Seeking Light in the Abyss

"No wonder. Old Octopus, you got played!"

"Played? Who would dare play me? I'm Lord Frieza's most favored subordinate. Aren't they afraid Lord Frieza will punish them?"

"Heh, you really put all your skill points into research. You don't have even a shred of common sense."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you, who suggested this?"

"Captain Ginyu, Frieza's second most favored subordinate. Heh heh, he ranks below me!" Octopus sounded rather proud when he said that. For a researcher to rank ahead of the commander's generals was indeed something to be proud of.

"Right, that's it!"

"What do you mean, that's it? Hey, explain yourself!" Octopus violently shook the tiny Old Zhou in his hand several times.

"Cough, cough, stop shaking me. If you shake me to death, you're done for too."

Upon hearing that, Octopus immediately stopped moving his tentacles and glared at Old Zhou with his pair of huge eyes.

"What do you mean? Could your life possibly be more valuable than mine?"

"Cough, cough, of course I can't compare to you. But in terms of value, that may not necessarily be true."

"W-What do you mean?"

Old Zhou looked around. "This place isn't safe. Take me somewhere safer."

When his own life was involved, Octopus became especially cautious. He directly brought Old Zhou to a room several times larger than the one Old Zhou had been in before.

Looking at the bottles and jars, the cluttered instruments, and all kinds of specimens before him, Old Zhou could not help frowning. "It's fine. I can endure this... gulp." He swallowed hard. It seemed this was Octopus's laboratory.

"Normally, only Lord Frieza is allowed into this room. It's the safest place. Kid, you'd better give me a proper explanation, or I'll show you how terrifying a researcher can be." His eight tentacles each picked up a random tool—scissors, saws, and the like.

Gulp. Even Old Zhou, who had not been especially cowardly until now, was a little afraid. Who knew what this guy might turn him into?

"Uh... calm down, calm down." He held both hands before his chest, making a calming gesture to settle himself down. "Do you know? This is his plan to kill two birds with one stone."

"Kill two birds with one stone? What does that mean?"

"Think about it. Since he already knew this experiment couldn't succeed, why did he bring it up?"

"Didn't I already tell you? It was to put King Frieza's mind at ease! A military commander can't have such a weakness."

"Then if he already knew the result, why bring it up?"

"No, how many times do you want me to tell you?"

"Then let me put it another way. If you fail to complete this experiment, what will Frieza do?"

"What do you mean, what will he do? Do you think he'll kill me? Heh heh, let me tell you, impossible! I've already failed nine times before, and nothing happened."

"Can you be certain the tenth time will also be fine? You have to know that people—living creatures—have limited patience."

"No way!"

"You'd better think carefully!" Old Zhou said sternly.

"I am King Frieza's—"

"Most favored subordinate? Then how do you compare to his life?" "I... I... I..."

"What is it? Nothing to say now, right? You need to understand, this Super Saiyan is a demon haunting his heart. It concerns the fate of his entire race. And you?" As Old Zhou spoke, he walked toward Octopus. Though he was small and his footsteps were quiet, they were like a giant's feet, stepping onto Octopus's heart one step at a time.

Octopus was so frightened that he fell onto the floor. Recalling Frieza's brutal appearance, he became even more flustered. "Th-This, this, this..."

"That's why I said this is his plan to kill two birds with one stone. Do you understand now?"

"But... wouldn't Lord Frieza blame him for this?"

"Blame him? You need to understand what your respective duties are. One handles research and medicine, while the other handles combat. What does research have to do with him? Well, that's not quite right. Since he proposed it, he might get scolded a little. But you—if you fail to handle this properly, it becomes a problem with your ability. As for the outcome, I think you should know."

Octopus was not stupid. He simply devoted most of his attention to the research he loved, so there was no way he could fail to understand now. "Damn it! No wonder that guy praised me so wildly when he proposed it. So he was hiding a knife behind his smile!" Octopus did not dare go to Frieza to seek justice. After all, he had already agreed to this. If he gave up, wouldn't that still mean he lacked ability? A drop in status would be the least of it; if things went badly, Frieza might kill him on the spot.

"Damn it, what do we do now?" Octopus was at a complete loss.

"What can we do? We make this happen!"

"Make it happen? Easy for you to say. Do you know how difficult this is?"

"I don't know how difficult it is. I only know that if this fails, we'll both be going to see God!"

"Sigh, that's true, but if there had been even the slightest chance, I wouldn't have failed nine times."

"Then find a way to create an opportunity. I don't believe you made it through nine experiments without any progress."

At the mention of research, Octopus became angry. "You say I made no progress? That's clearly an insult to me! I'm a genius!"

"If you're a genius, then act like one! Let us see what you can do." Old Zhou provoked him.

Octopus closed his eyes and recalled the process and results of those nine experiments. Then he gritted his teeth. "Kid, I've thought of a method. I only have predicted results for it, with no experimental data at all. Do you dare accept it?" Octopus's expression was somewhat hysterical. Perhaps this was what a mad researcher was supposed to look like.

Old Zhou shuddered at the sight. It seemed Octopus's method would be extremely horrifying.

Without waiting for Old Zhou's answer, Octopus ran straight to a machine. As he operated it, he said, "Before, I always wanted to use a similar organism as a breeding ground for Saiyan genes, or extract their genes for genetic fusion. But without exception, either their bodies weren't strong enough, or the fused genes weren't powerful enough. I even tried using Lord Frieza's genes, but without exception, they all failed. So I just had a sudden idea. Since none of those methods are enough, I'll use grafting instead—directly graft a body part into your body. But ordinary parts won't work. There's only one part: the spine. That's right, this part with blood-forming capabilities can gradually replace the bloodline in your body, allowing your body a period of adaptation rather than accomplishing everything in one go. This can reduce your risk of death to the lowest possible level while raising the success rate to a fairly promising degree. Also, you're the organism I've seen whose physical condition is most similar to a Saiyan's, so the success rate should be even higher."

"What? Replace my spine? Are you sure a spine can be replaced? There are so many nerves there. Wouldn't replacing it mean cutting all those things apart?"

"That's right, kid. And because your constitution is so weak, I need to control the anesthetic dosage with extreme precision. If I accidentally use too much, you'll probably croak on the spot. So, kid, I can only significantly ease the pain. You'll have to endure part of it yourself." Octopus's expression became somewhat twisted, as though other people's suffering gave him immense pleasure.

"You mean I'll be conscious during the operation?"

"More or less. Heh heh heh." Octopus's laughter was extremely sinister, making Old Zhou shudder. Without waiting for Old Zhou to voice any objection, he walked out.

As he walked, he said, "Kid, I'm the professional here. You have to trust my plan. This is currently the most suitable plan I can think of for you. Whether the two of us survive depends on it."