The man poured the tea kettle's contents into both glass cups, passing one to him, while taking a sip from his.
Zeras nodded once in appreciation before taking a sip from his cup, too.
The second he did, he felt a gentle burning feeling in his navel after drinking the tea.
It lasted for about three seconds before a cold feeling suddenly enveloped him, leaving him relaxed.
He was quite surprised, wondering just what type of tea this was.
[Your energy has increased by +1 points.]
The system notification suddenly flashed, shocking him.
"To start with..."
The man spoke as Zeras turned to him.
"I am Commander Shiron, Command Head from The EIA."
He introduced, continuing,
"Now, I believe you have quite the questions for me, and I also have a bit of my own."
"So, where do we start from, Mr...?"
"Zeras. Zeras Celestria."
"Mr. Zeras..."
"Just Zeras. There's no Mr."
Zeras replied, and the man paused before continuing.
"Zeras, I have some questions for you, and you can ask whatever is on your mind after that."
Commander Shiron said, his green eyes staring straight into Zeras's blue eyes.
"First, can you explain to me how you ended up in that Base?"
He asked, the whooshing air coming to a pause, replaced by seriousness.
Zeras didn't leave anything out and told him how he ended up in the base, and even the part of the Celestria family being the one to throw him out.
"I'm incredibly sorry about that."
"Why is that?"
He asked, confused.
"Well, you can say it's the fault of the EIA that made the Mutant Organization branch appear in this part in the first place."
"But about Celestria's family being involved, I'm afraid we can't intervene."
"The Celestria family is one of the top families on Earth, and besides the almost non-existent proof, it's not smart to charge them with an offense like that."
"It'll only backfire on us."
Commander Shiron said in an apologetic tone.
"There's no need for any charge against them," Zeras said, and the man paused.
"Even though they might have betrayed me, the Celestria family raised me from when I was young. So, I believe we are both now equal."
He said with a smile, but within that smile was a bloody will for revenge, cleverly hidden.
"Good. Now, do you have any questions for me?"
Commander Shiron asked as he once again reclined on the seat, and Zeras noticed the pressure dissipating.
"I do, and that is, who are the Mutant Organization?"
He had learned of the name of the organization from the female scientist and the Boss Head, but was surprised when he heard even the EIA was aware of them.
That means they had to be quite popular.
"I'm afraid any information about the group would be a top world secret that is inaccessible to 'ordinary' civilians, for the sake of their own safety."
"But since you already have some sort of meeting with them. I can tell you that they're a very powerful group, with no lesser reputation than us, the EIA's, in the dark world."
He said, as silence descended upon the hall.
"They're an evil group that uses different genetic serums to create mutations and grow their strength, and their operations are not just limited to Earth, but even exist on other alien planets."
"In short, the Mutant Organization is a truly fearsome dark force that you shouldn't get your hands on."
The man replied casually, but his tone carried a hint of warning.
Zera's gaze immediately narrowed, hearing that, but still, he marveled at just how big the world is.
The EIA, the untouchable Nine families, the dark world, the Mutant Organization.
These were gigantic forces that were mostly unknown to him.
The world was huge, and something deep within him wanted to find out the very depths of it.
And to do that, he only needed one thing, and that was strength.
"If that's all you have to ask. I have good news for you."
Commander Shiron said with a smile.
"What is that?"
"We cleared the base through your help and effort, managing to save a total of 590 lives that were used as test subjects in the base."
"Not only that, but your call also helped stop the number of other innocent lives that will later be used by the now non-existent Mutant Organization branch."
Zeras was surprised by the information, but to be honest, he wasn't trying to destroy the base because of that.
It was only because of the system's Quest, but he still managed to save other innocent test subjects by doing that.
One could say he killed two birds with one stone.
"So, because of this act, we, the EIA, are willing to provide a gift."
"You can say it's two choices." Commander Shiron said, staring at Zeras with a curious expression.
"One of the choices is that since you come from an orphanage home."
"We are willing to provide you with your own new home and whatever you might need to live comfortably as an ordinary Earth Civilian for 70 years. The average life expectancy of a human at this age."
He said, and Zeras's brow furrowed before asking,
"What's the second choice?"
"The second choice is that the EIA has recognized your talent and is therefore willing to accept you as one of its own."