Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"My dad is Peter Jones..." Yara said softly.

I froze, staring at her in shock and disbelief. "That’s impossible. Peter Jones only had one daughter. His daughter was..."

Wasn’t his daughter the girl who was mentally disabled? She was the girl who liked Dexter. She was also the child of Peter and the asylum director’s daughter.

From what I heard, his first daughter had passed very early on due to a rare condition.

"I’m... a genome-edited clone," Yara said in a small voice.

I inhaled sharply. That lunatic actually brought his first daughter back to life.

He used her DNA to create a clone. Then, he used genome editing to ensure that she was healthy. That was why he joined Genome Society.

Initially, he must’ve joined them in hopes of getting his daughter back. So, why did he turn into a Rebel in the end?

"My father has passed away. Before he died, he asked me to lead you guys here and uncover the truth about this ship. That’s because... I was also born in one of the experimental capsules onboard." She tucked herself into the corner.

That explained why she was so familiar with the place.

How much more inhumane activity had taken place here?

"Your dad got you thanks to the organization. Why would he still liaise with the Rebels after?" I knelt beside Yara and asked softly.

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

She stared at me for a moment before responding, "He found out that they made more than one copy of me. There were multiple imperfect versions that were either discarded or destroyed. Some were also sold for profit or harmed..."

A chill ran down my spine. These people were monsters.

The clones created from genetic modification were born on the cruise. Situated on international waters, the organization was beyond the reach of law.

They were evil and terrifying people.

Among all the children from the labs, only Ashton and Xandra survived through natural selection.

"Do you believe me, Ms. Sofia? I didn’t mean to put all of you in harm’s way. I just..." Yara lowered her head.

She continued, "In order to keep my identity hidden, my dad had my aunt take me in and claim that I was her child. After what happened to him, Genome Society found me."

"They told me that my father was the leader of the Rebels, and they wanted to get rid of me. Mr. Ewan Bart from the Rebels rescued me. He found an opportunity to get me on the ship as a performer. I’ve been waiting for you guys since then."

Ewan didn’t want so many innocent people to die. He didn’t want Dexter to die either. His only goal was to expose the evil deeds of the organization.

From the recent incident, I was able to tell that he was at least humane. The masked person, however, was a terrifying murder addict with no regard for human life.

"Your dad gave you to your aunt so that you could live a safe and happy life. He didn’t want you to get caught up in all those things..." I explained gently.

Despite that, we all knew that the children from the labs would remain in danger so long as Genome Society remained active.

Hence, my goal aligned with Peter’s.

Everything we did was to protect those we loved and cared about.

The moment Ashton and Xan appeared, I understood that my and Dexter’s happiness didn’t matter anymore. If our sacrifice could keep the children safe and happy, it would all be worth it in the end.

When the cruise finally docked, the group of us who were injured were all sent to a local hospital.

Dexter and I were carried in on stretchers with our respective broken legs suspended in the air. Fortunately, everyone in our group was alive. Our injuries were manageable as well.

Eason and Zion both suffered from some external injuries while Joel was unscathed. As she had received emergency treatment from the best doctor onboard the cruise, Violette had also gotten a lot better.

As for Dexter’s hand, the doctors at the hospital all marveled at how successful and well-done the surgical procedure had been.

The cruise had the best scientists and doctors from around the world. However, they chose to perform heinous acts instead of using their skills for the greater good.

"Did anyone find Dayton yet? Any news?" I asked Zion as he entered the room.

"The Rebels took him away. The ones who want to locate them the most should be Genome Society. I’m sure there’ll be news about it soon." Zion assumed that the organization would do everything in their power to rescue Dayton.

Not to our surprise, Eason soon returned with updates. Remains of a lifeboat were spotted near the Crimson Sea. Dayton had been rescued by local armed forces. They had already made plans to bring him back to the country.

"Did the Rebels just leave him like that after going through all that trouble?" I was slightly skeptical about the whole ordeal. It all seemed too easy.

The Rebels gathered thousands of people onboard a cruise and hosted a large-scale game of death. They orchestrated the entire thing only to kidnap Dayton Sacco a mere president-in the end.

I had a nagging feeling that they were leading Genome Society on. By intentionally letting them rescue him, the organization would put their complete trust in Dayton.

Subsequently, he would have the authority to get in contact with the person in charge of the entire organization.

I was stunned by my own train of thought.

I instinctively looked toward Dexter. He was seated on the bed and playing chess with the two children. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The pair were incredibly smart. However, despite working together, they only managed to even out the match against their father. The game had been going on for quite some time, but it was still unclear who would come out on top.

"Playing chess in a trio is disrespectful to the game," Violette blurted resignedly while munching on an apple.

I stared at Dexter in silence.

Was Dayton really the president of Crowdstar Group?

Aside from myself, everyone probably believed that he was including Genome Society.

Even someone as proud as Jimmy believed it.

"I never would’ve imagined. How did someone as reserved as Dayton bring Crowdstar Group to such heights within a matter of years? There’s truly a difference between geniuses and the common folk."

Zion slumped tiredly onto the couch before continuing, "If I were a genius, how many cases do you think I could solve in a day?"

"If over 20 percent of the population were geniuses, the world would become a very scary place." I looked up at him.

If we let Genome Society continue its activities, biased and prejudiced systems would come into play all around the globe.

Everyone would be sorted into classes. The law wouldn’t be fair to all anymore.

Education, medical care, and all other privileges would favor geniuses. They’d take over leadership roles in upper-class societies. Eventually, they’d completely fill up the positions at the top of the hierarchy while common people were stuck below them forever.