The Mad Doctor Part 2

Unknown to him, Hecate already felt the abrupt increase in his thrill. His unstable emotions drew her attention.

"Let me guess, those ruthless families forced you here, right?" Luke suddenly asked, waking the ecstatic Blake.

"What do you want?" Blake asked warily.

"I thought you would ask why I was called those families ruthless," Luke said with a smile, while Blake kept silent.

His time in prison built him to care about his problems only. To his current self, caring about others unnecessarily is the same thing as carrying an irrelevant load.

'Ruthless? Saint? Hypocrite? It has nothing to do with me if the families are devils in human skin,' Blake thought silently.

All this while, Luke observed Blake for any subtle reaction, but he was disappointed as Blake remained still as a tree in the room. Luke thought people at Blake's age who believe in 'heroic justice' were easy to brainwash, but he couldn't fathom Blake's mind.

When Luke could not get any reaction from Blake, he gave up and said, "Let me tell you a story. A young man, who just finished college, started intensive research on the darkness element. He thought a breakthrough in solving the genetic issue of the darkness element might save millions of lives from mutating into dark demons. However, funds, power, and resources limited him. He decided to use some leeches in the society for experiments. Things were okay until the Transcendent Force got him on their radar."

"Why does it feel like your autobiography?" Blake asked with a curious face.

Luke didn't know whether Blake was mocking him or just curious. He decided to ignore the strange teen and continue his story.

"The Transcendent Force arrested the young man, and he was supposed to be sentenced to death. However, four people claiming to be the representatives of the elemental families met the young man. They promised him free research subjects, funds, and equipment with a high salary. What a nice deal! He took the deal. When he finally made a serum to counter the darkness, it only worked partially. It couldn't stop humans, who awoke the darkness element, from mutating into dark demons, but it could cure their bloodthirstiness, insanity, and primitive intelligence. The four big families ordered him to make and send a truck of the serum to a city. They wanted to inject everybody in the third-rate city and spread the darkness element."

"Why do they want to spread it? How can they spread the element?" Blake asked, finally becoming interested in the topic.

"They wanted to spread it to create an army of controlled dark demons, claiming it was for fighting against any outbreak of beasts. However, they wanted an army of dark demons for their selfish motive. So, I escaped from their control. Then they declared me a wanted, mad, genetic doctor, who kills like the demons. Meanwhile, they were the ones who provided me with the test subject." Luke smashed the wooden table into pieces while speaking through his gritted teeth, venting his intense hatred.

"Why are you telling me your autobiography?" Blake asked calmly, not letting Luke's emotions affect him. Many people manipulate others using their emotions. The main reason it didn't influence him is that he never cared about the big families.

Luke looked at him for a while before saying, "I admit, you are too mature for your age. Well, the reason I told you is that I already perfected the serum to counter the darkness element."

"Then why don't you tell the families? You're informing the wrong person," Blake said with a frown.

"Are you so naive? If I tell them, they will just steal my knowledge, kill me, and burn my body. Furthermore, the world will praise their action for killing a mad psychopathic doctor," Luke said with his eyes dilated, threatening to spit the word 'hatred'.

"I'm dying, so I'm handing over my research to you. I would rather not trash my work. I will hand over the formula for making the serum to you. Don't ask me why I'm dying," Luke said solemnly, regaining his cool.

"Sorry, but I don't want it," Blake said calmly. He wouldn't use a serum, only god knows how it was made.

"I never said you should use it. You can use it to help people who awaken the darkness element. Moreover, you could use that as a bargaining chip for the future," Luke said anxiously.

Blake thought for a while and decided to accept the deal. Unknown to him, he has merely opened the gateway to a future crisis.

"Fine, give me the serum and the formulas."

Luke opened a drawer by the side, and he brought a flash drive and a sealed test tube of a jet-black liquid.

Blake accepted everything and decided to leave. However, he noticed Luke staring through the office window. When he traced his eyesight, Blake saw him staring at Ella—specifically the device she saw pressing. A strange smile, which made Blake feel uncomfortable, hung on his lips.

"I will be leaving," Blake said calmly but already feeling uncomfortable.

"You're accepting my research, which makes you technically my student. Well, I will just turn this pup Davis into a dark demon and show you how to use the serum," Luke said with a smirk. His eyes gleamed with ecstasy.

"No. She is off-limits," Blake said coldly, no longer calm.

"Why? You love her?" Luke turned and asked with an eerie smile.

"No, I don't. I could even sacrifice her. However, if I come out alone, the four families might kill me," Blake said with a narrow eye, which made him also look threatening. The office became silent, with only the sound of slow breathing being heard. They were like vipers, waiting for the first to strike.

When the tension reached its climax and Blake's hand was already moving slowly towards his sword, Luke said, "Don't worry, I have an underground passage to escape. When you leave Brooke City, they can't track you." Luke waved his hand dismissively.

"You think I'm a fool? You had issues with them, and you ended up living in a cave with an ape merely to survive. I would rather not live in a cave," Blake said sarcastically.

Luke's eyes began narrowing slowly until they became a horizontal slit.

"I guess you think I wouldn't kill you because you are my only hope to spread my research. That was right until the pup Davis brought a device that can connect with the outside world without leaving a trace. I could send my research to my friend. You are now disposable. So, what's your answer, kid?" Luke asked with a smirk, making Blake's heart sink.

"You want to make me the enemy of the four families by killing, to destroy every possibility of future cooperation," Blake articulated calmly, picking up his point.

"Intelligent," Luke praised him.

"And you are the dark demon we just fought," Blake added with a smirk, making Luke pause in shock.

"How did you know?" Luke asked after a moment of silence.

"Your neck is bleeding. The serum is killing you, right?" Blake replied with a question.

"I guess I will kill you both."

Luke's eyes turned pitch-black, and his body started twisting into impossible shapes, with his bones making cracking sounds. He started enlarging. His teeth grew longer and became razor sharp.

"Of all places, you chose to challenge the devil in hell, his domain!" Luke, in the middle of his transformation, growled with a demonic, deep voice that didn't belong to him.