Chapter 24

The Poet in Adversity

Inside a sealed room, with blood dripping from his fingertips, S11 smiled faintly. 

His appearance was terrifying—his body covered in blood, one eye swollen shut, and the other open only because his torn eyelid couldn’t close properly. The blood-filled eye stared out from behind the hanging flap of skin, creating a horrifying sight. 

“I’ve always thought… being born without consent and dying without consent are a perfect match. What do you think?” 

He addressed the people on the ground, though unsurprisingly, no one responded. 

Among the corpses scattered around him, only one was an elder; the others were elite superhumans, just like S11—individuals Dr. Maria had kept as weapons. 

Though they hadn’t interacted much, they had crossed paths on several missions. 

And that was the extent of their connection. 

Hugging one knee with a single arm, S11 let out a dry, rasping laugh as he recalled what had happened earlier. 

The old man had tried to use Juan to threaten him via the surveillance feed, but the attempt failed. Refusing to give up, the elder pulled up more footage—only to witness Juan wreaking havoc among the black-clad guards. 

Juan darted through the guards like a bird in flight, grinning as he went. Seeing the old man’s face twist in fury only made S11 laugh harder. 

Unfortunately, his mentor had picked up S11’s habit—breaking every camera he encountered. 

Soon, the footage cut off, and S11 could no longer watch his mentor’s heroics. 

But he knew exactly what was happening outside. 

So, when the elder grumbled and tried to leave, S11 stopped him—using his powers. 

Even though it hurt like hell, if he squeezed hard enough, his abilities would come through. 

As the panicked elder called for S21 and the others, S11 smiled. 

Goal. Achieved. 

Alone, S11 had held back the top superhumans within Eden.

“I wonder how the teacher and the others are doing. Have they escaped, or smashed everything up there?” he murmured to himself, glancing at the pitch-black ceiling above. 

But none of it concerned him anymore. 

He felt like he was about to die. 

The pain was unbearable—far worse than anything he had ever experienced. 

The agony came from the genetic toxin inside him. 

This toxin had been injected into his body repeatedly since childhood. Even though he had long stopped eating the food they provided and refused to cooperate with their experiments, the toxin remained. Not eating was only a form of resistance—it didn’t change the fact that the poison was already in his body. 

There had been many times when he thought he was on the brink of death from the pain. But this time, it felt real—like the end. 

Curled up on the ground, he saw a shattered screen. 

Remembering the face of Juan that had once appeared on the screen, he reached out, hoping to touch it. 

But it hurt too much! 

Though it was just within reach, his hand couldn’t quite make it. His outstretched arm fell back down. After a long moment, he moved slightly and traced a series of symbols in the air with trembling fingers. 

It was the magic Juan had taught him. 

His shaky fingers drew out the shapes, one by one. 

Suddenly, fruits—kaka fruit, brin lettuce, and more—began to grow throughout the room. In the end, he even conjured a Comilla flower. 

Seeing the flower bloom, he smiled. 

He remembered the last time he saw a Comilla blossom and Juan’s face peeking from behind it. 

Watching the grotesque flower open wide and begin devouring everything around it, he looked at it as if it were the most beautiful rose in the world. His gaze was gentle, and he murmured softly: 

“As I thought… I’ll die because of you…” 

“And I really don’t mind.” 

“In fact, I’m happy.” 

“Thank you for coming.” 

“At the final moment of my life.” 

“You are a flower, the fragrance seeping into my parched soul.” 

“You are rain, a gift from the heavens to a poor soul like me.” 

“Ah… the teacher was right—adversity does indeed give birth to poets…” 

“Sadly, my poetry will never be published.” 

The tremors from outside finally began to affect the sealed room. Cracks spread along the walls, and the roof shook as if ready to collapse. The boy lay there quietly, unmoving, waiting for death to arrive. 

—

“It’s Dr. Maria! She’s detonated the defense towers!” 

Amid the clouds of smoke from the explosions, panic spread among the crowd. 

Everyone knew the base had defense towers, but they had always thought they were there to protect the people. No one had imagined they would be used to attack them. 

“Is she out of her mind?” someone gasped. 

“No, she just doesn’t want us to live. Look—those airships taking off! That must be Dr. Maria—she’s escaping!” someone shouted, pointing at the aircraft rising vertically in the distance. 

“Should we escape too?” 

“If we do, we have to take the others with us! Quickly! If we can’t carry them out, bring the entire repair chamber! Aren’t you a researcher? You should know how to dismantle it, right?” 

—

Amid the explosions, the researchers scrambled to dismantle the equipment. 

Juan, not knowing how to dismantle machinery, took on the task of transporting it. He grabbed a pen and fixed it to his head as a makeshift tool, joining the others to carry out the incubation chambers they had managed to disassemble. 

After helping a black-clad woman carry Mia out and entrusting the child to her, Juan returned to assist the others. 

First, they moved the incubation chambers. Then the repair chambers. Once those were transported, it was time to move the children. 

The children under two were relatively easy to carry—Juan could carry three at a time. But newborns required more care, so he could only manage one at a time. Fetuses still inside the artificial wombs were even more challenging to move. 

At first, no one realized how dangerous it had become. But as more buildings of Eden collapsed and fewer people dared re-enter the ruins to save anyone, Juan continued charging back in—again and again. 

The next time he emerged, he carried a male researcher on his back and two infants in his arms. 

“625841 and 625931… We saved two more! Now there’s only one child left!” A researcher holding a notebook looked up excitedly. 

“It’s you again—your name’s Juan, right? You’re incredible!” someone exclaimed as they ran over to take the babies from him. The researchers had quickly organized into teams—each child was immediately assigned to a group for medical checks and emergency care. Others took the unconscious adults off his hands. 

With his load lightened, Juan turned and ran back into the burning building. 

“Hey… don’t go back in! It’s too dangerous now!” A researcher responsible for counting the children grabbed his sleeve, teeth clenched in concern. 

The moment he grabbed him, he gasped in horror—Juan’s clothes were tattered, revealing skin that was charred black and covered in blood blisters. 

“I’m fine. I’m the best suited for this,” Juan said calmly, prying the researcher’s hand off his sleeve before charging back into the ruins of Eden. 

He was simply stating a fact—compared to the others, he really was the most suitable. 

His body was, after all, just a corpse. He couldn’t feel pain, and even the burns didn’t slow him down. On top of that, his innate instincts made him excellent at searching for people. 

It didn’t take him long to find the last baby in the farthest nursery room. 

And with the child, he found someone else—a familiar face. 

It was a woman wearing glasses—the kindest of the researchers responsible for him. She was also the one who had occasionally used her “privilege” to arrange meetings between him and his friend, Lan.

It was only today that the other person didn’t greet him with the usual warm smile.

Clutching a baby tightly in her arms, the woman’s glasses were broken, and her face was covered in soot. She curled up desperately in the corner where two walls met, her face filled with fear as she looked at the crumbling ceiling above.

It was at that moment she saw Juan.

At first, she didn’t recognize him. But then, noticing the way he still stood upright even in this situation, she suddenly remembered the young man who always reported to the office on time, whether it was his shift or not.

“485345?” she asked tentatively.

When Juan nodded in confirmation, tears streamed down her face.

Tears carved white trails on her soot-covered cheeks as she held the baby even tighter. She cried, “I… I was with them, but… but I didn’t leave with them…”

“I heard crying from this side…”

Juan nodded slightly and leaped over to her. He signaled for her to climb onto his back. Then, just as before, he carried her on his back and held the baby she was cradling in his arms. Glancing around, Juan surveyed the surroundings.

The way they came had collapsed. He needed to find a new route.

Clinging tightly to Juan’s shoulders, the woman peered over them and saw the raging fire spreading ahead. Debris occasionally fell from the ceiling, but Juan dodged everything with agility. Despite his quick movements, his grip was steady, and the baby’s crying gradually subsided. The little one, now sucking on his fingers, stared curiously at the world beyond Juan’s arms, with the fire reflected in his eyes—fear gone, replaced by wonder.

Everything seemed to slow down and grow quieter…

Out of nowhere, the female researcher found herself talking, mentioning S11.

“S11 was sent on missions whenever he skipped class. Sometimes he didn’t return to class right after because he was injured and needed time to recover.”

She had never told anyone this, but at that moment, it felt as though the young man carrying her possessed some kind of magic—a magic that could always tell whether S11 was present or not.

When S11 was around, even if she told Juan otherwise, he would still come to work. But when S11 was truly gone, Juan wouldn’t show up.

Though it didn’t happen often, she noticed it since she stayed behind regularly.

“I know.” Juan responded, confirming that he knew S11 was inside.

“He’s still in there,” the woman whispered. “S11 is trapped below the hangar. The Eden hangar is retractable—there’s a hidden chamber underneath. I have a keycard that can open it. Dr. Maria and the others left in a hurry; they shouldn’t have had time to disable it. But now the area is engulfed in flames—they set the fire before they left…”

She trailed off, not sure why she was saying all this.

Suddenly, a scorched hand reached out in front of her.

After a moment’s hesitation, she realized what it was and handed her keycard to Juan. Watching him pocket the card, she opened her mouth to speak but said nothing in the end.

With the woman and child safely in tow, Juan found a way through the sea of fire and brought them to the exit. As the three figures appeared at the doorway, cheers erupted from the people outside.

“They’re all safe! All the children have been rescued!”

The crowd prepared to welcome the hero and the people he saved.

But then—

Juan set the woman down and placed the baby back in her arms. Without a backward glance, he turned and ran back into the inferno.

The cheers abruptly stopped. Everyone stared in shock at the figure disappearing into the flames.

“No! Don’t go back in! You’ll die! The fire is too intense! Eden is about to collapse completely!” Lan shouted, looking at the blazing fire ahead.

“Is someone still in there? Why did he go back?” another person asked, puzzled.

But Juan could have stayed. The fire was too fierce, the collapse too imminent—no one would have blamed him if he hadn’t returned. Everyone knew he had already done more than enough.

“He went back for his student,” the female researcher murmured, holding the baby as she reached the crowd.

Tears streamed down her soot-covered face again, and she began to sob uncontrollably.

She wasn’t even sure why she had told him everything earlier. Perhaps his incredible courage made her hope—hope that he could save S11. Or maybe she had known all along that Juan had been searching for S11 too…

Clutching the baby tightly, the woman knelt on the ground and wailed.

Her grief was contagious, and soon more people in the crowd began to cry. Amid the sound of their sobs, the structure of Eden finally gave way, collapsing entirely.