The Beginning of the Experiment

The Beginning of the Experiment

Beneath the stone cliff stood a shabby wooden hut, white cooking smoke constantly drifting from it. The faint aroma of meat mingled with the fresh scent of fruit and filled the air, while a clear stream babbled nearby.

"Gulp!"

Sally crouched in front of the campfire with her arms around her knees, looking incredibly well-behaved. Her large purple eyes were fixed on the cured meat in the iron pot, from which an enticing aroma continuously wafted. Every so often, she raised her little hand to wipe away the drool dripping from her mouth.

"Slime, can we eat yet?"

"Wait a little longer, Sally. Also, I have a name. Call me Lu Minghao."

As he spoke, Lu Minghao picked up a stick and stirred the cured meat in the iron pot. Then he turned and gave Sally, who looked like a greedy little kitten, a gentle smile. Only at times like this did she show the childishness befitting her age.

"I know, I know."

Sally pouted and glanced at Lu Minghao. Her large eyes were full of undisguised happiness. She really liked how things were now. She was finally no longer alone.

"All right, time to eat."

A few minutes later, seeing that the cured meat was nearly done, Lu Minghao picked up two wooden bowls from the side and put most of the meat into Sally's bowl before handing it to the little glutton who had been waiting impatiently beside him.

"Hehe, thank you, Minghao."

Sally stared at the meat in her bowl and giggled foolishly. Ignoring the heat, she immediately grabbed the largest piece, only to stuff it into Lu Minghao's body.

Seeing Sally's expression that clearly said she would not eat unless he did, Lu Minghao could only nod. Her smile grew even brighter, and she directly stuffed the meat in her hand into Lu Minghao's body. Only after watching it get completely digested did she pick up her bowl and bury her entire little head in it.

"Still, I've been gone for so long. I wonder how the neighbors are doing."

Looking at Sally's face, smeared with grease from eating, Lu Minghao gently wiped the corner of her mouth. He picked up a bug from the wooden basket, skewered it on a root, and placed it over the fire. As he watched the bug twist beneath the flames, Lu Minghao suddenly thought of his former good neighbors for some reason.

While Lu Minghao and Sally were enjoying lunch, deep beneath the sewer of a frontier town in the Eastern Empire, at an unknown distance from him—

At that moment, in the Underground Kingdom of the Giant Rat clan, Dikas excitedly watched his constantly changing body. His originally pitch-black scales had grown even darker, while his rodent-like face gradually began to take on human features. The claws on his arms had become increasingly sharp, and ominous black energy permeated his entire body.

Beside Dikas, the Shadow Rats looked at him with growing fear. A giant rat closest to Dikas accidentally touched a wisp of black energy around his body. Its eyes widened violently, as though they were about to be forced from their sockets, and its body instantly withered.

Crack!

The next moment, under the terrified gazes of the other Shadow Rats, cracks began to appear across the rat's body. It collapsed to the ground and exploded with a bang, turning into scattered chunks, while two terrified pupils rolled out.

Its flesh, soul, and demonic essence had all vanished completely, swallowed up without a trace.

At the instant the giant rat died, a flush appeared on Dikas's face. His increasingly human features became greedy and excited.

"Pant... Where is that human?"

Dikas's body trembled as his scarlet eyes locked onto the many increasingly terrified Shadow Rats before him. In a hoarse voice, he asked word by word.

The next moment, all the Shadow Rats turned and ran toward Diri's room. They knew that if they were even a second too slow, Dikas—who was already barely restraining himself—would tear them apart and devour them completely.

"Finally here?"

Inside the room, Diri expressionlessly wiped the short sword in his hand. Just now, the instant Dikas had successfully adapted to the ancient human hero bloodline genes within him, the bloodline factors inside Diri's body had also begun to stir, urging him to kill and devour the one who had stolen his power.

"Charles, you're watching, aren't you?"

Suddenly, Diri raised his head and looked toward a certain spot in the room. His pitch-black pupils stared fixedly at it, as though he were facing someone's gaze. During the time he had spent recovering, Diri had already noticed something suspicious about his escape from the laboratory.

The passageways that should have had soldiers patrolling around the clock had been completely empty, while the laboratory's originally flawless defense mechanisms had been riddled with loopholes. At the time, Diri had been focused only on escaping and assumed that the soldiers had grown lax because the laboratory had never been invaded and no experimental subjects had ever escaped.

However, when he escaped the laboratory and was secretly guided here by Dikas, Diri had already begun to doubt that he had truly escaped.

Unfortunately, he had been seriously injured at the time and had no chance of escaping while surrounded by so many giant rats. Besides, a sliver of wishful thinking remained in Diri's heart. What if the laboratory's defenses really had loopholes, and the soldiers had simply grown careless?

But recently, Diri had discovered that the human doctor responsible for treating him took some of his blood every day. His unease grew increasingly apparent until, just now, he sensed that someone had successfully stolen his ancient human hero bloodline genes.

At that moment, Diri understood. He had never truly escaped the laboratory. His supposed escape had merely been another part of the experiment. Moreover, Diri was absolutely certain that Charles was watching him from the shadows at that very moment.

"I will survive!"

The next moment, having figured everything out, Diri regained his composure. He silently hid the short sword inside his clothes, then pushed open the stone door and walked out. The many giant rats that had just arrived outside stared at the human who suddenly emerged. They felt that his aura was somewhat similar to that of their king, Dikas.

Faced with this unexpected turn of events, the many Shadow Rats stood frozen in place, momentarily unsure what to do.

"Lead the way!"

Diri expressionlessly looked at the many Shadow Rats before him. After he spoke, they instinctively scattered, revealing a path leading toward Dikas.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

In the gloomy passage, only Diri's increasingly heavy footsteps rang out. As he drew closer to Dikas, his black pupils grew deeper, the blood in his body became more agitated, and wisps of black energy coiled around him.

From a distance, Diri now looked like a demon god who had walked out of ancient times. The many Shadow Rats lowered their heads in fear, not daring to approach him at all.

"You're here!"

Inside the dim room, a pair of scarlet pupils lit up in the darkness. Dikas's nearly three-meter-tall body slowly emerged, his violent aura pressing against the air as though it were tangible.

"Dikas, you should know that this is only an experiment."

Diri calmly looked at Dikas's drastically transformed body and stated this fact in an even tone.

"I know. But so what? Now, I only want to become the most 'perfect' creature and gain immense power. So what if all of this is an experiment?"

Dikas's human-like face slowly split open, revealing sawtooth-like fangs that made him look even more ferocious and terrifying. Driven by his desire for power and evolution, Dikas no longer cared whether this was an experiment. Besides, even if it was an experiment, as long as he devoured Diri and became an Upper Demon, he would not be eliminated as a failed product!

Therefore, for the sake of power and survival, Dikas could only turn Diri into his nourishment.

There's one more chapter. I had something to take care of today and got back too late, so the update was delayed a little.