Researchers Should Be Experts at Fighting Too

The Azure Demon Bear Beast was a dual-element wind-and-water magical beast that lived around rivers and coastal glaciers, surviving on fish and seals.

What it excelled at most was using its unmatched brute strength to snap trees, block off parts of rivers, and build small dams to catch freshwater seafood—or relying on its immense strength and speed to knock seals unconscious with tree branches.

This showed that the Azure Demon Bear Beast was not stupid. Its intelligence simply could not perfectly bring out its own strength.

Now, the muscles in the Azure Demon Bear Beast's arms contracted and twisted layer by layer. In the past, this had been the prelude to gathering wind pressure and swatting fish with its paws.

But now, this instinctive use of force had been combined with martial techniques. Origin Matter was precisely mobilized to stimulate its muscles, gathering like a vortex and pressurizing its wind force and arm strength again, again, and again.

Then, it unleashed it.

In that instant, a terrifying bear paw tore through the gale, made the atmosphere wail, and blasted out a vacuum with a thunderous roar.

—Sublimer martial technique: City-Breaking Palm!

"You've got to be kidding me?!"

Even the well-traveled Teres's pupils contracted at that moment. He immediately mobilized Origin Matter, raised his sword as a shield, and rapidly retreated to adjust his angle, avoiding the bear beast's city-crushing strike.

Even so, he was still a little too slow.

With a cracking smack, he was sent flying by the bear beast's paw and slammed into the wall of a three-story building, leaving a human-shaped hole.

Cracks spread continuously as the entire building shook and swiftly collapsed. Wind-aspected Origin Matter, spreading and shattering everything in its path, could destroy even city walls—what was a small building in comparison?

But at that moment, a figure burst through the rubble burying the building. A streak of azure sword light flashed through the air as he launched another attack.

Teres had not fallen—Sublimers, especially armored Sublimers, were incredibly hard to put down.

Though he looked bedraggled, with a huge bear-paw imprint on his armor, Teres himself was completely unharmed. At most, his sluggish mind was beginning to turn again, and his chest felt a little tight.

"Try this!"

This time, Teres truly regarded the bear beast before him as an opponent. A gale erupted beneath his feet as he flashed forward, slashing at the beast's right knee and forcing it to draw back its leg in defense. Yet this also caused its body to tip, carried by the turbulent current and thrown into a building on the other side, smashing through its wall.

Rock fragments and invisible air blades shattered both themselves and everything they struck upon impact, blasting out crater after crater and sending huge clouds of dust and stone billowing through the air.

In less than three seconds, two three-story buildings had been shattered and collapsed from the aftershocks of their battle.

"I warned you."

Ian shook his head slightly. He was not worried that Teres would lose.

Teres might not have been among the very best in the Inspecting Knights Order, but outside of it, he was absolutely a genius capable of challenging opponents above his minor rank within the same Energy Level.

Even Viscount Avak had gained no advantage against him. What could a mere bear beast that only knew a couple of martial techniques do?

What worried Ian more was that their team's pace would be delayed—he had already seen that the survivors in the laboratory were beginning to plan their escape. They had deployed their hidden military force precisely to hold them back, buying time to destroy or carry away their materials.

That was unacceptable.

"Miss Hua An, help keep things under control. In a little while, two or three Phantoms will come from the left—their main force has all been sent over. They want to keep us here."

Silver-azure radiance flickered in Ian's eyes as he scanned the surrounding streets. Sure enough, he saw what he had been looking for.

He turned his head and quietly instructed the Fairy girl, "If things get critical, have Miss Mo Feng help too. We've already gathered enough information on the mutation to complete the mission, so don't work so hard on the report. You might have to rewrite it later."

"That's not a problem. Mo Feng doesn't like rewriting reports either." Influenced by Ian, Hua An also leaned close and whispered into his ear, "But what are you going to do?"

"We can't keep dragging this out. I'm going to find the route to the research rooms." Ian answered without changing expression. "You know this is the Second Prince's mission... I'll be right back."

"Be careful." Being a Fairy, Hua An unexpectedly did not think this was a bad idea at all. Instead, she waved her parasol staff to encourage Ian. "It'd be best if you could capture a few prisoners!"

"Of course."

As he spoke, he patted Frost Butterfly's little head, signaling that she should not follow him. Then, beneath the gazes of the two Fairy girls, he vanished beyond the end of the street.

Underground, the ruined laboratory was filled with frantic activity. Researchers and guards were carrying away materials as quickly as possible, preparing to leave.

The Azure City Laboratory did not know exactly what had happened at the Central Laboratory. Thus, when the crisis began, it had chosen to hold its ground and wait for Grand Duke Solin's reinforcements.

But several days had now passed. The Grand Duke's troops had yet to arrive, while the Empire's Patrol Knights and other forces had come two or three times. They no longer held any hope for reinforcements.

Especially since this time, a young White Folk had directly seen through them using a surveillance lens. This had frightened many researchers out of their wits, leaving them helpless and at a loss.

"Is it really reliable to send out the bear beast?"

At that moment, the gray-haired director was locking a briefcase full of important documents.

His deputy, pale-faced, asked, "Director, honestly, we were already lucky that those Phantoms did not lose control before... The Will Overwriting Program hasn't been fully completed. Aside from a small number of test subjects, at most we can hypnotize those Phantoms and aberrant beasts into believing that we are 'their kind'..."

"They may not do as we tell them!"

"Stop talking nonsense. This counts as an experiment too. Trying it is better than not trying it!"

The gray-haired director looked coldly at his deputy. The man was indeed learned and deeply knowledgeable in his field, but he was always far too cautious.

But a true scientist had to dare to do what ordinary people did not dare attempt... Especially when their research was advancing for humanity's future—what was a little risk?

It was not as though they would be the ones dying.

Thinking this, he still patiently lowered his voice and told his deputy, "Don't worry. These monsters may not be fully under our control, but because of the unknown loss of control at the Central Laboratory, once they encounter enemies, they will attempt to destroy them by any means possible."

"The Nightmare Fusion Azure Demon Bear Beast was an important test subject of the biological experiment group, and they're all dead now—do you understand what that means? As long as we can obtain even a little data from the battle between the bear beast and the Patrol Knight... the credit will be ours!"

"As for whether the bear beast will go berserk or turn around and attack us... hahaha, we'll have escaped by then."

Amid his deputy's enlightened and admiring expression, the gray-haired director smiled and nodded. Then his face turned stern. "Understand? Hurry up and pack the materials!"

Watching his deputy scamper off to pack the documents, the director's smiling expression gradually darkened.

—Damn it. The Grand Duke wouldn't let subsidiary laboratories like ours use Memory Lattices to store data, forcing us to use paper records. It was definitely to prevent us from secretly sending information out...

As he thought this, he muttered through gritted teeth, "This is going to be difficult..."

Some people did not refrain from betraying their country because they had principles. They simply could not find the channels, methods, or a good enough price for selling it out.

Although the Grand Duke's territory was not yet a nation, according to the gray-haired director's predictions, if this experiment had not gone terribly wrong, the Grand Duke would likely have declared independence sometime this year or early next year.

The gray-haired director was no fool. Although he ate the Grand Duke's bread, he had no intention of being crushed by the Empire alongside Grand Duke Solin.

Of course, he also knew that since Grand Duke Solin dared to do this, he certainly had further plans. The man must have held some hidden trump card that made him unafraid of the Empire's armies bearing down on him, which was why he dared to turn the tables and declare independence.

But he did not know what it was!

And precisely because he did not know, the gray-haired director understood that he was probably not on the Grand Duke's list of people to protect.

In that case, bringing his research results to the Spirit Cognition Institute seemed like a rather good choice.

Not long ago, he had also received an invitation from the Spirit Cognition Institute.

If not for the accident at the Central Laboratory, he might already have returned to the Imperial Capital with the Institute's envoy and the documents... How could he have ended up trapped in this damn place?

Now, the guards were the Grand Duke's men, and the other researchers were loyal to the Grand Duke as well. If he still wanted to betray the Grand Duke and join the Spirit Cognition Institute, this director would be thrown to the aberrant beasts as feed!

There was no choice... He could only pretend he was still one of the Grand Duke's people.

He could only force himself to be patriotic.

With these unwilling thoughts in mind, the gray-haired director looked once more at the light screen in the Central Nexus control room.

"How's the battle going?"

Thinking this, he looked at Teres and the Azure Demon Bear Beast. He found that the two sides were still locked in a stalemate, having already fought seven streets away and brought down more than a dozen buildings.

If they had enough equipment, those at the Second Energy Level could even breach a city alone. Power on this level was perfectly normal.

"How is this possible?" The gray-haired director raised his brows, sensing that something was not right. "The last Patrol Knight squad held on for a few minutes after being ambushed, but they were still turned into minced meat by the Azure Demon Bear Beast's strength and martial skill—was this knight really that strong?"

"Whatever." He raised a hand, revealing a bloodthirsty, deranged smile. "It's a half-failed test subject anyway. Remove the bear beast's restrictions... Tear them apart!"

Though he was a Sublimer, as a researcher, he could not actually tell who held the advantage in their battle—but they were fleeing anyway. A failed biological weapon that could not be fully controlled had no value to exist in the first place.

It could serve as their rear guard.

Clearly, the gray-haired director's thinking was wrong.

Because researchers should be experts at fighting too.

Just like this.

"Oh?"

An ice sword cold enough to freeze the heart pierced through the gray-haired director's shoulder blade, its tip resting diagonally behind his heart.

Ian's voice sounded faintly. "Who did you want to tear apart?"

Today's update was 9,000 words too.