“Please, I beg you!”
“My daughter is only five years old. She can’t lose her father!”
“Let go of me! Release me!”
“Get that thing away from me!”
Despite the man’s desperate pleas, inside the transparent isolation chamber, two members of the Callewa gang firmly restrained his arms, designating him as the subject for an imminent experiment.
No matter how much he struggled, he could only watch as a third gang member entered the room holding a syringe and walked toward him.
Soon after—
*Squirt!*
The needle pierced his skin, injecting a dark red ominous liquid into his veins.
[Miasma Reagent]
This was Callewa’s most significant research achievement.
Miasma has three states: gas, liquid, and a theoretically existing crystalline form that exists only in legends. Normally, Miasma manifests as a “gaseous” substance—widespread but poorly absorbed.
However, through researching the “Emperor’s Relic,” Callewa had mastered the technology to refine gaseous Miasma into a concentrated liquid form. That is what the [Miasma Reagent] was.
In a very short period, it could infect the user with a high dose of Miasma, inducing extreme stimulation. If administered to an ordinary person, it would forcibly induce a transformation into an “Eclipse.”
Just like what was happening inside the chamber.
Once the injection was done, the gang members immediately released the man and hurriedly retreated, leaving behind a man who had begun to curl up on the floor.
“Ah, it burns! It’s so hot! Water, give me water!” .𝘤𝘰𝑚
For the first few seconds, the man’s body convulsed as the Miasma Reagent circulated through his bloodstream. Soon, a bloody red pattern faintly emerged on his skin.
Quickly, the man rose to his feet, tearing at his own clothes. Then, clutching his head, he started shaking it manically from side to side.
“Stop it! Stop shouting in my ears!”
“My head is going to explode, get out!”
“Shut up! I said shut up!”
The man tried to claw at his eyes and ears—a reaction to the intense hallucinations and delirious babble that Miasma can induce. When the human body can’t tolerate these sensations, it tries to destroy its own senses to counteract the confusion.
Unfortunately, Miasma affects the mind directly. No matter how much the man clawed at his eyes and ears until they bled, it provided no relief.
Outside the transparent chamber, a group of gang members resembling researchers surrounded the area. Holding various types of equipment, they appeared to be diligently recording data on the entire process.
At the forefront was a gaunt man dressed in a grey lab coat, his long hair disheveled.
This man, Dr. Roca adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
Narrowing his eyes, he intently watched the man in the transparent chamber, who was now frantically merging with Tainted Miasma.
The earlier phases were more or less the same; the key would be what comes next.
Dr. Roca was highly anticipating the possibility of replicating the miracle that occurred earlier today.
“I don’t want to become a monster!”
“Anna is waiting for me. Waiting for her father to come home. I… I…”
“I can’t lose!”
“I must… go home to… ANNAAAAAAA.”
And then, a miracle occurred! As the man roared in anger, the eerie bloody patterns flickering on his skin stopped spreading. They even seemed to be receding.
Correspondingly, the man’s mental state had improved significantly. He stopped self-mutilating and clenched his teeth, as if fighting with all his might against something in a final struggle.
Outside the transparent room, many researchers let out excited sounds. Some even shouted towards the gray-coated man leading them:
“Doctor! It looks like we’ve succeeded! Your newly improved D-01 Miasma Reagent has increased its potency while also greatly enhancing its stability.”
The Callewa researcher’s excited words were cut off by a sudden, agonizing scream from inside the transparent room.
“No! Aaaaaah!”
Everyone’s gaze was drawn back to the man. The bloody patterns that had just started to recede were now spreading over his body at lightning speed.
Almost immediately, the man’s body began to rapidly inflate and contort. Within seconds, he was no longer human-shaped but had turned into a grotesque, tumorous monster.
This is the fate of all failed Eclipse subjects.
To become a tainted corpse.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A quick succession of gunshots ended the newly transformed tainted corpse, blasting its head apart. The procedure was clearly well-rehearsed.
“Ah,” Dr. Roca sighed deeply.
His brow furrowed, his earlier excitement gone, replaced by a frustrated expression as he pounded his fist on the table before him.
“Damn it! A 36% concentration is still far from enough? By the looks of it, to reach a success rate above 50%, we would need a Miasma Reagent with at least a 45% concentration. But—”
“How can we possibly purify it to such a high concentration, damn it!”
Dr. Roca grabbed his already messy hair in frustration. From his vantage point, he could see many more transparent rooms just like the one earlier.
This was the most secretive and central “factory” in Callewa’s rear echelons—a stark reality.
Apart from these experimental rooms, at the center of the factory stood a highly conspicuous large furnace-like machine. The Miasma liquid used for injections was being produced there, continuously.
Deep inside the furnace, a four-sided object was stuck. It looked like a star and was covered in a thick, reddish-brown mist. This object floated in the middle of the furnace, protected by special safety shields. It kept spinning at a steady pace inside these shields.
So, it’s not hard to see that this four-sided item [Crimson Star] in the center of the furnace is the heart of the whole operation. It’s the cornerstone of Callewa’s secret factory!
“To improve stability, we have to reduce concentration. But if the concentration isn’t high enough, the stimulus isn’t sufficient. Isn’t this a vicious cycle? Damn it! Damn it all!”
“How did Ashen Empire five hundred years ago manage to produce Eclipse consistently? How did that ‘Emperor’ refine Miasma? Why can’t we do it now? F@ck this!”
The gaunt, long-haired man scribbled frantically on his desk. Like a scientist reaching a research dead-end, no matter how he calculated, he couldn’t find the formula he wanted, becoming agitated over time.
“Doctor, Doctor!”
Some of the researchers behind him quietly call out, trying to pull him back to reality.
Because in the backdrop behind the Doctor, new figures slowly appeared within the factory. The most striking among them was a burly man leading the group. He wore an eyepatch over his right eye and was dressed in Callewa’s uniform. His massive arms and shoulders stretched the fabric, giving him the appearance of a hulking humanoid creature, exuding a dangerous and brutish aura.
This was none other than Ajax, the big shot who virtually ruled Blackhole Plains, the lord of Callewa, and the leader of its largest gang.
“However, it’s not like we haven’t made any progress. The recent experiments suggest that if the subject has a strong will to survive, it indeed increases the probability of evolving. If we could get more of those kinds of experimental materials, then…”
“Doctor!”
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