"We still don’t understand the mechanism behind it," the man replied.

Then he continued, "But let me explain it this way. From detailed analysis and deep research, we’ve come to understand how normal gene skills are supposed to work."

The five sat up, slapping the files in their hands shut, their ears perked, giving full attention to what was being relayed.

"Gene skills have imprints in the DNA of lifeforms. Think of it as a readied blueprint. All you need is to channel your essence into it like a funnel, and it manifests its determined effect on reality. But Variants..."

The man paused, his face showing genuine cluelessness. "Don’t go through this process at all. It is as though they bypass this mechanism entirely and impose their skills directly on reality."

Seth frowned, tilting his head in confusion. He still didn’t get why this now prompted them to be so special.

In his eyes, a skill was a skill, and even on this gene imprint stuff, he didn’t think it would matter if one had a class skill.

After all, he didn’t think class skills sourced from genes.

The man could see their confusion. "You don’t understand. This gene imprint in your body is the basic permanent threshold your ability can ever reach.

If you have a leader-grade skill, no matter how much essence you funnel into the gene imprint, it manifests leader-grade quality skill. Plus, the gene imprints also then work with ranks, limiting the effect of the skill to the user’s rank."

Brandon’s eyes gleamed in understanding. Of all his friends, he was the one who understood this limit the most.

Back when they were trapped in Avalon, there was a point when his gene skill was leader grade.

No matter what he did, he couldn’t boost the effect of the skill. No matter how much essence he poured, the effect remained constant.

So he quickly resonated with what this man was saying. It actually made too much sense!

The others also caught on pretty quickly. Then the man continued.

"Now, when you don’t have a gene imprint, it is supposed to automatically mean no ability. It doesn’t matter if your stats are at the max, your body is supposed to need a gene imprint or gene skill to mobilize essence into an ability...

Though there can be essence traits, but that’s a different subject entirely."

Everyone nodded to show they understood.

The man also nodded. "Good. Now, using this as a grounding, can you tell me what you will get if you bypass this process of gene imprint entirely, being able to manifest your skill directly into reality without limit?"

Everyone’s eyes widened...

Holy Fucking Christ!!!

The air in the limousine seemed to become a little bit chillier.

A shiver ran down the spines of the five.

They could already piece together how terrifying these so-called Variants could actually be.

Even as Awakeneds — especially since nerfed — the man was right to alert them to be wary.

The fuck? Someone who wasn’t restricted by skill grades or probably even ranks, only their input would determine their output.

Such beings... how terrifying could they be?

The war had barely begun, and humanity had already lost a few of such figures to the opposing side.

Now this loss stung more than they expected. As they say, the ignorant are blind.

Now that they knew about Variants, how could they not understand how valuable of an asset these guys could have become?

Suddenly, the mentality of the five subtly shifted. They had taken this mission like a walk in the park. After all, they were Awakeneds. No matter how nerfed, it didn’t matter when the creature was of the Shackled Rank.

But what happened when they were faced with figures who didn’t seem to be restricted by grades or maybe ranks?

Seth leaned forward with a frown. "There has to be some sort of downside to this, right?"

The man nodded. "Several, in fact."

Only by hearing this did the five sigh in relief, remaining silent and all ears to the man’s reply.

"Compared to a regular evolver, Variants don’t seem to be able to grow stronger by killing the corrupted. They can only do so by absorbing the essence from the air and compressing it into their being, a process we’ve dubbed cultivation."

Seth’s eyes flashed. He’d heard about this in the Origin Realm. Apparently, even creatures that lacked connection to the Origin had to cultivate to get stronger.

Which was stated to be an inefficient method.

The man continued, "And even after this cultivation, only their essence pool and density grow stronger. Their physiques forever remain a beat behind.

Plus, their essence recovery is poorer. They literally have to wrestle back essence from the world to recover, in contrast to the natural recovery process of evolvers.

And lastly, according to the scientists’ estimation, though their essence pool can get infinitely deeper and vaster, they do not have ranks to ascend. Hence, they have a mundane human’s lifespan."

Brandon relaxed back in his seat, feeling slightly better, the rest feeling a wave of relief wash over them.

"Damn, for a second there I really thought they were too broken. But with such nerfs, it’s indeed worth it," Brandon mused.

And the man nodded. "Hence they can be extremely powerful in contrast to evolvers, especially in early stages like we all are.

So far, we only have two figures who are at the verge of breaking through the output limits of the Shackled Rank in custody."

Seth’s eyes flashed. "That also means they have a single skill all through."

The man nodded.

By this point, the limousine halted for a routine check at the checkpoints of the Pentagon. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

They had finally arrived. The five opened the folders and read through the information with more scrutiny this time.

...

Seth blinked, staring at the man before him. He shook his head, wearing a wry smile. The rate at which he was meeting the president nowadays was quite jarring.

This wasn’t something he could imagine achieving back at school. Heck, even his father back then didn’t have the honor.

One had to be clear on the fact that no matter how great a private organization or family could become, it could never surpass the government, which was backed by the people.

And the president was the literal peak of power a human could possibly hold back then, especially of the USA.

Dressed in silver stripes over a black suit, the president welcomed them.

"Welcome, Apex. Allow me to do the honor of escorting you six on your first mission!" The president announced grandly, wearing a lively smile.

Seth’s gaze narrowed. Seth had to admit, this man’s charisma was on another level.

Things were looking so grim for the human race. You’d expect him to be fatigued and solemn, but no — he was as worry-free and competent as ever.

The thing about a great leader was that his effectiveness trickled down. One crushed by the weight of his responsibilities, you would find his subordinates following suit in collapsing to pressure.

But when you had someone who could lead no matter the circumstances, who could bear the weight and not show the slightest of error...

Marching valiantly despite the odds, his followers would march in tandem, invigorated by his charisma. Their efficiency would be off the charts.

This alone qualified President Cain to be a great leader.

Seth smiled. "Before we leave, I have something to share with Sir President, if you won’t mind."

President Cain froze in his tracks, glancing back at Seth in surprise. "You can, naturally. But please, we have to be of haste. Each second wasted and the lives of the pillars will be in jeopardy."