The corridor was dark and damp. Moss grew on surfaces that hadn’t seen sunlight in years, and it had beco a ho for all sorts of crawling things that loved the gloom.
The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of footsteps.
The clack of tall boots on the floor echoed down the empty corridor.
"Sir, he’s inside."
"Understood." The voice that replied was deep and cold, without a trace of emotion.
Then ca the creak of a large door opening. The footsteps approached, finally stopping at an iron door.
The observation hatch on the door slid open. Inside, in the center of the damp room, a middle-aged male with graying hair was tied up.
His tailored suit was covered in stains, stripped of its forr dignity.
The iron door opened. The bound male inside raised his head, making the pair of goat horns sprouting from his forehead stand out starkly.
When his swollen eyes t the newcor’s cold, pitch-black gaze, his pupils constricted in shock. "It’s you? Where is this? What do you want with ? Since when are people from the First Military District allowed to kidnap soone?"
"Shhh!" The newcor, wearing black gloves, raised a finger to his lips to silence him, as if disgusted by the noise. "And who told you I’m representing the First Military District?"
"If not the First Military District, then who are you? What do you want, Graces!" A sudden realization dawned on him. ’If Graces isn’t representing the First Military District, then where am I? Who does he represent? He ca here without any disguise or attempt to hide, not even concealing his identity. Why?’
’Is there any chance I’ll make it out of here alive?’
"Do you really want to know? Or is everyone from the Gene Research Institute just blessed with a burning curiosity for the truth, Director? Haven’t you always wanted ? You tried every trick in the book, hoping I’d sign the agreent to ’voluntarily’ participate in your research. Well, here I am. You can ask in person. Who knows? If I’m in a good mood, I might just agree."
Graces’s expression was impassive, and while his tone might have been described as gentle, every word felt like a blade twisting in the Gene Research Institute Director’s flesh, making his heart hamr in his chest.
"Graces, this is a cri! Do you know what you’re doing? If you let go now, I can pretend none of this happened. I swear, I’ll never let anyone bother you again. We can just say this never happened, how about it?" The Director of the Gene Research Institute was going insane!
’If I’d known Graces would kidnap , I wouldn’t have set my sights on him even if it killed . The man’s a complete lunatic! I just don’t understand why he’s doing this. He’s already a Gene Fusion Expert with a high social standing, and he has a Female Master like Duke Lu Xia protecting him. His life is a picture of success and prosperity. From my point of view, there’s absolutely no need for him to do sothing like this and ruin his own future.’
’But if he’s doing this, it can only an one thing: this is who he truly is. He was never just a simple Colonel from the First Military District. We all misjudged him!’
At this realization, the terror in the Gene Research Institute Director’s heart grew uncontrollably!
Graces took in the terror on his face and a smirk played on his lips. He uttered a single word: "No."
"Then what will it take for you to let go? I won’t dare to again, I swear! It won’t do you any good if you kill , will it? Think of your Female Master, Duke Lu Xia... AARGH!"
The Director of the Gene Research Institute hadn’t finished his sentence before Graces slapped him across the face. "Shhh," Graces said. "Don’t let hear her na co out of your mouth. At a ti like this, it would be best not to ntion her. Can you do that, Director?"
If it weren’t for the slap that made half of the director’s face swell up, Graces’s words alone would have sounded remarkably gentlemanly.
Graces straightened the director’s head, which had been knocked to the side by the slap, and stared at him. "Didn’t you want to be your research subject? Weren’t you curious about how I beca a Gene Fusion Expert? Didn’t you think you could uncover the secrets of gene fusion from ? Don’t you want to see my Beastification Form?"
As Graces finished speaking, he took off his black gloves and slowly extended his hand toward the director. Before the director’s eyes, his human hand transford, morphing into the talons of a Black Dragon. The sight of those sharp claws and dark scales alone was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.
The director’s face was ashen. Trembling all over, he broke down and sobbed, "I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Please don’t kill ! I’ll do anything you say! Do you want money? I’ll give you money! Just na your price, okay? Please, just let go!"
"Beautiful, aren’t they?" Graces, however, was completely unmoved. He even seed to be in the mood to show off his claws.
"Yes! Beautiful! They’re beautiful! The most beautiful dragon talons I have ever seen, sniffle..." The director finally broke down completely, sobbing. ’I’m going to die of fright! I have no idea what Graces is trying to do!’
But he had no doubt that if Graces willed it, that lethally sharp talon could easily take his life.
’At this mont, Gene Fusion Experts, the Beastification Gene, contributing to the Empire—none of it mattered anymore. The only thing that mattered was staying alive.’
Graces, however, seed to have finally found soone to talk to and had no intention of letting him off that easily.
He gently caressed the man’s cheek with the tip of a talon. "Did you know? The doctors had already pronounced my death sentence. They told her to give up on . I also thought I was as good as dead. But she didn’t give up. She didn’t abandon . She took ho, treated , and stayed with through the most difficult ti of my life. I couldn’t believe it was all happening to . In fact, I should thank you. If you hadn’t tried ti and ti again to make sign that voluntary research agreent, I never would have known she would go to such lengths to protect ."
Graces spoke of his elation in the calst of tones, but at so point, his once pitch-black pupils had turned deep red. Black scales now covered half his face, and dragon horns had even sprouted from his forehead.
In the eyes of the Gene Research Institute’s director, he now looked like a dangerous, soul-devouring dragon from the depths of hell.
"I... I was wrong... I truly know I was wrong... I won’t do it again, sob, I..." the director begged, a pathetic sight. If not for his bonds, he would have been on his knees groveling. He was afraid. He was truly afraid. ’This is a madman, a madman who’s going to kill !’
Looking at the terrified man before him, Graces let the smile that had unconsciously ford when speaking of Lu Xia vanish. He straightened up, surveying the director from above. "Your actions last night displeased her. She didn’t say a word, but I know she was unhappy. So, how can you still be alive? Do you know where this is? This is the underground Dark City, a place where all manner of evil can be committed. Tell , now that you’re here, do you think you can ever go back? Why don’t you just stay and beco food for the abyss, Director?"
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