Demon Hunter Volume 5 Chapter 10 part6

Book 5 Chapter 10.6 - Want and Obtained

In Persephone's private hospital, Helen continuously busied about in front of her enormous laboratory station, her head of blonde hair casually bound behind her head. Before her was an experimental platform that was over ten meters wide, hundreds of instruments of all different appearances gathered a sea of data and analyzed it. At the center of this truly large experimental surface rested Snow, whose body was about the size of a cat. It rested at the center of the laboratory surface, the surface of its body full of sensors, all of its sharp body outgrowths and blades collected into its body. It was trembling slightly, clearly extremely scared. However, there were no restrictive devices placed on its body. It obediently laid there on its stomach with no intention of running. 

The long and tedious experiment had already continued for an entire day and night. Now, only the two most crucial parts remained. If one was able to decipher the sea of data moving before Helen's face, they would find that on the two light screens before her, one displayed a test of preliminary power source, while the other project was a plan of mobility improvement. 

The lights on the automatic doors flickered, and a few seconds later, it went from red to green. Curtis walked over with a square meter sized safe. The safe wasn't that large, but the deep metallic glint displayed that its weight was definitely not light. The choice to have Curtis help with the experiment was due to there being no alternative. This chest weighing close to ten tons was definitely not something Helen could move." 

Under Helen's instruction, Curtis dragged the safe deposit box all the way in front of the experimental platform. Then, a faint yellow energy light screen descended, dividing the laboratory into two parts, isolating the experimental platform. Curtis entered the secret code, opened the safe, and then produced a fist-sized piece of metal that released a hazy golden radiance. Even though he produced this strange metal bare handedly, Curtis' steel-like stubble stood up one after another, all of the muscles in his body going taut. A faint metallic luster even more so appeared on the surface of his skin; it was clear that he was already using defensive abilities. 

The alloy metal Curtis carried was code named 'Radiation Star', the radiation intensity three hundred times that of uranium. It represented the Blood Parliament's highest level of metal material accomplishment. The price of a piece of Radiation Star this size was enough to buy several private hospitals. Curtis never expected Helen to be this well off, to hide away such a large amount of Radiation Star. However, even with Curtis' defensive ability, he still had to be careful when holding the Radiation Star. He had to maintain his abilities, but he also couldn't allow his abilities to rise too high, or else his change in body size will be too noticeable, possibly drawing Helen's contempt. 

The Radiation Star was quickly placed in the designated position. Several hundred reflectors were started up, gathering the radiation into a beam, aiming it towards Snow. As soon as the energy defensive force field was removed from Snow's body, the radiation so powerful even Curtis felt a bit strained, would land on its small body.

While looking at the completely unmoving Snow, a hint of complicated emotions flashed past the captain's little eyes. There were many secrets Helen didn't keep from him, so he knew that this little thing was Helen's 'daughter'. No matter which angle one looked at it from, Snow was a hundred percent a monster. Not only did it not share the slightest similarity with the human race, it couldn't even be considered a mutated creature. At the very least, most mutated creatures still possessed some characteristics of an earth creature, but Snow wasn't like any earth creature. One could barely say that Snow carried the characteristics of many bugs, but the high level of intelligence and extremely sturdy body were definitely not something an insect could match. 

In the series of experiments, the captain only helped with a few parts, but these few interactions he had with Snow already left him with an unforgettable impression. He refused to believe that such intelligence would appear in a new biological body only a few months old. Snow's recovering ability was just as unimaginable. 

During this entire process, Curtis continuously looked at Helen who seemed more and more unfamiliar. He believed her when she said that Snow was her daughter, but the captain was quite curious about who its father was. When he saw Snow's unique external form, the captain couldn't help but shudder. 

The defensive cover surrounding Snow's body gradually weakened, the powerful radiation passing through the protecting cover and landing on Snow's body. Its dark blue-green surface immediately produced a layer of red-color, and then the redness became increasingly deep. As the radiation grew stronger, all of the surface tissue within several square centimeters began to char, crack, and even release strands of smoke. The exterior skin that began to burn and crack continuously blackened and fell off, but new flesh quickly grew below, producing layer after layer of new skin at an inconceivable speed, resisting the radiation. The newly produced skin tissue wasn't as tough as before, but it at least gave Snow a bit of time. The new layer of skin was enough to buy Snow with a minute or so of time, this amount of time barely enough for Snow to form a new layer of skin. 

Snow whimpered, its body's trembling, becoming stronger and stronger. It was clear that the radiation brought it considerable pain. However, it didn't dare change positions, to the extent where it even released two blades, nailing itself into the alloy experimental platform as to avoid accidentally moving its body from the pain. 

The defensive force field was already close to completely disappearing, and Snow's whimpering was becoming more and more clear. Its rate of external skin growth didn't speed up, but each layer of newly produced skin underwent slight changes, gradually becoming transparent, the surface more smooth, producing a mirror-like effect, reflecting a large portion of the radiation. A small portion of radiation was forcefully blocked, and then absorbed at the cost of damaged external tissues, the final bit not stopped at all, allowed into its body. 

Curtis watched all of these changes happen to Snow's body. What made his eyes twitch even more was that Snow's cry was similar to the whimpering of a kitten, and even he almost couldn't endure it. In the beginning, Snow's cries weren't like this, more strange and rough, like a combination of some type of insect's screech and metal plates grinding, leaving others horrified. However now, it was imitating the sad cries of a kitten, proving one thing, which was that Snow already located what an apex species like the human race was fond of, and was purposely changing its own actions. This type of intelligence was even more terrifying than its strange body. 

Chapter end