At close range, however, it was easy to see faint patches of livor mortis forming across the man's body. If not for the nourishment of the fluid filling the tank, his entire body would have gradually rotted away.
And that was not all.
In this laboratory, there were three large culture chambers arranged from left to right, labeled No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, containing three separate test subjects.
In the center lay Subject No. 1, a standard Western man with an extremely powerful and sturdy build. According to the files, he had come from an underground fighting ring.
Subject No. 2 was a notorious high-IQ criminal. The police had been humiliated dozens of times trying to catch him. In the end, it was only because he fled to Florida, and the governor, concerned about publicity and public impact, turned to Pioneer Technology for help, that he was finally captured.
As for the last one, she was a slender, seductive-looking woman whose appearance alone radiated danger. She was also a vicious killer who had slaughtered dozens of people through charm and beauty alone.
Every criminal here had dozens of lives on their hands.
Each one deserved execution on the spot.
But to the researchers in the laboratory, they were merely test materials.
"Yes, all preparations have been completed. Right now we're performing infusion line checks. The virus injection will begin shortly."
After hearing Killian's question, Samuel answered respectfully from the side.
"Then begin."
"General Ross, it looks like we'll need to wait here for a while."
After nodding, Killian spoke quietly, then turned to Ross and added the second sentence.
"Haha, getting to witness a moment like this, what's a little waiting?"
Ross replied without the slightest concern.
Back on the battlefield, he had once been able to lie in piles of corpses for days in order to complete a mission.
Compared to that, this was nothing.
After hearing Killian's words, Samuel immediately walked into the nearby control lab and began issuing orders.
For a moment, as each piece of equipment came online, every machine in the laboratory lit up.
"Vital index normal..."
"Energy detection normal..."
"..."
"Tyrant experiment, officially begin!"
Once all of the researchers confirmed that the equipment under their responsibility was functioning properly, Samuel solemnly announced the start of the experiment.
As if to show just how seriously this operation was being taken, behind the isolation gate in the distance, ten heavily armed Blackwatch squads were already assembled and waiting. If anything went wrong during the experiment, they would open fire immediately.
But none of that surprised the researchers present.
They had already expected it, and the protective measures in place were more than sufficient.
After so many experiments, this kind of deployment had become almost standard procedure.
The only real difference this time was that the scale was slightly larger than usual.
Aside from that, it was no different from before.
Then, accompanied by the flow of two brilliantly colored serums, one green and one orange, moving through transparent infusion tubes from either side, the fluids entered the body of the test subject inside the chamber.
After the first injection was completed, just as everyone prepared to closely observe the changes in the test subject...
The supposedly dead test subject inside the chamber suddenly seemed to come back to life.
His eyes snapped open.
With an incredibly savage gaze, he stared directly at the people standing beyond the glass.
The moment they saw that, every researcher in the room felt a chill run down their spine.
That terrifying stare made it feel as though they had been locked onto by a feral beast with no rationality left.
But soon after, the test subject's pupils began to change from blue into a strange blood-red color. Meanwhile, the body that had already begun to decay was lit by repeated flashes of orange light from within, and the rotting areas started to regain vitality once more.
"Excellent. The subject's vital stability is far better than what we saw in the previous biological Tyrants. It looks like we have a very good chance of succeeding on the first attempt."
Seeing that, Samuel could not help letting out a breath of relief as he spoke with visible satisfaction.
For them, this was the first real experimental project involving the development of a human Tyrant, and everyone understood rationally that success on the first attempt was basically impossible. After all, the most important part of experimentation was accumulating experience and clearing the way for future progress through failure.
But now, with his boss present and a military general standing right there in the room, Samuel desperately hoped they could achieve success in a single step.
"Doctor, the instruments are showing abnormalities inside the target."
"Track it immediately!"
"Yes. Based on the readings, the viral concentration inside the target is too high. The cross-fusion between the T-Virus and Extremis is causing severe instability in his body. He's beginning to mutate. His body mass is increasing continuously."
"Doctor, the test subject's body temperature is also rising. Twenty-four degrees... twenty-six... thirty... thirty-five..."
At that moment, as the life data of the test subject in the central chamber began showing abnormalities, one assistant hurriedly called out the line after line of warnings appearing on the screen.
"Continue monitoring."
"Lab team, extract a blood sample from the target immediately. I want a full data report."
"Control division, await my command. Be ready to trigger emergency freezing and temperature suppression at any moment."
After hearing the researchers beside him, Samuel hurried over to the main control station. After scanning the data, he immediately began issuing instructions to the different departments in the lab.
But after only watching the main control interface for a short moment, when he lifted his head again to look at the man inside the chamber, he suddenly discovered that the test subject's body had grown a full size larger.
And from his arms, bone spurs had already begun pushing through the flesh.
His entire arm looked as though steel spikes had been forced through it in a ring, each protruding several centimeters out of the skin.
And that was still not the end of it.
As time continued to pass, the subject's body began visibly swelling larger and larger before everyone's eyes.
The already dense muscle mass grew even more compact under the effects of the viruses, as if several tons of flesh had been forcibly compressed into a humanoid frame.
The livor mortis on his skin disappeared completely.
In its place, his entire body turned the gray-white color of a zombie, while every strand of hair across his body fell away.
By the end, everyone could even see with the naked eye the green and orange light inside his body flashing together in alternating bursts.
Yet on the control panel...
(End of Chapter)
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