The entrance to Laboratory 7 pretended to be nothing more than a forgotten subway maintenance hub—rusted fences, cracked concrete, dust thick enough to write an essay on. But the blast doors told the truth.
Fifty centimeters of titanium. Bent outward.
As if something inside wanted out badly enough to punch its way through metal meant to withstand tank fire.
The Black Behemoth rolled to a stop with a low mechanical growl.
Saya's fingers flew across her console. A frown creased her forehead—the kind that meant the problem wasn't technical but existential.
"Readings are chaotic," she muttered. "I'm picking up high-frequency psionic waves. They're scrambling our radar. Whatever's inside… it's screaming mentally."
"Psychic scream," Su Chen said. "Cute. I needed a headache."
He stood, geared up, and snapped his coat straight.
"Saeko. Xiao Yi Xian. With me. Qingyu—truck duty. Freeze anything that breathes wrong."
They moved with zero hesitation. At this point, obeying Su Chen was muscle memory.
He stopped at the blast door.
Instead of opening it, he pressed a palm to the cold titanium.
The system chimed.
[Target Identified: Titanium Alloy Door]
[Analyzing Structure]
[Copying...]
A heartbeat later, he reshaped his hand—flesh twisting, bones rearranging, mandibles of Mantis Chitin forming into a spinning drill reinforced by the titanium pattern he had copied.
VRRRRRR—
The drill bit through the lock like a hot knife through butter.
Su Chen kicked the door in.
---
The Hall of Failures
Red emergency lights flickered weakly, painting the corridor in seizures of crimson. The smell was worse—ozone, antiseptics, and the sour reek of formaldehyde. A place where ethics went to die.
Glass tanks lined both sides of the hall.
Inside floated abominations.
Human torsos with shark heads. Dogs with tentacles. A child-sized creature with four mouths arranged like petals.
Saeko wrinkled her nose. "These things have no elegance. They're just… butchered."
"Chimeras," Su Chen said calmly. "Forced evolution. This is what happens when scientists try to play gods while acting like children."
One of the tanks cracked.
Then shattered.
A creature burst out—lean, deformed, its exposed brain throbbing beneath translucent flesh. Claws scraped along the metal floor.
[Target: Failed Chimera (Lv. 11)]
[Speed: Mach 0.5]
Fast.
But Su Chen didn't even flinch.
He spread his Purple Cloud Wings.
A single feather shot out—pure condensed spiritual force.
Thunk!
The creature hit the wall and slid down in silence.
"Trash," Su Chen muttered. "Don't bother."
They moved on.
More tanks. More sins. More proof that humanity had lost its morality long before the apocalypse began.
Xiao Yi Xian stopped near a large vat. Green fluid bubbled slowly. "This is alchemy… but twisted. Like medicine with its soul ripped out."
"Not alchemy," Su Chen corrected, placing a hand on a pristine Cloning Chamber. "Just science without restraint."
The system fed him data.
[Target: Bio-Replication Chamber (Advanced)]
[Function: Cloning of tissue and complete organisms possible with sufficient DNA and energy supply.]
"Copy."
He smiled faintly.
Infinite replication. Infinite biomass. Future army secured.
He turned toward the deeper levels.
---
Sector Z — Where Minds Break
The psychic pressure hit them long before the door came into view—heavy, suffocating, like fingers pressing against their skulls.
Sector Z looked like a prison for gods.
Metal walls buckled inward. Floor tiles cracked. Lamps flickered violently.
At the center, suspended above a pit, was a containment sphere.
Inside floated a girl.
Small. Fragile-looking. Silver hair drifting around her like strands of moonlight. Bandages wrapped her limbs; cables dug into her spine.
Her mouth didn't open, but her mind screamed loud enough to stab their thoughts.
GET OUT—GET OUT—STOP—IT HURTS—
Saeko staggered. "Master… her voice… it's like needles…"
Xiao Yi Xian collapsed to her knees, blood trailing from her nose.
Only Su Chen remained still.
[Lich Bloodline: Mental Immunity Active]
His expression sharpened.
The system displayed her data.
[Subject: Lin Xiya (01)]
[Class: Psionic Esper (Awakened)]
[Potential: SSS — "World Destroyer"]
[Abilities: Telekinesis (S), Telepathy (A)]
[Status: Psionic Overload — Critical]
"She's overloading," Su Chen murmured. "If she detonates, this facility becomes a crater."
The ground trembled.
A massive shape rose from the pit beneath the sphere.
A Tyrant-class mutant—four meters tall, armored plates fused to skin, a rocket launcher replacing an arm. A grotesque guardian.
[Boss: Nemesis Prototype (Lv. 20)]
[Mission Directive: Terminate Subject 01]
The cannon locked on the sphere.
"No," Su Chen said quietly.
He vanished.
Shadow Step.
He reappeared directly in front of the rocket launcher.
"You're in my way."
The Tyrant fired.
BOOOOM.
Smoke swallowed Su Chen whole.
Saeko screamed, "Master!"
When the smoke faded—
He hovered midair.
Not a scratch on him.
In his transformed Dragon Claw… he held the crushed remains of the warhead.
His Indestructible Diamond Body glowed like molten gold.
"That was disappointing."
He pointed a finger.
"Book of the Undead: Soul Bind."
Black chains erupted from the shadows, coiling around the Tyrant like hungry serpents.
"Saeko," Su Chen said without turning. "End it."
Her eyes flashed crimson.
"Gladly."
Blood Asura ignited. She moved faster than a blink, carving the Tyrant apart joint by joint. Flesh hit the floor in wet thuds.
Su Chen ignored the carnage.
He flew to the containment sphere.
---
The Mind of a God
Lin Xiya's eyes snapped open—bright silver, swirling with terror and power.
GO—BEFORE I—KILL YOU—CAN'T CONTROL—
Su Chen pressed a hand to the glass.
"Control is a lie. Dominance is reality."
He triggered his ability.
[Copying Attribute: Telekinesis (S)]
[Copying Attribute: Psionic Sensitivity]
His skull felt like it split open. A thousand needles drilled into his mind.
Dangerous. But survivable—because his Spirit stat was monstrous.
[Soul Hand — Fused Ability Unlocked.]
He exhaled slowly.
Then raised his hand.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The containment glass fractured.
Then dissolved into floating dust.
Lin Xiya fell forward—
—but his telekinesis caught her, guiding her gently into his arms.
Her uncontrolled psychic energy surged into him like a tidal wave.
Anyone else would've had their brain liquefied.
Su Chen simply flicked it into his Infinite Storage space like sweeping dust under a rug.
Her screaming stopped.
Her mind quieted.
Her trembling hands clutched his coat. "Who… are you…?"
"I'm the one who owns this lab now."
He turned.
"System. Area Loot."
Everything vanished into storage—serums, hard drives, biomass, even the remains of the Tyrant.
Su Chen carried the girl out.
---
Back in the Black Behemoth
Lin Xiya sat wrapped in a blanket, knees pulled to her chest, staring at Su Chen like he was a walking paradox.
Shizuka handed her hot cocoa. The girl held it like a lifeline.
Su Chen sat opposite her, casually levitating an apple with his new telekinesis.
"You're… using my power," she whispered.
"I use everyone's power," Su Chen said. "Difference is—I don't explode."
He pointed toward the Dungeon Core embedded in the truck.
"You'll act as our psychic radar. Sense threats. Crush anything dumb enough to approach."
Lin Xiya hesitated. "If… if you keep the noise away, I'll do anything."
The system chimed.
[Subject 01 Recruited]
[Role: Radar / Crowd Control]
[Loyalty: 90 (Dependency)]
Su Chen checked his new stats.
Telekinesis meant flight without wings, invisible shields, organ crushing, battlefield control.
Their power ceiling just skyrocketed.
He stood and looked at Saya's updated map.
The Botanical Gardens. The Spirit Stone Mine.
Perfect.
"Everyone gear up," he said. "It's time to cultivate."
"Jiang Rou—drive."