm…Do you want some?"

She knew that Kai hated junk food, but to her surprise, Kai only smiled. "Actually, I am very hungry, and I feel like having one with you."

"Alright. I will brew a few more cups for us together. We can start with this cup first…Here, take this." She handed the cup noodle before leaving. "I will get us bowls."

"…" Kai stared at her blankly before shaking his head helplessly.