The Birth of Lizard

Dr. Connors's eyes flickered.

Sitting blankly in his office chair, he looked calm, but in truth, a fierce battle raged within him.

On one hand, Dr. Connors wanted to conduct Human Experimentation as well.

After all, what had he been researching for so long? Wasn't it to benefit humanity and free people from the suffering of disabilities?

But on the other hand, Dr. Connors knew perfectly well that the regeneration serum was still unstable.

Because so far, only one—and only one—white mouse had achieved the result he dreamed of after being injected with the Regeneration Potion.

But that was precisely where the problem lay.

They did not know why it had succeeded.

Yes.

It had succeeded, but they did not know why. Nor could they replicate it.

Because they did not even know where the problem was. If they could not find the problem, then naturally, they had no way to replicate it.

Medicine was rigorous. There was no room for the slightest carelessness.

Especially when Human Experimentation was involved. Forget an actual problem—even the slightest uncertainty had to be resolved before they could proceed to the next step.

So...

Emotionally, no one wanted to see the Regeneration Potion succeed more than he did.

But rationally, what the board was doing was undoubtedly gambling with the lives of those disabled soldiers.

Dr. Connors was caught in an intense internal struggle.

Angels and demons appeared in his mind.

The angel told him that this was wrong. If something happened, God would never forgive him.

But the demon told him that medicine was destined to require sacrifice. If it succeeded, then even if he died and went to Heaven, the angels would have to give up their seats for him.

Dr. Connors sat blankly in his office.

Sunlight streaming through the window fell across his face, light and shadow constantly shifting over it.

Just like that.

He remained in his office from the afternoon until night fell.

Then, with a ding from his phone, Dr. Connors was jolted awake from his inner conflict.

He picked up his phone and opened the text message that had just arrived.

It read:

Doctor, I'm already on my way to the hospital. We believe in you.

After reading it.

Dr. Connors's gaze went unfocused.

Then!

With a swish.

Dr. Connors shot to his feet. As if he had made some kind of decision, he walked firmly toward the door.

The camera monitoring the laboratory sat quietly in the corner.

Its red light blinked on and off.

With a ding, the Bio-Engineering Mixer used for cross-species genetic splicing and fusion successfully opened in the laboratory. Dr. Connors took out a vial of green serum.

I may not be an angel, but I absolutely cannot become a demon.

Dr. Connors looked at the Regeneration Potion in his hand, fused from the Mutant Serum extracted from the white mouse and the Lizard Serum. He murmured to himself, then sat down beside it with a determined look in his eyes.

A moment later.

Seated in the chair, Dr. Connors looked at the syringe in his hand and took a deep breath. Then, without further hesitation, he plunged it into the stump of his right arm, which he had lost in an accident, and swiftly pushed the plunger all the way down.

Almost the instant he pulled out the syringe, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him without warning.

Thud!

Dr. Connors collapsed face-first onto the table in front of him.

At the same time, something seemed to be writhing inside the severed part of his right arm, struggling to break free.

As if...

"Was it a bug?"

"Mm, a very small lizard."

Having finished dinner and returned to her room, Gwen was talking to Hawk on the phone, telling him about how her eight-year-old brother had been frightened during dinner by a lizard that had crawled over from who knew where.

Hearing Gwen laugh on the other end of the line, Hawk was curious.

"You weren't scared?"

"Hawk."

Gwen said seriously, "Did you forget? The Regeneration Potion in our lab was inspired by lizards. There may not be much else in the lab, but there are plenty of white mice and lizards."

She was not some delicate little woman.

She was a cold-hearted scientist who could drain a lizard of its blood without changing expression and dissect white mice with the same composure.

Hawk suddenly understood and smiled.

Gwen smiled as well, then changed the subject.

"What about you? Have you eaten dinner?"

"No."

Hawk looked at the fried chicken drumsticks he had just bought. "I'm going to box on the rooftop. I'll eat after I'm done."

It could not be helped. With the new semester, the old gymnasium had been demolished and was being rebuilt as a swimming pool.

And the new gym was crowded too, especially today. With a new semester and new ninth-grade students, there were even more people there.

So Hawk simply decided that he would go home at night, box on the rooftop, then eat, shower, and sleep.

Listening to Hawk describe his plans, Gwen nodded, then thought of something.

"Hawk, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why do you practice boxing every day? You're already strong enough, aren't you?"

As Gwen spoke.

A scene surfaced in her mind—the sight she had seen after passing through the forest.

Hawk, bare-chested, standing in the pool beneath the waterfall.

The waterfall flowing backward before him.

Gwen did not know whether Hawk had caused that backward-flowing waterfall, since she had not seen it with her own eyes.

But she had no doubt that Hawk, as he was now, could kill a bear with one punch.

She had seen that with her own eyes.

Only after Gwen saw Hawk kill a bear with one punch that day did she feel both relieved and afraid.

After all, from the moment she entered the forest until she found Hawk, she had not encountered a single wild beast. It was obvious just how lucky she had been.

No, that was not quite right.

Maybe it had been God's will.

Gwen then thought of that unknown website that could provide Hawk's real-time location even when his phone was clearly turned off.

While Gwen recalled Maryland and that unknown website, Hawk also fell silent upon hearing her question.

"Why do I practice boxing every day?"

"To..."

Hawk was silent for a while. An image surfaced in his mind. After thinking about it, he gave her an answer.

"To protect myself and the people I care about."

"Am I one of them?"

Hearing Hawk's explanation, Gwen's clear voice rang in his ear.

After forcefully giving Hawk her own beauty-use phone that day, and after Hawk had not refused it, she felt as if she had found the secret to getting along with him.

Hawk had not expected Gwen to be so straightforward.

He could not help laughing, then nodded heavily.

"Of course."

"..."