521-525

Chapter 521: The Death of Brooke

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lane's mission was simple and that was to collect footage of these criminal activities, then swoop in and arrest them, and collect all the evidence needed.

Once interrogated, the arrested criminals were going to spill their connection eventually, which would lead back to Brooke. This would surely destroy Brooke's reputation and throw him down from his pedestal.

Before entering Martin Luther King Avenue, Lane took a cape and threw it around himself and also wore a mask to not stand out among the crowd. Although this did make him look like quite a suspicious individual, at least it allowed him to strut inside without any worry.

Lane found some secluded corner for him to park his bike. Then, he took a short sprint to gain momentum and hopped up to the third floor of a building with just one jump. He continued hopping along the rooftops and slowly advanced toward Bartlett.

The night became the perfect cover for Lane. The streetlamps in this area were out of service for a long time ago and despite the government's effort of fixing the streetlamps, the bulbs would inevitably be smashed with rocks within two days.

Certain people did not want this neighborhood basked in light...

After traveling along the rooftops for more than ten minutes, the clock was slowly approaching the appointed time of two o'clock at midnight. The so-called Bartlett Bar was located in a run-down building more than several decades old whose interior had been refitted into a bar. Bright lights on the inside of the building seeped through the windows and into the streets. The bar was packed with crowds and loud noises.

Right outside the bar was a small gathering of several members of an unknown gang. They were chattering and laughing away about something.

Was it this group?

Lane squinted and looked at this group gathered outside and quickly noted that none of them had any items in hand. Besides, they would not conduct illegal trades in open spaces like this.

This meant that the meeting spot Brooke mentioned was not at the entrance of Bartlett, but a certain room inside the bar instead.

With this in mind, Lane patrolled around the area to look for clues. He soon spotted a scene through a window of several men in suits sitting in a row inside a room.

It was this place!

Lane took off his mask and instantly, the helmet deployed the neckline of the armor that covered his face. After that, he zoomed in using the lens of the helmet and performed a basic scan of the individuals inside.

[Faulkner Ladin: Born in 1988, 40 years old, birthplace: Texas. Sentenced to three years in prison in 2015 for drug trafficking and two years in prison for robbery in 2009.]

[Ruskin Hunt: Born in 1993, 37 years old, birthplace: New York. Sentenced to five years in jail in 2010 for drug trafficking.]

[Anglio Feiz: Born in 1985, 43 years old, birthplace: Nevada. Sentenced to 3 years in 2018 for...]

After performing the scan, Lane was not surprised to see that all of them were drug dealers.

Upon spotting a black briefcase a man named Hunt carried, Lane was certain that these people must be the ones whom Brooke spoke to earlier this morning.

The best time to swoop in and arrest them and take possession of the evidence would be after they had completed the exchange.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a pop-up with a glaring red warning sign suddenly projected into his vision. At the same time, he heard an electronic voice chanting repeatedly, "Unknown interference, unable to receive satellite signals!"

"Huh, what's going on..."

Lane murmured. Although places like these were known for poor signal reception, it should not be to such an extent where it should disrupt the satellite signals from reaching his armor.

Without networking and communication capabilities, this set of armor had lost a large portion of its analysis capabilities.

While Lane was occupied with this sudden interference, he suddenly noticed the group of people occupying the room suddenly turning in his direction in unison with a suspicious look in their eyes.

"They saw me?"

Lane was slightly caught off guard since he was under the impression that he was perfectly concealed in the darkness. There should be no way for them to detect him. He seemed to have sensed that something was off and his expression quickly changed!

"Oh no!"

He immediately bolted upright and attempted to get away from the scene. From the corner of his eye, he caught a spark igniting from a building far away from his position.

Immediately after that, a tremendous jolt knocked him over. It felt like he was stuffed inside a steel bucket and someone kicked the steel bucket from the outside!

"Ah!"

Lane cried out in pain and tumbled down from the rooftop!

"Warning, warning, officer 0004 is under attack. The identified weapon is a Remington 4000K sniper rifle. Helmet sustained damage: 30%. Officer's heartbeat has risen to 156 beats per minute... Detected mild concussions, the officer may experience mild dizziness. Injecting an emergency dosage of adrenaline shot..."

After collapsing onto the ground from the rooftop, Lane felt his head spinning in dizzy circles. He wanted to pull himself up from the ground but in his state of daze, he could only fumble around like a toddler on the ground, unable to get up despite the best of his efforts...

It was at that moment when he suddenly felt a sharp prick in the back of his neck as if he was injected with something. He immediately felt himself becoming rejuvenated. The armor's intelligent detection system had revived him!

Now that his mind was clear, Lane was certain that he had fallen into a trap!

It seemed that Brooke was aware that he was being spied on and had deliberately set up this meeting location and blocked the local satellite signal so he could assassinate Lane!

Lane's hand reached for the helmet and felt the giant hole formed in the shield of the mask with a bullet lodged into it. If it was not for its protection, Lane would have been long dead by now!

As soon as Lane came to this realization, another thick barrel poked out from a certain window in the bar, with its aim dead set on him!

Lane had just managed to pull himself on his feet when the armor quickly issued a warning. "Infrared signal located. Potential shoulder-mounted artillery detected. Evasive maneuver is advised!"

Lane was startled by this as he snapped toward the direction of the bar and he was immediately greeted by the head of the barrel in the distance!

Run!

Lane bolted without a second thought. A mere second after he took off, a blinding flare was fired from the window of the bar. It barely missed Lane's feet and punched into the wall behind him!

"Bang!"

A tremendous wave of explosion sent the ground quaking. Lane was lifted off his feet like a piece of straw and sent flying more than ten meters away before crashing into the ground!

"Clank!"

The pulse rifle wrenched itself free from Lane's grip and flew off into a pack of dense bushes.

"Oh my God!"

"It's the bionic police, when did these guys get here?"

"Should we kill him?"

"What do you mean kill, let's get out.."

After hearing the tremendous explosion, the people inside the bar flushed outside to see what was happening. They were aghast to see Lane lying on the ground and caused a great commotion as they quickly fled the scene in all directions...

"Hack, hack!"

Lane could taste the scent of blood swelling up in his throat. He could tell he had sustained significant internal damage because his entire body was throbbing with pain. The armor he wore was certainly impressive since even when he was only mere meters away from the point of explosion, he was only blasted away into the distance without losing consciousness as the armor had absorbed most of the kinetic and thermal force of the explosion.

Lane picked himself up with sheer determination this time. Then, he sprinted off into the distance in the same direction the crowd went...

The armor of the bionic police had many high-tech implementations. The moment he started running, he instantly accelerated to a speed of a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour like a high-power sports car. He continued to run for several minutes until he was no longer surrounded by his foes and arrived at a barren plot of land in the neighborhood.

Even after making it out here, his armor was still under the effect of the signal disruption.

"Hack, hack, hack..."

Lane had another round of violent coughing fit. His helmet retracted on its own and he spat out a mouthful of blood. "D*mn it, why is the signal still disrupted? I should've made it out of the signal blockage range..."

"Because I've been next to you all this time."

Lane suddenly heard a low voice uttered right behind him. His eyes shrank as he snapped around. For a moment, he could not believe his eyes!

It was... Captain Brooke!

Brooke was wearing the same armor as he did. There was a device strapped to his chest that was constantly emitting blue light at regular intervals. Amid the surrounding darkness, it illuminated Brooke's face with its periodic glows.

"You, why are you here..."

Lane's voice was hoarse. The shock in his tone could not be any more clear.

"Is it so surprising for you to find me here?"

Brooke answered blankly, "Didn't you come out here to collect evidence of my drug trafficking? I figured I might as well come in person to greet you properly."

As he said this, he slowly approached the distraught-looking Lane. "So, what do you think about this surprise appearance?"

"Brooke..."

Lane gritted his teeth, his eyes beaming with rage. "I knew it, you already know I was spying on you..."

"That's not the only thing I know about. I also know that you were once a part of the little squad that Christina assembled."

Brooke smiled. "Isn't that right, Lamb?"

When Lane heard Brooke uttered his old nickname, he was so shocked that he was temporarily at a loss for words. He stumbled several paces backward and looked at Brooke like he had seen a ghost.

"I know even more than that. I know of your background as well. You lost your mother due to a mistake I made in the middle of an operation, which is why you've been holding a grudge against me. You joined Christina's squad because you think that I was the one who killed your mother and you want revenge by destroying me..."

Brooke slowly inched toward Lane. "I know what's on your mind. You must be dying to know how I've come to know all this."

"The answer is simple. It's because I'm 'Cain'. I'm the mysterious benefactor of the little revenge squad you joined..."

As soon as Brooke mentioned this, he suddenly planted his feet into the ground and charged at Lane. Lane did not even have time to process everything that he was just told when he saw his captain coming toward him with a balled fist hovering in front of his face!

Despite his condition, Lane's military training had honed his senses enough to make him instinctively put his arms up to guard himself against this devastating blow!

Little did he know, this attack was merely a fluke. As Brooke jabbed his right fist toward Lane, he also held a dagger in his left hand and plunged it into Lane simultaneously!

"Thud!"

Lane heard an ominous rattle produced by the dagger cutting into him. He was so mentally disjointed by everything that had been revealed to him that his body could not react in time to avoid the blow. All he managed was to hold his breath and dodge backward ever so slightly.

"Swoosh!"

Bright sparks burst from Lane's chest region. The sharp screech penetrated the dead silence of the night!

Lane backed away as far as he could when he recognized an opening. After he separated himself and investigated the damage done, he saw a foot-long crevice cut into the breastplate of his armor!

An armor that even a bullet fired from a sniper rifle could not penetrate was sliced open by a mere dagger!

"High-frequency vibration nano dagger, sharp enough to cut diamonds..."

Brooke sneered and dashed forward again before Lane had time to catch his breath.

Lane tried his best to jump out of the way, but with his body encumbered from all the damage sustained so far, he could not keep up.

After several more strikes, Lane's armor was completely torn apart by the dagger. This time, the dagger found its way straight into his chest. He felt a throbbing pain that spread from his stomach region. His body could not hold out any longer and collapsed stubbornly onto the ground...

"Hack, hack..."

As Lane lay on the ground full of despair, he coughed out several mouthfuls of blood.

"After you die, I'll tell everyone that you were killed by gang members while in the middle of an operation with me. You'll be remembered as a hero..."

Brooke mocked his victim with a wry smile. He pressed Lane into the ground with his feet and raised his dagger into the air!

Lane closed his eyes.

However, death did not come to him even when he expected it. Lane, with his eyes closed, heard the abrupt clank of an object clattering against his chest.

Lane slowly opened his eyes and saw Brooke frozen in his pose with his arms raised high in the air. The dagger had slipped away from his grip and dropped onto the floor.

"What, what's going on... Impossible..."

Brooke was utterly baffled by what was happening. He tried desperately to wring himself free, to command his body to move, but the armor seemed to have been disconnected and would not budge no matter what. He stood still in place like a statue...

Lane immediately registered what was happening. Without a moment's delay, he grabbed the dagger and plunged it into Brooke's face that was frozen with horror!

"Ah!"

The sharp, excruciating scream only lasted for a brief instant before it was muffled.

After that, dead silence...

After a minute had passed, Lane slowly pulled himself up and rooted himself to the ground. He looked at Brooke who was lying lifelessly on the ground. Brooke with a nano dagger penetrated through his helmet and planted in the middle of his face.

There was certainly no hope of Brooke coming back to life from this.

"What's going on..."

Lane heard a familiar, feminine voice whispering to him through his earpiece, "Lane, is Brooke dead?"

"Aus, Austin?"

It was the voice of the manager of the BHB Combative Police Force!

Lane gasped. "What's going on, wasn't the signal disrupted?"

"I have no idea what happened either. I relayed what was happening to the higher-ups when your signal was suddenly cut off just now. The signal was restored just as Brooke was about to kill you..."

Austin sounded very anxious. "My fingers immediately went to the termination button to suspend Brooke's usage of the armor!"

Chapter 522: The World Mourns

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Austin began to question Lane through the earpiece, her tone urgent, "Lane, what happened? Why were you fighting with Brooke to a point where you two were trying to kill each other?"

Lane opened his mouth, but the sentences would not come out.

How could he explain his reason for being here and why he and Brooke were trying to kill each other?

Was he supposed to tell her the truth, that his reason for joining the BHB was to kill Brooke?

That the reason he was here in the first place all started from Brooke's phone call which he successfully spied on?

Lane knew that he could not possibly tell them the entire truth since he would also be subject to Blackwatch's punishment. Still, it was extremely difficult for him to provide a reasonable explanation for what had happened.

Lane found himself bathing in sweat.

Just as he was dealing with this internal conflict, he heard a deep voice of another man coming from the earpiece. "Lane, I reported this incident to the higher-ups, the company will dispatch a proper team to clean everything up very soon. Your task now is to hide Brooke's body and ensure nobody sees it, do you understand?"

"Manager Liu?"

Lane immediately recognized who this person talking to him was. It was manager Liu, the department head. He rushed to explain himself, "Manager Liu, I wasn't intending to kill him!"

"I know."

To Lane's surprise, manager Liu began to lay everything out clearly for him. "Brooke secretly colluded with the CIA and was acting as a spy for them to collect intel on Blackwatch. His signal jamming device and other weapons were all provided by the CIA and even the organization you were involved with in the past was connected to the CIA as well. There are many more such small organizations scattered all over the world.

"It may seem like Brooke was behind this ambush you faced, but it was all the work of the intricate planning of the CIA. We've been collecting evidence of Brooke's schemes long before you started doing it, but we didn't expect you to act so soon."

"What..."`

Cold sweat continued to pour down his neck and his back. Could this mean that everything he had been doing was closely monitored by the company all this time?

His opponent all this time had been the renowned CIA belonging to his very own country?

On one side was his country while on the opposite side was his company. Lane found himself at a loss for which side he was supposed to take...

"But there's no need for you to worry. The higher-ups are pleased with how you've handled this situation. Although you have a previous track record of engaging in organizations against Blackwatch, you've made up for it by exposing their location to us. You have great potential and we're eager to see your continued development."

Manager Liu suddenly paused to allow Lane to digest the message, then noted. "Lane, don't disappoint the company..."

"I, I won't..."

At this point, the back of Lane's shirt was completely soaked in sweat.

"It's not that we want you to betray your country."

The manager continued. "The truth is that despite our company and Northern America's public collaborations, there have been many hidden conflicts. On one hand, we have to unite to fight against evil forces. But on the other hand, Northern America is afraid of our continued growth, which leads us to situations such as what happened today... But none of this has anything to do with you or me. It's only the higher-ups in the company that have to be concerned with these developments. All you need to do is keep your head down and do your job. Don't try to be like Brooke and get yourself involved in the giant vortex of the two major forces, do you understand?"

"Yes..."

Lane's voice came out in the form of a dry rattle.

"Alright, the special team will be arriving at the scene shortly, just leave the rest to them, they know how to take care of it."

With that, manager Liu had effectively laid out everything there was to do and proceeded to hang up.

"Phew..."

With that, Lane let out a deep sigh. He looked at Brooke who was starting to turn stiff, then he proceeded to drag the corpse into the bushes nearby and waited silently.

After around ten minutes, several black Wrangler jeeps appeared out of nowhere and screeched to a stop in front of Lane. Lane was slightly perturbed by this and shot up nervously. He then saw dozens of Blackwatch personnel clad in black robes and tactical helmets swarming out of the vehicles.

They each carried a pulse rifle and wore a combat suit underneath the black robes. They quickly formed a circle around Lane and gave off a slight air of hostility.

Lane quickly put his hands in the air and asked tentatively, "I'm part of the bionic police department, are you guys sent by the company to clean up the mess?"

"Yes, we received the mission to reclaim the company's property."

Lane glanced behind the crowd and saw a woman who did not wear a helmet hopping out of a Wrangler jeep.

She had minimal makeup on and an icy attitude around her. Even the combat uniform could not conceal her full and robust hourglass figure. With a quick signal from her, the group surrounding him lay down their weapons and began inspecting the surroundings.

"Pedro Lane?"

The woman asked, but not before eying Lane up and down as she walked in a circle around him.

"That's me..."

Although Lane knew what the suit of armor he wore was capable of, he was still filled with agitation when confronted by this otherworldly woman. It seemed that this person in front of him was not an ordinary human being, but a black leopard in disguise. She could very well tear him into pieces at any given moment.

It was apparent to Lane that she could hardly be bothered by what Lane thought of her. She suddenly produced a gun-shaped detector from her pocket and aimed it at him. The indicator on the detector immediately flashed green light and announced, "Identity confirmation: Pedro Leon, member of Bionic Police Project Department. Code number 113304."

"Alright."

Seeing this, the woman put the detector back into her pocket and remarked without much regard, "The higher-ups have given specific instructions for us to handle everything from here on, you may leave now. Let me remind you that as per the company's agreement, you're prohibited from telling anyone who is unauthorized, especially outsiders, about everything that has happened today. Otherwise, the company will be sure to deal with you accordingly, understand?"

"Alright, understood..."

Lane took a deep gulp and left without so much as sparing another glance.

While he was on the way out, he did manage to take note of the department printed across the chest section of the woman's uniform. It read 'B.S.S.'.

"It's the B.S.S. Department..."

The B.S.S. Department was short for Black Security Service Department. However, Lane knew that this name was merely a facade for the true nature of the department. It should instead be named as Blackwatch Quick Reaction Security Force!

Just like the Bionic Police Department, the Black Security Service Department was also affiliated with Blacklight Biotechnology. To the outside world, the B.S.S. was seen as an equivalent of the Bionic Police Department, but the truth was this department had far more administrative authority. Instead of being labeled as a special force department, it would be more apt to label it as the company's private armed forces!

The very purpose for the existence of this department was to oversee the safety of Blackwatch's property and to annihilate whatever evidence that may prove to be unfavorable to the reputation of the company.

This piece of information was only known to a handful of selected individuals. The only reason Lane was informed of this was that he was once a member of the Blackwatch Resistance Organization. Otherwise, it was nigh impossible for him to be told of such matters based on his current rank in the company.

Lane walked alone in the dark. When he passed by the Bartlett Bar, he saw that the section of the neighborhood was illuminated by a radiant column of flame where the Bartlett Bar once stood! The fire was spreading to the nearby buildings as well. People were running in a fit of mania and panic, the flames were visible from a great distance away!

It seemed like Blackwatch had a lot of business to take care of tonight...

Lane felt a great chill that seeped into the deepest crevice of his heart. All along, he knew that Blackwatch was far from your average company, but now, he had fully realized the full extent of what this company was capable of. The mere thought of it was thoroughly disturbing.

Dozens of lives lost in the span of a single night and yet the Northern American Continent would simply brush off this matter. This was a testament to the ridiculous influence of this company...

Lane returned to his bike he parked in a secluded corner and drove back to the bionic police base. His mind was overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions.

Lane had a feeling that he would have trouble falling asleep tonight...

...

The sun gradually rose along the horizon to welcome the dawn of the next day in Northern America. A young man named York who had just recently graduated from university and was now working in a small media company called PUB yawned lazily at his desk. Fortunately, he had just got to the office five minutes from his appointed working hours.

"Sigh, another boring, ordinary day."

York mumbled to himself as he lazily turned on the computer. Suddenly, the display immediately showed a high-resolution poster of the BHB Combative Police Force on his desktop. It was evident enough that he was a superfan of Blackwatch's BHB Combative Police Force.

"York, York!"

Before York even had time to settle into his seat and get his mood ready for today's work, he heard what sounded like the agonizing yelp of a dying chicken coming from somewhere behind him. This voice immediately evoked a sense of irritation deep inside York, but he put on his best smile to conceal his annoyance and enquired nicely, "Yes team leader, need anything?"

The man whom York addressed as team leader was a middle-aged man whose hairline was barely clinging on for dear life. He continued howling as he approached York's desk and slapped an evaluation form on the desk. Then, he ranted with his fingers repeatedly tapping against the form. "Look at the articles you've written last week. Two articles out of three were rejected and the only one that got approved was ridiculed by our readers. This is your admirable work from last week!"

York seemed troubled and complained, "But team leader, wasn't it you who wanted me to write articles on these current affairs?"

"But it wasn't me who told you to write such garbage content!"

The team leader roared. "The manager isn't happy with you. If you still can't give us some proper articles this week, get ready to pack up and go home!"

After the team leader was done with his scolding, he waddled away, contented with himself.

There was no word that could describe how infuriated York was. He had only done as the team leader instructed him to. Not only did he have to be reprimanded senselessly, he was also potentially going to lose his job.

He could not handle this anymore...

York was feeling dejected. He sighed and slowly opened a webpage and began scanning for useful articles online, just as he always did.

Since he worked in a small media outlet, he did not have the privilege of on-site reporters. His only source of content was by scouring for resources online. Fortunately, there were no topic restrictions for the articles written as long as they attracted plenty of clicks. This meant that most small media outlets tended to hop on to whatever topic was trending at the time.

After browsing for some time and noting that there were no interesting topics, York looked at the time and saw that it was around eight-thirty. He suddenly remembered to check out the Blackwatch official website.

Blackwatch was the single most influential company in the world with no clear rivals. Whatever news announced from their end was bound to astound the world, which also meant that for small media outlets like the ones York worked in, Blackwatch was the best platform to piggyback on.

York was a regular customer of the Blackwatch official site and regularly tuned in for their routine eight-thirty site refresh.

At eight-thirty sharp, York went to the Blackwatch official site and repeatedly hit the F5 button.

His repeated attempts at refreshing the site paid off by the thirteenth time. A new headline appeared in the center of the homepage of the official website while at the same time, the entire website turned black and white.

"Hm, what's going on?"

York was taken aback by the sudden incident. He initially figured that it was a problem with the screen. It was only after he read the headline when he realized what happened. He hung his mouth wide open and was completely frozen in his seat...

[Captain of the BHB Combative Police Force, Brooke Humphrey, killed last night in the line of duty, retiring at the age of 35.]

York was floored by this headline. It took him several seconds before he came to his senses, which he then immediately tapped into the article with the cursor.

This took him to the article page.

"In the early morning of 20 August 2028, Brooke and the recently inducted officer Lane were ambushed in the suburbs of Queens, New York City when they reported to duty to arrest drug traffickers in the area. The captain was hit by anti-tank artillery and passed..."

Attached below the passage was a black and white photograph of the late Captain Brooke. He looked like his usual handsome, charming, and determined self in the picture, almost like a holy sculpture.

Listed below was the list of accomplishments in Brooke's career.

By this point, York could not bear to read on anymore...

"Stupid April's Fool..."

York uttered a dejected complaint, the mouse in his hand dropped onto the floor.

...

[Tragedy: World famous superhero, BHB Combative Police Force Captain Brooke dies heroically in the line of duty!] – Northern American Associated Press News.

[The world mourns! BHB Combative Police Force Captain Brooke dies at the age of 35!] – Reuters News.

[Be wary of the resurgence of evil factions, the path to the resistance of evil is a long and tedious one. What kind of lesson and reflection can we gain from the death of Captain Brooke?] – Hezhong International News Agency.

[Real-life superheroes have been taken away from us. The real world is not as the stories told, superheroes are not immortal!] – Sina Express.

Within minutes of the announcement on the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology, the news of Brooke's death spread across the public horizon and the world was plunged into a state of grief. Countless media sites in Northern America changed the theme of their websites to black and white to commemorate the death of the hero. There were also countless video game platforms such as Steam who announced a one-day site closure to pay respects to the deceased, beloved hero.

In an instant, the world was plunged into a state of grief and ceaseless mourning...

Chapter 523: Parasitic Spores

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"So, he's dead."

It was the first news Chen Chen received when he woke up the next morning. Such information was not an object of significant importance to him. It was only some mild entertainment to go along with his breakfast at best.

"Lane took him out successfully."

Little X answered, "We've prepared a proper funeral for him too, just a basic gesture of respect to preserving the reputation of our bionic police force."

Chen Chen nodded with feigned interest.

Chen Chen did not know of Brooke's character. However, he knew that ever since Brooke's injury some time ago that caused him to retire from the police force, his personality had become dark and distorted. Within a year after gaining a chance at a new life with the BHB, he divorced his wife and abandoned his children.

For this reason, Brooke was always heavily criticized by some fans. However, the majority of his fans were blind and misled followers. His past wrongdoings were simply ignored by mindless claims such as "the pain of a superhero" and "all men made mistakes at one point or another".

Chen Chen was also informed of Brooke's questionable and disobedient behavior in the company. The silver lining was that he knew how to present himself properly and toned down his behavior after receiving a warning from the company's management.

With that said, that was only what he let show on the surface.

Deep inside, he was still a hateful individual. He was soon recruited by the CIA and became a thorn on Blacklight Biotechnology's side. He took on the role of a spy and regularly fed intel concerning Blacklight Biotechnology to the CIA.

All this time, he was under the impression that nobody knew about his ploys. Little did he know, Little X had been monitoring everything from the get-go. The only reason Chen Chen did not pluck this thorn just yet was to give the Northern American government a false sense of security.

Blacklight Biotechnology had its fair share of spies in the Northern American government and knew that the Central Intelligence Agency had been acting as the "eye" of the government, collecting intel on their enemies. However, it was decided that it was better to not take action on Brooke at the moment since it would be suspicious to immediately dispose of him the moment he began collaborating with the CIA.

Chen Chen only decided to dispose of Brooke later on since he was beginning to push his luck and got on Chen Chen's nerves.

Lane, who had been holding a grudge against Brooke was the perfect candidate for this task. Everything he had been through was perfectly orchestrated, leading up to this moment.

The mastermind behind this exemplary orchestra was none other than Chen Chen.

Little X even took advantage of the noble sacrifice of the hero Brooke as propaganda to further promote BHB Combative Police Force's agenda. The name of BHB had once again ascended to greater heights.

After all, such behavior was not uncommon in the world we lived in. The work of a deceased author was seen as treasures and deceased artists tended to see a surge in popularity...

This was not a baseless observation, but a phenomenon thoroughly studied by researchers. It was noted that whenever a famous artist passed away, people all over the world suddenly began to listen to the late artist's music and their album sales tended to skyrocket...

Stan Renard and Richard Gretz, professors of musicology and marketing at the University of Texas conducted this research based on eighty-one famous artists who passed in the years 2015, 2016, and 2017. This prestigious list included greats such as George Michael, Glenn Frey, Prince, Tom Petty, and David Bowie.

They found that the day after Prince passed in 2016, his album sales soared by a whopping 16000 percent. The day after Tom Petty died in 2017, his album sales also saw a rise of 6800 percent. Within a week after Soundgarden's lead singer Chris Cornell passed, the band saw a 550 percent increase in their record sales.

It seemed as if their very deaths served as the most efficient marketing tool for their careers...

This observation was dubbed by researchers as "the Prince effect".

"Let's hope Lane can handle this role..."

Chen Chen chewed on an energy bar and swept past the article...

After finishing breakfast, Little X suddenly brought up. "Oh yeah, Sir Godfather, the expedition team on Mars has compiled a fairly detailed archive of the preliminary explorations of Mars. It's attached with a collection of biological samples which the Ares is ready to transport back at any time. However, there seems to be a rise of different opinions in the scientific community."

"I'm aware of that. It's about the objections of bringing samples from Mars back to Earth."

Chen Chen smiled and mentioned quickly.

"Yes."

Little X stood by his side and expressed helplessly, "Several reputable scientists in the scientific community issued a joint statement declaring their opposition to bringing life on Mars back to Earth. They believe that these samples may contain infectious microbes that are unique to conditions on Mars, which may cause a deadly plague when brought to Earth."

"I take it that these scientists don't belong to any of the four major continents."

Chen Chen scoffed at the idea of it. They truly believe that a simple joint statement could oppose the tens of billions of dollars of investment Blacklight Biotechnology and the four major continents had poured into this expedition? Nothing but a fool's errand.

This group must have set out with the idea that if they could not have it, then nobody could. They must have thought that since the project was not led by their countries, there was no harm in causing large controversies to spite the involved parties.

Concerns of Mars microbes infiltrating Earth's atmosphere were completely unwarranted. After all, this was not Blacklight Biotechnology's first day on the job. Proper level-five bioprotection laboratories had been set up a long time ago for this exact purpose. Chances of a breakout were next to null.

Still, there would inevitably be some who claimed that even a one in a million chance was too much risk for mankind. These people had forgotten that mankind had to take the next step forward one way or another and these ventures were necessary to achieve that. If mankind would not strive to advance to the next level, then it was eventually going to face extinction anyway.

Progress could only be made by advancing forward, not by taking a step back.

"There's no need for us to be concerned with these affairs. A simple statement is more than enough. Just leave the rest for the four major continents to handle."

Chen Chen simply brushed off the matter and left the dining table.

After breakfast, Chen Chen went back to his routine of patrolling around the Spire Experimental Base. He used the black sphere to teleport to the Spire, then began making his rounds down each level of the Spire.

The number of research projects in the Spire laboratory had been cut down significantly since many projects had been completed. The only ongoing projects were the daily research concerning the black goo, T-virus, and the C24 chromosome.

The black goo which was a catalyst instantiated from an alien dimension was an extremely prized treasure. It could merge itself with any life form to perform a wide range of unexpected results. The Spire Laboratory had utilized this specimen to create dozens of biological weapons as well as unique drugs.

The G-358 virus that turned Chen Chen into a three-meter tall giant was one of the many drugs procured from the black goo. The string of G-virus specimens was formed from a fusion of T-virus and black goo.

Led by James Watson, the father of DNA, the biological research team of the Spire had developed many kinds of biological weapons, one of which was called "parasitic spore". It was a form of plant-based biological weapon with far more devastating effects than the T-virus. Once the spores were spread to the outside world, they would grow into a special fungus plant.

This strange hybrid specimen was a partially sentient plant. Upon detecting living creatures nearby, it actively released spores that would find their way into the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose of the passing creature. The spores infiltrated the internal organs of their victims and began their parasitizing process.

After that, the parasitic spores would use the host's body as a nutrient source and used the host's DNA as a template to create a monster that could similarly adapt to the host's environment and bore great resemblance to the host itself.

Since this created monster was based on the host's DNA, it managed to bypass the host's immune system and camouflaged itself as a common limp. After approaching the twenty-hour mark, it would burst out of the body of the host and its only living purpose was to kill everything in sight. It would not stop until it had completely eradicated the group of hosts...

Chen Chen's original intention with this powerful biological weapon was to serve as a precautionary measure against whatever threat he may face when accessing alternate dimensions. It was better to be prepared than not.

After Chen Chen came to this laboratory, he approached a row of glass tanks of specimens, all taken care of by one lab personnel. They were the corpses of a group of monsters produced by the parasitic spores inhabiting themselves in living forms on Earth.

Inside the first tank was a monster about the size of a calf. Its body was jet black and wrapped in a tough layer of exoskeletons. The alignment of its limbs was inverted and pushed outward, its skull was elongated and shaped like a large water droplet or better described as spindle-shaped.

The most threatening part of its appearance was its limbs' razor-sharp claws and rows upon rows of sharp teeth inside its mouth. Its claws and teeth were not the usual marble-white color but silver-white instead that appeared to be of a tougher quality.

Hmmm...

Chen Chen gazed at the monster specimen in front of him, clearly pleased with the results. Anyone familiar with the infamous, Hollywood-classic movie "Aliens" should know that this was a near-replica of the alien in the movie.

Apart from the size difference, the monster inside the tank held an uncanny resemblance to the alien in the movie.

The original host of this monster was a Doberman.

After that, Chen Chen inspected the remaining tanks and saw more monsters mutated from chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigeons, cats, and other small domestic animals. There were also specimens mutated from chimpanzees, monkeys, and even other primate species such as humans. The monsters derived from primate species especially were almost completely identical to the aliens in the movie.

This was the power of the black goo.

The Spire Laboratory had conducted further research on these "aliens".

Chen Chen continued touring the laboratory. Before long, he arrived at another laboratory section that looked like a breeding room.

This was the laboratory used to hold the living specimen.

These aliens were held in a bulletproof glass room with up to forty centimeters of fortification. Extremely resilient building materials immune to acid corrosion were used to build these cells to prevent the monsters from ever escaping the laboratory.

Upon Chen Chen's arrival, he saw rows upon rows of such cells, all with black-skinned aliens held within them. Since the aliens were based on a variety of genetic templates, they took on different forms where some of them had large, blocky teeth while others had intimidating sharp teeth.

Regardless of whether these specimens were derived from primate species or other mammalian species, they were able to walk either on all fours or on their back hinds alone. This seemed to be an inherent characteristic of the aliens.

When Chen Chen approached one of the isolation cells, the alien inside seemed to have spotted him and came to the glass curiously. It quickly established eye contact with him.

Chen Chen could even spot his reflection on the alien's dark and smooth forehead.

After staring into Chen Chen's eyes for a moment, the alien seemed to have become provoked. It opened its mouth to reveal a row of teeth sharper than polished metal and hissed menacingly.

It produced a cloud of steam from its mouth as it hissed. It was accompanied by a vast amount of what seemed like drool dripping out of its mouth. Most people would not regard this as a novel sight to be admired, but Chen Chen seemed to think otherwise.

Chen Chen eagerly stuck his face to the glass and tried to mirror what the alien did. He grinned with his mouth wide open, baring his teeth in front of the alien.

"Hiss..."

The alien seemed to feel challenged by this and opened its mouth wider than before, rows of inner nested teeth were visible now.

The alien was covered in deadly weapons all over – claws sharp enough to tear through steel panels and a jaw so powerful that it was able to tear through carbon steel. However, all of these weapons paled in comparison to the inner nested teeth.

Its inner nested teeth allowed it to make light of fortified steel panels.

After having his fill of fun, Chen Chen drew away, then followed down the corridor with Little X and mentioned, "That seems to be an alien with a primate host..."

Little X quickly explained, "We discovered that even if these aliens have different hosts, they seem to be able to distinctly recognize each other. Not only that, they seem to possess some sort of telepathic ability where even if they are isolated from each other, they can still receive instructions from a "queen" they've never seen before..."

"Queen?"

Chen Chen raised his head at this suggestion.

"Yes."

Little X answered, "They seem to share the social structure of ants and bee colonies. Ordinary members of the colonies take on the role of worker bees while the queen is equivalent to the queen bee. The worker bees hunt and bring food to the queen bee, who is responsible for breeding and expanding the colony..."

"So, they can reproduce..."

Chen Chen smiled. "What if we kill the queen?"

"If the queen dies or is missing, then one member among the remaining aliens will evolve into a new queen and take on the task of reproducing for the colony."

Little X answered, "There'll always only be one queen in a colony. The reason we believe that they have telepathic abilities is that even when the members in the colony have never met each other, they are still able to select one queen. There'll never be an instance where two queens exist at one time."

The two of them finally arrived at the end of the laboratory. Chen Chen was confronted with the master of the colony – the alien queen that measured more than eight meters long and four meters tall!

The hideous behemoth was chained in the isolation room with the thick bars of tungsten chains. Just like other members of the colony, it had a layer black exoskeleton, only it was tougher and thicker.

There was a gigantic crown grown into its head. Its fan-shaped exoskeleton extended to its back, tightly guarding the region of its head.

Its teeth were not metallic but took on a more bizarre translucent texture. The four pipe-shaped organs that allowed for breathing have turned into four spikes that shot into the sky. Coupled with the gigantic fan-shaped crown, it carried a bone-chilling, bloodthirsty aura...

Chapter 524: Saoun

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The queen's thick limbs and neck were held in place with gigantic tungsten chains and its body almost suspended in the air. Under such circumstances, there was not much even a dragon could do to wring itself free, no less an alien.

The reason these dangerous creatures were kept here was to observe their habits. It was clear that these alien forms had an established social structure. Further research could help with future space travel expeditions.

These aliens were the second creatures that humans had discovered so far that could survive at least for a short period in outer space, the first one was the tardigrade. The reason they were unable to survive for an extended period in outer space was not due to the temperature difference nor atmospheric pressure, but for the lack of oxygen.

The parasitic life form born from Earth creatures required oxygen to survive as well.

Apart from that, the aliens were able to survive short-term exposure to temperatures up to three hundred degrees just like the tardigrades. In the third installation of the movie Aliens, an alien was dropped into lead water with a melting point of 327.46 degrees Celsius, but it still crawled out within half a minute.

The alien exoskeleton acted like a sealed protective suit to safeguard the alien's body, enabling it to withstand extreme temperature and low air pressure.

The observation of these aliens provided a glimpse of what other aliens they may encounter in space could be like.

Chen Chen did not make light of this alien queen that remained motionless in the cell like it was dead. He knew that if they made any mistake and let this thing get to the outside world, it could at least level an entire city before he could stop it.

To be fair, an alien queen alone would not be enough to wipe out all of humanity. After the government got a handle on the situation, all that was needed was a well-fired thermal weapon to teach these monsters a lesson.

After leaving this breeding room, Chen Chen went to the other laboratories. Of all the ongoing projects, the one Chen Chen was most familiar with was the relaunched Tyrant project. The three-meter-tall Tyrants bred from the T-virus were once again injected with the G-358 to create a further enlarged version of Tyrant that stood more than five meters tall with spikes covering its body.

When Chen Chen was injected with the G-358, he was able to wipe out an army all on his own. The strength of a Tyrant injected with the G-virus had reached an unprecedented level that bordered on insanity. Additionally, the Spire had prepared a custom-made combat suit for the Tyrant. The combat suit was an enhanced version of the GS Combat Suit that could deflect bullets fired from sniper rifles.

The combat suit was fitted with a mechanism that automatically injected the G-358 virus when the Tyrant encountered a worthy opponent. The Tyrant was large enough to have nutrient pockets embedded in their bodies and upon receiving an injection of the G-358, the nutrient pockets would be deployed accordingly. In an instant, it would turn the Tyrant into a far more powerful killing machine, set to destroy whatever targets required of it.

The Spire Laboratory gave this G-358 virus injection a very fitting name – liberation.

Another noteworthy subject was the recently acquired C24 chromosome technology.

Chen Chen arrived at the level-five biosafety laboratory located at the top of the Spire.

The level-five biosafety laboratories were designed like a duplex, divided into two floors. The first floor was the experiment hall, which contained several isolation cells and sample rooms while the second floor was the command and control room. The more valued and experienced researchers usually operated on the second floor while the first-floor experiment hall was occupied by apprentice-level researchers and robots.

When Chen Chen arrived at the command room, Li Lei happened to be monitoring the floor.

The trio of Li Lei, Neumann, and Hannibal joined the God's Forbidden Zone together around seven years ago. Li Lei was now approaching his thirties and was considerably more mature and capable of handling himself.

"Boss."

Li Lei got up and smiled to greet Chen Chen. He also quickly noted Little X who was trailing closely behind Chen Chen. Even now, nobody knew the real identity of Little X but he still made a point to smile and nod respectfully.

As one of the members of the inner ring, he knew that this little girl that could not be more than ten years old had been sticking by Chen Chen's side for quite some time. What was terrifying was that she had full authority to dispatch the Black Knights.

Even with Li Lei's Alpha authorization level, he was only allowed to dispatch a small squad of Black Knights at most. The Alpha level was the highest possible attainable level in the God's Forbidden Zone. The only ones further up were the members of the Disciple Council or the leader himself, Chen Chen.

Chen Chen returned Li Lei's greeting with a similar, firm nod. There was not much exchange of small talk between the two. Chen Chen approached the observation window and looked over the experiment hall and asked, "How is it, any findings with the C24 chromosome?"

"There are some discoveries, but nothing major."

Li Lei replied as he went next to Chen Chen and pointed at several devilish-looking monsters in the isolation cells. "This chromosome technology is only compatible with human DNA so it can only be applied on human subjects. We've expended a significant number of Delta-level subjects in this period and unfortunately, most of them had underlying violent tendencies in their DNA and turned into these monstrosities..."

Chen Chen nodded knowingly. It was no surprise considering most of them were vicious criminals. He turned to the isolation cells and most of them contained pale-faced monsters with misshapen faces.

Unlike regular humans, the muscles all over their bodies were swollen and they stood more than three meters tall. Their misshapen faces looked like that of the devil pictured in the Bible. Their mouths were large and bloodied and their noses turned into two tiny ugly pores above their mouths. Finally, the outside edges of their eyes were slanted downward, almost at the same level as their noses.

"Do these... Guys still possess intellectual thoughts?"

Chen Chen was momentarily at a loss for how he should address these things.

"They do."

Li Lei answered with a sure nod and a solemn look upon his face, "That's the scary part. Even though they turned into what can only be described as monsters, they still possess intellectual thoughts as regular humans do. The only difference is they have become bloodlust, frenzied psychos.

"They feel fear, they lie, and know how to communicate. To a certain extent, they still have their past memories preserved but I can guarantee you that if you present their beloved ones before them, they'll kill their beloved ones without blinking an eye.

"They are solely driven by a desire to murder or you can describe it as they have their perceptions distorted. As far as they are concerned, killing someone is the best gift they can offer..."

Chen Chen seemed awed by this observation and noted. "Could you find any pure individuals without any violent tendencies in their genes?"

"I've already performed a blood sampling test."

Li Lei said, "Such individuals are extremely rare, probably one in nearly fifty. I only managed to find one such individual among the Delete-level subjects."

"Oh?"

Chen Chen was delighted to hear this. "Haven't you begun experimentations yet?"

"This subject is too valuable so I wouldn't dare risk it. Right now, I'm making preparations for the experiment and we're ready to begin soon."

Li Lei mentioned, "Boss, if you want to see it, we can begin within half an hour."

"Then let's begin."

Chen Chen immediately made himself comfortable on a couch and waited eagerly with his legs folded.

With that, Li Lei immediately gave the instructions to his crew to begin the experiment. The laboratory was set into motion.

"Sir Godfather."

Little X served a cup of coffee on the coffee table, then stood behind Chen Chen to give him a shoulder massage.

When Chen Chen made a gesture with his hands, a virtual display immediately appeared in front of him. He began to navigate the panel using brain-control technology to look up information on the only Delta-level subject that did not have any violent tendencies detected in his genes.

The Delta-level subject was a male subject named Pendo Saoun. He was an Owambo tribesman who was 2.15 meters tall and weighed 140 kilograms.

This immediately stood out to Chen Chen. This subject was already built like a human equivalent of a Tyrant.

The picture of Saoun was even more surprising as he had surprisingly gentle and pure eyes for someone built as large as he was. Chen Chen had almost never seen someone with such bright clarity in his eyes. This person was almost as innocent as a newborn baby.

He was a citizen of Windhoek, Namibia. Six months ago, he was found at the scene of a murder where he was performing indecent acts on two dead girls laying in a pool of blood.

The final verdict of the Windhoek court was that Saoun was guilty and sentenced to death.

In a surprising turn of events, after Namibian officials provided false evidence of his death sentence, he was secretly shipped to the Spire Laboratory.

After going through Saoun's files, Chen Chen seemed to have spotted an interesting bit. He went to the Namibian police internal network and started to look into the murder case that took place six months ago.

The justice system in Namibia was heavily flawed even after a lengthy investigation, they only collected accounts from several eyewitnesses. There was not even a single picture of the murder that took place.

There were three transcripts. In the first two transcripts, Saoun claimed that he was performing CPR on the victims. However, he suddenly changed his story in the final transcript and admitted to murdering them.

Chen Chen suddenly realized something.

However, he decided that these details were irrelevant to him. He was merely curious as to how someone who did not have violent tendencies in his genes came to become a murderer.

While Chen Chen was going through the records, the man named Pendo Saoun was brought to the laboratory on the first floor.

"Boss, the research subject is here."

Li Lei approached Chen Chen to inform him.

Chen Chen responded with a brisk nod. Then he got up and approached the observation window to get a clear view of the subject below.

The subject was dressed in common prisoner attire and he was truly huge, weighing 140 kilograms which was almost as much as Shaquille O'Neal weighed. He was obediently following the guards and seemed rather anxious as his eyes darted around the laboratory.

He was visibly horrified when he saw the monsters locked in the isolation cells next to him.

From where Chen Chen stood, he could see the pureness in Saoun's eyes. There was nothing resembling aggression or any similar emotions in his eyes, only a vivid fear for the unknown.

"So, this is the person without any violent genetics?"

Chen Chen muttered.

"Word is during his time in the prison, he never used his size to bully anyone."

Li Lei thought that Chen Chen was talking to him and so he mentioned, "I took a look at his background, he's never known for being confrontational in his entire life. His parents passed away when he was fifteen and he worked in a car workshop to support himself. At the time of his arrest, he didn't have any criminal records. I suspect that the Namibian police made a mistake somewhere."

Chen Chen nodded, it was a valid suspicion.

Li Lei took the walkie-talkie and announced, "Get ready to begin the experiment."

"Prepare for the experiment!"

The research crew below immediately relayed Li Lei's orders to the others. One of the crew turned to Saoun. "You, lie down on this bed!"

Saoun nodded and did as he was told although he was terrified.

After he lay down, he immediately closed his eyes as he was afraid of the pack of monsters in the isolation cells nearby.

After that, several researchers approached him and fixed metal loops around Saoun's neck and limbs, bounding him to the experiment table.

Throughout the entire process, Saoun did not resist at all.

After that, another researcher took a thick syringe from a tray of sterilized water while another researcher brought over a tiny sealed vial. The vial was filled with a transparent, colorless liquid. One would have to pay attention to notice there was anything in the vial at all.

The liquid contained within this vial was the C24 brought back from the DOOM dimension.

After drawing out the liquid in the vial with the syringe, the researcher stepped forward and injected the C24 into Saoun's arm via an intravenous injection...

Saoun seemed to have surrendered to his fate during the process of the injection. He kept his eyes clenched tightly the entire time and only shuddered slightly the moment the syringe was pulled away from his flesh.

As soon as the C24 was injected, the monitor positioned beside the table immediately provided feedback. Saoun's heartbeat and blood pressure were gradually rising and he was slowly falling into a deep coma.

Chapter 525: Recruitment

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Based on what was shown in the movie, there should not be any resulting complications if this chromosome-altering substance was injected into a person without inherent violent genetics.

When the protagonist of the movie was injected with the C24 after sustaining gruesome injuries, he only passed out for several hours. By the time he woke up again, not only were his wounds healed but he had also mutated into a powerful fighter that could wipe out a pack of aliens all on his own.

This same thing happened with Saoun after he was injected with the C24 as he fainted without a word.

After that, large beads of sweat began trickling down his forehead. Judging by his brows that were sewn together, he must have been experiencing great pain.

"The blood pressure of the experiment subject is rising..."

"His heartbeat is increasing, currently at 85 beats per minute. No, it's 95 and it's still rising...!"

"He's experiencing severe spasms. It seems that the blood supply is insufficient. Prepare to inject cardiac stimulants..."

The minutes slowly passed and by the half-hour point, Saoun's body began to twitch.

"The subject has produced a vast amount of sweat and needs nutrients and water. Richard, prepare to inject nutrition and glucose injections."

"The subject's condition is recovering and is gradually stabilizing..."

While the group below was running back and forth with the procedures, Li Lei and Chen Chen were silently monitoring the situation from above.

"It's going well!"

After reading the rows of data appearing on the virtual display in front of him, Li Lei clenched his fist eagerly. "In all our previous experiments, the subject would've begun transforming by this point. Hard shells would appear on their bodies and their faces would start to transform. This current state has never been observed before!

"All that's left now is to see if this turns out to be a successful experiment."

Chen Chen agreed but was not as optimistic just yet. All things considered, this stem of technology was still largely undeveloped and not fit for standardized use. Furthermore, it could not be customized just like how the T-virus was specifically customized for his body.

Unless there was some form of technology that could eradicate the violence and other such tendencies at a mental level. However, such a thing was nigh impossible and even if it did exist, Chen Chen would never use it.

God knew what would happen if these tendencies were removed from him.

With that said, it was worth further researching the C24 chromosome to see if anything could be done with it. Once it was viable for usage, it could turn out to be another buff for Chen Chen and further enhance his body.

If the limitations of the C24 chromosome were unable to be overcome, Chen Chen planned to use it as a chess piece for negotiations with the four major continents.

After another hour had passed, Saoun's condition was slowly stabilizing again.

The experiment table he was lying on was soaked in his sweat and some other slimy substance secreted from his body. These secretions were the waste discharged by the body after the evolution which contained dead skin, clogged pores, and some miscellaneous waste in the body.

This complete internal cleansing process was not completely unprecedented. If this experiment on Saoun did turn out successfully, one could draw a comparison to the C24 chromosome injected into him as a Chi pill seen in fantasy novels that completely reconstruct a person from the inside.

His life force was significantly enhanced by the C24 chromosome. Although the changes were not immediately distinct, he had lost a significant amount of weight, toning down from 140 kilograms to 120 kilograms.

What was exhausted was the built-up fat in his body.

A substantial amount of energy was required to enhance the body's qualities. It seemed that the nutrients injected into him did not suffice, so his body began performing internal combustion on his fats as well.

Saoun's expression was no longer full of misery and pain. The corner of his mouth tipped upward for a faint smile. It seemed like he was having a good dream.

"The subject is losing weight, but his physical quality is improving dramatically!"

There was a faint trace of envy in Li Lei's eyes as he observed this process. "For most people, the C24 isn't much different from the T-virus. They both possess characteristics ranging from enhancement, mutation, to further infection. However, most people are only susceptible to its mutational attributes after receiving the injection. Only an extreme minority with a unique genetic structure can receive the best of both worlds, which is a blend of physical enhancement and mutation. While the unlucky ones are turned into mindless monsters, the extreme minority becomes superhumans...

"Our subject Saoun had received the complete enhancement effect of the C24 chromosome. Not only was his physical fitness greatly improved, but he's also blessed enough to have his appearance and cognitive thinking preserved."

"You're free to give it a shot as well."

Chen Chen spotted the envy in Li Lei's eyes and teased him.

"Oh, I wouldn't dare."

Li Lei was not a fan of the suggestion. "I sampled my blood as well and detected the same violent genetics. If I'm injected with this, it's not going to end well."

While the two of them were chatting, Saoun slowly opened his eyes.

"He's awake!"

The research crew immediately swarmed toward Saoun when they noticed he was awake. Some of them started to extract blood samples while others performed body inspection. Each researcher performed their respective tasks efficiently.

"The C24 has perfectly fused into his body, its infectious quality has expired!"

Another row of data fed into the display. Li Lei's eyes immediately widened when he took note of the data as he shot up from his seat. "It's just as miraculous as the T-virus!"

Chen Chen was pleased to hear this. This observation was the same as when he was injected with the customized version of the T-virus. Once the T-virus completely fused with the DNA and the host was not turned into a zombie, that meant the process had been completed and the virus would not infect another person.

This was an example of perfect compatibility.

"Let's take a look at his physical enhancements."

Chen Chen signaled. "Release him, it's safe here."

"Alright."

Li Lei went to the intercom microphone again. "Get ready to release subject D2213 and perform a full-body inspection."

The research crew below immediately carried out the orders that were given. After the metal loops were taken away from the horrified Saoun, he sat upright still wincing in fear and asked with a quivering voice, "What's going on, what did you do to my body?"

"Mr. Saoun."

The restless Saoun heard a voice coming from the speaker system installed in the laboratory that directly addressed him. "How are you feeling?"

"I, I'm very hungry..."

Saoun looked around him and soon spotted two men standing behind a glass wall on the second floor.

Both of them looked like Chinese men. One was wearing a large white lab coat while the other was in casual wear.

"It's normal to be hungry, Mr. Saoun."

The man with the lab coat continued speaking through the speakers, "We'll be conducting a series of tests for you now. There's an arranged meal for you after that."

"Alright, alright!"

Saoun could not be any happier to hear this as he nodded enthusiastically. "My favorites are milk and biscuits!"

This adult man named Saoun was no different from a wide-eyed child. The sheer mention of food easily erased whatever worries he had earlier.

What followed after was a series of inspections such as CT scans and ultrasonography tests.

The results of the inspection were immediately sent to the monitor for Li Lei and Chen Chen to review.

As it turned out, the physical enhancement was not the most significant improvement. What awed Li Lei the most was the impressive recovery displayed by the Saoun. It only took half several minutes for him to recover from a half-centimeter wound cut into his body. The tremendous recovery speed displayed had surpassed that of the Tyrant.

"The subject's bone density, muscle strength, and recovery ability have all been greatly improved."

Li Lei held his breath. "His strength is comparable to those experimental subjects that mutated into monsters and it's also on par with the Black Knight. If only we can modify it to be effective on normal people..."

It had always been Li Lei's goal to modify the T-virus to make it effective for all people. However, there were significant limitations to the T-virus since it had to be injected while the subject is in a fetal state to be effective. The method used in Chen Chen's case was extremely costly since the T-virus had to be specifically customized to cater to Chen Chen's genetic structure, therefore, the T-virus was not a viable option.

The C24 signaled another opportunity at fulfilling his vision.

However, Chen Chen only shook his head at the notion. If this thing could be modified, the people in the DOOM dimension would have done so a long time ago.

This was something that was far more sophisticated than the T-virus, only specific individuals were compatible with it.

Chen Chen suddenly took the intercom microphone from Li Lei and turned to the giant Saoun below. "Mr. Saoun..."

"Uh... Hmm?"

Saoun was eagerly stuffing chunks of biscuits into his mouth. Both sides of his mouth were filled out like a beaver as he turned to look at the second floor.

"I went through your documents previously. What I want to know is, what were you doing when you were arrested by the police?"

Chen Chen asked, "Why were you kneeling in front of the dead bodies of the two women?"

"I was trying to perform CPR on them."

Saoun answered without a second thought. A tinge of regret surfaced in his eyes while he did so. "I have a bit of first-aid knowledge. I thought that there was still time to rescue them so I did what I could..."

"But the transcripts say that you admitted to killing the two of them during your third confession."

Chen Chen pried further. "How do you explain that?"

"They kept beating me..."

Saoun sounded dejected. "If I wouldn't admit to killing them, they were going to continue beating and torturing me. They wouldn't let me eat or sleep..."

During this confession, his eyes were still as pure and innocent as they had always been. With just one look, Chen Chen immediately recognized that this person was not lying.

Meanwhile, Li Lei still had his doubts.

"Your strength, speed, reaction time, and recovery capacity have been greatly improved. What I'd like to know is this, would you be willing to leave this place?"

Chen Chen asked again.

"Boss?"

Li Lei turned to look at Chen Chen. As far as he knew, there had never been any instance of Delta-level subjects being released from the laboratory.

"You mean... Leave?"

Saoun froze for a moment and thought about it deeply for a moment. After that, he shook his head decisively. "No. I've been sentenced to death, getting to live is more than I could ask for. Besides, wouldn't I be arrested again if I leave?"

Saoun's reply stunned Li Lei and the other researchers.

"If you're willing to work for me, you have my guarantee that nobody will ever come for you."

Chen Chen proposed. "Furthermore, I can provide you with enough food, perhaps even an appropriate salary."

"Alright."

Saoun promised with a firm nod. After that, his attention went back to the delicacies set for him on the table.

Chen Chen passed the intercom microphone back to Li Lei.

"Boss, do you believe his claims?"

Li Lei was still doubtful. "Many people in this world are natural actors."

"It doesn't matter whether he's telling the truth or not."

Chen Chen replied nonchalantly, "I want him because of what he's capable of. If we can get him to cooperate with us, we can hasten the progress of our C24 research."

"I see..."

Li Lei nodded pensively.

"Meanwhile, you continue focusing on developing the C24."

Now that Chen Chen had done what he came here for, he proceeded to leave, but not before further instructing, "Insert the God chip into Saoun and promote him to a level-C researcher rank. Keep him here with you to help with your research. We can start with using his blood to create a C24 drug that can strengthen all humans."

"Alright, I'll do my best!"

Li Lei answered with firm determination.

After that, Chen Chen left the laboratory and went to the teleportation room on the top floor.

Little X who was trailing after him closely began to ask inquisitively, "Sir Godfather, I believe that even if we don't grant this Delta-grade subject Saoun any freedom, we should still be able to conduct the C24 research with him as a specimen. Could it be that you've taken pity on him due to his circumstances?"

"Maybe."

Chen Chen replied without stopping, "It's nothing embarrassing. I've already spotted some strange discrepancies when I went through his files. It's just that I don't have any further proof. I trust my judgment unless Saoun's acting skills turn out to be deserving of an Oscar award.

"Since I determined that he's innocent, there should be no problems even if I let him loose in the laboratory. I'm going to implant the God chip in him anyway so there's no need for any further concerns."

"But it does seem like genetics plays a significant role in a person's nature..."

Little X pondered. "Are people without violent genetics naturally this naive and pure-minded?"

"I think this is nothing more than a coincidence."

Chen Chen suddenly stopped. "After all, there's only an extreme minority that doesn't have violent genetics. But when the population reaches up to eight billion, that still makes a sizable portion of the population. However, when applied in the real world, not a lot of them turn out to be truly kind. There are many more factors at play.

"Just because someone doesn't have violent genetics doesn't necessarily mean this person is kind-hearted. Think of it as how most people have violent genetics but most have never acted on their violent tendencies in their entire life. The human mind is a complicated subject. The circumstances revolving around a person can have a profound impact. Who is to say that genetics is the only factor at play?

"Therefore, we can only conclude that people without violent genetics are only less likely to get into violent confrontations with others."

"That does make sense."

Little X noted contentedly.