The warehouse in Onitsha was finally quiet after the riot, but Austin knew the peace was an illusion. He sat in his private office, the door locked, and entered the Divine Archive once more.
The white space felt different this time—larger, colder. A new section of the library had opened: [THE FORBIDDEN PHARMACOPEIA].
Austin walked toward a scroll that pulsed with a deep, emerald green light. As he touched it, a holographic map of Nigeria projected into the air. A single red dot blinked in a remote, dense area of the North—the heart of the Sambisa Forest.
[ITEM DETECTED: THE CELESTIAL ALOE.]
[EFFECT: REGENERATES CANCEROUS CELLS INTO HEALTHY TISSUE.]
[DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME.]
"The cure for cancer," Austin whispered, his heart racing. "It's been hidden in my own country this whole time."
[WARNING: THE SHADOW MEDICS ARE ALREADY ON THEIR WAY. DR. VANE HAS DEPLOYED AN ELITE SQUAD TO HARVEST THE PLANT FOR BLACK MARKET AUCTION.]
Austin didn't hesitate. He couldn't let a life-saving cure become a tool for the rich to control the poor. He needed to get there first.
He spent the next few hours in the Divine Armory, preparing. He didn't need guns; he needed science. He crafted Smoke Pellets filled with sleep-inducing herbs and Fortification Tonic to increase his stamina for the trek.
Before leaving, he visited his Aunt one last time. She was in the kitchen of the new mansion, humming a song.
"Auntie, I have to go away for a few days," Austin said, hugging her tightly. "Business in the North."
She looked at him, her maternal instincts sensing the danger. "Austin, you have money now. You have a big house. Why must you keep running into the fire?"
"Because, Auntie," Austin said, looking at the glowing map on his phone, "if I have the power to stop the fire and I do nothing, I'm no better than the people who started it."
He stepped out into the night. A black helicopter, arranged by Chief Okoro, was waiting in the field behind the mansion. As the blades began to spin, Austin checked his System status one last time.
[STATUS: ASCENDING.]
[CURRENT GOAL: SECURE THE CELESTIAL ALOE.]
[CONTRACT STATUS: ELIGIBILITY REACHED.]
The helicopter lifted off, soaring over the lights of Onitsha. Below him, the world was sleeping, unaware that a young man from Anambra was about to change the history of medicine forever.
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