Chapter 244: Chapter 244: Miles, Let Me Lean on You
By the time Nathan Lockwood and Zoe Pierce came out of the bathroom, almost fifteen minutes had passed.
The Starship’s cabin door was of surprisingly high quality. Once it was shut, you couldn’t hear a single sound, even if you pressed your ear right against it.
Besides, it wasn’t like Chase Shaw and the others would eavesdrop.
The three of them waited outside, their minds elsewhere. The moment the door opened, all of their gazes shot toward it.
They had made a point to wash up, so neither of them carried any particular scent.
Judging by her complexion, Zoe’s condition seemed a bit better than before.
Nathan Lockwood followed behind her. Although his clothes were slightly wrinkled, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Aaron Xavier felt his eyes sweeping back and forth over the two of them like a scanner.
After staring for a few moments, he felt his own behavior was a bit pointless.
Seeing there was no longer a need to stand guard, Aaron Xavier glanced at Miles Sherman. "Well, we’ll head back," Miles said in a low voice.
The group of them had already been here for nearly half an hour.
Zoe Pierce saw the group to the door, then took another shower herself before finally getting into bed.
’There’s still a tough battle ahead.’
*
Some of the military and government personnel stayed behind to handle the aftermath, while another contingent boarded a military starship and followed Zoe Pierce and the others back to the Capital Star.
When the military starship landed, dozens of people were already on the ground below, waiting for them.
Zoe Pierce was surrounded by Miles Sherman and the other three friends, with Director Quinn and Mr. Jacobs standing in front of her.
On the journey back, they had already walked her through the likely procedures for after they landed.
As she stepped out of the hatch, she could see the crowd of people standing below.
All in all, the entire process was quite similar to when they had returned from Planet B36.
This time, however, a physical examination was added to the procedure.
Everyone was assigned to a separate small room, but Zoe felt that her room this time was much larger than the last.
She sat waiting on a chair for a little while before five people—a mix of Alphas, an Omega, and a Beta—came in.
Two Alphas took seats at the very back, an Omega and a Beta sat on either side of a table, and the remaining Alpha took the seat at the head.
The moment he was seated, the lead Alpha spoke. "Ms. Pierce, can you describe the specifics of your spiritual power?"
Zoe Pierce nodded calmly. "I discovered I had spiritual power last September, right as the new semester was starting."
’That was the day I first met Miles Sherman,’ she recalled clearly.
Since she had already decided to be forthright, Zoe Pierce held nothing back. She explained how she discovered her ability to use spiritual power, how her friends found out about it, and the story of their trip to Planet B36.
What she didn’t know was that while she had been on the Starship, government agents had meticulously combed through her entire life story.
Every phase of her life had been perfectly normal.
The only abnormality was the sudden surge in her soothing spiritual power after she lost her memory.
The mining accident, originally ruled a typical incident, was investigated time and again out of fear that it was connected to human experimentation.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm.
It was simply an ordinary mine collapse. The only fatalities had been Zoe Pierce’s parents, and no unusual ores were found in the cave.
They had re-examined every sample and confirmed that their initial judgment had been correct.
Now, listening to Zoe’s account of the entire process, every detail she provided matched their findings.
"The second time my spiritual power surged was on Planet B36, when I recovered some of my memories..."
After Zoe finished her account, the Alpha at the head of the table continued the questioning.
"Why did you hide this during the joint entrance exams?"
Zoe replied, "I wasn’t sure who I could trust."
That even included the teachers at her school.
She had seen plenty of bullshit happen on school campuses back on Earth. Not everyone was a good person, but not everyone was a bad person, either.
She had no way to make that judgment in such a short time.
Trust had to be earned. The fact that she now dared to trust Director Quinn and the others was a conclusion she had reached after everything they had been through together.
"Did Miles Sherman and the others teach you how to operate a Mecha and use your spiritual power?" the Alpha asked.
Zoe Pierce nodded. "Yes."
Having asked all his questions, the Alpha turned his gaze to the Omega woman. In contrast to the Alpha’s cold demeanor, this female Omega was clearly gentler.
"When you use Alpha spiritual power, doesn’t your spirit sea become chaotic?"
"May I see your hand?"
Zoe extended her hand.
’This is the first time another Omega has ever tried to probe me.’
She tried to use her spiritual power. A palpable force was directed at a pen on the table, but she couldn’t manage to lift it at all.
The Omega simply stared at her, then slowly withdrew her hand. "I can’t probe your spirit sea."
This was normal, as it’s impossible for one Omega to soothe another.
But Zoe wasn’t a normal Omega; she could use Alpha-type spiritual power. The fact that she still couldn’t be probed was astounding.
It defied all logic.
And yet, the spiritual power had definitely emanated from her.
Without a doubt, Zoe Pierce was not lying.
For the rest of the day, Zoe Pierce patiently went through similar procedures over and over.
Endless questions, endless spiritual power tests.
But no matter how many people they sent in, the results were always the same, showing no change from the initial tests.
Zoe’s blood samples showed no difference from those taken before her amnesia.
It was only a mutation in her spiritual power; her body hadn’t changed at all.
Even the matter of her pheromones had a clear trajectory on the daily physical exam reports she had submitted: a sudden drop to zero, followed by a slow recovery.
Zoe submitted her complete private medical records.
Still, they found nothing.
It wasn’t until the sky had grown completely dark that Zoe was finally allowed to leave.
A staff member from the Spiritual Power Research Department escorted Zoe to the entrance, where she saw several tall, young Alphas already standing in front of a Hovercar.
Catching sight of the movement at the entrance out of the corners of their eyes, the previously silent group immediately strode over.
"If we require anything further, we hope Ms. Pierce will continue to cooperate with us," the staff member from the Research Department stated formally.
They were being polite, and Zoe was polite in return. "Of course."
Once the staff member from the Research Department had left, Director Quinn came forward. "Let’s go. Time to head back to the academy."
’They’ve had their cooperation this time. It won’t be so easy for them to get one of our students again.’
Zoe readily agreed.
Once in the Hovercar, Zoe sat down with Miles Sherman beside her. He felt a weight on his shoulder and glanced over to see Zoe leaning against his arm, her eyes closed.
Her fingers were clutching his sleeve.
"Are you feeling unwell?" ’They’d already made their arrangements,’ he thought, ’so there’s no way they would have put her through any invasive tests.’
Miles looked at her slightly chapped lips and passed her a bottle of water. "Drink some water."
Without opening her eyes, Zoe continued to lean against him, her hand unerringly taking the water he offered. "No, I’m just tired, Miles."
"Just let me lean on you for a bit." ’After a full day of questioning and tests, not one of the staff members had remembered she hadn’t had any water. Only her friends would notice a detail like that.’
