The Underground Lab smelled different today. Usually, it smelled of iron and rot. Today, it smelled of lemons and strong chemical cleaner.
Jin Ryeong stood in line with the five Chimeras. They were dressed in black leather armor that covered their surgical scars, leaving only their monstrous grafts exposed.
Subject 01 (Jiao): The Massive Red Ape Arm dragged on the floor.
Subject 02: Legs bulged with the twitching muscles of a Wind-Leopard.
Subject 03: Eyes replaced by the oversized, unblinking orbs of a Night-Stalker Owl.
Subject 04: Skin grafted with metallic Armadillo scales.
Subject 05: Spinal column reinforced with Wolf bone (The posture was unnaturally rigid).
Elder Baek was pacing back and forth, adjusting his robes. He was sweating. "Remember," Baek hissed at Jin Ryeong.
"Do not speak unless spoken to. Elder Tang looks for weakness. If he senses fear, he strikes."
Boom. Boom.
The heavy stone doors at the top of the stairs didn't open; they vibrated. A wave of Spirit Pressure descended the staircase before the guests even arrived.
It felt like the air had suddenly turned into water.
Jin Ryeong's knees buckled slightly. Level 50? No... Level 60. This wasn't just a cultivator. This was a walking natural disaster.
The doors swung open. Two figures descended.
The first was the Sect Leader. A middle-aged man with a kindly face and robes embroidered with a golden dragon. He looked like a benevolent uncle, but Jin Ryeong knew better. You didn't run a sect of killers by being nice.
The second man was Elder Tang. He was tall, thin, and wore robes of stark white. His hair was pulled back in a severe bun. He wore no sword, but he didn't need one. His entire body radiated Sword Qi. Just looking at him made Jin Ryeong's eyes sting.
[System Activation: Diagnosis Eye]
[Target: Elder Tang (Head of Discipline)]
[Level: ??? (Grandmaster Realm)]
[Status: Hostile / Judgmental.]
[Warning: Do not engage.]
"Elder Baek," the Sect Leader smiled warmly. "I hear you have results."
"Yes, Sect Leader!" Baek bowed low. "Five prototypes. Combat ready."
Elder Tang didn't bow. He walked past Baek and inspected the line of monsters. He stopped in front of Jiao. Jiao growled low in his throat. The Ape Arm twitched.
Tang looked at the monster with utter disgust. "Abominations," Tang stated. His voice was like grinding glass. "You took human disciples and stitched beast meat onto them. It insults the Dao."
"It evolves the Dao!" Baek argued, though his voice trembled.
"They are stronger. Faster. Fearless."
"Fearless?" Tang turned, his eyes cold.
"A beast has no fear because it has no mind. A soldier without a mind is a liability.
Can you control them?"
"Of course," Baek lied. "They obey my every command."
"Demonstrate," Tang ordered.
He snapped his fingers. From the shadows of the stairway, two Discipline Enforcers dragged a heavy cage into the room. Inside was a Steel-Hide Bear (Tier 3 Beast).
It was a massive creature, its fur matted with iron filings, its roar shaking the glass jars on the shelves. A Tier 3 Beast was equivalent to a Qi Condensation Level 9 cultivator.
A tank of pure destruction.
"Open the cage," Tang commanded.
The Enforcers unleashed the lock and ran. The Bear roared and charged. Not at Tang—it sensed his power and avoided him. It charged at the line of Chimeras.
"Subject 01! Subject 02! Engage!" Baek shouted.
Jiao (Subject 01) stepped forward. He didn't need a weapon.
He roared back, the Magma Qi in his Ape Arm flaring bright orange.
BOOM.
Jiao met the charging bear head-on. The collision sent a shockwave through the lab. The Bear swiped with claws that could shred steel. Jiao blocked with his Ape Arm.
Clang! The Bear's claws sparked against the dense muscle and bone of the graft. Jiao didn't budge. His Strength (22) matched the bear.
"Attack!" Jiao screamed. He swung the massive arm like a hammer. CRACK. He smashed the Bear's jaw. The beast stumbled back, dazed.
Meanwhile, Subject 02 (Leopard Legs) blurred into motion. He was a streak of shadow. He circled the bear, slashing at its hamstrings with dual daggers. Slash. Slash.
"Impressive power," the Sect Leader nodded, stroking his beard.
Elder Tang remained unimpressed.
"Brute force. Any idiot can make a monster kill. But can you make it stop?"
Tang stepped forward. He raised his hand. A blade of invisible Qi formed in the air. He wasn't aiming at the bear. He fired the Qi blade at Jiao.
Slash. It was a shallow cut across Jiao's human shoulder. A provocation.
Pain flooded Jiao's mind. The Magma Qi in his arm reacted to the aggression.
The "Beast Will" inside the graft woke up. Jiao stopped fighting the bear. He turned his head. His eyes were glowing pure red. He looked at Elder Tang.
"HURT!" Jiao roared. "KILL!"
Jiao ignored Baek's commands.
He ignored the bear (which Subject 02 was now handling alone). He charged at Elder Tang.
"No!" Baek screamed.
"Subject 01! Stand down! Halt!"
Jiao didn't hear him. The rage had overtaken the programming. He raised the Ape Arm to smash the Elder.
Tang didn't move. He looked at the charging monster with boredom.
"Loss of control," Tang noted dryly. "Failure."
Tang raised two fingers. Sword Qi gathered at his fingertips. He was going to decapitate Jiao. And if Jiao died, the project failed. Baek would be executed. Jin Ryeong would be executed.
Jin Ryeong stood in the shadows behind the operating table. Not today.
He focused his mind on the back of Jiao's neck. He visualized the Ghost Cyst.
Pulse. Three Short. One Long.
[Trigger: Ghost Cyst (Level 1 Shock)]
Jin Ryeong didn't use the full paralysis setting. That would look like a malfunction. He sent a specific, sharp spike of neurotoxin directly into the pain receptors of the spine. It wasn't a kill switch. It was a Sit command.
ZAP.
Mid-charge, Jiao froze. His back arched. His eyes rolled back. The massive Ape Arm dropped to his side as if the nerves had been cut.
Jiao collapsed to his knees, sliding across the floor until he stopped... Right at Elder Tang's feet.
Head bowed. Trembling. Perfectly submissive.
The room went silent. Baek blinked, confused. I didn't do that.
Elder Tang paused, the Sword Qi at his fingertips dissipating.
He looked down at the monster kneeling before him. "Oh?"
Jin Ryeong stepped forward from the shadows. He bowed deeply.
"Forgive the roughness, Elder.
Subject 01 has an aggressive defense protocol.
But he knows when he is in the presence of a superior. He bows to the Master of Discipline."
It was a bold-faced lie. Jiao was bowing because his nervous system was screaming in agony. But it played to Tang's ego.
Tang looked at Jiao, then at Jin Ryeong.
"You say this is discipline?"
"I say it is recognition of hierarchy," Jin Ryeong said smoothly.
"The beast arm wants to kill. The human mind knows it cannot touch you. The mind won."
Tang narrowed his eyes. He looked at Jiao's trembling form.
Then, for the first time, he smiled.
A thin, cruel smile.
"Good. Power without hierarchy is chaos. If they can kneel, they can serve."
Tang turned to the Sect Leader.
"Approved. But install shock collars.
I don't trust their eyes."
The Sect Leader clapped his hands.
"Excellent! Elder Baek, you have outdone yourself. The budget is doubled. I want ten more by next month."
Baek collapsed against the table, wiping sweat from his face. "Thank you... thank you, Sect Leader."
As the Elders turned to leave, Tang paused. He looked back at Jin Ryeong. His eyes—sharp as razors—scanned the servant.
"You," Tang said.
Jin Ryeong froze. "Yes, Elder?"
"You are the one who stitched them?"
"I assisted, Elder."
"Your hands are steady," Tang said enigmaticly.
"But you smell of poison. Don't let your ambition rot your own veins, boy."
Tang turned and swept out of the room.
Jin Ryeong exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath for two minutes.
[System Notification]
[Quest Completed: The Chimera Demonstration.]
[Rating: A (Disaster Averted).]
[Reward: 500 XP.]
[Bonus: Elder Tang's 'Gaze of the Sword' (Mental Resistance +5).]
[LEVEL UP!] [Level: 4 -> 5]
Jin Ryeong slumped against the wall. He checked Jiao. The Chimera was still kneeling, drooling slightly from the aftershocks of the Cyst.
"Reset," Jin Ryeong whispered, sending the deactivation pulse.
Jiao slumped over, unconscious.
Baek rushed over to Jin Ryeong. He grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"What did you do?! He was going to attack! How did he stop?"
Jin Ryeong looked Baek in the eye.
"Luck, Elder. The adrenaline must have caused a cramp."
Baek looked at him. He was crazy, but he wasn't stupid. He knew it wasn't a cramp. But he also knew that if he questioned it, he would have to admit he wasn't in control. Baek released him.
"Luck," Baek repeated, forcing a smile.
"Yes. We are very lucky.
Go. Take the rest of the day off.
I need to... drink."
Baek retreated to his office, his hands shaking.
Jin Ryeong walked out of the lab. He was Level 5.
He had successfully fooled the Sect Leader and the Head of Discipline. And he had confirmed that his Ghost Cysts worked even against the "Beast Will."
He patted his pocket. Scalpel was vibrating. "Don't worry," Jin Ryeong whispered.
"The real fight hasn't even started."
The Western Waste Chute - That Night
Jin Ryeong wasn't resting. He was standing on the edge of the ravine, watching a fat man scream.
"AGAIN!" Jin Ryeong shouted.
Liu Bao was carrying a boulder the size of a watermelon. He trudged up the steep, garbage-slicked slope. His face was purple. His sweat soaked his robes. But he wasn't stopping.
Why? Because Scalpel was hovering three inches behind his butt, mandibles clicking.
"I... can't..." Liu Bao wheezed, reaching the top and dropping the rock. He collapsed, heaving.
"Get up," Jin Ryeong said calmly. "Drink this."
He handed Liu Bao a flask. It wasn't water. It was the Modified Adrenaline Surge. Jin Ryeong had dissolved the pill in water and added a drop of Paralysis Venom.
"What is it?" Liu Bao asked, eyeing the green liquid.
"Fuel," Jin Ryeong said. "The adrenaline will force your heart to pump faster. The paralysis venom will numb your muscles so you don't feel the fatigue. It's a dangerous mix.
Your heart might explode."
Liu Bao stared at him.
"You want me to drink poison?"
"I want you to break limits," Jin Ryeong said.
"Your Sponge Body is efficient, but it's lazy. We need to trick it.
We need to make it think you are dying so it releases the reserves."
Liu Bao grabbed the flask. He looked at the distant lights of the Inner Sect. He thought about his father's disappointed face. He thought about the bullies.
He drank it.
"GLUG. GLUG."
He dropped the flask. For ten seconds, nothing happened.
Then, Liu Bao screamed. "ARGHHHHH!"
His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. Thump-thump-thump. The "Solidified Qi" (Fat) in his body began to boil. The adrenaline demanded energy. The fat provided it.
His skin turned red. Steam poured off him. He didn't look fat anymore. He looked... pressurized. His bulk felt harder, denser.
"I feel..." Liu Bao clenched his fists. The air popped. "...Angry."
"Good," Jin Ryeong pointed at a massive, rusted iron cauldron that someone had dumped in the ravine. It weighed at least 400 pounds.
"Throw that."
Liu Bao walked over to the cauldron. He grabbed the rim. He roared. He didn't just lift it. He spun. Using his mass as a counterweight, he launched the cauldron.
WHOOSH.
The iron vessel flew twenty feet through the air and smashed into a tree, snapping the trunk in half.
CRASH.
Jin Ryeong nodded. "Strength acceptable."
He walked over to Liu Bao, who was panting, his eyes wild.
"The drug will wear off in an hour. You will crash.
You will wish you were dead."
Jin Ryeong placed a hand on Liu Bao's shoulder.
"But when you wake up... you will be lighter. And faster."
Jin Ryeong looked at the date on his system interface.
[Tournament Countdown: 10 Days.]
"Tomorrow, we stop lifting rocks," Jin Ryeong said.
"Tomorrow, we start hitting back. We need a sparring partner."
Liu Bao looked hopeful.
"Who? Another disciple?"
Jin Ryeong smiled.
"No. Someone who won't hold back."
He pulled a whistle from his pocket. It was the whistle used to summon the Disposal Beasts—the wild dogs and corpse-eating rats that lived in the ravine.
"If you can punch a dog before it bites you," Jin Ryeong said, "you can punch a Vanguard."