The Damned Demon
chapter-602

Rachel's brow unfurrowed upon hearing his words, "Off limits? You can't be serious. Then why am I—"

"I am just kidding, haha," Lenny's expression suddenly lightened into a broad grin, "It's off-limits for pretty much everyone, but I never said it's off-limits for you. We call that pyramid the Infinity Tower...the place where we are building revolutionary tech that will help this project become a success and allow us to reach the peak. So, how could I not show you what we are building? Come on. You will be excited once you get to know what we are building, hehe."

With a tentative smile, Rachel nodded, her intrigue deepening as she followed Lenny toward the fascinating structure. As they approached the Infinity Tower, its sheer size became even more imposing, the black metal surface shimmering slightly under the weak Martian sun.

Lenny led Rachel through a massive door that slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the bustling interior of the tower. "You can now remove the suit," Lenny said as he removed it and threw it into a basket. Rachel followed suit and took a deep breath of the rich mana-infused oxygen in the air.

They stepped into a vast lobby that echoed with the sound of activity. The interior was a stark contrast to the exterior, with bright lights and walls lined with large screens displaying real-time data and graphical representations of various developments happening on this planet.

The lobby buzzed with people moving briskly, their faces set with determination and focus. Most of them seemed like researchers, while the rest were assistants.

Some paused to greet Lenny and Rachel, giving her curious glances upon seeing her here for the first time before continuing on their tasks. The lobby buzzed with people moving briskly, their faces set with determination and focus. Most of them seemed like researchers, while the rest were assistants.

Some paused to greet Lenny and Rachel, giving her curious glances upon seeing her here for the first time before continuing on their tasks. Lenny pointed upward, where Rachel could see vast multiple floors open to the center of the tower, each bustling with activity, "Each level has its own focus," Lenny explained as they moved toward a sleek elevator, "Bio-mana tech, experimentation labs, habitat construction... you name it. The top floors are where the core development happens, and that's where we're headed."

Rachel could see why this building had the word "tower" attached to it. With a whooping few hundred floors in this building, one above the other until one might find it hard to see where it ends above...it definitely seemed like an Infinity Tower.

To her surprise, the elevators used here didn't make use of any teleportation, making her wonder if they were trying to not waste resources unnecessarily. But she could notice that they were powered by mana to let one reach the destination floor within a matter of seconds, no matter how high.

As the elevator ascended smoothly but swiftly, Rachel's eyes were drawn to the floors they passed, glimpsing scenes of intense activity: scientists huddled over holographic displays, mini-one-manned ships flying to and fro, and researchers moving between labs equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

She even spotted some beasts being escorted, making her wonder if they were being used for some kind of trials.

"This is where the magic happens," Lenny said, leading her through a high-tech maze, "And right over here is what I wanted you to see."

Rachel stepped into a vast circular hall, the breadth and solemnity of the setup washing over her. The large screens flickered with complex data and images of human figures. Beyond them, rows of beds were occupied by individuals from young adults to old, all lying with an air of tranquil repose. Their serene expressions belied the seriousness of the scene, and Rachel could see that every person was mana-born and connected to an array of medical and mana-monitoring equipment.

"What is going on here?" Rachel whispered, her voice a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"This is the place where we are building ourselves a new future, sweetie," A woman's voice echoed from the side as Rachel turned to see a woman looking in her late fifties with brown skin and wearing large rectangular spectacles. Her black hair was pulled back neatly and gadgets adorned her white lab attire while one of her hands was holding a tablet.

Rachel recognized her immediately—the woman's achievements in mana medicine were almost as legendary as her dad's exploits in the Hunter community.

"Dr. Lila Rajani?" she murmured, more to herself than as a question. She was surprised to see this woman here when back during the council meeting, she acted as if she was oblivious to what her dad was doing.

"Why are you addressing me in such an unfamiliar way? Most don't know but I am your daddy's best friend. Just call me Lila, okay, sweetie?" Lila's voice was mockingly warm, her smile wide, making Rachel force a smile with a slight nod.

She had a feeling her dad was close with this woman since she had seen them engage in close-quarters discussions in the past. But she didn't know that their discussions went well beyond the council.

Did this mean she would have to endure the obnoxious talking of this woman?

"Haha, so it wasn't only me. She is a bit cold to all of us, eh?" Lenny chimed in, his tone light, as if to make sure his presence didn't go unnoticed.

Lila chuckled with a exaggerated smile, her arm wrapping comfortably around Rachel's shoulder, pulling her gently along, "Why don't you let me show you around and tell you what kind of magic we are working on here."

As they walked, Rachel responded warmly to the greetings from the people lying on the beds, her smile genuine but her mind racing with questions. She looked at Lila, curiosity etched deeply in her expression, "Are these people Hunters, and what are they doing here?" she asked.

Lila smiled, "Aren't you a curious bunny? But I like that. Come over here," Lila guided Rachel towards a particularly notable person sitting up on a bed—an old woman in her late nineties whose eyes sparkled with some vigor despite her age. However, her expression turned into one of shock upon seeing Rachel walking towards her.

At the same time, Lenny caught sight of a pretty young woman lying on another bed and sauntered off to have a small chat with her.

"Lucy, I heard you were a fan of the Daughter of Justice. How does it feel to finally meet her in the flesh?" Lila asked with a playful smirk, pulling up a chair beside the old woman's bed.

Rachel approached with a polite smile, watching as a look of awe and disbelief washed over Lucy's face, "I...I feel so honored to finally meet you, Ms. Sterling. My family has always looked up to the Sterling Family. After seeing everything you went through for our world, this old woman was moved by your sheer resilience and strength. As expected from the President's daughter," Lucy managed to say, her voice tremulous with emotion.

Rachel briefly pressed her lips together before relaxing, "You are too kind, Ms. Lucy. It's a pleasure to meet you," Rachel responded warmly. She then noted the faded aura surrounding Lucy, containing lingering traces of at least a B Ranker, "Have you served in your younger days?" she inquired gently.

Lucy's face brightened, a proud smile creasing her worn features, "I am from the Levine Family. We were not a big family, but I am proud to say that we have given it our all to protect our world."

Rachel nodded, her expression one of genuine appreciation, "Thank you for your service, Ms. Lucy. But...may I know how you ended up here?" she asked, catching the past tense Lucy used when referring to her family.

The light in Lucy's eyes dimmed slightly, sorrow briefly clouding her features. Before she could respond, Lila interjected with a sympathetic sigh with her lips pursed, "Sweetie, Lucy here is part of a voluntary program, submitting herself to undergo testing procedures for the tech we are developing. Her children bravely gave their lives during quests, and now she is the last of her family. So now, even if her mana circuit has deteriorated too much to allow her to serve as she did in her younger days, we have offered her another way to serve humanity."

Lucy looked up at Lila, her gaze filled with a profound gratitude, "Thank you so much, Dr. Lila, for this chance. I was a bit nervous at first, but now I feel as if I was a fool to worry about such a great project," she said, her voice steadier.

Rachel eyed the peculiar shimmering tubes embedded into Lucy's veins, a mixture of curiosity and concern danced across her features. Each tube pulsed rhythmically, glowing with a radiant energy.

"I'm sorry, but...what procedures have you volunteered for? Are they safe and—" Rachel began, her tone laced with apprehension.

"It's called the Mana Adaptation Module," Lila quickly intercepted the question with a bright, if somewhat tight-lipped, smile, her voice ringing with pride.

"The Mana Adaptation Module?" Rachel echoed, her confusion palpable.

With a flourish, Lila produced a small black disc, the surface etched with intricate, subtly shimmering circuits, "These tubes are part of the installation process for this," she paused for emphasis, holding the disc aloft, "We're installing this little marvel into her body."

Rachel hesitated, taking the disc into her hands. It was cool to the touch, yet thrummed with a latent power that tingled against her skin. It was obvious that this thing had complicated mana circuits engraved on it, designed to be powered using mana.

"Installing it in her body? Why?" she asked, her brow furrowed deeply in concern.

Lila's excitement seemed to swell as she explained, "Because it will allow any person to walk on Mars without any external apparatus, let alone a mana-born. But mana-born people like us stand to gain it from the most since we already have mana in our body which this module would use to efficiently extract whatever minute amount of oxygen is present in the air around us to allow us to function normally without our mana depleting within minutes. It would be no different than when we are standing on Earth," Lila elaborated.

Just as Rachel's eyes continued to widen, Lila added, "The M.A.M would also use mana fields to protect an ordinary person from any unwanted radiation and has gravitational adaptation features by creating a constant gravitational pull to mimic the conditions we are accustomed to back on Earth. It does a lot more interesting things but I'll spare you the minutiae for now and not bore you to death,," Lila casually said with a chuckle.

Rachel's expression shifted from intrigue to disbelief, "This is...something I never expected," she admitted, her eyes darting between the disc and Lucy. She knew they were working on some tech to make Project Mars a success but she never knew it was like this and not by trying to modify Mars' atmosphere.

The old woman's calm demeanor did little to quell the storm of questions brewing within Rachel.

"But is this safe? Installing a foreign object like this into a human being...won't it cause complications or side effects?" Rachel's skepticism was palpable, feeling that something this powerful and invasive couldn't come without a price.