Led by Eight Man, Fang Zheng finally met the creator of the Franxx Mecha, Doctor Franxx.
His appearance rather matched the common image people had of a scientist: a short stature, unkempt hair, a bald crown, and an Iron Mask covering half his face. He looked like the very model of a mad scientist—and in truth, he was.
"Doctor, he's here."
"Mm, I know. You may leave."
"Yes."
Though somewhat surprised, Eight Man obediently nodded and turned to leave, leaving Fang Zheng standing there alone. Fang Zheng, meanwhile, unceremoniously dropped onto the sofa and stretched lazily. Only then did Doctor Franxx turn around to look at him, chuckling.
"Hello, X. I've always wanted to meet you."
"So have I."
Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes with a grin as he faced Doctor Franxx.
"I've wanted to see what sort of thing could destroy humanity."
"..."
Doctor Franxx's expression twitched slightly at Fang Zheng's answer.
"Is that how you see me?"
"Objectively speaking, isn't that exactly what you are? The great destroyer of humanity?"
Fang Zheng stared at Doctor Franxx with a mocking expression.
"What so many villains failed to accomplish, you actually managed to do in the end. As expected, the deepest desire to destroy humanity comes from humanity itself."
Fang Zheng made no effort to hide his mockery and disdain for Doctor Franxx. In fact, that was precisely how he felt.
After all, it was the old man before him who had developed the technology that used Magma Energy to grant humans eternal youth and immortality. The price of that immortality was the loss of fertility and reproductive ability. Driven by this, humanity began extracting Magma Energy on a massive scale, ultimately draining the land of life. Those immortal humans then built Mobile Cities and slept within the VR World,