Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Dark City
The corridor was dark and damp. Moss grew on surfaces that hadn’t seen sunlight in years, and it had become a home for all sorts of crawling things that loved the gloom.
The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of footsteps.
The clack of tall boots on the floor echoed down the empty corridor.
"Sir, he’s inside."
"Understood." The voice that replied was deep and cold, without a trace of emotion.
Then came the creak of a large door opening. The footsteps approached, finally stopping at an iron door.
The observation hatch on the door slid open. Inside, in the center of the damp room, a middle-aged male with graying hair was tied up.
His tailored suit was covered in stains, stripped of its former dignity.
The iron door opened. The bound male inside raised his head, making the pair of goat horns sprouting from his forehead stand out starkly.
When his swollen eyes met the newcomer’s cold, pitch-black gaze, his pupils constricted in shock. "It’s you? Where is this? What do you want with me? Since when are people from the First Military District allowed to kidnap someone?"
"Shhh!" The newcomer, wearing black gloves, raised a finger to his lips to silence him, as if disgusted by the noise. "And who told you I’m representing the First Military District?"
"If not the First Military District, then who are you? What do you want, Graces!" A sudden realization dawned on him. ’If Graces isn’t representing the First Military District, then where am I? Who does he represent? He came here without any disguise or attempt to hide, not even concealing his identity. Why?’
’Is there any chance I’ll make it out of here alive?’
"Do you really want to know? Or is everyone from the Gene Research Institute just blessed with a burning curiosity for the truth, Director? Haven’t you always wanted me? You tried every trick in the book, hoping I’d sign the agreement to ’voluntarily’ participate in your research. Well, here I am. You can ask me in person. Who knows? If I’m in a good mood, I might just agree."
Graces’s expression was impassive, and while his tone might have been described as gentle, every word felt like a blade twisting in the Gene Research Institute Director’s flesh, making his heart hammer in his chest.
"Graces, this is a crime! Do you know what you’re doing? If you let me go now, I can pretend none of this happened. I swear, I’ll never let anyone bother you again. We can just say this never happened, how about it?" The Director of the Gene Research Institute was going insane!
’If I’d known Graces would kidnap me, I wouldn’t have set my sights on him even if it killed me. The man’s a complete lunatic! I just don’t understand why he’s doing this. He’s already a Gene Fusion Expert with a high social standing, and he has a Female Master like Duke Lu Xia protecting him. His life is a picture of success and prosperity. From my point of view, there’s absolutely no need for him to do something like this and ruin his own future.’
’But if he’s doing this, it can only mean one thing: this is who he truly is. He was never just a simple Colonel from the First Military District. We all misjudged him!’
At this realization, the terror in the Gene Research Institute Director’s heart grew uncontrollably!
Graces took in the terror on his face and a smirk played on his lips. He uttered a single word: "No."
"Then what will it take for you to let me go? I won’t dare to again, I swear! It won’t do you any good if you kill me, will it? Think of your Female Master, Duke Lu Xia... AARGH!"
The Director of the Gene Research Institute hadn’t finished his sentence before Graces slapped him across the face. "Shhh," Graces said. "Don’t let me hear her name come out of your mouth. At a time like this, it would be best not to mention her. Can you do that, Director?"
If it weren’t for the slap that made half of the director’s face swell up, Graces’s words alone would have sounded remarkably gentlemanly.
Graces straightened the director’s head, which had been knocked to the side by the slap, and stared at him. "Didn’t you want me to be your research subject? Weren’t you curious about how I became a Gene Fusion Expert? Didn’t you think you could uncover the secrets of gene fusion from me? Don’t you want to see my Beastification Form?"
As Graces finished speaking, he took off his black gloves and slowly extended his hand toward the director. Before the director’s eyes, his human hand transformed, morphing into the talons of a Black Dragon. The sight of those sharp claws and dark scales alone was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.
The director’s face was ashen. Trembling all over, he broke down and sobbed, "I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Please don’t kill me! I’ll do anything you say! Do you want money? I’ll give you money! Just name your price, okay? Please, just let me go!"
"Beautiful, aren’t they?" Graces, however, was completely unmoved. He even seemed to be in the mood to show off his claws.
"Yes! Beautiful! They’re beautiful! The most beautiful dragon talons I have ever seen, sniffle..." The director finally broke down completely, sobbing. ’I’m going to die of fright! I have no idea what Graces is trying to do!’
But he had no doubt that if Graces willed it, that lethally sharp talon could easily take his life.
’At this moment, Gene Fusion Experts, the Beastification Gene, contributing to the Empire—none of it mattered anymore. The only thing that mattered was staying alive.’
Graces, however, seemed to have finally found someone to talk to and had no intention of letting him off that easily.
He gently caressed the man’s cheek with the tip of a talon. "Did you know? The doctors had already pronounced my death sentence. They told her to give up on me. I also thought I was as good as dead. But she didn’t give up. She didn’t abandon me. She took me home, treated me, and stayed with me through the most difficult time of my life. I couldn’t believe it was all happening to me. In fact, I should thank you. If you hadn’t tried time and time again to make me sign that voluntary research agreement, I never would have known she would go to such lengths to protect me."
Graces spoke of his elation in the calmest of tones, but at some point, his once pitch-black pupils had turned deep red. Black scales now covered half his face, and dragon horns had even sprouted from his forehead.
In the eyes of the Gene Research Institute’s director, he now looked like a dangerous, soul-devouring dragon from the depths of hell.
"I... I was wrong... I truly know I was wrong... I won’t do it again, sob, I..." the director begged, a pathetic sight. If not for his bonds, he would have been on his knees groveling. He was afraid. He was truly afraid. ’This is a madman, a madman who’s going to kill me!’
Looking at the terrified man before him, Graces let the smile that had unconsciously formed when speaking of Lu Xia vanish. He straightened up, surveying the director from above. "Your actions last night displeased her. She didn’t say a word, but I know she was unhappy. So, how can you still be alive? Do you know where this is? This is the underground Dark City, a place where all manner of evil can be committed. Tell me, now that you’re here, do you think you can ever go back? Why don’t you just stay and become food for the abyss, Director?"
