Endless Evolution: Last Star - Chapter 829

Chapter 829: A Thousand Years? (Part 1)

Adam’s eyes went wide, his pupils fluttering in an attempt to grasp reality. Lone Blaze’s words rolled through his mind time after time.

‘One thousand years…?’ he thought.

Other than that, he had real values in percentages. All he had to do was do the math and come up with the same number – one thousand years.

“Wait…”

Adam touched his forehead, mumbling something.

“It’s true… One thousand years. No, it can’t be. That’s too long, even if I had ten lives I’d hardly have enough.”

Then, he stopped an idea coming to him. He turned sharply to Lone Blaze wanting to tell her his guess.

“The Second Key, I just need the energy to fill it, right? In that case, crystals, genes, essences, artifacts, and any other resources from the Dead Lands should help me, right?”

Lone Blaze stared at the hundreds of floating stars for a while as if trying to figure out their positions, after that, she nodded deeply.

“Yes, the more energy and higher density the better. It will help speed up the process considerably.”

Before Adam could rejoice, lone Blaze narrowed her eyes:

“However… There’s no way we can affect the speed at which the energy is sent to the Second Key.”

Adam got a baffled expression.

“What do you mean?”

With a deep sigh, Lone Blaze turned to him, a heaviness filling her eyes.

“Even if you get an infinite source of energy right now, because of the limitations of your Evolution Tree, because of your bounds of the K2-Phantom, it will take you at least fifty years.”

Thump.

His legs trembled, and he stepped back before he fell, shocked.

“Fifty years?!”

Lone Blaze lowered her gaze. She hadn’t done anything wrong, but she felt guilty.

“I’m sorry… But, it’s not a mistake. At least I don’t see any other option. I think you should think about where to find a great enough power source…”

Adam didn’t seem to hear her, staring into the void. He didn’t even want to consider that option, he wasn’t going to create the Second Key for fifty years!

Then, Seyrina’s words rang in his head.

Adam’s gaze grew deeper. It was his only hope.

“Hmm…” he hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “The way she said it with that smirk… She knew it was going to happen. I see, so this is how it’s supposed to be.”

Whooooooosh.

Suddenly, a purple star flew out of Initial Gene as Moira appeared before them.

She placed her hands at her sides, glaring at them irritably like a teacher at troubled students.

“Moira…?” Adam tilted his head in confusion, ” Do you have something to say?”

“Yes, I am. This!”

With a sharp sweep, she pointed to the Second Key.

“Haven’t you realized by now that it’s all about the stars? They absorb your energy and form the key, which means there’s something wrong with them.”

Adam’s pupils dilated. After Moira’s words, his view of the Second Key changed.

“Hah, that could work.”

Now, he no longer saw stars, but hundreds of gears of a complex and unclear mechanism in front of him.

‘Perhaps, Moira is right…’

Adam rose slowly, immersed in thought.

‘If parts or gears in a mechanism fail, the mechanism doesn’t necessarily stop working completely. However, even if it continues to work, its efficiency falls, inevitably, to rock bottom.’

In a heartbeat, Adam found himself facing the Second Key.

Moira and Lone Blaze jerked their heads sharply following his lightning-fast movement. He didn’t use his inner space powers before, but now he did so without thinking.

The only thing he was interested in was the hundreds of stars floating in front of him.

“Hmm… I should check it out first.”

With a slight wave of his hand, the Evolution Tree trembled. Two thin streams of white energy headed towards the Second Key, it was what little Adam remained.

Moira and Lone Blaze exchanged glances. They didn’t dare disturb Adam. Moira gave him an idea, but she didn’t know if she was right or if it was even possible to affect the stars.

Adam’s blue eyes grew brighter, shining like gems.

At the same time, two streams approached the stars, disappearing into them like a void. It seemed that nothing new happened, Adam just wasted his energy without making even 0.001% progress.

However… he noticed something.

“For this star, the energy came up on the left and this one on the right, but… is the energy going out or disappearing into them? What if I just need to make a path for them?”

Then, Adam extended his right hand, gingerly touching the second star. He placed it in front of the first star so that a straight line could be drawn between them.

His idea was to let the energy travel further, allowing the two stars to work together.

With apparent concern, Adam raised his eyes, looking at his Evolution Tree. He realized that his energy would only last for one attempt, after that, he would need a long rest.

Adam nodded deeply.

“Well, I have no other choice either way. Before I contact Seyrina, I need to know if I’ve tried everything.”

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

With the next tremble, the energy came out of the Evolution Tree. This time there was only a single, lonely stream, reflected in Adam’s pale face. His powers were at their lowest.

He watched as the second star absorbed the energy. It was ready to disappear without, giving any progress in return, just as it had before, yet… at some point the star shuddered.

Adam’s eyes reflected a blue line coming out of the second star moving straight toward the first. A quick pulse ran along the line, transferring its energy to the second star.

Then, a mechanical voice sounded in his head:

[The Second Key progress: 0.0004%]

Adam’s corners of his lips went upwards, laughter was ready to burst out.

“Hah… Either it’s just a coincidence and I was missing exactly that tiny bit of energy, or…”

He looked at the two connected stars.

“It allowed me to speed up considerably. But…”

With a serious expression, Adam raised his eyes, staring at the hundreds of hovering stars.

“How much faster will that make progress, exactly?”