Chapter 1546: Distrust
It had been 3 days since Ning had begun working to find more about Dust. During the 2 days without Dust, he had to do simple investigations about the people and the place, making sure to not be seen at all.
But when he finally got Dust at the end of the 2nd day, brought to him by Katie, he holed himself up in his room all day.
Katie couldn’t help but wonder if Ning was doing Dust after telling her not to. Should he stop him? But then she didn’t know if she could.
Ning was a Cadet, who she would have been able to order just a few weeks prior. And yet, now she was a Cadet too, so she had no authority.
In the end, she decided to let him be. She didn’t have the energy to deal with other people’s problems.
She was in her room near nighttime when Ning finally arrived.
“Hey, how you doing?” he said, walking into the room without waiting for her permission. He carried a large bag that he put to the side and sat down on her bed.
Katie didn’t say anything and watched him sit down. She glared at him, trying to figure out what she knew to be true.
“You did Dust, didn’t you?” she asked. “That’s why you wanted it? Was that why you made me buy it?”
“Hmm?” Ning looked up. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said with anger in her voice, feeling betrayed. “You made me buy Dust so you could do it. And now you want to do it again.”
“That’s not…” Ning paused. “Well, yes, I did make you purchase it. And yes, I did do it. But there is a good reason.”
“What good reason?” Katie demanded. “Is the mission even real? I should’ve known. Why would they make a Cadet do such an important mission.”
Ning waited for her to finish.
Katie was fuming by the end of it all, tears filling her face.
Ning sighed. “I can’t tell you the reason. But I can assure you that the mission is real. It was given to me by my superior,” he said. “As for proof…”
He thought for a bit and realized what he needed to do. “Okay, let me prove it to you,” he said and looked around before grabbing a metallic cup that was to the side.
With his other hand, he pulled out a vial of Spark, which surprised Katie. She couldn’t understand what a Cadet was doing with a vial of Spark.
Ning poured a tiny amount into his mouth and swallowed it. Then, as he felt the power of the Spark flow through him, he used it on the cup in his hand.
Light flashed from his hand and in the next moment, the metallic cup was made entirely out of transparent glass.
Katie gasped in shock. “That… that’s Conversion,” she said. “You have the power of transformation.”
“Yes, I do,” Ning said. He turned the cup back into metal with the remaining Spark energy.
“But…” Katie couldn’t find her words. “But… you’re a Cadet.”
“A lie,” Ning said. “Necessary for the mission. I’m a Chief Officer. I’m here disguised as a Cadet so I wouldn’t be suspicious. I’m on a very important mission you see, and I can’t let my presence become suspicious to the others who will try to stay away from me because of my rank.”
“As a Cadet, I can sneak around places a regular Chief Officer can’t,” Ning said.
“But… you’re so young,” she said.
Ning shrugged. “It is what it is,” he said. “Do you believe me now?”
Katie slowly nodded. She had no choice. She was in the presence of a Spark user, which meant he couldn’t be a Cadet. He had to be telling the truth.
“But then… why did you do Dust?” she asked.
“I had to, for research purposes,” Ning said. “It will make sense soon in the future. I just can’t tell you right now.”
“As long as you weren’t lying to me, I’m alright. You can keep the mission secrets to yourself. I understand the concept of confidentiality,” she said.
“Thank you,” Ning said. “So, how are you feeling? I was gone for an entire day. Are you alright?”
“I’m… fine,” she said. “It would be a lie to say I’m doing well, but I’ve been feeling much better than I was expecting to be doing. Surprisingly, I haven’t been feeling the need to go and do Dust again. I had heard it was a hard habit to get rid of. Were they lying?”
“I think you were just doing it for too little to be truly addicted,” Ning said. “Had you gone for months long, you might have had a much harder time getting rid of the will to go get more of it.”
“Hmm… maybe,” Katie said.
Ning didn’t have to explain that his skill that got rid of toxins, also got rid of all other sort of side effects that came with it. That included addictions as well.
“Have you had your dinner?” Katie asked. “I can make you some if you want.”
“No, I ate,” Ning said. “I’ll eat next time maybe. I’m in a bit of a hurry for now.”
“Hurry? For what?” Katie asked. “It’s about to be night now. Are you planning on going somewhere?”
“I am,” Ning said. “These drug dealers, you can truly only work with them at night I believe.”
“You’re investigating during the night?” she asked.
“Yes, but also no,” Ning said. “It’s a little complicated. Anyway, I should get going.”
“Okay…” Katie said. “Come by when you can.”
“I will,” Ning said and grabbed the large bag to the side, hauling it behind his bag.
“That looks heavy,” Katie commented. “What’s inside it?”
Ning smiled. “Just something I need to deal with these drug dealers,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you later.”
Katie thought nothing of it. “See you later.”
Ning walked out the door and closed it behind him. Then, he made his way down to the city where he knew exactly where he was headed.
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