[Willis Pharmaceutical Company]
In the parking lot, Kenji sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and suddenly heard gunfire coming from inside the pharmaceutical company.
Kenji was startled. He quickly stuck his head out the car window and looked behind him.
The elevator behind him showed no response.
However, the gunfire from inside the pharmaceutical company grew denser.
After a moment, the elevator showed a downward indicator.
Kenji thought his companions were coming back. He clenched his fists and said softly, "Hurry! Hurry!"
Before the elevator arrived, the door to the emergency stairwell was slammed open, and from inside the stairwell, members of the 'Shining Light Liberation Army' in cleaning company uniforms ran out.
They all had injuries of one kind or another. One of them was the most severely hurt, with a patch of blood staining his chest clothing, supported by the 'team leader.'
At that moment, the elevator arrived. As the doors opened, the pharmaceutical company's security guards rushed out with guns drawn.
The 'team leader's' expression changed. He shouted, "Kenji, help us!"
Kenji nodded quickly, looked toward the nearby cars, then reached out with an empty grasp and pushed hard.
A pickup truck swung sideways into the security guards, knocking them back into the elevator.
The security guards inside the elevator tried to crawl out. Kenji reached out with an empty grip, and the elevator car immediately deformed.
It made a terrible sound, as if being kneaded in the hands of a giant.
The elevator car compressed inward, crushing the security guards into bloody, mangled corpses.
"Go!"
The 'Shining Light Liberation Army' got into the car. Kenji immediately stepped on the gas, and the car rushed out of the parking lot, heading for the entrance.
BANG!
Behind the car, the pharmaceutical company's security guards chased after them, firing desperately at the car.
In the hail of bullets, one 'Shining Light Liberation Army' member's head burst open, and the cabin was splattered with a large patch of blood.
Kenji glanced in the rearview mirror, then caught sight of a tanker truck outside the gate.
He gritted his teeth, reached out with an empty grip, and lifted upward.
The tanker truck groaned as it floated into the air, passed over the pharmaceutical company's gate, cleared the cleaning company's vehicle, and crashed down behind them.
In the rearview mirror, Kenji watched the tanker truck hit the ground. A Shining Light Liberation of fire appeared, and then an orange fireball exploded upward.
The huge blast made Kenji's ears ring, and then the shockwave hit, making the car sway from side to side.
Kenji gripped the steering wheel desperately and floored the gas pedal. The car roared out through the gate and sped away.
Only after they were far from the pharmaceutical company, now engulfed in flames, did Kenji ask, "Did you get Compound No. 6?"
"Don't even mention it."
The team leader wiped his face and said, "We thought it was like Compund No. 5, that stuff was liquid too."
"But we were wrong. Compound No. 6 is a gas. We didn't have a container to hold it, and we got discovered."
Kenji looked at him, "So we went through all that for nothing?"
The team leader looked toward the flames and smoke and said, "Maybe not."
Deep inside the pharmaceutical company's laboratory, a piercing alarm and a terrifying red light appeared at the same time.
"Alert! Alert!"
"Hydraulic system failure. Container No. 2 has experienced a gas leak."
"Initiating emergency protocol now. Relevant personnel, evacuate immediately."
"Alert! Alert!"
"Container No. 7 has detected vessel damage. A gas leak has occurred."
"Initiating emergency response plan now. The laboratory must be shut down immediately."
The laboratory was in chaos.
Researchers scrambled for the few gas masks while running toward the main door. But at that moment, the door locked itself.
Then the external isolation device activated, trapping the researchers inside.
They pounded on the door desperately, tapping at the keypad with trembling fingers, but none of it helped.
"Help!"
"Help!"
"Open the door!"
The gas leaking from the two containers spread at an extremely fast rate. In moments, the laboratory was already hazy gray.
This drove the laboratory supervisor, who had rushed over after hearing the news, crazy. He shouted, "Call Dr. Kyle right now!"
———
[Department of Defense Building]
[Minister's Office]
Wilson looked at Dr. Kyle, who had an electronic prosthetic eye, and said, "Where are we on the research progress for Compound No. 6?"
Dr. Kyle sipped his coffee and said, "Fairly smooth."
"We've had some successful cases before. Recently, as per your request, we changed Compound No. 6 from liquid to gas."
"Now it can be absorbed faster, take effect faster, and we can basically guarantee that after inhaling the chemical, mutant genes will appear."
"And within seconds, that gene will become dominant, turning an ordinary person into a superbeing."
Wilson looked at him, "If that's the case, why can't it be put into combat yet?"
"Aggressiveness."
Dr. Kyle put his cup down on the table, "Compound No. 6 is based on Compound V, with reference to the gene sequences of Sylvester City residents."
"Even so, we still need to add a special synthetic agent to it. Its function is to combine gene fragments from other organisms with human beings."
"Without it, Compound No. 6 cannot be created."
"And that synthetic agent's main component is the serum of Sylvester City residents."
"I don't know if it's because of this connection, but the superbeings created by Compound No. 6 carry strong aggressiveness."
"If we can't change this, then what you'll get is just a batch of crazy super-soldiers who can't tell friend from foe."
Wilson frowned. At that moment, Dr. Kyle's phone rang.
Dr. Kyle answered the call, and suddenly, his expression changed.
The Minister said calmly, "Something happened?"
Dr. Kyle looked at him and said, "Someone broke into the company. The company's security clashed with them, causing a gas leak in the laboratory."
"Right now, a group of researchers is trapped inside the laboratory."
Wilson stood up at once, "The leaked gas, could it be—"
Dr. Kyle's expression was grave, "It's Compound No. 6."
———
[Seven Towers]
["Willis Pharmaceutical has a gas explosion incident."]
["Is it man-made, or an accident?"]
["A large number of firefighters have arrived on the scene. The fire is initially under control."]
["The military has also arrived. There have long been rumors that Willis Pharmaceutical is a secret research base under the department of Defense, and this basically confirms that claim."]
On the screen, fire trucks had almost completely surrounded the pharmaceutical company.
Military and police had also set up a cordon together, preventing reporters from getting close.
Sitting in a chair with his legs propped up on the desk, Alex hugged his shoulders, a faint smile on his face.
"Looks like the Department of Defense is about to play with fire and get burned."
Watching the news, Alex could basically confirm that the upcoming disaster event was very likely related to Willis Pharmaceutical and the 'Chimera Project.'
And this sparked other associations in his mind.
He had received the disaster warning over ten hours ago.
That meant the 'administrator' who issued the warning could either predict the future, or this was a program they had written. Or a script.