Huang Ji and Feis found a place to talk things through in depth.
They went over the plan and rehearsed their parts for two hours.
Afterward, they visited Sword-Keeper Onassis that night and brought him the Longevity Elixir.
Sword-Keeper Onassis was nearing the end of his life. Everyone knew he had less than five years left.
So when he heard from Amu, he had been the first to defect to the Double Pupils Faction for the sake of the Longevity Elixir.
All the fine speeches were nonsense. At his age, nothing mattered more than living longer!
The Illuminati had worked toward that goal since ancient times.
In antiquity, they had served the aliens directly, completing their assignments and accumulating merits in exchange for the Elixir of Immortality. But there had been so little of it that only one person per generation received it.
After the aliens left, the ancient Illuminati had turned to alchemy, studying the Longevity Elixir with the knowledge and artifacts left behind.
But alchemy had been useless.
Only with the birth of modern life sciences had they gained any hope of extending their lives.
Yet the Longevity Elixir was too difficult to make. Generations of Sword-Keepers had grown old and died without ever seeing it!
"You have no idea how desperate I was, Feis."
"The Longevity Elixir was almost ready, but they said it would take another ten years, maybe twenty... I only had five years left. I couldn't wait that long!"
Onassis lay in his wheelchair, gripping Feis's hand as he spoke.
No. 18 nodded silently, keeping the posture and expression Huang Ji had taught him.
Onassis continued, "Generation after generation of Sword-Keepers lay in bed and died with their hopes unfulfilled... The Illuminati's standing and technology today were won by us old-timers!"
"And yet we