Chapter Fourteen: The Improved Beast-Soldier Model

Entering the biochemical reaction zone, the situation here was slightly better, though it still appeared quite abrupt. The rather large space had only a few scattered pieces of equipment placed in the corners—the very same large vats transported from Lynn’s fried chicken shop.

At this moment, Jekutor was sleeping on guard nearby, while Tom, the first subject to be modified, had already been submerged in the prepared reaction fluid.

Sensing Lynn’s approach, Jekutor awoke in an instant, rising from the mattress that had been haphazardly placed on the floor.

"Doctor."

"Go get some rest."

"He insists on staying here. We tried to arrange quarters for him upstairs, but he wouldn't accept it."

Lynn looked back at Maria and waved his hand.

"Go command the workers to bring in the materials and start working. Don't waste time."

As he spoke, a psionic tentacle, manifesting from who knows where, wrapped itself around Maria’s body and climbed gently up to her neck.

The blonde vampire could feel the psionic tentacle continuously absorbing her dark energy. It seemed to be some sort of passive ability; had Lynn not been intentionally controlling it, she would likely have been drained into a dried corpse by now.

Two or three purple psionic tentacles slowly writhed toward her head, causing Maria’s breathing to become rapid. She had no idea what Lynn intended to do.

But soon, when those two purple tentacles coiled around Maria’s head, piercing through her eardrums and pupils to touch the folds of her brain at point-blank range, she finally understood the meaning of pain.

It was a truly horrific experience, one that no one would ever want to endure a second time.

Almost instantly, the vampire went limp, her entire body hanging slack, bound in place by Lynn’s tentacles. Her eyes rolled back, and she nearly lost consciousness.

Fortunately, the process was brief. Lynn quickly retracted his psionic tentacles. Maria, as if granted a reprieve, collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Meanwhile, Lynn turned back to look at Maria, revealing a knowing smile.

"Very obedient. Assessing the situation is also an excellent quality; as a vampire, you are clearly shortchanging yourself."

"This..."

She wore an expression of bewilderment, clearly trying to guess what Lynn meant. She looked at Tom, who was submerged in the biochemical reactor by Lynn, and then back at Lynn.

Even though she had just recovered from the memory search Lynn had performed, she immediately fell into a new state of terror.

"Hmm? Do you think I intend to use you for the modulation?"

"I... Dr. Sedis..."

Maria’s eloquence, which she had been so proud of during the Daken era, was completely useless here. Daken was an arrogant, narcissistic, and prideful leader whom Maria had served well, even if she had to endure some physical suffering from time to time.

But on the whole, she found Daken easy to understand. The contents of that vampire's mind were transparent to her; as long as she said a few things that fool loved to hear, she could take over his vast empire without having to sacrifice anything herself.

She fully enjoyed the pleasure that power brought her.

But Lynn was different. Maria had no idea what he wanted, or even how to flatter him.

"You don't need to be terrified here. We have been cooperating quite happily so far, haven't we? Although your assets have been transferred to Kara's name, your power and the life you enjoy remain no different than before. And I promise, as long as you work well, this job will not only satisfy your desire for power, but I can also give you some different kinds of gifts."

"Don't you find the sunlight blinding? Moreover, a vampire's nerve endings are not sensitive; dark magic is designed to ensure you can fight while ignoring pain. You must have lost quite a lot of pleasure, for example..."

Lynn reached out and pinched her chin, looking at Maria with a scrutinizing gaze.

"How long has it been since your tongue and skin performed their original functions? Even with all the wealth and money in the world, not being able to enjoy them must be quite agonizing."

In Lynn’s view, Maria was also quite easy to understand. He did indeed need someone capable of asset management to help him organize his wealth.

"Go arrange for the workers to get to work. My orders are already in your mind; recall them yourself. And you had better record them, as this memory is only temporary."

Hearing Lynn’s voice, Maria realized that a segment of memory had been added to her mind at some point. She left the scene at great speed, as if fleeing a disaster.

Lynn finally looked at Tom, who was placed in the biochemical reactor.

"The Ramochis form is not enough to deal with the Lizardman, and this current biochemical reactor is insufficient for higher-level adjustments. I need a more complete laboratory."

Lynn had other ideas for Jekutor and did not intend to overdraw his potential here.

"Hmm, I need more output, a larger body size, and high-intensity sedative secretion capabilities. I need something that can restrict Connors' movements."

"Using the Inseim type as a prototype, increase body size and muscle density..."

With a modulation plan roughly formed in his mind, Lynn immediately began to take action. The entire machine started running again, and a faint purple psionic light covered the vast array of instruments.

Lynn once again took charge of the entire modulation process alone using telekinesis. A large number of artificial cilia in the biochemical reactor flashed with purple light, covering Tom’s body, while psionic tentacles also began to appear around the reactor.

They wrapped around Tom’s body, injecting life energy.

Lynn discovered that as he continued to use his abilities, they were slowly growing stronger.

Now, regardless of the type of energy he absorbed, he could convert it into other types through his psionic tentacles. For instance, he could absorb not only life energy from vampires but also the dark magic within them.

After obtaining relevant energy samples, the psionic tentacles could convert their properties at will, and the process involved no loss.

The entire modulation process did not take long; in just two hours, Lynn completed it. Because he treated Tom entirely as a disposable item, this modulation completely abandoned the protection of Tom’s already-diminished intelligence, prioritizing efficiency above all else.

Soon, Tom was released from the biochemical reactor. As the internal fluid drained, Tom opened his eyes.

But on that human face, there was no trace of intellect to be seen; within his lifeless pupils, there was only a sense of robotic emptiness.

It was enough to make one’s skin crawl involuntarily.

"Switch to combat form."

Following Lynn’s command, Tom’s body immediately burst open. His original height of less than 1.8 meters expanded rapidly, reaching a massive size of about 2.3 meters within a few breaths.

His muscles bulged, and the white, stiff hair on his body became dense. Beneath the hair was a hard chitinous shell, and four arthropod limbs grew from his back, also covered in chitin, capable of injecting the poison secreted by his body directly into a target.

His entire head also discarded mammal-like structures, adopting a combination of insect-like simple and compound eyes, while the tentacles on his head indicated that this individual possessed highly diverse sensory capabilities.

Lynn had not reserved space for mouthparts in his combat form, so this individual could not speak and lacked vocal cords—the same applied to his humanoid form.

After briefly assessing the muscle density and output of the Inseim-modified type, Lynn nodded with satisfaction. Moreover, through the absorption of his psionic tentacles, the current Inseim-modified type had completely lost all vampire characteristics; there was no dark magic lurking at the genetic or cellular level.

Under the transformation of the biochemical reactor, the vampire's original biological structure had also been completely eliminated.

Theoretically, the Inseim-modified type had nothing to do with vampires anymore.

"He is enough to catch Connors... but, before that."

Lynn let the Inseim-modified type follow him out of the unfinished biochemical reaction zone. In these two hours, Maria had already organized the entire project in an orderly fashion.

It seemed she truly had significant expertise in management.

Not only in operating companies, but even direct on-site management posed no problem for her—she was truly a versatile talent.

She was clearly startled when she saw the Inseim-modified type. If Jekutor looked like a bizarre creature full of oppression, the thing before her made Maria’s skin crawl involuntarily.

It was like looking at a biochemical robot.

"Progress is good. It seems you were the one who arranged the construction of Daken's underground altar. Interesting, where did Daken find someone like you?"

"I graduated from an Ivy League school, and I met Daken in a bar."

"How long have you lived?"

"Fifty-five years..."

"Then continue working. I will return tonight, and I hope your progress will be fast enough by then."

Having said that, Lynn took the Inseim-modified type and boarded the elevator to leave the lower levels, returning to the top floor. He did not contact Kara; after feeling his way around for a bit, he arrived at the lounge Kara had arranged for Jessica.

At this moment, the young girl was still sleeping, though her posture looked much more relaxed than before, no longer curled into a ball.

"Doctor, do you need me to do anything?"

Kara’s voice came from behind Lynn. Through the vampires she had implanted with flesh buds, Kara naturally knew that Lynn had appeared on the top floor.

"Let’s go outside and talk."

Reaching the hallway, Lynn closed the door and said to Kara, "How is the industrial contraction and integration going?"

"I am still handling relevant matters; there is no difficulty. Closing those loss-making entertainment venues originally used to abduct humans is no problem. However, regarding the profitable parts, I still suggest keeping them, Doctor."

"That is also a considerable income that can be used to support the Daken Tower renovation plan. I have already made arrangements. There are many floors here, and according to your plan, Doctor, if we are to convert this into a hospital, those bars and high-end business clubs can provide us with significant financial support."

Kara’s logical ability was inherited from the original host; the Purple Man’s thinking ability was not poor, it was just that his intelligence had not been used in reasonable ways.

After fully receiving the information Maria had provided, Kara did not act like a headless chicken. On the contrary, through her report, Lynn could feel that she, like Maria, had a unique talent for management.

"Just do as you think best."

"I understand, Doctor. Please leave it to me."

"If Jessica wakes up, tell her I have something to attend to and will be back tonight. Do not let her go out, and have Jekutor keep an eye on her."

With that, Lynn took a cane from the hallway and left with the Inseim-modified type. He wanted to bring Connors here tonight to avoid any further complications.

Once back on the streets of New York, Lynn searched for a sewer discharge outlet.

The sewer system of New York in this world was extremely developed, like a massive underground city harboring filth, which made Lynn wonder who exactly had pushed for the construction of this sewer system.

Wearing his coat, Lynn used his cane to gently sweep aside the trash on the ground and stepped into the pitch-black New York sewers.

Immediately, a stench rushed to meet him. It was hard to imagine anyone using such a place as a stronghold.

"Move."

Receiving Lynn’s command in his mind, the Inseim-modified type quickly transitioned into his combat form. The cilia on his head floated slightly, and soon he captured a trace of a different scent.

He turned his head quickly, looked in a certain direction, and then set off, sprinting forward at high speed.

His massive body almost filled the entire sewer. Lynn followed him at a leisurely pace, appearing to be strolling, yet his speed did not lag much behind the Inseim-modified type.

As he moved forward, he disabled some of the security cameras in the sewer.

—

At the same time, Connors was continuing his research in his sewer stronghold.

The unsuccessful genetic serum had permanently altered his thought patterns. In his lizard form, he had completely lost human empathy and sensibility, and his life goals had undergone a cataclysmic change.

However, the Lizard Doctor of this world was more extreme; in this form, he had almost no original consciousness, nor was it possible for him to voluntarily return to human form.

Now, he was refining the genetic serum using the extremely crude equipment he had assembled.

"I need to find a suitable place to spread my results, to scatter the seeds of hope across all of New York, or even the entire world."

Unexpectedly, he behaved with far more coherence than when he fought Peter.

"Peter is an unstable factor. I must find a way to crush him, to eliminate him. I cannot let him affect my plans."

He stood in the sewage of the sewer, exposing only his upper body, manipulating the crude but sturdy instruments with his sharp, giant claws.

"I also need to destroy the retroviral antidote that my human self reserved at the Osborn Laboratory."