Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Blood Wolf Prototype
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A deserted street on a freezing night.
A lone puppy lay collapsed on the snow-covered road.
Whine...
The puppy, sprawled on the pavement, curled up its starving body and let out a heartbreaking whimper.
But the chilly night streets held no one to hear it.
And then, an overwhelming drowsiness crept in.
The white puppy, blanketed in snow, shivered from hunger and cold before weakly closing its eyes.
When it opened them again, it was inside a room, cradled by a swarm of children.
"Its fur is so soft and fluffy."
"Fluffy! You're such a fluffball!"
Sometime between then and now, the white puppy had become Fluffy.
The children showered Fluffy with affection.
Even when they returned from leaving the room in tears, the sight of Fluffy would make them hold back their sobs and stroke its head.
Fluffy grew up strong and healthy, basking in the children's love.
But there were sad times, too.
Adults in white coats would take the children away, and one or two wouldn't come back.
Whenever that happened, the surviving children hugged Fluffy with mournful expressions.
Fluffy would lick their faces in return.
Then one day, Fluffy was dragged away by the hands of those white-coated adults.
It had no idea where they were taking it or why.
On the day Fluffy was taken...
The children who returned to the room burst into tears upon discovering Fluffy was gone.
"Where's our Fluffy?"
"Give Fluffy back!"
"I'll endure the painful experiments even harder."
"I'll eat even less food, just please give Fluffy back."
These were children who had never cried during the agonizing experiments before—but Fluffy's absence broke them into sobs.
To them, one of the white-coated adults said,
"Then we'll extend your experiment sessions. Produce results, and I'll return Fluffy to you."
The children had no choice but to obey.
To them, Fluffy was like a precious baby sibling.
Seeing Fluffy gave them the strength to endure the painful experiments.
And so, the Fluffy that had been dragged away by the white-coated humans...
Shin Yu-hyun pressed onward with the children he'd rescued from the residential sector.
He had saved four in total. There had been more originally, but some who left the room never returned, they said.
Shin Yu-hyun simply stroked their heads in silence.
'Fucking bastards deserve to die.'
He cursed the Ironforge Clan inwardly.
"Sis! I wanna touch your ears!"
"Your tail's cute too!"
"So fluffy..."
Dia was an instant hit with the kids.
"Ears! No touching ears! Tail's off-limits too!"
Dia belonged to the catkin tribe.
With her adorable cat ears and tail, the children swarmed her in fascination, cooing over how cute she was.
The younger ones stroked her ears and tail and refused to let go.
"M-Master..."
Dia finally shot Shin Yu-hyun a pleading, teary-eyed look.
But he just watched with a smile.
"Take good care of them, yeah?"
"Masteeeeer..."
Shin Yu-hyun ignored Dia's groan from behind and kept moving.
Soon enough, Dia was buried under a pile of tiny hands. She'd already surrendered her head, chin, and face to them completely.
Kyuu?
But Dia had a savior elsewhere.
The children who had been fawning over her now turned their attention to Ka-mang-i.
Kyuu? Kyu?
Ka-mang-i's face twisted into a startled emoticon-like expression as it let out a panicked cry.
But the children's hands were already reaching out.
"Squishy-squish!"
"So squishy-squishy!"
The kids poked and prodded Ka-mang-i wildly, giggling delightedly at the bizarre texture.
The mood didn't fit the grim surroundings at all, but Shin Yu-hyun didn't mind.
The children he'd encountered in his previous life had hearts that were already dead.
They had gazed up at him with hopeless, blank expressions.
Compared to that, seeing these kids laugh now felt good.
And he knew the sadness lurking behind those smiles.
"This way."
The oldest girl among them tugged at the hem of Shin Yu-hyun's coat.
She looked about Dia's age and led him toward where her siblings were.
Shin Yu-hyun moved with the children in tow. He couldn't leave them behind alone.
'Dia and a few Sabers can guard them.'
Even stripped of most of her power, Dia was one of the Immortal King's direct Seven Arcs subordinates—the Dark Saintess.
And a catkin, to boot.
She was stronger than your average superhuman and could buff the escort Sabers into formidable foes.
So leaving them with her was no issue.
He'd also deployed skeleton Sabers and Lancers in all directions to shield the children from harm.
In that formation, Shin Yu-hyun followed the girl's lead.
'Residential sector's almost over...'
The area seemed to house the Ironforge Clan's researchers and members, with the abducted kids kept nearby under constant watch.
Before long, they reached the end of the residential zone.
After being dragged away by the white-coated people, Fluffy never saw the children again.
No, the real problem wasn't that. Fluffy had begun undergoing experiments of its own.
Unknown injections. Strange red stones implanted inside its body.
Each time, Fluffy screamed as if dying, its body wracked with tremors.
The experiments were torture beyond death.
Yet Fluffy endured, tears streaming from the pain.
It wanted to see them one more time.
Those small children who had adored it, stroked its fur.
With that single burning desire, Fluffy adapted to the experiments.
Then one day...
Growl?
Fluffy's heart leaped with joy.
It spotted one of the girls from the room—the one who used to fawn over it right after it woke up.
Through the window of the neighboring lab.
After so much time, finally reunited with the joyful girl, Fluffy wagged its tail furiously.
But the girl didn't notice Fluffy.
She lay on the lab bed, trembling in terror.
And then...
"Kyaaaaagh!"
The girl convulsed on the bed, shrieking in agony.
The white-coated people's experiment had begun.
She wailed pitifully, begging them to stop amid her tears.
But they pressed on relentlessly.
Grrr?
For the first time, Fluffy witnessed a child's experiment.
Clueless to the horror unfolding, its eyes reflected the tiny girl writhing and screaming in torment.
The same girl who had spoken kindly to it, stroked its head, called it cute.
Thud.
Moments later, the girl's convulsing, screaming body went still.
In that instant, Fluffy understood.
Why the children who left the room never returned.
What atrocities they'd endured.
And the white-coated humans never realized...
That the experiments had sharpened Fluffy's mind.
Rooooaaaaar!!!
Comprehending everything, Fluffy unleashed a roar of pure rage.
"Wh-what?!"
The white-coated humans recoiled in shock.
They'd never imagined this creature—which had only whimpered through the cruelest torments—could bellow so menacingly.
Crunch! Crangh!
Fluffy shredded the collar restraining it.
"Gasp!"
"R-run away!"
Too late. The white-coated humans who had entered the lab to experiment on Fluffy screamed in panic.
But it was already over.
Rawr!
Fluffy lunged at the nearest human.
Crunch! Crack!
"Aaaargh!"
It tore into his neck and shoulder.
A fountain of blood erupted from the white-coated man's throat.
"Hiiik!"
The remaining one stared in abject terror.
Fluffy glared down with glowing red eyes.
Ptooey.
It spat out the mangled corpse with a shake of its head.
Then advanced on the last one.
"St-stay back!"
The final white-coated human thrust out a pair of experimental shears in desperation.
But...
Stab!
In the blink of an eye, Fluffy's forepaw impaled his solar plexus.
"Gack! Gurk..."
Fluffy slowly raked its claws out.
Slowly. To prolong the agony.
"Gurgle! Glurk!"
As intended, the man died without another scream, his face contorted in suffering.
The first victim fared no better.
Even spurting blood like a fountain, he lingered in slow death throes.
Returning just a fraction of the pain inflicted on the children.
"You monster scum!"
The lab door burst open as geared-up superhumans poured in.
Fluffy's red eyes gleamed as it faced them.
To save the children from this hell, it fought every obstacle in its path.
Swords severed its limbs. Arrows pierced its flesh.
Hammers pulverized its paws. Superheated flames charred its body.
But Fluffy pressed on undaunted.
The experiments had granted it unique skills.
Unique skills: Super Recovery and Super Regeneration.
With them, Fluffy healed rapidly and battled on.
To rescue the children.
But one against hordes proved too much. Relentless assaults forced Fluffy to its knees.
That day, the Ironforge Clan suffered devastating losses.
Only by deploying every executive did they finally subdue it.
And so, they resolved to seal the prototype Fluffy permanently.
Its experimental mutations had rendered it unkillable by any means.
Leading his skeleton Sabers and Lancers, Shin Yu-hyun reached the residential sector's edge with the children.
It was a massive laboratory.
'Like an arena.'
The vast chamber stood empty, barren.
Likely built by the Ironforge Clan to pit test subjects against each other.
At one end sprawled a creature over three meters long.
"You all wait back there."
Shin Yu-hyun positioned Dia and the children to the rear, leaving about ten Sabers for protection.
Once prepared, he approached the prone form.
5-Star Chimera Prototype
⟨ Blood Wolf ⟩
'A prototype.'
The thing before him appeared to be the original chimera model.
Up close, it resembled a colossal wolf.
Horns protruded from its head, and razor-sharp fangs peeked from its maw.
Grrr... Grrr...
It seemed deep in slumber.
That was when...
Crackle!
Rooooaaaaar!
Blue sparks erupted from the collar around the chimera prototype Blood Wolf's neck. Electricity arcing from the necklace itself.
Blood Wolf's eyes snapped open. It roared and bolted upright.
Grrrrr!
Baring its gleaming white fangs, it fixed Shin Yu-hyun with a murderous glare.
"Wasn't even me who woke you."
Unfair, but no helping it.
Blood Wolf clearly believed Shin Yu-hyun was the culprit.
And that's when the oldest girl among the children spoke up to him.