First Light of a New Age

Chapter 193: It Is A Good Day To Die

Unknown Location.

4th Year of the New Age, Tuesday, 3rd Week, 10th Month of the Father.

"Hm... another failure."

From behind a large glass window, an old man in a dark cloak stared down at the motionless patient strapped to a steel bed with tubes and wires connecting the body and monitors flashing erratic lines before finally going flat.

With a tired sigh, he pulled out a worn notepad and crossed off a name with the pen scratching sharply against the paper.

"Test subject #128... failed. Another one lost. How unfortunate," he muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "Three hundred milligrams is still too much for a single dose. Damn it."

He had already spent over a month refining the serum, a formula meant to modify beings to fuse smoothly with Primordial Chaos, turning them into more powerful weapons without the usual risk of spiritual collapse or complete annihilation. On paper, it should have worked. In practice, it was proving far more unstable than he'd anticipated.

There was still far too much testing to be done.

First, he needed to determine the precise amount required to slowly erode a subject's mind without killing the body outright. Then came the long list of side effects from neural decay, madness, organ rejection, to spontaneous mutations.

After running several calculations in his head, he grimaced. At this pace, he would need at least a few more months before he could finally produce his first complete and "perfect" Human–Chaos hybrid supersoldier to even threaten Tier-3 Transcendents alone.

The real problem wasn't the science, but the higher-ups.

Spending this much time on what they considered a "simple formula" had already planted doubt in their minds. Patience was wearing thin, and he knew that needed something or anything to present them, and he needed it fast.

"Professor George."

Disrupting him out of his thoughts, a voice suddenly called out for him.

"...Hello?"

Turning around, George's expression darkened slightly and a trace of fear flashed his eyes for just a moment.

"Dr. Voronov. What is it?"

Standing in the doorway was Dr. Sergei Voronov, the leader of this shadowy organization and one of the Dark Apostles. His presence alone made the air feel heavier.

Ignoring George's obvious signs of tension, Sergei spoke calmly. "How is test subject #682?"

"Six-eight-two?" George replied after a brief pause. "He's currently sedated. Based on the injuries he sustained during capture, we expect a full recovery and should wake up in a few days."

"Good... very good," Sergei said with a slow nod. "Once you've dulled his mind, hand him over to us. We have a few questions we'd like to ask him."

"Understood," George replied stiffly. "The Emperor of Austronesia's mind likely holds knowledge most people on Earth have never even dreamed of."

Sergei smiled. Someone who ruled a superpower carried secrets worth tearing a world apart for, and the Dark Apostles were eager to claim them. The main reason the test subject had been delivered to George in the first place was that they wanted his mind broken before the interrogation began.

Only when he could no longer think for himself would the truth spill out.

"Excellent. Keep up the good work, George."