Zombie Potion

With an insider in the city, nearly a hundred assassins from the Weasel Bandit Group easily scaled the high walls by rope and entered the city.

The buildings within Blazing Steel Fortress were packed tightly together, arranged along narrow streets like fish scales.

The clock tower's hands showed it was already two in the morning, and there were no pedestrians left on the streets.

Following their planned route, the bandits quietly passed through the slums and arrived directly before a manor with roses growing in its courtyard.

Beside the manor's iron fence hung a plaque displaying the owner's identity and noble title.

This was the residence of Baron Morin Bandelas of the Empire.

Tonight.

Blood would flow like a river through the manor, and no one would survive.

After confirming the target, Quinn waved one hand, and the assassins instantly vanished into the darkness.

Fortunately, Rein did not have to participate in the direct fighting.

He and two other recruits had drawn a relatively easy assignment.

Rather than entering Morin Manor to take part in the assassination, they followed the new recruit captain, Tiger, lifted a Manhole Cover from the street, and climbed underground.

A dense, spiderweb-like sewer network ran beneath this steel city. Their job was to guard the perimeter and intercept anyone trying to escape.

Before long, after passing through the narrow sewer pipes, the four of them arrived at a spacious main channel and stopped.

Even with gas masks on, the stench of rotten water in the sewers was still unpleasant.

Tiger was already thoroughly familiar with assassination assignments.

He found a dry spot and sat down, then said to the three recruits, "If anyone from Morin Manor tries to escape through the sewers later, this is the only route they can take. Our job is to hold this place and kill anyone trying to get through."

"Yes, Captain Tiger!"

At his words, Rein and the other two recruits stood at attention and answered respectfully.

Those were the rules taught by the New Recruit Training Corps.

Tiger looked at the three nervous recruits and gave a mocking laugh. "Heh. You don't need to be so tense. Find somewhere to lie down and wait for the operation to end. We won't be needed this time."

One recruit looked confused and asked, "Then, Captain Tiger, should we set up traps?"

Tiger waved a hand dismissively. "No need."

Hearing that, the man asked again, "But what if enemies come later and we don't have time to respond?"

"An accident? Heh, the boss came personally. What accident could there possibly be?"

Tiger shook his head with faint contempt, as though the very suggestion were ridiculous.

After a pause, he lazily explained, "That Doctor Morin is only an Ascender who has broken through two Gene Locks. Boss Quinn, on the other hand, is a Demon Hunter with three stages of Gene Awakening! Besides, even if they were at the same rank, who do you think has better odds—a non-combat doctor or a Demon Hunter assassin? You recruits were brought along only to broaden your horizons. You won't get a chance to fight."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Understanding dawned on the recruit's face. After hearing that, he let go of the dagger at his waist.

"Besides, if something really happens, isn't your old man still here? You little rookie brats won't need to do anything."

Tiger sneered and removed his gas mask.

As he spoke, he pulled a silver flask from his clothes, took several gulps of liquor, and narrowed his eyes for a nap.

Drinking was forbidden during missions, but an old hand like Tiger did not care, and the recruits did not dare gossip about it.

"Oh."

Seeing how relaxed their captain was, the other two recruits also lowered their guard and sat down where they were.

Meanwhile, Rein, who had remained silent in the corner, walked a few more steps and sat down at a tunnel entrance.

Out of caution, he chose a sewer passage farther from the ventilation opening, one that allowed him to advance or retreat.

Captain Tiger was an old member of the group. Arrogant by nature, fond of drink and women, his strength did not rank particularly high within the group.

He had only managed to become a recruit instructor because of his seniority.

Even so, Rein did not dare underestimate him in the slightest.

Because that sickly-looking drunkard had broken through a First Tier Gene Lock and was an Awakened with Transcendent power!

(Note: The exclusive title for First Tier Transcendents is Awakened; Second Tier, Ascender; Third Tier, Demon Hunter; Fourth Tier, Grand Demon Hunter.)

Although this mission was the best opportunity to escape this den of bandits, Rein did not dare make a move.

He was absolutely certain that if he made the slightest suspicious move, Tiger would kill him with ease.

It was an instinctive intuition born from the crushing gap in absolute strength.

Even after enduring a year of hellish assassin training and mastering a full set of thief skills for scaling walls and crossing roofs, he was still an ordinary person.

Before an Awakened who possessed Transcendent power, the gap between them was like that between a child and a Burly Man.

This was a mysterious world where humans could awaken Transcendent power. By consuming Gene Potions, people could break through their genetic potential and gain extraordinary abilities.

Even the most ordinary First Tier Black Iron Grade Gene Potion could boost a person's abilities to three to ten times those of an ordinary human.

Speed, strength, endurance, perception, cellular vitality, neural reactions... everything would be enhanced.

(Potion grades: Black Iron Grade, Silver Grade, Gold Grade.)

In terms of sheer strength alone, Tiger, who had been an advanced Transcendent for years, was at least five times stronger than Rein.

With his current combat ability, trying to escape under Tiger's watch was nothing but wishful thinking!

Clearly, Rein was not the only one who wanted to run.

Before long, Tiger was slightly tipsy. He noticed the other recruits staring blankly toward the pitch-black sewer passages, as if he had guessed something, and sneered.

"Heh heh."

He suddenly said, "This is your first mission outside the base. 9554, 9623, you two bastards thinking of running away?"

"..."

Their little secret had been exposed, and panic flashed across the two recruits' faces.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Back then, I went through the same thing."

Tiger did not seem to care. He shook his head and said, "Brats, I know you're unwilling, but give up on that idea. Forget that you couldn't last even one move against me. Even if you escaped, without an antidote to the Zombie Potion, you'd still die within a month."

At those words, the two recruits wilted instantly like frost-bitten eggplants.

"Look at 9527. Wouldn't it be better to wait peacefully for the mission to end? Why entertain such unrealistic fantasies?"

As he spoke, Tiger pointed at the silent Rein nearby.

This quiet recruit might have mediocre talent, but he was easy to manage and caused no trouble.

Hearing that, the other two recruits curled their lips in disdain. Heh, just a cowardly dead-last.

9527 was Rein's code name in the New Recruit Training Corps. Before becoming an official member of the Weasel Bandit Group, recruits were not qualified to have names.

After all, more than seventy percent of recruits did not live long enough to awaken Transcendent power.

No one would bother remembering a dead man's name.

Despite Tiger "praising" him, Rein remained silent and continued playing the role of an insignificant nobody.

But when he heard about the Zombie Potion, a nearly imperceptible gloom flashed through his eyes.

On the status panel projected onto his retina by the Mind Core, a countdown remained visible: Unnamed toxin corrosion. Estimated to become fatal in 26 days, 19 hours, and 44 minutes.

This was how the higher-ups of the bandit group controlled recruits: slow-acting poison!

Every recruit had even witnessed someone who failed to take the antidote on time suffer a poison outbreak, then have all the blood in his body instantly drained by a mysterious force, turning into a desiccated corpse on the spot.

"Gulp, gulp." Tiger took another swig of liquor.

Tiger did not want any of his recruits causing trouble by trying to escape, so he spoke in the tone of someone who had been there before. "You recruits just need to perform well. Once you earn enough merit to exchange points for a Gene Potion and advance to an Awakened, that's when you'll get to enjoy the good life. Heh heh. Money, women, cultivation resources—you'll have no shortage of any of them."

Finally, a glimmer of hope appeared in the two recruits' eyes.

Advancing into the Transcendent realm was the true beginning of the path to becoming strong.

And the Weasel Bandit Group had a bloody reward system.

To obtain antidotes or Gene Potions for advancing into the Transcendent realm, one had to exchange points for them.

So-called points were actually earned by continuously taking part in missions involving murder and robbery.

Once you had gathered enough points, you would realize your hands were already stained with countless lives, and you could no longer leave this bandit group that survived by murder, arson, and plunder.

Rein did not want to become a cold-blooded killing tool controlled by others.

He wanted to find a chance to escape the Weasel Bandit Group.

But Tiger's surveillance and the Zombie Potion inside his body had become two shackles locked around his fatal throat.

Yet he had never expected it.

The opportunity would come so quickly on his very first mission!

This meticulously planned assassination had actually gone wrong.