31: reward

Upon hearing that she could become stronger and improve her physical fitness, Polaris did not hesitate, nodding repeatedly.

"A little pain? What's that?"

"Can it be more painful than the life I've already experienced?"

Hearing Polaris say this, Joa directly kissed her.

To allow Polaris to fuse with the Progenitor Virus, an exchange of bodily fluids was necessary.

Since they couldn't do anything else under everyone's watchful eyes, kissing was the best method.

After the virus entered her body, Polaris felt nothing, still in a state of self-forgetfulness.

It wasn't until a sudden ant-like gnawing pain came from within her body that Polaris's eyes snapped open.

"Ugh! Hiss!"

Hastily retracting his bleeding tongue, Joa gasped.

He then tightly embraced Polaris, who was suppressing her screams and letting out muffled groans.

"It's okay, it's okay, it will pass quickly."

Raising her head, forcing a painful smile, Polaris buried her head deeply into Joa's embrace once more.

Her hands clutched Joa's back tightly, and Polaris's body was constantly breaking out in cold sweat.

After an unknown period, the pain gradually receded.

Polaris let out a long breath and raised her head.

"Phew~!"

Seeing this, Joa wiped the sweat from Polaris's forehead and asked, "It's over? How do you feel?"

Upon hearing this, Polaris looked surprised.

"I feel... I feel great!"

"It's like taking a cold shower on the hottest summer day."

As she spoke, Polaris suddenly noticed the bloodstain on Joa's mouth.

Realizing she had bitten him, a hint of guilt rose in Polaris's heart.

Just as she was about to reach out to wipe the blood from Joa's mouth, she saw that the tips of her raised fingers also had blood in the nail crevices.

"I'm sorry, Joa, I... I hurt you, didn't I?"

Hearing this, Joa smiled indifferently and said, "Haha, compared to the pain of fusing with the virus, it's still far from it."

Hearing Joa's unique comfort, Polaris was moved and lightly pecked Joa's cheek.

Then, she whispered in Joa's ear, "To make it up to you, when we go back, you can do whatever you want."

Hearing this, Joa's heart first stirred, then he gave a bitter smile.

'Is this making it up to me or to herself?'

'Why does it feel like she likes doing that kind of thing more than I do?'

"Then I'm really looking forward to it."

Not catching the hidden meaning in Joa's words, Polaris took two steps back and pulled a coin from her pocket.

Then, she began to try to control the coin to attack as she used to.

With a thought, whoosh! Bang! Thump!

Carrying a sonic boom, the coin shot out at an extremely fast speed, instantly embedding itself deep into the distant wall.

Lowering her head, Polaris looked at her hands in disbelief and murmured, "Oh my God! This... I did this?"

Seeing Polaris's jaw-dropping surprise, Joa smiled and said, "Of course, besides you, no one here can control metal."

"Developing abilities and such, we'll talk about that later, we should go."

Hearing this, Polaris nodded heavily. "Okay!"

After taking Polaris and his warriors out of the ruins and regrouping with the outside forces, all nearly one hundred warriors returned to the camp.

Except for... the only one who sacrificed himself.

Night.

Gathering the one hundred ninety-nine warriors, Joa stood on a temporarily erected simple platform, facing everyone, and said loudly, "For the daytime operation, I am... very satisfied with all of your performances."

"Especially the 33 members of the vanguard team."

"They truly demonstrated their loyalty to me, not just shouted slogans."

Being publicly praised by Joa, the 32 members of the vanguard team kept their eyes straight ahead, but their involuntary puffed-out chests betrayed that their hearts were not as calm as they appeared.

"I am a person who rewards and punishes clearly."

"Those who have contributed should naturally receive their deserved rewards."

"Vanguard team!"

"Come up!"

"Yes, sir!"

Seeing them march onto the platform with neat steps and chests held high, Joa's eyes showed great appreciation.

His gaze swept over the crowd below.

'These are all my own warriors, my own private army.'

Exhaling lightly, Joa faced the crowd below and said loudly, "During this time, I'm sure you've all realized that my girlfriend and I are both super-powered individuals."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone, seeing that they looked completely unaware of what he was about to say.

A smile tugged at the corner of Joa's mouth as he continued, "And speaking of super-powered individuals, one person must be mentioned."

"That is Captain America, who was once famous throughout the U.S., known by everyone."

"Why bring him up?"

"Because... today... right here..."

"All of you... who followed me here..."

"Will all gain Captain America-like physical fitness!"

"Not only that!"

"Besides physical fitness, you will also gain a lifespan of hundreds, even thousands of years!"

As Joa's words fell, the more than one hundred warriors below completely lost their composure.

If it was just becoming a transcendent and possessing Captain America-like physical fitness, they might have been able to suppress their inner ecstasy with their strong psychological fortitude.

But with the addition of a lifespan of hundreds or thousands of years...

They completely couldn't calm down.

"Is the boss telling the truth?"

"F*** you! How could it be false? We personally followed the boss through the portal underground and appeared in this tropical rainforest!"

What these people didn't know was that they had actually crossed Worlds.

Seeing the enthusiastic atmosphere below, Joa nodded with satisfaction.

If they had remained so calm, it would have made it seem as if what he was giving them as a reward was nothing remarkable.

"So... next."

"I will personally bestow the vanguard team warriors their deserved rewards."

Standing on the right side of the platform, Joa looked at the straight-standing vanguard members.

His gaze fell on one of the Instructors, and Joa smiled and nodded.

Receiving the instruction, the Instructor immediately turned and saluted.

Then, with military strides, he walked step by step to Joa's front.

Once he stood still, a syringe containing a small amount of red liquid slowly floated into Joa's hand.

With a smile on his face, Joa handed it to the Instructor and said softly, "Take it, this is your reward."

"Yes, sir."

Taking the syringe, the Instructor turned to look at the crowd below.

Seeing everyone looking at him with curiosity, he took a deep breath, rolled up his sleeve, and injected Joa's blood into his body.

"Oh! Sorry, I just remembered, there's something I forgot to mention."

"The process of improving physical fitness might be a bit painful, but I believe that as tough guys, you won't care about this little pain."

As Joa's words fell, the Instructor's face began to contort somewhat, and veins bulged on his forehead.

But for the sake of face, he gritted his teeth, clenched his hands into fists, and didn't utter a sound.