Scent Enhancement and a Summons from His Uncle

"Is this a huge hit?"

Brian scratched his head and tried to use his consciousness to touch the points of light in his mind.

The points of light flashed through his consciousness and vanished in an instant.

The next moment.

Brian's vision went black, and he fell stiffly onto the sofa, unconscious.

Just as Brian passed out.

In an underground warehouse within an Italian Community.

Brian's uncle, Billy, knelt on the ground. Foul-smelling blood slid slowly down his grotesquely bulging muscles, pooling beneath him into a mottled circle.

Around the circle lay shattered flesh and bones.

"Phew~"

Billy spat the chunks of flesh from his mouth and let out a long breath of foul air.

He twisted his neck until it cracked, then waved comfortably at the surveillance camera above him.

After waiting a moment.

A series of screeching metal sounds came from nearby.

A disheveled old man with a full head of white hair pushed a cart over to Billy's side and tossed him a clean bath towel. "Billy, congratulations on getting through this trial while still conscious."

A trace of lingering fear flashed through Billy's eyes at those words.

Without the old man's help, he would probably have lost his mind long ago and become a beast driven entirely by desire.

It was just that.

He had endured this time.

What about next time?

Sometimes, even he could not figure out whether the changes happening to him were a blessing or a curse.

Billy silently wiped the clinging chunks of flesh and blood from his body before asking in a low voice, "With my condition, when will the next mutation probably happen?"

The old man shook his head. "Everyone is different. It could be half a year, or it could be several years, even more than a decade. Your condition will remain stable, so you must seize this rare opportunity to capture enough test subjects."

Billy nodded. "Got it."

After leaving the modified underground warehouse.

Billy, now dressed in a clean suit, called for his son. "How is Brian doing?"

Billy had two sons and one daughter.

His eldest son had died in New York years ago.

His youngest daughter was currently trying to make it in Hollywood as a minor nobody actress.

The man before him was Billy's second son—Foley Camo.

Foley was twenty-two years old, stood six feet tall, had a shaved head and fierce eyes, a skull earring in his left ear, and tattoos covering every patch of exposed skin. The only thing missing was the word "villain" carved across his face.

Standing before his father, who was a head taller than him.

Foley lowered his head and said quietly, "Father, Brian hasn't shown any unusual behavior since that night. His routine is regular. He only stopped his part-time work, and he looks much healthier than before."

"No changes at all?"

Billy frowned deeply.

That was impossible!

Could it be that all those unlucky people who had taken Brian in over a decade ago and then died horribly had really just suffered accidents?

After thinking for a moment.

Billy said to his son, "Fine. Tell Brian to come back tonight. I have something to discuss with him. Also, tell the cook to prepare more meat for me every day from now on."

"Yes, Father."

Foley nodded and fled as though he were running for his life.

He did not know whether it was an illusion.

But after his father returned from being gone for several days, the pressure he gave off felt much stronger.

The next day.

Brian climbed off the sofa, still feeling groggy.

After drinking several cups of hot water.

He finally felt much better.

Brian splashed cold water on his face. Seeing that it was still early, he returned to the sofa and began thinking over everything that had happened the night before.

Yesterday.

The moment his consciousness touched those two points of light, he immediately understood what the light spheres represented.

One was called Scent.

The other was called Light Gathering.

Both were talent-type gifts.

But Brian could only choose one.

Aside from that.

There had been none of those death memories from before.

It was Brian's first time encountering a talent-type gift.

So he was torn.

The first talent was easy enough to understand. Most likely, after choosing it, he would gain a dog's sense of smell.

As for the second talent.

Brian was completely baffled.

Light Gathering?

He had never heard of dogs being able to gather light.

To be safe.

Brian ultimately chose Scent.

The fainting afterward had been caused by the talent merging with his body and modifying it.

"Fuck!"

"Modification!"

Brian suddenly remembered that and rushed into the bathroom again.

He stared at his nose in the mirror in terror. Only after confirming that nothing looked different did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank God!

His appearance had not changed!

Otherwise, just imagine having a dog's nose sitting on his face.

That alone was terrifying.

Wouldn't that make him some bargain-bin dog-headed man?

It was just that.

The newly relaxed Brian furrowed his brow slightly.

Where was the gifted talent?

He did not feel that his sense of smell was any different from before.

The moment that thought arose in Brian's mind.

His nose began to itch slightly. Then, every hidden odor in the bathroom was caught by his olfactory organs and rushed into his mind.

"Fuck!"

Brian covered his mouth and dry-heaved.

He had never imagined that his seemingly spotless bathroom contained so many smells: the stench of urine, the smell of shit, seven or eight different kinds of women's perfume, and over a dozen distinct body odors.

It was not until several minutes later.

That Brian gradually began adapting to this miraculous sense of smell.

Once he got used to it.

He began sniffing around his apartment.

The strongest smell in the apartment was the odor emitted by his own body. Beyond that, every object carried different scents he normally could not detect.

Brian also discovered.

Perhaps because the room was poorly ventilated.

He could smell the different body odors and perfume scents left behind by the women who had spent the night in his bedroom, though the smells were much fainter than those in the bathroom.

After all.

He had not done any part-time work for seven or eight days.

After so much time.

Even if the odors had not fully dissipated due to poor ventilation, they should have been incredibly faint.

Yet they still could not escape Brian's dog nose.

That meant he was now basically a dog with human intelligence and discernment.

Heh.

It was pretty useful.

Brian remembered that dogs could smell scents from hundreds of meters away, using them to track prey or avoid predators.

Didn't that mean he could use this ability as a radar?

No time like the present!

Since it was still early.

Brian changed clothes and hurried out of his apartment complex onto the street.

It was a little after six in the morning.

There were already people jogging on the street.

Brian found a bench at the corner and sat down. With a thought, he switched on his sense of smell.

Instantly, countless odors surged toward him.

This time, Brian was prepared. Although his expression turned ugly, he at least did not lose his composure like before.

Compared to the apartment complex.

The smells on the street were far messier and more complicated.

But once Brian's mental processor began keeping pace with his nose.

He gradually adapted.

Brian closed his eyes and tried to perceive the world around him through smell.

The next moment.

Amazement rose in his heart. How incredible.

The unique scents emitted by every object imprinted themselves in his mind, gradually forming a world viewed through smell.

Brian swore.

Even a real dog could not achieve what he could now!

It was probably because he had a human brain.

Unfortunately, after several tests.

Brian discovered that his range of smell was not the several hundred meters he had imagined. It was only a little over twenty meters, and only within ten meters could he precisely lock onto any particular scent.

The farther away it was, the weaker that perception became.

Beyond twenty meters.

He could barely smell the direction a scent was coming from.

And after keeping it active for a while, his brain began to feel exhausted.

He needed to save this thing for critical moments. Otherwise, not only would it disrupt his normal life, his brain would not be able to take it.

Even so.

Brian was very satisfied.

After all, tracking was what dogs did best.

With this dog nose alone.

Brian was confident that he could pass the Criminal Experiment Team recruitment assessment at the end of the month.

That greatly relieved him.

After all, whether he passed the assessment.

Not only concerned his adoptive parents' future medical expenses, but also his own safety.

Brian did not believe that his current self had the strength to take on his uncle.

He still needed to lie low and develop.

At 5:58 in the afternoon.

Brian turned down several female coworkers' invitations to watch movies, go drinking, and more. Whistling, he walked up to the time clock, ready to punch out and leave the second it hit six.

What a joke.

Even if he stayed single for the rest of his life, he would never date a woman from the Forensic Bureau.

That was the most basic safety awareness for a man!

Just as he was wondering whether he should go to a mall and practice using his dog nose for tracking, a text message interrupted his plans.

The message was brief: "Come home."

The ease on Brian's face slowly faded.

They were telling him to return to the Camo Family.

Ever since he had nearly been buried alive last time.

Brian had not attended another Camo Family gathering.

Come to think of it.

It had been about seven or eight months.

At the time, his adoptive parents had also been diagnosed with a genetic disease.

Using that as an excuse, Brian had turned down the upcoming family gathering, sparing everyone the awkwardness of meeting the cousins who had tried to bury him alive.

But...

That wasn't right!

The Camo Family usually only gathered at the end of the month.

It was only the twenty-something today.

There was still more than a week before the Criminal Experiment Team started recruiting.

Why did his uncle want him to come back?

"Brian, buddy, why are you standing here like a dumb goose? Are you upset because no girls asked you out today?"

A colleague from the Forensic Bureau interrupted Brian's thoughts.

Brian came back to himself and smiled at his colleague. "I was thinking about how to turn down a girl's confession without breaking her heart."

"FK!"

Having been shown up by Brian, the colleague raised a middle finger at him in respect, then cut in line to clock out before hurrying away like a defeated dog that had been provoked.

Brian chuckled softly at the sight and clocked out as well.

There was no point in overthinking it.

He had not even joined the so-called Criminal Experiment Team yet.

His uncle probably would not hurt him.

What he needed to do now was admit weakness, quietly build his strength, and then give his cruel, overbearing uncle a huge surprise!

More than thirty minutes later.

Inside an Italian Community, Brian parked his car in front of a large, square building that looked like a factory.

It had once been a factory.

Later, it had been converted into a warehouse.

The Camo Family residence had been built after the warehouse workers' dormitories were torn down.

"Hey, Brian, my brother. Long time no see."

At the entrance, a handsome bald man wearing earrings and covered in tattoos spotted Brian getting out of the car and warmly came over for a hug.

"Hey, Foley."

Brian smiled when he saw the bald man and returned the warm embrace.

This was Foley, his uncle's son. He was one year younger than Brian and had been born with a fierce-looking face. Around outsiders, he usually acted like someone not to be messed with.

But Brian knew better.

It was only a façade Foley had deliberately put on to earn his father's approval.

The two had a good relationship.

After Brian's adoptive parents had been hospitalized, Foley had been the only one in the Camo Family to offer help. He had lent Brian some money, and he had not taken part in the threat to bury him alive.

Brian did not have a bad impression of him.

Foley was also close to his cousin, the family's only highly educated member, who knew some of his secrets.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while.

They chatted as they walked.

Brian tested the waters. "Foley, did Uncle ask me to come here?"

Foley nodded. After looking around, he lowered his voice. "Father disappeared for several days. He only came back today, and the first thing he did was tell me to call you over."

As if recalling something.

A trace of hesitation flashed through Foley's naturally fierce eyes.

His lips moved several times before he added in an even quieter voice, "These past few days, everyone else in the family has been busy with things I don't know about. Before Father left, he even told me to arrange for someone to watch you."

Brian's heart stirred slightly at those words.

Keeping his expression calm, he smiled. "Watch me? Then why are you telling me?"

After all.

The last time his uncle had threatened to bury him alive.

He had not let Foley show himself.

Yet this time, he had asked Foley to arrange surveillance on him.

Did that mean his uncle no longer had anyone trustworthy by his side?

What had the Camo Family members been sent to do by his uncle?

Foley did not notice the thoughtfulness in Brian's eyes and sighed.

"I can't figure out why Father would do that either.

To be honest.

I feel like his mental state has become more and more unstable over the past few years. He even secretly installed surveillance on my phone.

My sister does not even want to come home anymore. Sigh."

As they spoke.

Foley led Brian into the warehouse.

It had long since been renovated.

It looked plain and unremarkable from the outside, but the interior was lavishly decorated.

Pointing down a passageway, Foley's eyes flashed with fear. "Father is waiting for you in the meeting room at the very end. I'm not going with you."

Seeing that.

Brian patted Foley on the shoulder, took a deep breath, activated his enhanced sense of smell, and headed down the passageway.

When he was around seven or eight meters from the meeting room.

Suddenly.

Brian stopped in his tracks.

A trace of shock flashed through his eyes.

The meeting room reeked of blood!

Even through a door.

He felt as though he had returned to the autopsy table at the Forensic Bureau.

Brian could not imagine what kind of scene he would see after opening the door!