--Upper Rank Seven!
"Zheng--"
A sudden, sharp note from Biwa shattered the eternal silence of the Infinity Castle.
Space, like water surface tossed with pebbles, is violently distorted, folded, and reconstructed.
The next second, a man wearing a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses appeared out of thin air on a suspended wooden platform.
He staggered slightly, quickly adjusting his glasses, a symbol of intellect and elegance. Behind the lenses, his eyes scanned the bizarre and surreal space around him, a space that defied the laws of physics.
Even though it wasn't the first time he'd been summoned here, his heart, as a "former human," still convulsed uncontrollably from fear Σ(°△°|||).
Because he knew.
At the edge of this space, on a throne made of countless twisted flesh and bizarre instruments, sits the absolute ruler of all "ghosts" in this world.
He is now the only master to whom he needs to fear, please, and offer all his loyalty.
The Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji.
"Doctor."
A deep, emotionless voice seemed to resonate directly in his mind from all directions.
Those two words alone sent a shiver down the spine of the man called "doctor."
His knees buckled reflexively, and he collapsed to the ground, pressing his forehead firmly against the cold wooden floor.
He responded respectfully, in an almost obsequious, deeply humble tone:
"Lord Muzan, your humble servant is at your beck and call."
The Demon King on the throne did not seem to be pleased by his perfect servile demeanor.
Muzan slowly raised his handsome yet somewhat sinister face, his scarlet vertical pupils flashing with a chilling light that sent shivers down one's spine.
When was the last time I saw you?
"Back... back to Muzan Wuhan,"
The doctor's voice trembled slightly with nervousness, "It was... it was three months and seven days ago."
"Three months and seven days."
Muzan repeated the number, his voice still calm, but the invisible pressure in the air suddenly increased several times over.
"In other words, I've given you a full one hundred days."
"And you, the doctor I have the highest hopes for, the one with the 'genius brain,' what have you brought me during these hundred days?"
Is it a cure for the sun's rays? Or even just a tiny, insignificant step forward?
Muzan's voice, each word like a heavy hammer tempered with ice, slammed into the doctor's nerves.
Cold sweat instantly soaked through his pristine white robe, a symbol of his noble status.
He knew that if even a single word of his reply failed to satisfy this capricious king, he would be torn to shreds by the writhing fleshy tentacles beside the throne.
"Muzan -Muzan! Please calm down!!"
The doctor lowered his head even further, his voice filled with fear, but his thoughts remained unusually clear.
"The research... the research has made groundbreaking progress! However... we've encountered a critical bottleneck!"
"Bottleneck?" Muzan frowned slightly.
"Yes!! Lord Muzan!!"
The doctor, as if grasping at a straw, quickly explained:
"Based on my clinical analysis and data modeling, our current formulation is missing a crucial 'catalyst'!"
"If we can find it, I guarantee there's a 99.9% chance I can provide you with the perfect, ultimate potion to conquer the sun!"
He spoke with such certainty, as if he were a meticulous and great scientist tackling a world-class medical challenge.
However, these words were met with only a cold, Muzan laugh from Muzan.
"Blue Spider Lily?"
"What do you think I've been doing for the past few hundred years?"
"If it were that easy to find, do you think you'd be here spouting this nonsense to me?!"
"Boom--!"
An extremely terrifying pressure, like a tsunami, suddenly descended!
The doctor felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on his body, and all his bones were creaking as if they would break at any moment.
Blood seeped from his seven orifices, and his gold-rimmed glasses shattered with a "crack".
"I... I was wrong! Lord Muzan! I deserve to die!"
He writhed on the ground in agony, like a lowly worm o(╥╥)o, howling as he frantically turned his prized brain.
He had to come up with a completely new "prescription" that would satisfy this tyrant before he was utterly crushed!
Got it!
A brilliant and audacious idea flashed into his mind and took shape instantly!
"Lord Muzan! Please... please give me another chance!!"
He roared with all his might:
"Since... since we can't find the perfect 'key'... then why... don't we create a perfect 'lock'?!"
"Um?"
The oppressive force that could crush everything eased slightly.
A flicker of interest flashed in Muzan's eyes.
"Go on."
The doctor felt a sudden relief from the pressure, like a drowning person taking a breath of fresh air. He dared not be negligent in the slightest and quickly launched into his new theory.
"Muzan! What I mean is, finding the Blue Spider Lily is like looking for a needle in a haystack! It's a passive and extremely inefficient research method!"
We should turn the tables and take the initiative!
"My vision is to use large-scale 'clinical trials' to screen out the one in ten thousand 'ultimate test subject' with the most perfect gene sequence from a sufficiently large human sample—The ONE!"
"The cells of this experimental subject inherently possess a certain special potential!"
"With the induction of many different 'viruses,' it's possible to directly adapt to sunlight within the body!"
"That way, we can completely bypass this damned bottleneck of the Blue Spider Lily!"
He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see his successful future.
He raised his head and looked up at the Demon King on the throne with a fanatical and fawning gaze.
"But this requires... requires a massive amount of experimentation... requires sufficiently powerful resources to support it!"
"What we need even more is... your supreme, divine blood, as the 'original virus strain' for all experiments, The Origin!"
"Muzan! Grant me more power! More blood!!"
"I will become your scalpel, selecting the 'perfect container' to hold your ultimate dream!"
After saying this, he prostrated himself on the ground once more, awaiting the king's final judgment with an almost religious fervor.
A brief silence fell over the Infinity Castle.
Muzan's crimson vertical pupils remained motionless, staring at the lowly figure below.
He is evaluating.
Assess the feasibility of this plan, assess the loyalty of this servant, and... assess whether this ambition is still within your control.
A long time passed.
Muzan's lips curled into a cruel yet satisfied smile.
This plan sounds much more interesting than aimlessly searching for a flower that has no future.
More importantly, this servant was both intelligent and obedient.
He's like a well-trained hunting dog; as long as he's fed enough, he'll be loyal and bring back the fattest prey for his master.
"Very good."
Muzan nodded.
"I've approved your 'prescription'."
He extended a finger, and on the tip of his finger, a drop of blood, thick to the point of being almost black, slowly condensed, emanating a terrifying aura that sent chills down one's spine.
"As you wish."
"I bestow upon you blood with a concentration second only to that of the Upper Rank."
"And you are granted a new rank."
The moment the words left his mouth, the drop of blood seemed to teleport, disappearing directly into the doctor's forehead!
"Ahhh--!"
An indescribable, excruciating pain, emanating from the deepest recesses of his cells, exploded within his body like a nuclear bomb!
The doctor's body began to undergo terrifying changes!
His muscles bulged wildly as if inflated, tearing his white coat apart!
The bones were twisting and rearranging, making a crackling sound!
Beneath the skin, countless granulation tissues and blood vessels were spreading wildly like rampant vines!
This kind of pain is enough to cause any determined "Pillar" level swordsman to have a mental breakdown on the spot!
But the doctor didn't.
As he endured this hellish torment, he secretly burst into wild laughter!
Strength!
Unprecedented power!
Like Wild Beasts, it surged wildly into every cell of his body!
He could feel that his five senses, his regenerative abilities, and the strength of his Blood Demon Art were increasing exponentially!
Is this... this the power of an "Upper Rank" level monster?!?!
It's unclear how much time passed, but the terrifying anomaly gradually subsided.
The doctor, trembling, got up from the ground.
Beneath his tattered gold-rimmed glasses, a clear yet menacing Chinese character slowly emerged in his left pupil.
[Upper Rank]
But in the right pupil, there was another number.
[Seven]
"How do you feel?" Muzan's voice rang out again from the throne.
"It feels... great! So good!"
Upper Rank Seven raised its head, its face radiating an overwhelming mix of ecstasy and ecstasy.
He bowed deeply toward the throne, his voice filled with unprecedented respect and loyalty.
"Thank you for your grace, Lord Muzan!"
"From this day forward, I will create a flawless, perfect world for you!"
"Zheng--"
The Biwa began again.
Having received the promise of promotion, Upper Rank Seven vanished from its spot in an instant.
The Infinity Castle has returned to its deathly silence.
On the throne, Muzan Kibutsuji closed his eyes, seemingly quite satisfied with his "investment."
In a dark, unnamed corner, Upper Rank Seven, who had just been teleported out, was staggering and leaning against the wall.
He touched his right eye, which had fully recovered and now bore the character "seven."
Feeling the terrifying, surging power within his body, almost overflowing, the expression on his face became incredibly twisted and ferocious in the shadows.
It was an expression that mixed ecstasy, greed, and boundless ambition.
"Hehe..."
"Hehe..."
"Muzan Kibutsuji..."
He murmured that supreme name softly, but his tone no longer held any of the awe he had shown before.
"One day, I will make you taste what it's like to be a 'guinea pig'."
This world doesn't need two 'suns'.
"The ultimate life form, one is enough."