Athanasia: My Hacker System

Chapter 319: Prove Your Loyalty with Actions Not Words!

The look of cold doubt that crossed John’s face gave Cissel a sudden fright. She took a step forward, her voice shaky and terrified.

"That’s not entirely true, John! This is indeed my second time coming back to this specific starting point and joining the academy... But this is the absolute first time I’ve ever met you!"

"She’s lying," Ricky countered smoothly. He knew this was the perfect wedge to drive between the two of them. If he could make John doubt Cissel’s sincerity, he could dismantle the trust that gave her so much influence. "She must have scouted you in a previous loop. She would never have missed you."

Hearing Ricky’s words, seeing his savage expression, the one that spelt greed and evil intentions just from one look, made John settle on something.

"I don’t think she is lying," John said.

Against Ricky’s cynical expectations and Cissel’s paralysing fears, John’s words landed with a calm that shattered the tension.

"And don’t ask me why I’m so sure," he added, his gaze softening just a fraction as he looked at Cissel. "But I can feel it. This is the first time the two of us have ever met in any timeline."

John was more certain of this the more he thought about it. The sheer, astronomical weight of coincidence that had led a prison guard back at the prison to ignore protocol and attack Mark at that exact right moment was one of a kind.

It was a genuine touch of fate, one that John didn’t believe could be replicated even if he repeated the same situation a thousand times.

If what that guard did had failed, if the contract he had signed with Mark had remained intact and valid, his consciousness would have been effectively erased. He would have served Mark and the Big Mind as a hollow shell, ending up as a mere minion or a cyborg infiltrator instead of joining the academy and standing here now.

The four of them gave John different looks, a chaotic mixture of curiosity, lingering doubt, and flat-out disbelief. Ricky couldn’t believe his ears; he blinked rapidly as John continued, his voice dropping into a tone of absolute authority.

"As I’ve heard the full scope of your stories, it’s time to stop looking at the ghosts of the past and start heading for the future," John said, his eyes locking onto Ricky’s like a hawk.

"I told you already, I’m willing to help you secure your seat as the Kraken God Paragon. Yet I have my conditions for it. I need you to promise me that once you are an official Paragon, you won’t make any more seeds. You won’t use the reincarnation process ever again."

John calmly waited for Ricky to grasp the weight of what he had just demanded. The reincarnation cycle was the cornerstone of Paragon immortality, yet it was also the source of the Architect rot Cissel had described, a simple move that led to lots of tragedies for future, innocent generations like Ricky.

Ricky slowly, almost imperceptibly, nodded. "I hate the process already," he said, his voice surprisingly dismissive. "I don’t want to see others struggle and die in a meat grinder just because of my own greed and ambition. If I reach the top, I’ll be the last of my line."

"That’s a start," John smiled, though the warmth didn’t reach his eyes. "Yet that’s not enough. I need you to prove your words by undeniable actions. I won’t help you ascend only to have you turn around and backstab me once you have the power of a Paragon at your fingertips."

"He can’t be trusted only by his words!" Cissel interjected, her voice sharp with a memory of pain. Hearing that part made her recall the betrayal she had suffered at Ricky’s hands in the last regression. "He already backstabbed me before! That’s why I decided to come here in this loop, to take my revenge before he could rise again."

"That’s not true!" Ricky panicked, his eyes darting toward John as he saw the latter nod in response to Cissel’s outburst. "She’s lying to you! She’s trying to consolidate her own power by removing me!"

"She isn’t lying," John said flatly. He had already seen through the cracks in Ricky’s personality.

If Ricky was a part of a brutal reincarnation competition, it meant he was precisely the type of person who was willing to do anything, betray anyone, to achieve his goals. John was many things, but he was never a fool; he would never trust such a person on a mere handshake.

"That’s why you have a choice to make," John said, slowly producing a small golden scroll from his inventory. He fiddled with the ornate edges with his fingers, his expression turning savage.

"You’ve seen what I’m capable of, Ricky. You know that having me by your side will secure that Paragon seat. And yet, I need to safeguard my own future against your innate greed and nature. So how about this: sign this, and our deal is valid. Refuse, and we go our separate ways this very moment."

"You can’t be serious!!!"

Ricky hissed the words, retreating several steps as if the golden scroll were a venomous snake. Seeing the hole he had tried to dig for Cissel suddenly become his own grave was a brutal reversal of fortune.

And yet, John wasn’t fooling around. The air in the outpost had grown heavy with killing intent.

The words John had just uttered held a chilling hint. If Ricky refused to sign, it meant he intended to backstab John in the future.

If that were the case, John would be forced to kill Ricky here and now to prevent him from ever reaching the outside world with the knowledge of what had transpired in the trial.

It was clear that John hadn’t been listening to their life stories out of pure curiosity or empathy. He had been performing a cold-blooded audit of their characters.

He was building a plan for the future, and he wouldn’t let any potential threat remain standing in his path. Ricky recognised that look, it was the same look he would have given an opponent if he were in John’s shoes.