The Rainbow Rodent was a special type of mutant. Its origin was not extra-dimensional but developed from the over-polluted corners of this planet.
In comparison to the extra-dimensional creatures that come from beyond the rift, its size was not something to boast about. On average, they grew to about a meter long but the emphasis was not on size but what was contained within—a type of toxin.
This toxin was what made people tremble in fear when encountering it.
Ever since the apocalypse, the first S-tier threat came from a tidal wave of these Rainbow Rodents that swept across the continent.
Its toxicity was comparable to the Hell Stone’s polluting source.
To put it simply, it was extremely lethal.
Boom!
The air around Qin Feng burst into flames.
The runes clashed as the strength of the toxin grew. Since the rune’s attribute was that of wood, extreme levels of heat should be able to destroy the toxin.
Qin Feng maintained the burning flames, turning him into a man of fire.
In the next moment, his body moved.
His hand that held the Verdant Emperor Saber was raised high up in the air, ready to slice apart the enemy.
051 however, had vanished into thin air.
He was moving faster than lightning!
Still, Qin Feng was no tortoise either. He had yet to unveil the tricks up his sleeve after all.
“Dark Shroud!”
Darkness descended from the ceiling, swallowing up the entire room. Everything around them turned blurry in an instant, startling 051 for a moment. He did not expect Qin Feng to possess such an ability.
“Poison Gas!”
In retaliation, 051 released his toxins. Apart from the bodies that littered the floor, virtually everything else in the laboratory was covered in a thick layer of mist, with a blend of green and black.
Professor Wang, who was monitoring the security footage, was completely blind to the battle that was unfolding below.
That only made the uncertainty he felt in his heart grow greater and greater.
“Damn it! There’s no other choice. Guess I’ll have to leave this place. We can’t continue using this lab, not after it’s been discovered by an outsider. What a bloody shame!”
This particular laboratory had already been operating for five years. It was through their hard work over the past few years that they had managed to expand its operational capacity to be able to produce a test subject as fine as 051.
Fortunately, he was able to save the most important thing which was crucial data obtained from those experiments, in the nick of time. If they were able to successfully move to another research center then all was not lost yet.
Since this laboratory was not single-handedly established by Professor Wang alone, he did not feel too emotionally attached to this place. Perhaps giving up this place would open up an opportunity for him to join an even more interesting research program.
With those self-reassuring thoughts, Professor Wang retrieved a memory drive.
Considering how far they had come in their scientific research, the amount of data stored within this memory drive was impossible for a mere human brain to be able to grasp. Only with the help of technology could they store so much information so compactly.
And while the Professor was engrossed in his own thoughts, the battle in the laboratory was only getting more intense. The mixture of flames and toxins was so volatile that it made the entire room distort.
Both the combatants’ current conditions were vastly different.
051 was already out of breath. No matter how fast he could go, Qin Feng’s body had better endurance. Under a prolonged but highly-intense battle, the one with a clear disadvantage was naturally 051.
There was a great disparity in terms of their abilities!
In the mist of green and black, the gap was closed between the toxic rat and the burning flames.
051 knew very well that Qin Feng was inching closer to him by the second. Because of the burning flames shielding him against his opponent, Qin Feng remained unscathed by the toxicity of the mist.
“Pshh!” 051 squirted a mouthful of spit at his opponent. The ball of fluid was a shade of purple so deep that it surprised even Qin Feng.
And when that purple blob clashed with the flames, it exploded like a bomb, spraying purple fluid in every direction. On the floor where some of it was splattered, large craters were created. If it were to make contact with a human body, the consequences would undoubtedly be grave.
Though, that did not happen and the expression on 051’s face changed. Qin Feng was nowhere to be seen where he was supposed to be standing.
In the next moment, a chilling aura came washing over him from the left. Qin Feng’s moves under the cover of darkness were damn near impossible to predict.
Boom!
Qin Feng’s fists, which thrusted into 051’s abdomen, made a thundering boom, showing just how much force was funnelled into that single hit.
“Argh!”
051 yelled out in pain. His entire body was sent flying backward from the immense force, smashing into the glass wall of the room from which he had walked out from.
This glass wall was military-grade stuff, custom made to be able to withstand even the strongest of all attacks. 051’s collision with the glass wall merely created a crack that spread out like a spider’s web rather than shattering it entirely.
After all, this glass was an observation panel made to prevent 051 from escaping the room. If not for Qin Feng’s overpowered punch, then logically speaking, this crack should not even exist.
Without cutting his enemy some slack, Qin Feng rushed forward with saber in hand.
“Blooming Flame!”
A fire covered the area from floor to ceiling, removing all prospect of escape for 051!
Without even the time to get over the pain from the previous hit, nor the pain from the bones Qin Feng had just shattered, he got up on his feet and ran for his life!
Crash!
The entire pane of glass was shattered by Qin Feng’s saber.
Qin Feng’s second attack came in the form of a Fire Beam which cut through the toxic fog, overwhelming 051.
“AHH!”
051 once again, soaked up the attack which inflicted severe injuries on his body.
This was not a fair battle between rivals. No, it was more like a game of cat and mouse where 051 was placed at a severe disadvantage!
“Wait! Hold up! Let’s call it a truce and we’ll talk our way out of this!” 051 yelled out but his legs kept on running. His animalistic instincts told him that the danger was far from over so he dared not slow down his pace. One after the other, he dodged Qin Feng’s relentless attacks.
“What is there to talk about?”
Qin Feng stood still not far from 051. If he detected even the slightest movement, he would start killing.
After all, 051 had already exhausted his strength. Qin Feng was not in the mood to face further hassles.
“Why are you here? Perhaps I know something about the laboratory that you want to know about? I know more about this place than Professor Wang because I’m a test subject myself. I’ve spent a full five years here at this place. That old fart has only been here for little over a year.”
Qin Feng’s eyes lit up amidst the darkness.
Who would have thought that this test subject managed to survive such a long time in this place? If what 051 said was true, then Qin Feng’s interest was piqued.
Though, Qin Feng was no idiot.
“Who knows? You might still be one of their lackeys.” Qin Feng said coldly.
“If I were one of them then I wouldn’t be locked up in a cage, right?” 051 sarcastically replied.
“Let’s get down to the basics. What’s this organisation called?” Qin Feng started his interrogation.
No longer sensing any danger, 051’s footsteps slowed down to a halt. Since slowing to a halt took an equally significant amount of energy as speeding up, realisation set in that he had three broken ribs and his entire back was burnt black. Each step he took was so painful that he could die.
“The codename for this organisation is Z. It operates like a black organisation. It has big brothers from different factions funding it so I gotta say, it’s quite powerful!”
Qin Feng was taken aback by the sudden discovery.
Funded by big brothers from different factions?
Lin Zheng immediately popped into his mind. Though, to both Qin Feng and 051, Lin Zheng was less of a big brother and more of a pathetic D-tier user.
“Then, what is the goal of their research? There’s a pretty big difference between your condition and the condition of the humans-turned-mutants!”
051 nodded in agreement. “They’re researching how to awaken the abilities of regular humans, how to turn them into ancient warriors and stuff like that. It is too difficult, too costly to study the heaven and earth spirit aura so most of the test subjects come from earthly beings that have undergone the greatest mutation. The exotic-looking cats, pigs, bears, rats and birds that you see within Fu City were what fueled their research!”
Qin Feng recalled the viper that he had encountered back at Chengbei colony, and that werewolf species that accompanied Chen Ming’s emergence.
Those creatures were commonly found in the land around Chengbei colony.
Perhaps to further add to Qin Feng’s curiosity, 051 continued, “No matter the test subject’s initial level of strength, once they are injected with specific genomes, they would all grow to the same level as the creature from which the gene was sourced. Though, too many people who were too weak succumbed to its effects after being injected!”