"Check the energy compartment. Make sure the spirit stone capacity is at the maximum level."

"Look, this gene extraction sequence still has some slight flaws. Run more calculations — I said I want a 100% success rate, nothing less."

"Hm? You — how dare you touch the subject with your bare hands? Do you know how many years of work are contained in that body? You dare taint it with your imperfect filth?"

Lu Ming was inside the best lab in the Seekers' base, overseeing the process of creating the Perfect Life serum.

He had made some estimates: within the next 16 hours, the perfect body would evolve a soul.

So he had to be quick in creating the serum, because once the Perfect Life awakened, not even gods nor immortals could keep it captive...

Hm, where is that disciple of mine? He should be done getting rid of the source by now. What's delaying him? Lu Ming frowned, sensing something was wrong.

The process was quickly coming together. In another hour or so, the gene extraction would proceed.

Meaning his lifelong goal would soon be accomplished. He was so close to achieving perfection, and he couldn't let anything — or anyone — take that away from him.

That was why he was overly paranoid at the moment, gazing at every slight abnormality with suspicion.

"You two," he called to the two guards standing at the side.

"Go search for Scholar Mu Bai. Find him and escort him back here."

"Yes, Dean!" the two bowed in reply and quickly marched out.

That disciple of mine couldn't be thinking of betrayal, could he? he wondered, his heart itching with unrest.

"Dean, we need your direction in the genetic compartment process," a short elderly man approached.

Lu Ming nodded as he quickly followed the elder. The Perfect Life serum would be one of — if not the — greatest creations of mankind, and he would be damned if the container holding it was built with defects.

Having no more time to dwell on his feelings, he buried them at the back of his mind.

Very quickly, within minutes, he was done with the compartments. Three glistening crystal tubes sat before the scholars, blemishless and without flaws.

Gazing at such beautiful works of his, he wanted to smile, but he couldn't. His eyes kept glancing at the only door of the lab in unrest.

His frown deepened. Was this what was called near-success paranoia?

He had heard of some of the greatest Seekers going crazy when approaching a breakthrough, becoming overly secretive and believing everyone was an enemy or a spy.

He wasn't going crazy, right?

He couldn't be. He was perfectly sane... yes, he was just lacking a few weeks of sleep... yes, it was probably stress.

He nodded, convinced by his conclusion, and took deep breaths. When he became perfect, he wouldn't need things like sleep or rest anymore. He would be above that.

He was about to go check the genetic extraction machine to see how far the others had gone when he paused. His eyes twitched as he took sneaky glances at the door.

Why aren't the guards back yet? he thought with a frown. Could they still be on their way?

But his instincts told him otherwise. He felt — no, he knew — something was wrong.

He wanted to go outside and check, but he glanced at the busy scholars... These people could make a slight mistake and ruin his life's work.

He frowned, conflicted. Should he leave, or shouldn't he?

Fortunately, the door creaked open before he could force himself to make a choice. His heart settled, thinking it was the guards and Mu Bai returning.

But it wasn't so. A battered, legless figure clawed his way into the lab, letting out pained groans.

All the busy scholars froze in place, watching in horror.

Lu Ming felt alarmed. This was one of the guards he had sent!

"Who did this to you?" he demanded, his voice carrying urgency. His mind held a possibility, but he desperately prayed he was wrong.

The guard raised his head with great effort and let out a fear-filled answer, "M-mon... s... ter..."

As he finished his fearful stutter, a metal rod flew through the air from the shadows of the open door. The projectile rammed through the guard's head, jutting out from his mouth and impaling him to the ground.

His eyes gradually lost focus as he lost the breath of life.

The gazes of the scholars traced the source, and all they saw was an abyss-like darkness beyond the door.

Wails and screams could be heard from the open door. They stared in horror at the thick veil of shadows, whispers and flickers of darkness beckoning them to come embrace their deaths.

Lu Ming's eyes turned dark. He knew what was happening. With his mind, there were very few things in this life he couldn't calculate.

And now he was pretty sure that his mutant gene source — Spark — had gotten loose.

This is going to be troublesome, he thought. It wasn't that he was afraid of the damage Spark could wreak. No — he was annoyed that the process of creating the serum would be delayed.

And he couldn't let that fool spoil his decades of effort.

He knew the only person in this entire base who could face Spark was himself. Hybrids or guards stood no chance; no matter what enhancement procedures those men had undergone, they were still failures.

So he had to go himself, which meant he had to leave the completion process in the hands of another.

Trust was a word scholars of his level never believed in, but now he had no choice.

"Si Xi!" he called, his eyes still staring at the shadowy abyss behind the doors.

"Yes, Dean!" Though terrified, the attendant ran over to reply to her superior.

This was the only person Lu Ming felt he could trust — not because of anything more than knowing she would do anything to please him, even at the cost of her life.

This was one of the reasons he had kept her around for so long.

"In the entirety of this base, you're the only one I can leave the completion process of my life's work in the hands of and be at rest."

Si Xi's eyes reddened as she grew emotional. To think the Dean thought so highly of her. "Dean, your mission is my mission and your goal is my goal. Even in the face of death, I will make sure not to leave you disappointed."

Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction. "Good. That's what I want to hear. I'm leaving now to clean up a mess, and I might take long. I will leave the final process of the Perfect Life serum in your hands... and when I get back, I only want to hear good news."

Si Xi nodded with righteous fervor. "You won't regret this, Dean!"

Lu Ming sighed, thinking, I hope so.

And with that, under the gaze of the petrified scholars, he walked into the cold embrace of the darkness, closing the door behind him.

"What are you all staring at? Get back to work! You heard the Dean — even in the face of death, this project must be completed," Si Xi scolded, as she began supervising the process.

…

The once clean tunnels of the underground base were now littered with the corpses and blood of his subordinates.

Some had their bodies intact. Some didn't have that luck — their bodies were in tatters. But one thing they all had in common was the terrified expression still etched on their monotone faces.

They must have suffered gruesomely right before they died. Some still had their mouths open in a screaming pose. It was a ghastly and brutal sight to say the least.

The pungent stench of blood and innards filled the air.

But at the sight of all this, Lu Ming remained unperturbed and unshaken. It was as though the bodies on the ground were not of his people at all.

He took brisk steps, following the sound of screams, his eyes so cold they were almost alien.

Finally, he made his way to a room. This was once the genetic sample storage of the base, but now it had been turned into a slaughterhouse.

Pieces of limbs littered the floors, and incomplete bodies were scattered all over the sides.

Further ahead, the very person he was searching for — bathed in blood — stood, holding a scholar who was still barely alive by the neck.

"Ah? If it isn't the boss himself... Why did you have to go spoil my fun? See, here I was hoping to save you for last... Well, since you've brought yourself, I guess I have no choice," Spark lamented as he snapped the neck of the scholar in his arms.

He turned around, his eyes of pure crimson and hate meeting Lu Ming's.

Lu Ming stared back, still unfazed. He spoke: "There's a common misconception you and all my enemies have..."

He spoke slowly, taking steady steps toward Spark, his entire aura distorting from its usual calm and scholarly air into something more alien and crazed.

"You all assume that because I'm mundane, I'm helpless... Well, it's a pity I'm not."

As he spoke, his voice warped, becoming more hoarse — more like growls than human words.

His figure creaked and warped as he slowly morphed into something that definitely wasn't meant to exist — something wrong, something evil.

Spark just stood watching, his eyes flashing with surprise. He had anticipated all possible scenarios, but he never imagined this.

The Seeker Dean finished his transformation as a guttural growl reverberated from his figure, strangely still containing human words.

"You guys have no idea what I am!"

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