"How is he?"
After Brucie finished up, she hurried over as well.
Jerry lay inside the cultivation chamber, skin and bones, as if every bit of energy had been drained from his body.
Miao Mu stood outside in silence, a cigarette hanging from his lips. Two empty packs already lay on the floor beside him.
The ashtray was packed with cigarette butts.
"Not good. His skeleton is deformed, and his genes have been altered at a fundamental level. I don't know whether it's a curse or something else. I hope it's a curse—then we can just break it. If it's something else..."
Miao Mu crushed out his cigarette and looked at Nygma as he emerged, as well as Dr. Milo, who was waiting for the data with a pleased expression.
"Can I hear some good news?"
Nygma and Dr. Milo exchanged a glance.
Nygma cleared his throat and spoke first. "The situation isn't very good. If you'd gone a few days later, you would have seen a humanoid rat. It's a stable genetic modification process."
"From what I've found, this thing appeared once before—in New York. It was a product made by a biotech company, but it has since disappeared. With our current methods, we can restore him..."
Nygma licked his lips. "But I suggest leaving him like this. His body won't withstand another replacement."
"It doesn't matter if he dies. I can't let him live neither human nor ghost. If he dies, there's a way to bring him back."
Miao Mu spoke with an icy expression. Nygma nodded and did not try to persuade him further. He believed Miao Mu had a way.
"Still, I have a few thoughts on my end."
Dr. Milo said, "The gene sequence in his body was forcibly implanted not long ago. His body