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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I’m aware that this might be a bit of an unorthodox way to start a Chapter, but I just wanted to make sure that I could get your attention.

My secret council already knows this, but basically, we are in the home stretch of BBN, as in less than ten Chapters left. That’s why it’s been taking me so much longer to put out Chapters than it normally would. I wanted to make sure the ending of book 1 was perfect.

.... I think I just accidentally gave away the surprise. Fuck.

Okay, well, yeah, it’s a lot of stuff we have to get to, but basically, I want to have book two be the evolved version of this story.

I’m talking *bang* like hit you in the face right from the jump, you feel me? Bigger fights, better writing quality, crazy worldbuilding, lemonade (might even throw Opal in the mix and start swinging.... I’m kidding. My council would kill me.)

But yeah, that’s basically what I want to do. And to wrap up this story I wanted to get the opinion of all of you who saw it through to the end.

Do you want....

Book 2 to be created as an entirely new novel. (Basically, I make a new book page, and the first 50 Chapters or so are free again, and you have to go add it to your library.)

ORRR Do you want Book 2 to stay under this one? I’ll break them into sections, but since we aren’t potentially starting from scratch, the pacing might be different.

Anywayyy. Read this Chapter and let me know what you think, either in comments or on Discord. (The ending is very relevant to Book 2).

And remember, kids- hugs, not drugs.

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-New York City...

"I know that this... must be very strange for you all to witness." A man said softly.

He stood in front of an entire fleet of news cameras, all while a group of cloaked figures watched him from behind.

"To some of you, I am sure that my name must mean a great deal... and to others, I am certain it means nothing. Either way, I am here because I care about each and every person on this planet. My name is Adam. And I am the first man."

The man called Adam was so ordinary that he barely seemed worthy of a second glance.

Average height, a little below average weight, racially ambiguous features, and he even wore a set of clothes that could be easily found at a local strip mall.

The only unique thing about him was the pair of yellow gold eyes that sat just behind his circular glasses.

"If you know me, then you must also know my associate here." Adam placed his hand upon the shoulder of the man standing next to him.

He was rather handsome with his golden blonde hair and ruby red eyes. He appeared, like Adam, to be in his early thirties with a bit of stubble adorning his chiseled jawline.

To those in the know, he would have looked quite a bit like Lucifer...

"This is Cain. And together, he and I have been walking the Earth for a very long time in secret."

Shocked gasps arose from the crowd as camera flashes came one after the other without rest.

"If you have been here all this time, where were you when the aliens came to destroy Earth?!"

"Did either of you know that the aliens were coming beforehand?"

"Why are the world’s first man and the first murderer acting in concert with one another?"

"Where were you during the civil war, and why have you only chosen to reveal yourselves now?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Is this a declaration of war on humanity?"

Certain members of the immortals’ entourage grinned noticeably at the last question.

Obviously, this was the day they had waited for. The moment when they declared their intention to rule over the world of man and start a new age.

"...No. No, it is not."

Cain clenched his fist.

Outcries arose from the new day fanatics as a band of gold energy wrapped around their torsos.

They crumpled to the ground, unconscious and drooling all over one another.

Several more figures in the crowd gasped. There were even some who fainted.

Adam stepped forward to calm the panic.

"Please, I don’t mean you any harm, my children. These individuals you see lying before you are... troublemakers. Their vision for the world is a harmful thing. And it threatens to undermine the grand design of our Lord Father."

Morgan and Arias had been bound at the feet of their captors, and they were just as surprised by this development as anyone.

They were even more surprised when Morgan was suddenly unbound and allowed to stand.

Morgan stood up, rubbing his wrists.

"Are you alri-"

Morgan, without warning, drew back his fist and punched the ancient entity in the nose.

The sound was like cannon fire. Morgan hadn’t held back at all.

And yet, Adam hadn’t even developed a nosebleed.

"...You’re angry. I can understand that, but-"

"ANGRY!?"

Morgan’s body began to heat up so quickly that it wasn’t long before his suit caught fire.

"You actually have the nerve to say that after you sat and sicced those cretins on my family and my people. They harmed good men, and frightened young children!"

Morgan never said the part he was most upset about. But the memory of his frightened wives would no doubt stay with him for the rest of his life.

"I will burn you from the inside out!!"

Morgan’s arms became wreathed in flame. Adam finally took a cautious step back.

"There is no need for violence, Morgan Creed... Please, believe me when I sa these misbehaving children have been acting of their own accord. But, having said that... I should have kept a closer watch on them. And it is my second greatest shame that I did not."

"And yet that does nothing to soothe my rage...!" Morgan growled.

Because the room was still progressively getting hotter, Cain elected to stand in front of Adam protectively.

Sighing, Adam turned back toward the crowd.

"My children, please. I know that times have been most difficult the last several years... That is why my friend and I have finally decided to come out of hiding and offer the world our solution."

Adam brought a hand over his chest and clutched the fabric as if he were having a heart attack.

"It pains me... that we have spent so long, here in hiding. Our fear over being treated differently because of our pasts caused us to live cowardly lives. But no more."

Adam looked up at the crowd, his eyes brimming with determination.

"The people you see lying at my feet were correct about one thing. The evolved do need something different. But it isn’t unlimited authoritarianism or plagued by the understated able fears of humanity.

What the evolved need more than anything... is to develop.

Not to form greater and stronger powers. But to develop a culture of togetherness and to build a desire to use our incredible gifts to aid our fellow men."

When Adam spoke his next words, he unknowingly started a storm that would ripple across the globe for generations to come.

"And that is why I am here to implore you now, my children... Let me take you, all of you... to Man’s First Kingdom. The Garden of Eden!"