Lucas's soul left his body when he met the monster's eyes, and he turned on his heels immediately, sprinting towards the chopper. His face was deathly white, and just from his expression alone, it was evident what had happened.
The monster sprang to its feet and started chasing him. With a growl, it extended its arms to capture its prey when a white light hit it before it was reduced to nothingness.
Lucas panted heavily, his heart palpitating loudly. He looked as if he had run a marathon. He was already sweating, the cold sweat making his shirt cling to his body.
"Oh my! I was scared for a moment." Ryker patted his heart, which had almost suffered an attack. Did Lucas have to scare me like this? I'm going to kill him when we return to Velomore.
Darting a thankful gaze at Vance, who was staring at him grimly, Lucas looked for another monster. Fortunately, there weren't any hiccups this time, and he extracted five tubes of blood, choosing two monsters for it.
Ryker smacked his head when Lucas returned.
"You scared me to death there. Don't you do that again," he warned, and Lucas nodded solemnly. He had no intentions of playing with his life.
The sun had set already when they reached Velomore, and Lucas was dead tired. Having not slept for more than a day, his body was close to giving up.
Ryker, Vance, and Dave's situations were no less different. All they wanted was to crash and sleep for one whole day.
Vance tackled Lucas the moment they landed in Velomore. "What were you thinking?" he seethed, glaring at Lucas, who was adjusting his vest.
"Hey, I didn't know that thing wasn't dead. Wasn't it dead?" Lucas frowned, not understanding what had happened. He had seen injuries on it, the ones he had inflicted on it. How did it not die?
"Maybe it had just fainted and not exactly dead," Ryker remarked, removing his helmet. "It must have sensed you."
"Possible." Lucas picked up the test tube container and stifled a yawn. "I'm going to the lab. I'll see you guys later."
Vance had other matters to attend to. Stinton was still waiting for updates from him. So, he couldn't accompany Lucas.
Neither could Ryker. Since the other cities had asked for help, he had to assist in the rescue mission. Although it wouldn't be happening right away, they had to come up with a plan first.
The three men split, and Lucas traced the path he had become familiar with in a few days.
As expected, Patrick was in the lab and noting something on his notepad.
"Lucas, how did everything go?" Patrick asked, dropping his tablet. His eyes were filled with streaks of red, depicting that his lack of sleep.
"Not that great. Whoever is doing this has started using more potential CRX-21. Humans are mutating into deadly monsters." Lucas sighed, placing the test tube kit on the table.
"What's this?" Patrick frowned, giving Lucas a questioning glance.
"I might have something for you," Lucas said mysteriously.
"What?" Patrick was confused. He opened the kit and saw the five test tubes filled with blood. His eyes widened in shock, and realization dawned on him slowly.
"You aren't kidding, right?" Patrick asked, unable to believe they now had the mutated humans' blood. It would make his research a lot easier.
"No. I ain't." Lucas shook his head and stifled a yawn again. "Patrick, I'd love to discuss more with you about this, but I really need to sleep. Otherwise, I might end up fainting here."
"Go, go, go, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks."
Without even bothering about dinner, Lucas took a quick bath and crawled into his bed. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow.
Meanwhile, in Aslan, a woman whose face was covered behind a black mask walked out from the shadows, followed by an army of robots. Except for her eyes, nothing else was visible.
In front of the gigantic robots, she looked petite and harmless. However, her eyes were filled with a coldness that could freeze the entire world.
Staring at the ruins the laboratory had been reduced to, her eyes flashed with a killing intent. She barely turned her eyes, and the robots behind her started clearing the debris.
The laboratory was reduced to ruins. But the basements were still intact, and she walked down the stairs once the robots made way for her.
Entering the room filled with a myriad of gadgets and devices, she walked towards the desk that held the rifles and stared at the spot that was now empty. Not only was the laboratory destroyed, but she also had lost three rifles.
Recalling the masked faces of the two men, she tapped her fingers on the table. "You outwitted me this time. There won't be a next time," she vowed solemnly.
Walking towards the cylindrical column at the end, she pulled a lever right beside it. A portion of the wall moved, leading to a room smaller than the one she was in, but large enough to accommodate more than twenty people at once.
Before entering, she turned to her army, who hadn't moved an inch.
"After two minutes, destroy everything here. Don't leave anything intact. Once you are done, destroy yourself."
The woman then entered the room, and the wall closed after her.
The robots waited for two minutes. The moment the countdown touched zero, they formed a circle with their backs facing each other. Touching each other, they channeled all the energy in them and fused them.
The surrounding air crackled with intense electricity. Sparks emerged, and the robots started charging themselves.
The temperature soared, and some of the things that couldn't withstand it started melting.
Once they were fully charged, a yellow sphere emerged from within them, which became larger as seconds passed. It didn't stop until it had encompassed all the robots.
The next instant, the entire place exploded. Not just the basement, not just the lane the laboratory had been in, the entire city of Aslan and its surroundings exploded.
The once intact city had been reduced to multiple small masses of land, each surrounded by water.
But it didn't last for a long time.
The water body around the lands flooded them until they couldn't withstand it anymore. The lands were submerged within a few seconds of the explosion.
The city of Aslan and its surroundings had been wiped out of the world.