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The air in the lounge was getting heavier by the second. Trying to shift the mood, Dan asked casually:
"How long was I out?"
"Half a day. You've been unconscious ever since we got back from the chemical plant."
Dan sat up and quickly realized something was missing—his Kurim belt.
"Where's Mr. Belt? Why isn't he here?"
He suddenly got a little anxious. Don't tell him the belt vanished after he de-transformed at the plant? That would seriously suck…
Erik shook his head.
"Nope, Kurim's in the lab. He said he needs to make some adjustments to Drive's parameters."
"I'm gonna check on him."
Dan got up and headed straight for the lab.
The moment he stepped inside, he was greeted by dozens of holographic screens displaying streams of data. Kurim sat mounted on a small cart, which had several mechanical arms typing rapidly on a keyboard.
"Mr. Belt!" Dan called out as he walked over.
"Ah, Dan, you're awake. Are you feeling okay? Any discomfort?"
Kurim asked with concern.
"Nope, I'm good. Thanks for asking."
Dan shook his head, indicating he was fine, then glanced at the parameters on the holographic display.
"What are you working on, Mr. Belt? I thought Drive was already perfect?"
Kurim's little display flashed a head-shaking emoji.
"Nothing is ever truly perfect, Dan. Maybe Drive was ideal for Shinnosuke, but it's not quite there for you. You're you, and Shinnosuke's Shinnosuke. There are subtle differences between the two of you, and those differences really show when you transform. That blackout you had after using Wild Form? That's exactly why I need to recalibrate it. I'm not risking your safety."
Kurim continued, "Switching to Wild Form knocked you out for half a day—what happens when you try switching into other forms down the line?"
"Dan, you're a scientist too. You should understand—science requires precision. Drive is based on science, so it demands precision as well. Plus, I've been in this world long enough to study a lot of its technology. I think it's time Drive got a serious upgrade."
Dan looked like a schoolkid getting lectured, nodding along the whole time.
"Alright, alright, I won't bother you then. Just… upgrading won't stop me from transforming, right?"
Kurim's display flashed a surprisingly smug human-like smile.
"What did you tell Erik when you were upgrading Ixa?"
Dan winced and nodded, a little sheepishly.
"Yeah, fine. You win. I'll leave you to it."
With that, he turned and walked off.
Kurim chuckled watching Dan's slightly slumped back.
"Don't worry. Drive is a pretty mature system by now. It won't take too long."
Just as Dan left the lab, Erik grabbed him and dragged him into the mission analysis room.
"Dan, I think you should take a look at this. These are the data files I managed to grab right before the plant exploded."
He opened up a 3D projection, and dozens of files appeared before Dan.
The projection revealed horrifying human experimentation plans drawn up by the vampires. Each one more grotesque than the last.
"Holy crap—!"
Dan gasped, shocked. Are these guys vampires or Hydra rejects? Can't they just drink blood like normal vampires? Why all this creepy human-modification stuff?
"What do you think?"
Erik asked, watching Dan's reaction.
Dan shook his head.
"I don't have any brilliant ideas… just that this is horrifying. If they actually pull off even a few of these plans, forget just this country—the entire world might be turned upside down."
Erik nodded.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Luckily, based on the current progress of their plans, it looks like they haven't reached the final phases yet."
He swiped through the projection until it stopped at a particular project—"Project Frankenstein."
Project Frankenstein ..Project Lead: Baldur Bashar.
Dan carefully read through the file. The plan had already gone through multiple iterations. Originally, it aimed to fuse vampire and human DNA for enhanced transformation. But after the emergence of the Fangires, the project took a wild turn.
Looking at this mad science, Dan couldn't help but think: There really is a fine line between genius and insanity. These plans might be crazy, but every one of them would require a brain of pure genius to even attempt.
Suddenly, a particular project caught Dan's eye.
"Project Q?"
Curious, Dan clicked on it—only to trigger something. All the files were instantly wiped.
"What the—?! Everything's gone!"
"It's a Trojan! They hid a virus in the project files!"
Dan's face changed. He rushed to the terminal and began typing like mad.
He hadn't expected that random click to trigger a Trojan horse planted by the vampires. Not only was all the data wiped, the virus was also trying to hack into his own computer system. And all of his Ixa upgrade data was stored there—if that got stolen, it'd be a total disaster.
"Hah… you think you can steal my data that easily? Think again."
His fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of code rapidly filled the screen as the two systems battled it out.
It didn't take long for Dan to gain the upper hand and kick the virus out completely.
Meanwhile, in some hidden lab, a pale, androgynous man in a lab coat sat in front of a computer. Behind him stood a massive, two-meter-tall muscular brute. On the other side of the room, a sharply dressed older man watched silently.
"Well?" the older man asked.
The man in the lab coat finally took his hands off the keyboard and shook his head.
"No good. My program didn't manage to steal anything before getting deleted. Looks like the other side's no slouch either."
The handsome man snorted.
"Weren't you always bragging about how you could hack into anything?"
The lab coat guy smirked.
"I did say that… except for two places."
The older man raised an eyebrow.
"Let me guess—S.H.I.E.L.D. or Stark Industries?"
Scratching his head, the techie replied, "Judging by the coding style, it's probably Stark. But there were some things mixed in that weren't purely Stark-tech."
"Heh. So you are useless after all."
As they bickered, the door opened and in walked a blond, blue-eyed British gentleman. He covered his nose with a handkerchief, clearly grossed out by the giant brute in the room.
"Mr. Baldur, looks like your Frankenstein project was a success."
Bashar chuckled.
"Of course. HQ sent you?"
The gentleman nodded.
"They want me to tell you—it's time to start the next phase. The damn agents have already been lured away."
"....."