Deep within the mine tunnels of Zone Zero. Valerius's hologram flickered faintly amid the blue light, his hands clapping slowly as a smug smile played across his face. To Jin Wanchao, that smile cut sharper than bitter icy winds.
"Well done, Prophet." Valerius's tone carried a hint of mockery, yet brimmed with an unspoken authority. "As a reward, allow me to show you something fascinating."
With a casual wave of his hand, the blue orb before him shifted in an instant. The toxic fog and metallic shards filling the mine were swept away by the glow. A new scene unfolded clearly before everyone's eyes.
It was a massive underground laboratory thick with the stench of formalin and rust. Countless thick steam pipes coiled like vines along cold metal walls, rumbling low and constant. At the center of the lab stood rows of cultivation pods shimmering with eerie light. Inside these pods were no embryos or organs as one might expect, but figures strapped to experimental tables, some writhing in agony, others sunk in numb apathy.
They were human, yet not truly human anymore.
Flesh and cold machinery had been crudely fused together. Some bore heavy steam pistons replacing half their bodies, muscles tangled tight with steel girders; others had their skulls split open, revealing intricate gears and wiring beneath. Most had their limbs reconstructed, heavy armor and jetpacks welded to their backs, twisted into half-human, half-mechanical abominations. Their eyes held the last flickers of despair and struggle, yet a forced programming dulled their gazes into hollow obedience.
"The Chimera Project." Valerius spoke with sick delight, as if presenting a masterpiece crafted by his own hands. "My greatest triumph. The perfect fusion of flesh and machinery, the ultimate embodiment of intellect and raw power."
He zoomed the feed in closer, focusing on a single cultivation pod.
"Behold these discarded defective specimens. Under my refined craftsmanship, they gain a second lease on life. They shall become the Black Steel Council's most loyal soldiers, its cheapest labor force, and above all else, the perfect weapons of war."
Valerius spread his arms wide, madness and arrogance etched deep into his features.
"The Nursery Factories—they were never merely a means to subjugate the wretched workers and their offspring. They serve as my stockpile of raw materials. Superior genes, fresh living flesh, uncorrupted souls... especially those prime candidates raised under endless oppression, who still cling to a spark of defiance deep within their hearts."
The fiery energy emanating from Jin Wanchao contracted sharply, every gear within his body trembling with unbridled rage. The Nursery Factories, a wound that had always lain tender in his heart, was torn open anew, exposing the darkest, bloodiest truth beneath. His sister—could she too have suffered this fate?
A retching sound echoed out.
One of the Burning Cult warriors could hold back no longer, doubling over against the mine wall and vomiting violently, his eyes wide with terror and visceral revulsion. The scavengers nearby paled as well. They had endured countless brutal sights scavenging across the wasteland, yet this unholy perversion, this dehumanizing reduction of mankind to mere tools, exceeded all they could fathom.
Ah Huo's frame shook violently as he stared fixed at the holographic feed, his bloodshot eyes bulging in their sockets.
"No... this cannot be..." His voice fractured into broken shreds, tattered like torn cloth. "It is fake. All of it is fake."
Valerius caught sight of Ah Huo's reaction and smiled with cruel amusement.
"Oh? It seems one among you knows these materials far too intimately." He leaned forward slightly, fixing Jin Wanchao with a gaze dripping with scorn. "And by the way, Ah Huo—I have gone through your files."
The hologram shifted once more, casting a frail figure onto the center screen. She lay bound atop an icy experimental table, countless wires snaking across her head. Incisions scored her body in dozens of places, glowing blue mechanical structures visible beneath her torn skin. Her face contorted in agony and struggle, yet an unseen force clamped her silence tight.
Ah Huo's pupils constricted to pinpricks, and he let out a feral, grief-stricken howl.
"A Rou!"
He knew her at once. This was his younger sister, A Rou.