Annihilation of the Russian Gang, the Mutated Duke Dog

"Neutering?" Gwen was taken aback for a moment, then looked at the Beagle on the lab table with a strange expression.

"I've never done it before, but as long as I stop the bleeding the moment I cut, it should be fine."

The Beagle on the lab table twitched unconsciously, whether from the gene regeneration or some vague sense of malice.

"Then let's do it. Neutering will save us from it peeing and barking all over the lab." Merlin stepped aside.

"Are we really neutering it? Does its owner know?" Gwen picked up the anesthesia needle and scalpel, walking over eagerly, but still asked uncertainly.

"We're doing this for the dog's health, no problem." Merlin waved his hand dismissively.

Hearing this, Gwen didn't press further. She first administered anesthesia to the Beagle, then began preparing the disinfectant supplies.

Although the Beagle had been injected with the Regeneration Potion, if the wound was sealed after cutting off the testicles, combined with the anesthesia, it was hard to tell if they'd grow back.

After finishing up with the Beagle, Merlin and Gwen dove back into the serum research.

The next morning, Brooklyn District.

"Hiss..." John, lying on the cold floor, clutched his blood-soaked head and sucked in a sharp breath as he slowly sat up.

As if recalling something, he immediately staggered to his feet and scanned the living room, but didn't see his beloved dog anywhere.

He crouched down, reached out a finger, and touched some blood—it was his dog's blood.

Thinking back to the hazy scene he'd seen last night, his Beagle had been beaten down by a few gang thugs with baseball bats, then tossed provocatively in front of him.

The long stretch of comfort had dulled his sense of danger, and he'd let some punks sneak into his home and ambush him.

The whole dispute started because they had their eyes on his Ford Mustang.

John immediately got up and walked out of the living room, searching his villa, but still found no trace of his dog's body.

Looking at the shattered door and the empty garage, he furrowed his brow.

"Buzz buzz..." Suddenly, his phone vibrated twice in his pocket.

He pulled it out to check, but when he saw the message, he squinted in confusion.

"R-Star..." It was a push notification from an app.

But he'd never downloaded that app on his phone.

"What the hell happened last night?" He sat back down on the living room sofa with a headache, feeling like last night wasn't so simple.

He tried hard to recall, but aside from those Russian gang thugs breaking into his house, he had no other memories.

Eventually, his gaze landed on the newly appeared app on his phone. Maybe it had something to do with what happened after he passed out.

He tapped the app open, and before he could even look at the page, a pop-up message jolted him inside.

[Merlin's Beard: Wipe out the Russian Gang.]

[Reward: One million]

[The Russian Gang has been terrorizing Brooklyn District... Well, their little boss tried to run me over with his car yesterday, so I figured their gang doesn't need to exist anymore.]

[Oh, and your poor dog—I saved him and threw in a neutering while I was at it. Remember to pay up...]

[My god, that's a huge favor.]

Below the text was an address: Merlin's Custom Shop in Hell's Kitchen.

Hearing that his beloved dog was still alive, John felt a surge of excitement for a moment. After his wife died, the Beagle she left behind was the most important thing to him—it was the only keepsake she'd given him.

Calming himself a bit, he first cleaned up the wound on his head, then smashed open the long-sealed underground weapons cache, grabbed some gear for self-defense, and headed to Merlin's Custom Shop.

Hell's Kitchen, Merlin's Custom Shop.

Looking at the rolled-down metal shutter and the "Closed" sign hanging beside it, John paused for a moment, then walked over to a small side door and knocked.

"Knock, knock, knock..." The sound of knocking rang out, and John stepped back warily, his hand quietly moving to the grip of his pistol, ready for anything.

"Woof woof woof!!!" But before the door opened, a familiar bark sounded from inside.

It was his dog.

"Duke! Is that you? Great, you're really alive." Hearing the bark, he responded excitedly, his tension easing a lot.

"Ugh... so noisy, I just fell asleep." Accompanied by a young boy's voice and approaching footsteps, the small door soon swung open.

When John saw the ridiculously young face in front of him, he was taken aback for a moment, but didn't let his guard down. Instead, he looked past the boy into the room, where a dog was barking excitedly in a cage.

It was his Duke.

"Come on in."

John glanced at Merlin, who seemed completely unguarded, then at his dog, and stepped inside.

"No gift?" Merlin sat on the sofa, looking like he'd just woken up—hair messy, eyes bleary.

John: "..."

He felt a bit awkward—after all, the other party had saved his dog, and showing up empty-handed didn't seem quite right.

But the awkwardness only lasted a moment. His main priority now was to understand the current situation and the purpose of the young man before him.

"Who are you?"

"Merlin Shaw, owner of this shop. I happened to pass by your place last night and saved your beloved dog along the way."

"But the Regeneration Potion injected into its body has some side effects. It'll need a few more days of observation."

John thought back but couldn't recall any prior connection with the person in front of him.

Hearing that the potion had side effects, however, stirred his concern. He quickly walked over to his dog.

The Beagle, seeing its owner, grew unusually excited. It kept lunging at the cage, producing a series of loud clattering sounds. The iron cage shook violently, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

John was startled too. His dog seemed much stronger, and its fur faintly shimmered with a greenish luster. Its claws and teeth now resembled those of a lion.

On closer inspection, its overall appearance had become far more ferocious, as if it had undergone some kind of genetic modification.

But thankfully, the affection in its eyes for him hadn't diminished in the slightest.

"What's wrong with Duke?" John turned and asked. He could tell Merlin meant no harm, so he relaxed a bit.

"You know about the Lizardman that's been all over the news lately? The same Regeneration Potion was injected into it."

"Otherwise, you'd only be seeing its little tombstone now."

"Lizardman... Regeneration Potion..." Though John lived as a recluse, he was still aware of the big news in Apple City.

"Don't forget to go back and scrape together the money. A life-saving Regeneration Potion doesn't come cheap."