"Ryuuto… you mean… those lizardmen were Connors' doing?" Gwen asked, running beside him, eyes wide with curiosity.
"Exactly," Ryuuto said, fingers tapping on the edge of his kunai. "And if my guess is right, he's mass-producing these lizard genes and scheming something huge. We can't let him finish whatever he's planning."
"Where would he even hide something like that?" Gwen asked, keeping pace.
Ryuuto's eyes flicked to the cityscape around them. "He'll show his hand when the time comes. Until then, we track every signal, every odd reading. Connors doesn't know we're on him… yet."
He pulled out a small device, scanning for the subtle shifts in chakra-like energy around the city. His gaze sharpened, steady, like a hawk circling prey.
"Charles and Jin are also digging into this," Ryuuto muttered. "They'll give us backup soon. That bastard won't get away."
The two of them blurred through the air, dashing between high-rises like shadows over the city. Below, the New York Meteorological Observatory Center functioned in oblivious routine: monitors blinking, staff working, the hum of machinery like a heartbeat of calm before the storm.
Until the calm broke.
A figure strode through the lobby with hands clasped behind his back, moving without fear. Staff froze.
"Wait! What are you doing?!"
The director's voice cracked, her command cutting through the quiet.
The man—an elderly professor in a lab coat—paused with a deliberate smile. Professor Connors. But there was something… off. The box in his hands, the glint in his eyes—it didn't feel right.
"Hehe… asking me politely, are we?" Connors said, his voice light, almost teasing. Then the bombshell: "Fine, I'll tell you. I need to borrow your weather station's transmitter. Just a little… artificial rainfall experiment. A small tweak to the climate… maybe reshape the destiny of New York… even the world."
"Madman!" The director recoiled. "Security! Get him out before he ruins everything!"
Two guards lunged, one grabbing him from the side, another preparing to restrain him.
But Connors' form shifted violently. His clothes shredded, revealing thick, ridged muscles. A monstrous tail whipped, smashing through doors and desks. His claws—razor-sharp, inhuman—pierced the guards instantly. Screams echoed as chaos erupted.
"Humans, you dare resist?" Connors roared, pupils blazing scarlet. He pulled out dozens of vials, injecting terrified staff with his lizard gene concoction. The victims twisted, mutated, becoming grotesque warriors.
"Still… missing one," Connors muttered, scanning the room with fevered intensity. Then he spotted a terrified figure crouched behind a desk—someone desperately holding a phone, probably calling for help. With a single step, Connors crushed the desk beneath his foot, revealing the target fully.
"Huh? You… calling the police?" the staffer stammered.
"No. Nooo…" The words trembled out, voice small under the monstrous shadow.
Connors' grin widened. "Police? Perfect. The more of you, the better. Soon, New York will evolve. You humans… I'll help you reach your potential—hehe… as lizards!"
He slammed a syringe into the nearest victim, crimson pupils glittering with fanatic delight. Each injection spawned another abomination. The room shook under the chorus of screams and roars.
"Stay put! Block the weather station! No one interferes!" Connors bellowed, hefting his suitcase and striding toward the control center. Behind him, the newly minted lizard warriors scuttled and charged, spreading like a living tide across the facility.
Ryuuto narrowed his eyes from a distance, already calculating angles, timing, and openings. "Perfect," he muttered under his breath. "Time to crash the party before the world ends up as Connors' petri dish."