"Children, science is the greatest, because science bows to nothing. Truth will ultimately be revealed by science!!" Doctor Ebson said with a smile, raising a syringe. Through the glass tube, a black liquid could be seen inside.
He walked to an orphan's side, and Doctor Ebson plunged the needle into the orphan's arm, completely ignoring the shock and terror on the child's face.
"Eldians are truly fascinating, and the power of the Titans is utterly intoxicating. It's a pity—Marley's rulers are nothing but a bunch of short-sighted wretches. They don't understand at all!" Ebson said eagerly as he watched the orphan after the injection.
Suddenly, the orphan began to struggle violently, thrashing intensely. His eyes turned blood-red, veins bulged on his neck and face, and a terrifying roar spilled from his mouth.
This scene frightened all the children except the little girl Elsha, including Yago.
"My research is absolutely correct! Devils? Gods? Nothing but the ignorance of savages! And I—I am the pioneer who will bring evolution to this world!"
With a fanatical expression, Ebson raised both hands high and stared at the children before him.
"Children, I will give you new lives! No longer will you be called devils—you will become angels who lead humanity's evolution!"
"Ah!!" A miserable scream drowned out Ebson's voice and drew everyone's attention.
They saw that the struggling child's body was now flickering with threads of yellow electric arcs. Even inside his open mouth, yellow sparks flashed.
"Elsha! Help me get free! Has Doctor Ebson gone mad?" Yago whispered urgently to Elsha beside him.
But Elsha stared at Ebson with fervent worship and said,
"No! The doctor is right! We must follow him. We're not devils—we're angels!"
Yago realized this couldn't continue. He began trying to break free from the straps binding his arms. Earlier, he had noticed that the straps on the hospital bed beneath him were somewhat worn, but out of laziness and a desire not to meddle, he had never mentioned it to Doctor Ebson.
The wailing gradually weakened, and fear deepened in the eyes of the remaining children.
Doctor Ebson's once-fanatical smile stiffened.
"Impossible! What's going on?! How could this happen? No—this is wrong!"
Looking at the rigid corpse of the orphan and the pungent, scorched stench wafting from the child's gaping mouth, Ebson descended into madness.
One syringe after another plunged into the orphans' arms. Yellow electric arcs flickered across every child's body, accompanied by their piercing screams as their internal organs were burned to ashes.
Until even Elsha, who had worshiped Doctor Ebson with mad devotion, lost all signs of life and collapsed to the floor.
Only Yago remained.
Cold liquid flowed through the steel needle into Yago's veins. A terrifying burning sensation spread through his entire body, and the intense pain forced a howl from his throat.
Yago still failed to break free of the straps binding his body in time.
Doctor Ebson was already drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot. The air was thick with nauseating scorched stench and the smell of blood.
Staring at Yago, the sole survivor, Ebson saw yellow electric arcs flickering across him as well—but far more stable than on the other orphans. This sight gave him hope of success. Ebson curled his lips and burst into hysterical laughter.
"Hahahaha! My research was right after all! It must be that those Eldian children had garbage genes! Norman—good! Worthy of being the child I chose! You are the angel who will lead humanity's evolution!"
Ebson excitedly stepped over the floor littered with syringes, crushing the glass tubes into shards beneath his leather boots.
"The most painful first stage is already over, Norman. Prepare to welcome your rebirth!" Ebson took out another injection and walked step by step toward Yago.
The immense pain was still ravaging Yago's entire body, but his fierce will to survive drove him to wrench himself free from the straps in a sudden burst.
"What?!" Doctor Ebson clearly hadn't expected Yago to break free and froze in place.
Yago snatched a scalpel from the wooden table and plunged it viciously into Ebson's thigh, then slammed into him headfirst, knocking him over, and staggered toward the basement exit.
Ebson's screams echoed behind him as Yago scrambled on hands and feet toward the exit.
"I—I can't die here. I promised Annie. I have to see her become a warrior. I still have to…" A glimmer of light appeared before Yago's eyes—the basement exit.
Bang! Yet hope often hides despair behind it. Just as he was about to touch the light, a sharp pain in his arm and a violent tug from behind plunged Yago into darkness.
With hands slick with blood, Ebson viciously drove a syringe soaked in his own blood into Yago's arm, pushing every last drop of the black liquid into him.
"Norman! As my most perfect creation, let those rotten bastards of Marley regret it!"
...
"It's time to put an end to your meaningless research! I said long ago—Eldians are all devils, and yet you dared to covet the power of devils! Do you want to descend into hell with them?" An elderly man in a luxurious suit looked down at the disheveled Ebson with open disdain.
"You are the heir of the Louis family. Remember your identity!"
At this moment, Ebson's eyes were vacant. Thick bandages wrapped his leg, and his white coat was stained with blood and grime.
"Father…" Facing the imposing old man, Ebson's lips moved several times, but no words came out.
"Stop obsessing over that damned Titan power. The firearms blueprints you gave me last time have actually drawn the attention of other nobles. Get ready—the head of the Tybur family wants to meet you," the old man said calmly as he got into the car.
Ebson rose dejectedly. Thinking of the knowledge in his mind, he could clearly have become someone of the highest standing in this world by relying on it alone. Why had he obsessed over Titan power instead? Had his fixation gone too deep?
"Bill, clean this place up." Leaving that order behind, Ebson followed his father into the car and left the area.
As the butler of the Louis family, Bill—his face thick with muscle—directed several servants to carry the corpses out of the basement. Yago, his face ashen, lay on the very top.
...
Wearing the yellow armband that marked a warrior candidate, Annie's small face was filled with excitement. She hurried home, and even her usually stern father showed a faint smile.
Annie looked at the ring in her hand. Because it was rather large, she wore it on her thumb. Hope shone in her eyes as she longed to share this good news with Yago, even though she didn't know what price becoming a warrior would demand.
...
At the seaside docks, the Louis family's butler had made arrangements with a ship preparing to sail for Devil Island. Several corpses were loaded aboard. After sailing some distance, the bodies of these Eldian orphans would be thrown into the sea.
Spared the trouble of digging pits, Bill leisurely lit a cigarette and watched as the ship sounded its departure horn and slowly left the harbor.