The corridor finally opened after a long time with no one coming to their aid; the scientists who had been trapped inside were finally able to escape with the help of the chief scientist. They emerged from the locked corridor, overjoyed to regain their freedom after being locked in by Verdinan—though their anger still lingered in their hearts and minds. They all stood up slowly to avoid cramps in their legs, but one scientist immediately stood up and ran toward the chief scientist.
"Oh my God, you're finally here… we almost fainted from being locked up so long in that corridor filled with smoke from that robot kid."
He acted so dramatically toward the chief scientist, even gripping the chief's coat tightly—so dramatic was his performance that he wanted them to believe they'd been trapped.
"Uh… Mr. Vector—"
The guards arrived with Vector; they wanted to stop the scientist who was overacting, but Vector remained silent and motionless. He wasn't accepting it—he was annoyed by people who were too dramatic, so much so that he didn't care about the scientist in front of him. With his keen hearing, Vector noticed other scientists who had also been caught in the trap due to Verdinan's actions. They were all still standing strong, many of them able to stand tall as if nothing had happened. In contrast, the dramatic scientist in front of him looked as though he'd just been attacked excessively.
"Is that so?"
Vector, the head of the AI department, asked coldly. His gaze was icy, cruel, and terrifying—no one dared to act as dramatically as the scientist in front of him, let alone pull on the jacket of someone holding the rank of department head.
"Y-yes, Sir Ve-"
The scientist hadn't finished speaking when, unexpectedly, Vector shoved the over-the-top scientist hard, sending him tumbling down the stairs. He then pulled him again using his intellectual magic, sending the scientist flying through the air and slamming him hard against the ceiling. The force was so intense it left him gasping for breath, held fast by the department head himself.
"Have you forgotten who I am? Are you going to act like this toward me, or even toward other department heads?"
"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Vector!"
His voice was hoarse, and his labored breathing was uncontrollable as Vector's overwhelming power left the scientist struggling to speak. Vector stared at the scientist sharply and coldly; his face made no attempt to hide his dislike for the man, his gaze cruel and icy.
"Mr. Vector, I'm sorry, but you have a very busy schedule today."
He was reminded; Vector still held his magic tightly. Then he released it with a powerful blast and immediately left with the security guards without another word. The scientist was left alone in the same room where he had been locked up; his resentment grew stronger, and a sense of regret filled his constricted heart. He was furious, utterly furious. He should have been granted forgiveness and trusted as a scientist, but this was their response to him.
"Just because you're the department head, is this how you treat Balaka members?"
His fury boiled over; his anger grew ever larger in his heart and mind. He slowly stood up, leaning against the wall for support. His expression grew increasingly serious and cold. He longed to exact revenge for everything he had done, yet it would all be ignored.
"If only I could get my revenge…"
He spoke in a soft tone, yet his emotions were filled with vengeance. His palm slowly opened, revealing a small golden flower, yet its outline was razor-sharp.
"Maybe I'll speed it up."
The sound of typing echoed in the pitch-black, utterly silent room. Unnoticed, the same scientist entered a code into the access code he'd stolen from the ID card of the former department head, Fandine Fountaine—a move too cunning and wicked for a brilliant scientist like him, who'd broken in illegally just to exact revenge on his own work.
He didn't hesitate to become a shadowy figure, but perhaps this time, it was even darker.
He stepped inside after the door opened, slowly moving forward with emotions still overflowing, his face somber. His gaze was fixed ahead as he walked through the silent room; the statues on either side automatically rose to greet someone the system deemed important. He paused for a moment, looking around and even down below; the path he walked on was just a long strip of glass with LED lights along the sides—narrow and thin, with a chasm of stars right beside it; if he fell even a little, he would die.
Then, among the giant statues surrounding him were four female statues with distinct physiques, yet he paid them no mind. He kept walking forward, oblivious to his surroundings. He moved toward a giant, fading golden flower, yet the flower still emitted its characteristic mana force, which remained incredibly potent.
"So this is what it feels like to be part of Unilotus."
He walked closer and stopped, spreading his arms to sense the mana force emanating from the giant flower.
"If only I could become part of the Voidlead, I wouldn't have to wear this uniform anymore, but can you manifest that power now, Master Borrettius?"
The golden flower slowly reabsorbed its mana energy and gradually spun, closing its petals to form a half-human figure.
"...Wepal Longeyes?"
The flower called out the scientist's name; Wepal nodded slowly and smiled at it. Every time the Borrettius Flower was called by someone it didn't recognize, it would still know the names of those who had called it—which was why this room was always kept tightly locked.
"Did I wake you? You should have been deep in your long sleep."
Wepal teased, and Borrettius's gaze toward Wepal grew harsh and cold.
"What is your request?"
"Ah, no beating around the bush, huh?"
Wepal smiled, and his hand returned to his uniform pocket, revealing a golden flower crown to the Borrettius flower. The flower crown had a distinctive color quite different from the Borrettius flower—similar yet distinct, as it had been secretly stolen from the Borrettius's biological sibling. Besides being golden, the flower crown also had pink petals.
"At this stage, in this perfect stage, first I want to turn the three suns currently existing in this intergalactic space into voidlead and—"
"Why?" Wepal's voice was immediately cut off by the Borrettius flower.
"Hm… because that would be much better, wouldn't it? The Unilotus has been inverted; the roots of the Lunilotus are connected to landermatology, and beneath the Unilotus, its location is very close to the crown of this lotus flower, connected to the Sea of Ventrikulus. And of course, that would destroy the Unilotus. Isn't that right?" Borrettius shook his head, gazing at Wepal with such contempt.
"What is his will? Isn't that just your own desire so that Airuna will continue to spread throughout Licarvorius, making things even worse? Licarvorius is already on the verge of being destroyed almost entirely across the entire Venux, and you still want to destroy everything slowly and swiftly?" Wepal shook his head violently, but he still smiled and exhaled.
"In that case, we'll just have to use force, then."
Gently, Wepal did it his own way; he pulled a cloth from his uniform pocket and immediately threw it at Borrettius. Borrettius couldn't fight back at that moment because his hands and feet were bound to the flower. Wepal moved closer to him without hesitation, showing no fear or doubt. With his bare hands, Wepal tore open Borrettius's body.
His golden blood gushed out everywhere. Borrettius screamed in silence; he couldn't escape anywhere. His legs and even his hands hadn't regenerated quickly enough, causing his mana to spread out rapidly, pouring out endlessly like a swift wind that never stops.
"HHMMPPHHH!!!!!!!!!"
His screams tore at the cloth Wepal had just thrown at him; blood from his mouth stained the fabric, and he could not stop screaming as Wepal tore apart Borrettius's organs.
"This makes things easy. I don't need to negotiate with you anymore; I just need your body."
Borrettius continued to scream in agony without pause, his body still emitting immense mana. Meanwhile, Wepal produced a Borrettius flower with pink petals, followed by a small vial of Piellagold flower essence to help Borrettius regenerate much faster.
"Where should we start, I wonder… come on, try to keep breathing because I still want to see your heart beating fast—"
Unexpectedly, the Borrettius flower and the small bottle containing the flower vanished from Wepal's hands, though the bottle suddenly fell near the entrance. Wepal was startled; he immediately turned around, his joy vanishing instantly. His anger flared up again when he saw who the culprit was—a boy he didn't recognize, who had taken everything except the small bottle that had fallen.
" A boy…? COME HERE YOU DAMN NUTS!!"
With that, the boy immediately fled the area around the Borrettius flower quickly, and Wepal, without hesitation, chased after the boy, even leaving the Borrettius behind after he had split it open.
Borrettius could not hold back. His entire body was exhausted, covered in golden blood, and even gaping open, causing his organs to dry out soon. But Borrettius was exhausted, too exhausted to get up again; he was in pain, excruciating pain—yet that was precisely what caused his regeneration to occur so rapidly. His hands began to release the flowers that had wrapped around them, yet his legs could not break free from the flower stems. His torso could not heal, but instead, red spider-lily flowers began to grow. They sprouted one by one, rapidly and ceaselessly, causing his body to swell as the flowers grew without end.
And Borrettius screamed even louder than before; his blood, which had been golden, slowly turned a deep red. It flowed almost unceasingly from his torso to his mouth and eyes, staining the cloth Wepal had thrown over Borrettius's face a deep crimson. Until he finally fell silent,
he roughly pulled the cloth that had been covering his face, further mangling his features after he had regenerated.
"W#e__pa!"
Borrettius called out Wepal's name with a voice vastly different from before—far rougher and uncontrollable. He tried to move slowly. Though legless, he attempted to crawl using the flower crown beneath him, with blood flowing continuously as he moved and his breath coming in heavy gasps with every step.
"Wepal… V-Vector… Alaska-"
He called out the names of those he had met and spoken to before, but suddenly a loud noise came from outside Borrettius's room, and the sound of the alarm outside his room was deafening.
Borrettius continued to walk slowly, pain accompanying him, but just as he was about to walk any further, security shot him with a net, causing him to fall to the floor and lose consciousness for a short while.
Borrettius was still trying to breathe and wanted to keep his eyes open; though his vision was blurred by blood and unstable, he could only see a tall woman at the door weeping over Borrettius as he was about to lose consciousness.