**9**
55%
The moment the main gate opened, the entire Eden trembled.
Dorian Blackwood was no longer human. Black scales covered his entire body, blood–red
light burned in his eyes, and his nails transformed into razor–sharp claws.
He stood at the entrance, like a released beast.
“Go,” I whispered.
He didn’t look back, charging into the army of infected outside.
On the screen, Dr. Thorne’s face twisted: “You’re insane! You’ll destroy everything!”
“No.” I pressed the energy overload button. “I’m just ending everything.”
A powerful interference wave instantly covered the entire battlefield. The infected, who had previously obeyed Dr. Thorne’s commands, began to lose control, tearing at each other.
And Dorian Blackwood moved through them as if untouched. Wherever he went, the infected exploded one after another due to genetic resonance.
Blood and gore flew everywhere.
I watched the surveillance screen. This was the scene I wanted.
But the next second, the thrill vanished.
Because I saw Dorian Blackwood’s body trembling too. The toxin was spreading within him, and his life was ebbing away.
“Don’t stop,” I said into the microphone. “Keep killing.”
Dorian Blackwood seemed to hear my voice, his movements growing even more frantic. He ripped apart one infected after another, relentlessly tearing his way towards Dr. Thorne’s mobile command tower.
0, 26
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$ ༣ 55%=–
Dr. Thorne’s voice echoed through the comms: “Seraphina, stop him! We can start over!”
“Start over?” I laughed. “Do you think I’ll still believe you?”
“Your mother! I truly can resurrect her!”
Mom’s face flashed in my mind. Those gentle eyes, that embrace that would never return.
“I have her complete genetic sequence! I have the most advanced cloning technology! If you stop him now, I’ll start the experiment immediately!”
My hand reached for the control panel. If I pressed the stop button, Dorian Blackwood would lose all his power, collapsing halfway there.
But I didn’t do it.
On the screen, Dorian Blackwood had already reached the command tower. His body was
riddled with wounds, but his killing intent grew even fiercer.
Dr. Thorne watched him in horror: “No, impossible!”
“This is the price of betrayal,” I said coldly.
Dorian Blackwood leaped, crashing through the command tower’s exterior.
The sound of the explosion ripped through the sky.
Flames shot into the heavens, and bloody smoke permeated the entire battlefield.
The command tower was reduced to ashes in the massive explosion, along with Dr. Thorne inside, and Dorian Blackwood.
All signals vanished.
I stood in the control center, watching the static on the screen, waiting for the thrill of revenge to descend.
But it didn’t.
08:
Thu, 26
<
55%–
Only emptiness.
A vast, all–consuming emptiness.
Dr. Thorne was dead. Dorian Blackwood was dead. All my enemies were gone.
And I, with my own hands, had ended the source of my own bloodline, and with my own hands, I had killed the only person who had ever loved me.
“Commander,” Captain Ryder said softly from beside me. “It’s over.”
It was over.
