Stop, Beetle!

Dr. Genus hurriedly said, "Beetle, tell me where she is!"

But no reply came through the intercom.

After sensing that powerful presence, Beetle headed straight for its source.

Excitement surged through him. He couldn't wait to meet such a powerful opponent.

As the ultimate product of artificial evolution, Beetle had reached the limits of human strength. Yet he still had a fighting instinct he couldn't suppress. He craved opponents worthy of him.

Beetle was enormous. Each step he took shook the ground, and his thudding footsteps echoed down the empty corridor.

Luke tightened his grip on Fubuki's small hand. "Something's coming this way."

Fubuki faintly heard impacts from the corridor behind them. The sound grew louder with astonishing speed until it crashed against her eardrums like thunder.

A huge figure slowly grew larger in her sight. As it approached, the entire tunnel trembled.

Soon, a massive monster stood before them.

At first glance, the monster resembled a rhinoceros beetle, but the differences were staggering.

For one thing, an ordinary rhinoceros beetle was no bigger than half a finger, while this monster stood three or four meters tall. Even a human was nowhere near his size.

For another, although he had the same long horn and a body encased in a hard gray-brown shell, his face and limbs were almost human.

The monster before Luke and Fubuki was Carnage Kabuto, the product of combining rhinoceros beetle and human genes—and the ultimate form of artificial evolution.

Dr. Genus had tried countless combinations of human and animal genes, creating formidable humanoid monsters like the Lion King and Armored Gorilla. To his surprise, the genes of animals at the top of the food chain proved a poor match for human genes. Rhinoceros beetle genes, on the other hand, were a perfect fit, producing this terrifying monster.

Apart from his excessively violent temperament—a minor flaw—Carnage Kabuto was nearly flawless.

That was why Dr. Genus could scarcely imagine what miracles of life Adam and Eve might be, if they were even more perfect than Carnage Kabuto.

Beetle didn't spare Mitarai Fubuki a glance. Beauty meant nothing to him. His eyes locked on Luke's Baldy head, and he said excitedly, "That's right! It's you! That's the feeling!"

Luke stared blankly at the monster, who looked so worked up he might have been on stimulants.

"Come fight me!" Beetle shouted.

"Okay," Luke replied.

So this guy's obsessed with fighting.

"There's a room made for combat over there. Follow me," Beetle invited him eagerly.

With Beetle leading the way, Luke and Fubuki arrived at the designated combat arena.

It was an immense space, as large as two or three soccer fields. It was hard to imagine how the House of Evolution had carved out such a vast open area deep underground.

Dr. Genus had spared no effort to let the House of Evolution's test subjects give full rein to their fighting instincts.

"Well? Plenty of room, right?" Beetle asked.

Violent as he was, Beetle believed in a fair fight. Before a battle began, he wanted his opponent satisfied with the arena so they couldn't make excuses after losing.

"Yeah, it'll do," Luke replied.

"Then let's fight to our hearts' content!" Beetle clenched his fists in excitement.

Beetle's senses were extraordinarily sharp. He could tell that the Baldy before him was no ordinary opponent. He was far stronger than the Lion King, Armored Gorilla, and the others at the House of Evolution.

Beetle still believed no one in the world could beat him, but at least this Baldy would give him a satisfying fight.

Just as Beetle and Luke were about to clash, Dr. Genus appeared in the combat room's doorway.

When no answer came over the intercom, Dr. Genus immediately realized that Beetle had probably given in to his fighting instincts and gone after that powerful presence.

Dr. Genus suspected the presence belonged to Eve, who had just escaped from the laboratory. She had awakened prematurely and must still be weak. Her Psychic Powers and talent for combat had never been developed, either. If she ran into Beetle, she probably wouldn't stand a chance.

Dr. Genus could not allow Eve to be snuffed out before she had a chance to grow. He had to stop Beetle at all costs.

He had installed a tracking device inside Beetle. When he saw the green dot marking Beetle's position moving toward the combat room, he knew something was terribly wrong.

So he sprinted all the way to the doorway and shouted into the room with every ounce of strength he had: "Stop, Beetle!"

All three people inside froze, then turned to look at Dr. Genus.

Exhausted, Dr. Genus dropped to his knees and gasped for air.

With great effort, he raised his head and looked into the room.

Then confusion crossed his face.

Dr. Genus was deeply, profoundly confused.

There were three people in the room.

One was Beetle. That came as no surprise.

Another was a woman with a stunning face and an equally stunning figure.

But she wasn't Eve.

Dr. Genus watched Eve grow through the glass of her cultivation tank every day, so of course he knew her well.

Eve also had a flawless face, but she looked only fifteen or sixteen. The woman before him was around twenty.

And Eve didn't have a figure like hers.

At least, not yet.

Eve was only fifteen or sixteen, after all. She had plenty of time to grow.

Dr. Genus looked at the third person.

A Baldy with a blank expression.

Baldy stared at him in confusion, looking like an idiot.

Dr. Genus was utterly baffled.

Where's my Eve? Where did Eve go?

If it isn't Eve, then who was the "incredibly powerful" person Beetle was talking about?

Was it the woman with the alluring figure? Or that vacant-looking Baldy?

Neither looked the part.

When Beetle saw Dr. Genus in the doorway, he scowled. "What now, old man? Why won't you let me fight?"

(End of chapter)