CH16: THE REPTILIAN BEAST SYSTEM.

After a few minutes of walking, Dezhong finally arrived at his home area but quickly thought of not entering. His eyes were wide open in fear as he noticed a light in his home on.

'Ahh sh*t. Dad's back. He said he was going out on duty. What the hell happened?' The fear of God struck Dezhong hard as he started thinking of every possible punishment his father, head of police and one of Desper's strongest men, was going to have the pleasure of giving him.

'DAMN IT!! What's it gonna be this time? Ten laps around the block? All the manual labor he can think of? A couple of lashes? No, it's gonna be a new punishment. Ah CRAP!!' Dezhong threw his fists around, stomped his feet like a child throwing a tantrum, and rued the day he was born.

After letting all his stress out, he decided to go ahead and face the music head-on.

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Dezhong reached the front door and sighed heavily before slowly entering. He slowly closed it, went through the kitchen, and entered the living, the room which had its light on. Strangely, the boy didn't see his father anywhere.

"Dad?" He called out. "Are y-you there?"

Dezhong turned the lights off, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and slowly checked the other rooms, starting with his father's.

"Hello? Anyone t-there?"

*CLANG*

The sound of pots and pans banging on the floor frightened Dezhong and pushed him to run back to the kitchen with the knife in his hand tightly gripped. As he was running, someone quickly tackled Dezhong and pinned him on the ground while pressing the arm which held the knife.

"Where were you, Dezhong?" His father's voice boomed as he shouted in his ear. "Didn't I tell you not to leave? Didn't I tell you you were grounded? DIDN'T I!!"

"I know you did, Dad!!" Dezhong whimpered while pleading for his father to let him go. "I'm sorry. Please, let go of me. You're hurting my arm."

Prince let go of his son and stared him dead in his eyes. He then held him by his hand and sat him down in the kitchen. There was an awkward silence for about three minutes until Dezhong began to explain himself.

"Dad, I'm sorry for disobeying your orders. I had no right to move out. Please don't…"

"Dezhong," His father cut him short but in a more calm voice. "There's another serial killer and I have a gut feeling it's another mutant."

Prince pulled out a piece of paper with a drawn description one of his sketch artists made. He then slipped it over to his son while saying, "Given this description, I have a feeling that we're dealing with a new species of mutant."

'Oh god!' Dezhong's memories drifted astray as he remembered his encounter with the same creature on the paper. 'This is—the same thing that attacked me earlier.'

"Judging by the look on your face, son, you must be terrified of this thing without even seeing it." Prince added while staring deep into his son's eyes. "That's the reason I didn't want you moving out at night. Remember, you're my son, so anyone who'll want to hurt me, will come for you. I cannot lose you too, son."

Instead of focusing on what his father was saying, Dezhong's fear-filled eyes stared at the picture as he asked, "What will you do if you find the creature?" Dezhong asked so that he'd avoid falling into his dad's traps. All of Desper knew that Chief Prince never missed capturing whoever he set his mind on, so it was going to be next to impossible for him to escape his father.

*Sigh* "Sadly, I'm not handling this case." Dezhong's fears came down a little as he breathed a sigh of relief, but then…

"WAIT!!," He barked while slamming his palms on the table. "If Desper's police aren't the ones going to find the beast, who is?"

"The Mutant Protection Force."

"WHAT!! WHY NOT YOU?"

"Calm down, Dezhong," His father snapped back. "I already told you, if the case is about a new species of mutant, the MFP deal with it."

"But dad, those guys never consider the damage they cause to Desper whenever we're faced with mutants. They don't care about us at all. If the mutant's hiding in the crowd, we both know they'll kill everyone just to capture one beast."

"I know that." Prince grunted while folding his fists. "I've tried all that I can to get the government to allow me and my forces to deal with mutants in Desper. Those Neveahian MFP's have no right to interfere with our business but it's just the way it is. Don't worry, son. I'll make sure to capture this thing before the MFP do. That way, we'll be able to prove to the government that we can handle our own sh*t and not depend on these blasted Neveahians. Now, go get some rest. You have school by the end of the week so I'll need you to prepare a list of your requirements."

"Yes, sir."

"And no more late night trips, especially with those two."

"What's wrong with Blake and Luke?" Dezhong asked. "They're not bad influences!"

'Well…"

"I have no problem with Blake. It's Luke that…Whatever, get to bed and my orders are final. No more late-night walks."

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[Meanwhile.]

[Congratulations.]

[You have been infused with the Reptilian Beast System.]

[Fusion in Progress.]

[Due to the host's biology, this is going to be an excruciating process.]

"No matter," The holder of the Reptilian Beast System sighed while bracing himself for what was to come next. "Pain must be felt before success is achieved."

The holder's body started to break down from the inside. His bones and internal organs melted into thick, gooey substances as his outside body grew scales. The painful part came as his bones broke and pierced through his skin. His rib cage burst out of his chest, exposing his heart and lungs which were being engulfed in flames. The hair on his head turned into thick, whitish-cream scales as talons grew on his arms and legs.

The process repeated itself ten times until he was completely covered in flames. The stench of fire, brimstone, and sulfur filled the air as screams bounced off the walls of the concrete, pitch-black basement he was in.

[Fusion Complete.]

The process came to an end and the holder, who was none other than Jin Peng, knelt on the floor while watching his old body burn while his new one produced steam. His new body was twice its original size with more defined muscles and clear skin, meaning all of his tattoos were gone as well.

[ Beast form: Dragon.]

[Name: Jin Peng]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0/50]

[HP: 80/80]

[Energy: 60/60]

[Stats.]

Strength:20

Agility 15

Stamina 25

Grade: Dragonide