NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60: Darklings
Spark's eyelids parted sluggishly. For a brief moment, he forgot where he was… but then the blurry visage of the same goddamn crystal lamp came into view, and he realized.
Ah… I'm still here… how long has it been, I wonder… days? Or could it have been weeks? The thought surfaced in his groggy mind. I wonder how Lie Yu and the others are faring… are they still alive? I think Bao'er said something about her grandpa coming to save them…
Once he reached this line of thought, he realized even if the grandfather came, how would he know where they were? One had to remember they were hundreds of feet underground, with an unassuming village at the very top. He felt pessimistic about the chance Bao'er's grandfather could find them.
He twisted his head to the side. These days, Lu Ming had been carrying out various tests and experiments, harvesting his organs only to regenerate them with the Recast Elixir. Various men and women had been brought into this room as serums made from Spark's blood were tested on them.
Some died on the spot, some mutated beyond human recognition — reminding Spark of the effect of the drug Compound X. But there were some who survived, gaining massive evolutionary potential. Some could adapt to heat regardless of the rise in temperature, others to cold, others to poison. But even with this feat, Lu Ming always shook his head, his voice echoing with disgust.
"Alas, another failure. Still not perfect… disciple, keep them under strict observation. Regardless of failure, they can still be useful."
In the lunatic's eyes, both the dead subjects and the living were classed in one category: Failure.
He seemed to be a perfectionist who refused to accept subpar results.
Either way, Spark still suffered. Today they had taken some samples of his brain matter for study, and as payment they left his neck unpierced, giving him the chance to look around the lab.
This wasn't the first time they did this. Sometimes, when the madman was in a good mood, Spark was served delicacies. Sometimes he was given the chance to drink water. This was the lunatic's deranged method of paying him for his suffering.
And Spark took it all. After all, what could he do?
He had long since come to the conclusion that escaping on his own was impossible. With those clamped protrusions present, he couldn't use his ability even if he wanted to. Furthermore, Lu Ming seemed to have a way of severing certain parts of his muscles and tendons, and also deactivating some of his nerves, leaving him without the ability to gather his strength.
His neck creaked as he finally landed on his cheek, and then he saw the usual routine duo working on a human figure — a man, to be precise.
The subject stared at the ceiling with a vacant look, his eyes carrying an eerie hue similar to Spark's, and his hair following suit with a silvery-white luster. These were the traits of those who had been genetically modified with Spark's DNA.
Their physiques mirrored their source, and often they inherited his darker side, which Spark always found pleasant to watch. The humans would then turn feral, striking and sometimes heavily injuring the master-disciple duo.
Naturally, it brought Spark great joy to see them both suffer, even if only slightly. In his current state of helplessness, it was satisfying to say the least.
He stared monotonously, waiting hopefully for this one to become what he dubbed a Darkling and bring him the pleasure of knocking one or two blows into the lunatic — and maybe bite his head off. Well, that couldn't happen, but the punches would do.
Suddenly, the limp figure of the subject twitched. Spark's eyes lit up with expectation, anticipating a commotion and then a rush of guards to deescalate.
Lu Ming noticed this slight change. He and his disciple glanced at each other, coming to the same conclusion as Spark: this subject was about to be compromised. But they gritted their teeth and stood their ground. They had to finish the operation and see it through, even if it meant risking injury.
As they quickened their motions, hoping to end things in time, the slight twitching became a sporadic seizure as they closely approached the end of the procedure.
Spark watched with bated breath. I can't beat you guys, but as long as my bloodline thrives, the loathing ingrained in my blood will forever seek to harm you! he screamed inwardly, excited.
Just as the subject's eyes dilated, becoming diluted with a sanguine hue, and his teeth bared with strands of saliva dripping from the sides, he was about to lunge for Lu Ming when suddenly Mu Bai, the disciple, took it upon himself to restrain the subject, trying as much as possible to keep it still.
He didn't seem to mind the fact that the subject had its teeth tightly clamped on his back and fingers sinking into his arms. Mu Bai just held on, gritting his teeth, determined for his teacher to see this to the end.
Over the past few days — or maybe weeks, he couldn't keep count because of the massive schedule he and his teacher worked with — they hadn't slept a wink, supporting their mental states with various herbs and elixirs.
He and his teacher had run countless experiments. Their pace at unraveling this new genetic code was so fast he himself was impressed. He knew why this was the case: it was all because of his genius teacher, and the massive foundation the man had meticulously built over decades of researching the Perfect Life.
Now that he had finally come into a genetic code that could actually make this possible, it was only natural his pace toward his goal became outstandingly fast. The man had quickly come up with a total of 119 possible sequences that could get them to their goal — the Perfect Life.
Over the past few days, their schedule had been so tight mainly because of this. In total, they had completed a staggering 118 sequences, all ending in failure, leaving only one left to reach their goal. It was this precise sequence that caused the subjects to go rabid and crazed, causing them trouble.
And today, he and his teacher were determined to see the sequence to the end. After all, as the only possibility left, they were certain this was the path to creating a successful Perfect Life.
A deity in human skin.
For this cause, Mu Bai would happily stake his life.
Just as he thought he would have to hold on much longer, suddenly the restless subject became calm, as his teacher's exhausted voice rang out from behind: "I am done."
Mu Bai quickly let go of the now unconscious patient, his bloodied figure taking exhausted steps backward before landing on his bum.
"So it was a failure?" he asked, gazing at the lifeless body of the subject.
Lu Ming didn't answer. He seemed to be in a daze, muttering to himself. What could have gone wrong? I calculated a total of 68,123,875 times and always ended up with the same sequence. Should I have calculated further? Was there another possible sequence ahead? Maybe even more?
Ratatatata!
An intense rattling sound rang out, snapping him out of his daze. He instinctively stared at Spark, thinking for a moment that he was the source, but Spark lay still, seemingly gazing at something behind him, eyes wide.
"Huh?" he exclaimed, confused, as he turned around to see the source of the rattling… it was the subject who had been assumed dead.
His figure convulsed uncontrollably as slight cracks appeared all over his skin. The cracks glowed intensely, as though a divine light was basking within. As the cracks spread, the patient convulsed. The two scholars and Spark watched this sight with wide eyes and bated breath, and suddenly—
Crackle! Poof!
A series of cracking pops rang out as the skin of the patient shattered. In its wake, a furious cadence of multicolored lights burst from his figure, illuminating the room so brightly that all three spectators had to close their eyes against the intense glow.