The little Feline was very cute in appearance.
Her round, chubby little face made one want to give it a pinch. Her ice-blue eyes seemed to have lost their luster, devoid of spirit. Her head was wrapped in bandages, and she wore a loose surgical gown. The glass room contained only a bed and nothing else.
She sat inside.
As if she were an 'animal' imprisoned in a zoo, to be slaughtered or gawked at by people.
A test subject?
This reminded Lucas Reeve of Ifrit.
Ifrit's environment back then seemed quite similar to this little Feline girl's.
Except.
Ifrit at least had Silence and Saria, who loved her.
Although she was a test subject, under the concerned care of Silence and Saria, she mistakenly believed she was just a patient who needed treatment at Rhine Lab. She only had to wait until she was fully cured, and then she could leave and live happily outside with Silence and Saria.
Although the reality was cruel.
That was what Ifrit believed.
Even now.
Ifrit didn't know the truth, which was why she was so lively and cheerful.
In contrast...
The little Feline before them had a dazed expression. She showed no reaction or sparkle in her eyes upon seeing a stranger like Surtr enter, nor was she afraid. There was only a tiny bit of curiosity about the unknown.
Damn it!
A cold glint of light flashed in Lucas Reeve's eyes.
This reminded Lucas Reeve of the core laboratory of a certain family in Siracusa, [Wolf Fang]. They also used a large number of minors or young children for cruel research. Such heartless and frenzied acts!
They had no right to exist in this world.
As expected.
Some things you just had to do yourself.
Relying on others was not an option.
He had been too confident in Saria's abilities.
Of course.
Lucas Reeve didn't blame Saria either.
After all, she wasn't the Director-General. In this world, no matter how capable one was, there were times when one's hands were tied. If she could truly stop everything, Ifrit's [Flame Demon Project] would never have happened.
The interior of this core laboratory was very large.
The walls and even the floor were made entirely of metal. The strong smell of disinfectant permeated the air at all times.
Five glass rooms were placed separately in various parts of the lab, quite far from each other. In the center of the lab was an operating table, and beside it were all sorts of sharp surgical instruments, some of which still had traces of blood on them.
However.
There was one perplexing thing.
Why was there no one in the lab?
Surely such an illegal laboratory wouldn't also clock out at 4:30 sharp.
As Lucas Reeve was pondering this.
The cute little Feline girl in the glass room kept her big, watery eyes fixed on Surtr, or rather, on Lucas Reeve.
In the little Feline's vision.
Behind the red-haired big sister in front of her, there was the faint, terrifying figure of a giant monster. This figure made her a little scared, but inside this monster's silhouette, there was a kind-looking and handsome big brother.
The little Feline began to suspect that this big sister might be a test subject like herself.
Although she wasn't old, about the same age as Ifrit.
She was much smarter than Ifrit.
She had long been aware of the fact that she was a test subject. She had once resisted, cried, and fantasized that someone would rescue her from this hell. However, her cries and sorrow received no response. Two years passed, and the hero she had hoped for never came.
And the companions of her age who had suffered the same fate had all died tragically in subsequent cruel experiments. When it was her turn.
The little Feline felt that she too was about to face the end.
Her body was cruelly fixed to the operating table. There was no anesthetic, only sedatives. She could clearly feel the intense pain of a drill piercing into her head. Despair, agony, yet she couldn't make a sound.
By a stroke of luck.
She didn't die.
In fact, her compatibility with the Infected Organ was as high as ninety percent, which sent these devil-like white coats into a frenzy of joy.
However.
As the experiments deepened.
Countless voices seemed to echo in the little Feline's head. She could see things that normal people couldn't, see people's emotions, and even hear their thoughts.
And in Lucas Reeve's vision.
This Feline girl was very strange. Countless spirit-like threads seemed to be emanating from her, spreading outwards. These spiritual threads seemed to be able to substitute for the little Feline's senses; even with her eyes closed and without touching anything, she could perceive her surroundings.
Lucas Reeve tried to communicate with the little girl through spiritual means.
"Hello, little girl."
Lucas Reeve's spiritual voice startled the little Feline.
A different kind of light appeared in her ice-blue eyes. She quickly looked up and met Lucas Reeve's gaze, hidden in the deepest part.
"Hel...lo...."
The little Feline timidly responded to Lucas Reeve.
"I'm here to save you, little girl. Don't be afraid."
Lucas Reeve tried his best to make his voice gentler.
Because it was a spiritual exchange.
The voice the little girl heard was Lucas Reeve's own.
"Save... me?"
The little Feline was in disbelief. Her brilliant, ice-blue pupils suddenly widened, and she kept muttering.
It had been two years.
The little Feline's hope had gone from initially wishing for rescue to her current state of listlessness.
And yet.
Just when she had given up all hope, a ray of light once again shone into her gray world.
"My name is Lucas Reeve. You should be able to see me, little girl. This big sister's name is Surtr."
Fearing the little girl couldn't see him, Lucas Reeve materialized as a small flame figure and floated in front of her.
"What's your name, little girl?"
"Rose... Rosmontis..."
Rosmontis looked at Lucas Reeve, who had taken the form of a small flame person, and a glimmer of starlight flashed in her long-dormant eyes.
How cute...
"Rosmontis, do you know where the experiment personnel here went?"
Lucas Reeve pressed.
"Um..."
Rosmontis said timidly, "In another laboratory. Before you and big sister came, all the white coats seemed to have run into another lab."
"Thank you. We'll be back to save you all soon, Rosmontis. Just wait a little longer..."
"Mm..."
Rosmontis nodded, a little dejected.
Although she really wanted to believe him, she was well aware of the formidable armed forces contained within this laboratory.
"Big brother and big sister, please be careful."
Rosmontis very politely waved at Lucas Reeve and Surtr. The little flame version of Lucas Reeve smiled slightly and waved his small hand back at Rosmontis. Surtr gave a slight nod, and the two of them left the core lab and headed for the other one.
In that other laboratory.
Lucas Reeve could sense that the fragment's aura was coming from within.
——————
In the lab.
As the master of Loken Water Tank, Loken Williams was currently gazing with immense excitement at the blade fragment before him, which emitted a captivating red glow. Upon the fragmented, rusty blade, mysterious fiery runes spread across its surface.
Even through the glass barrier, the divine radiance on the blade's surface could not be concealed. This divine glow left Loken Williams shaken, excited, and thrilled beyond measure.
This was a god!!
The true power of a god.
Beside Loken Williams were many other research personnel dressed in white coats.
These fanatical researchers had been working on their own projects, but tonight, this blade fragment, which had been dormant for who knows how long, suddenly began to glow with a faint red light. As time passed, this red glow became more and more vibrant, and even the oppressive aura of a higher life form was being completely emitted from the blade.
And next to Loken Williams stood a white-coated man with a cold and sinister expression.
On his white coat was the Rhine Lab logo.
"Director, I'll leave the implantation of the divine fragment to you!"
Loken Williams extended a hand towards the newly appointed head of the Structural Section, and a slight smile appeared on the director's lips.
"Of course."
"Mr. Loken, I will show you that I am far more powerful and capable than that old fool Parvis. That old man spent countless years on the [Flame Demon Project] only to barely succeed, and its subsequent performance was lackluster. That so-called [Flame Demon Project] was clearly an incredibly failed project."
"I naturally have more faith in you, Director."
Loken Williams also smiled slightly.
"That old fool Parvis is probably dead already. Cooperating with you is far more pleasant and smooth than with him."
"With you on board, my Infected Organ project is nearing its end. The mental link between the five test subjects is complete. Now we just need to wait for the right time, kill the other four sub-subjects, and that Feline test subject will become the most perfect specimen! This rapid progress is all thanks to you, Director. If it were that old geezer Parvis, the project would probably still be stuck at square one."
"Hmph, naturally."
The new director of Rhine Lab's Structural Section's plain face flashed with a hawk-like sharpness.
He hated his former teacher, Parvis. His own skills had clearly surpassed his, and he was his eldest student, yet Parvis had entrusted the most core project, the [Flame Demon Project], to some snot-nosed little girl?
This made the anger in his heart towards Parvis burn to its peak.
At this moment.
On the operating table, surrounded by a group of white coats, lay a young boy around twelve years old. His face was filled with panic, and he wanted to scream, but his mouth and limbs had been bound long ago, rendering him unable to make a sound or struggle.
The head of the Structural Section, under Loken Williams's watchful gaze, raised the scalpel in his hand, preparing to begin the implantation surgery. The initial steps were the same as the [Flame Demon Project], implanting a medium containing divine power into a human body.
And just as the surgery was about to begin.
The activity of the flame blade in the glass container grew higher and higher.
This unusual behavior made Loken Williams both excited and worried.
He was excited because...
The more active the blade, the more powerful it was. After implantation, the power it could generate would be even stronger. As for his worry...
He himself didn't know.
It was just an unease from the depths of a mortal's heart towards a god.
Suddenly.
The alloy door behind the laboratory was directly melted through by a greatsword wreathed in flames.
At the same time.
The blade fragment in the glass container could finally hold back no longer. The fire within the blade shot up into the sky, effortlessly breaking through the glass vessel. Amidst the panic of the researchers, the blade, as if with a mind of its own, shot directly into the body of a stunned Loken Williams.
This turn of events happened so incredibly fast that even the new director of the Structural Section, who was preparing to perform the implantation surgery, was momentarily frozen in place.
At the same time.
The tightly sealed alloy door was violently broken open.
A crimson female figure stood quietly outside.
However.
At this moment, few people had the time to pay attention to Surtr.
Everyone's attention was focused on Loken Williams.
After the blade entered Loken Williams's body.
Loken Williams's skin turned crimson, like a boiled shrimp. Magma seemed to flow through the blood vessels beneath his skin. His skin gradually peeled off, revealing not flesh and blood, but grim magma. His eyes turned crimson, and he stood up as if he were a zombie. This transformation terrified the surrounding researchers, who had little to no combat ability, and they scrambled to hide in the corners of the lab. Even the new director of the Structural Section next to him was frightened by Loken Williams's current state.
"Loken Williams's" crimson eyes stared coldly at Surtr, who had broken through the door.
"Has my fragment of power finally arrived?"