The underground floor of the warehouse, stretched out in a series of connected rooms. As the elevator descended with a mechanical whirr, it opened into a long corridor with walls of chipped concrete and metal paneling that showed signs of rust and wear. The floors, once smooth, were now cracked and uneven, with occasional patches where the surface had started to erode.
Dim, flickering lights cast a dull glow, barely enough to illuminate the path ahead. The air was damp, carrying the scent of moisture and metal. Each room off the main corridor was accessed by heavy steel doors, their hinges groaning as they opened. Inside, the rooms were functional but worn, with faded industrial wallpaper peeling in places to expose the bare walls underneath.
Despite the signs of age, the underground level was still operational. Supplies, and records were neatly arranged on shelves, maintained with care despite the surrounding decay. The entire space focused on function over form.
"For heaven's sake, what would it cost them to remodel this place once in a while?" Victor muttered,.
"You know well enough that the maintenance crew would have to be silenced to keep this place from prying eyes," Angelo replied casually.
"That's much more trouble than it's worth." He stressed.
"I suppose you are right." Victor acknowledged.
They walked towards the last room, stopping right outside it.
"So I take it that she's in here?" Victor asked.
"Yes she is, Doctor." He replied.
"Very well." Victor said, pausing.
"Tell your men to fetch my equipment from the car." He ordered.
"As you wish, Doctor." Angelo bowed slightly.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"I'll get acquainted with our… guest, in the meantime."
The door groaned as he opened it. The hinges squeaking as they grind against one another. To reveal a room not quit different from a modern laboratory. With the only stark contrast being the large steel, restrain table at the center of the room.
Strapped to it, in tightened electromagnetic chains, is Sasha.
"It's good to see that they administered the right dosage of VX."
"You bastards think you've won!" She yelled in rebellion.
"Do not waste your energy," Victor said, moving closer.
"The nerve agent's full effects will begin soon enough."
She tried her best to get free, but was sapped of all her strength, leaving her trapped tightly to the cold, metal restraint table.
"Your efforts, are but wasted." He said, coming closer.
She spat on him with the last of her strength.
"YOU WRETCH!" Victor snarled, his eyes flaring with rage as he seized her throat.
But the look of satisfaction on her face was even more infuriating.
He paused, releasing his grip, stepping back to compose himself.
"Forgive me. That was unbecoming."
As he settled himself, a group of workers entered, carrying the instruments Victor would soon put to use. He turned to them with a nod, then focused on the task at hand.
"Well then, shall we begin?" He mused.
Sasha felt the effects of VX starting to overwhelm her. A tingling sensation spread from her fingers and toes, quickly escalating into a severe prickling that consumed her body. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably, and a relentless tremor shook through her limbs, making movement nearly impossible.
Breathing became laborious; each inhale felt constricted and painful, as if her chest was being slowly crushed. Sweat broke out across her forehead and streamed down her face, mixing with the rising sense of panic that gripped her. Her vision blurred, the edges darkening and the world around her growing indistinct.
"Damn you!" Sasha gasped through clenched teeth, her voice strained and barely audible.
"You think this will break me?"
"Yes. Yes, I do." He admitted nonchalantly.
A throbbing headache pressed against her skull with unbearable pressure. Her muscles tightened in painful, spasmodic cramps, nearly immobilizing her. She struggled to speak, each word coming out as a strangled, incoherent sound.
He continued assorting his tools, bringing a scalpel to get multiple flesh samples.
"Go to hell!" she spat out, her voice shaky and strained.
Victor chuckled.
"Ah, if only. But alas, I'm stuck here for at least another hundred years."
"Argh!" She cried out.
"This will suffice for now." Victor commented.
Sasha's attempts to fight against the effects of the toxin were met with more spasms, her body betraying her with each convulsion. The relentless VX had her trapped in a nightmarish state of suffering. But there's a limit to everything.
Her will broke apart, as tears poured out. She tried to scream, but only dishevelled noises came from her mouth, which too was in severe pain.
Victor sighed, reaching into his pocket.
"I didn't expect her to be this loud."
He retrieved a pair of noise-canceling earbuds, placing them in his ears. At last, he could work in peace, indifferent to the screams that filled the room.
The samples of flesh, containing around fifty thousand cells, was carefully prepared by Victor for microscopic observation. His eyes, hovered over the lens, analyzing each detail with precision. For some time, he scrutinized the cellular structure, furrowing his brow.
"Hmm…" He muttered.
Finding no remarkable differences between Sasha's cells and those of any ordinary mammal. His fingers drummed against the table in thought.
Undeterred, he shifted focus, examining her muscle fibers instead. They were astonishingly well developed far beyond what one would expect from a recent cripple.
"Well, aren't you awfully fit, especially given your previous predicament." He mused aloud, though there was no expectation of a reply.
His gaze darkened with intent as he turned his attention to the mitochondria. It was here that things took a startling turn. The data revealed something... unimaginable. Something so incomprehensible that it shattered his careful composure.
"Preposterous!" Came a voice, fierce and sudden, from deep within a fractured shard of his psyche.
"Incredible…" Whispered another, its in awe of what lay before them.
"Dammit! No!" Victor screamed, his voice thick with torment, as the sheer weight of their influence crushed him from within. His hands flew to his head, gripping his skull intensely. Veins bulged at his temples, his nails raked his skin, leaving bloodied trails as the voices swarmed his mind like ravenous phantoms.
His body convulsed violently, as if wracked by some unseen force. The madness overtook him, sending him crashing into his equipment, shattering glass and scattering tools across the cold floor.
Then, silence.
Victor stood still, panting, his mind clawing its way back to coherence. Slowly, his trembling hands lowered. He steadied his breath, the storm within him subsiding. Regaining control, he blinked, his thoughts belonging to him again.
"YOU FUCKS!!!" Victor roared.
"Who gave you permission to invade my mind like that?" He demanded an explanation.
But there was no response.
"Oh, so now you wish to drive me mad, DAMMIT!"
His fury blazed as he tore off his ear buds, desperate for any sound to anchor his sanity. Yet, just then, a mocking, hysterical laugh cut through the air.
"It sounds like you're losing it." Sasha defiantly spoke out.
"Impossible; how-" Victor's disbelief was palpable.
"My body is resisting your precious VX." She proudly yelled, her bloodshot eyes glaring at him.
{More like I'm dampening its effects, greatly}
{But why would you even let him know that? Now he won't leave you alone for long enough to escape}
'I plan on keeping him here as long as possible because, once he's done a beam of plasma will be shot through my skull'
{I suppose}
'Plus, I need more time to work on my actual escape plan, while not dying from that stupid time limit'
{...}
Despite her occasional spasms, Sasha's body was still functional; allowing her to speak and even move a little.
"First I find that your mitochondria are barely active, and now this." Victor panted, catching his breath.
"You truly are an incredible specimen."
Realizing that his previous samples were ruined, he set about extracting more.
'Dammit, just deal with the pain' Sasha thought to herself.
"Oh my; it seems your body has mostly healed from my previous cuts." Victor said with a devious smirk.
Sweat trickled down Sasha's face as she shuddered at the horrors he might inflict upon her next.
"But, It will more humane to simply culture the samples I have, I suppose."
Sigh
She breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
Following that, hours passed as Victor worked non-stop at analyzing her cells. Scrutinizing everything, from their genetic structure, to their protein composition.
The entire day passed, and he still remained wide awake, now testing the muscle fibers with electrical stimulation.
"This is incredibly strange." He remarks.
"Even though I've done everything possible to maintain the culture's health, it seems the cells are gradually decreasing in their abilities."
It was a perplexing scenario. For hours, the tissue would show incredible regenerative properties just from the speed of the cellular replacement, when compared to normal people. Due to this, the cell culture was capable of growing from a few tens of thousands to millions overnight.
"And all of a sudden, they stopped." He mused aloud.
'It seems there's something within her, that's granting these superhuman abilities. Something that isn't innately part of her'
He reasoned, and then it clicked.
"Could she be a cultivator?" He pondered to himself.
'Yes, that would make sense. But if she cultivated demon Qi, I would have detected it'
Due to the limits of the human body, and mortals in general there is a limit to how much mortal Qi one can possess. Not to mention the inefficiency of trying to gain massive strength with basic energy.
"That means, she a divine cultivator." Victor concluded, glancing at the girl who was now fast asleep.
"There's only one way to confirm this."
Victor had fortuitously packed a vial of spawn flesh among his materials, just in case he needed it. He extracted a sample, a few centimeters thick, and placed it within a petri dish, meticulously collecting blood from both the tissue.
"If this proceeds as I suspect, it will confirm her connection to the Celestials." He concluded.
Sigh
"I cannot afford to rush this, though my time here is limited."
The overall process would take around two days, but he intended to shorten it to a matter of hours. So, the process begins, taking up a gruelling seven hrs for purification (mostly the spawn sample), mixing, and observation.
By the end of the process, both sample where completely neutralized. Their immune systems fought long and hard, but the spawn slowly died for no apparent reason.
"I'm a genius. I'M A FXCKING GENIUS!!!" Victor exclaimed.
The divine and demon Qi clashed with each other, neutralizing to mortal energy, and cutting off the energy supply to the spawn cells. However her's where still alive due to mortal cells harnessing mortal Qi.
(A/N): Remember, Divine Qi and Demon Qi give mortal/normal energy.
"Looks like you figured it out for the most part." Sasha's voice rang out, startling the Doctor.
"You're awake". He stammered.
"I've been meditating throughout the night."
"Now that I know what you are, there's no longer any reason to keep you alive." Victor declared coldly.
"I suppose, but that's if you can manage." Sasha retorted.
"Believe me, it is far easier than you'd imagine." Victor replied.
Gathering his instruments and sterilizing them in preparation for departure.
"My benefactor is an angel." Sasha added, her words seeming to freeze Victor mid-motion.
"So, you are merely a fleeting attempt at reclaiming the world." He deduced.
"Perhaps." Sasha acknowledged.
"But what do you suppose will occur once I am gone?"
Victor had no answer for her.
"Well, you would have pissed off all of Heaven with a single act." She continued.
{Your ability to manipulate him is disquieting}
'Just be silent' Sasha thought back.
"So, is that a threat?" He challenged.
"A pitiful attempt. The Cult leader can handle Heaven himself."
"Perhaps he can, but what of you? I doubt you'll manage to stay out of harm's way."
Sasha's words lingered in his mind.
"Have a good day." Victor said tersely, leaving the room with haste.
On his way out, he bumped into Angelo.
"Doctor! Where are you heading at this early hour?" Angelo inquired.
"Listen to me, Angelo. That girl is a divine cultivator." Victor warned, his voice tense.
The revelation struck Angelo with profound shock.
"And she appears to have ties to Celestials. Handle this matter with the utmost caution." Victor instructed before swiftly departing.
{Are you sure about this?}
"Yes. I would prefer to avoid taking lives whenever possible." She hesitated.
{But}
"But, I neither can, nor will die here." She declared with resolve.
{You are finally beginning to grasp the gravity of your responsibility}
"You mentioned that meditation alone could gradually enhance my Qi pool." She revealed.
{Yes}
"By how much?"
{Normally, a potent breathing technique would be necessary to marginally expand your Core. However, I am able to bypass such limitations}
{Opening Character Profile}
{Name: Sasha Myers
Age: 35
Level: 0
Exp: 50/100
Rank: D-class
Speed Tier- Hypersonic
Stats:
Speed-8
Health-5
Dexterity-5
Intelligence-2
SP: 0
QI: 500
HP: 100%
Skills: None
Inventory/Items: None
Mission: Eliminate the Mayson City crime syndicate
Rewards: 500exp
Penalty: Death
Time Limit: 18hrs}
"So I've achieved a five times increase, not bad."
{I must admit, this was an extremely risky plan from the outset}
"Of course it was, I needed to make sure their leader was present to complete the mission."
{Still, allowing yourself to be captured could easily have backfired. However, escaping might have prompted them to relocate entirely}
"Regardless, I cannot beat them all alone with my limited reaction time."
{Then by all means, begin}
Her body began to vibrate violently as golden waves of energy erupted from her being. Soon, these waves shook the very foundations of the building and its surroundings.
"Damn it!" Angelo yelled.
His men raced to Sasha's location, intent on killing her. Meanwhile, her body radiated divine energy; her eyes glowed brightly, and her aura flickered intensely.
They stormed into the room.
"KILL HER!!!"
"I'm sorry; I have no choice." Sasha murmured.
{Active skill Nova Implosion has been unlocked}
The moment the attack triggers, time seems to slow. A blinding flash of light erupts from the Sasha's body as it condenses into a radiant sphere, pulsing with unstable energy. The air quivered violently, and nearby objects are pulled toward the singularity, warping and disintegrating as they draw closer.
Suddenly, the sphere collapses inward, followed by a deafening silence—then, the explosion. A wave of energy surges outward in a blinding burst, engulfing everything in its path. The ground splinters, the sky tears open with violent streaks of light, and buildings crumble in the sheer force of the blast. The shockwave rips through the atmosphere, leaving behind a molten crater and a lingering hum, as the energy dissipates, resonating with raw, destructive power.
{The host has received 2700exp for slaying 54 E-class threats}
{The host has leveled up}
{The host has leveled up}
{The host has leveled up}
{The host has leveled up}
{The host has leveled up}
{The host has leveled up}
In the aftermath, she sat alone at the heart of the smoldering crater, her body trembling.
Her skin was marred with burns and scrapes all over; her muscles taut, nearly on the verge of collapse, while veins throbbed with immense pressure, as they were pushed to the limit. Her golden hair was singed, although not beyond repair.
Attempting to move, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm, the joint having been completely dislocated. Whilst bone in both arms were nearly shattered.
The devastation around her, the broken earth, and the fading embers of destruction, weigh heavily upon on her. Knees drawn to her chest, she curls into a ball, as if trying to shrink away from the overwhelming guilt and sorrow.
Tears fall silently, streaking down her soot-stained cheeks, as sobs wrack her fragile frame. She had never wished for this, she never desired such carnage. But survival demanded sacrifice, and now, the lives lost in the blast echo in her mind. The power she received feels like a curse, a burden to bear alone in the vast emptiness of the world.