"Destroy it," The Raven ordered, his voice echoing with bone-chilling finality. "Now."
The technician shuddered, not daring to hesitate another second. With trembling fingers, he hit the enter key.
A blood-red prompt instantly overtook the screen.
[Omega Purge Protocol initiating.]
[Target: AWS-14]
[Countdown to execution: 60 seconds.]
Staring at the countdown, The Raven felt the agonizing sting of years of meticulous labor vanishing right before his eyes.
And it was all because of that woman-The Panacea!
His cold, darkened eyes glared at the monitor, fixed entirely on the slender silhouette standing before the pod.
A vicious, boiling rage began to pool in his chest.
The Panacea was no ordinary pharmacist.
She was far too familiar with the data algorithms of the Obsidian Augments.
She knew exactly how their organization kept its Human Specimens leashed.
In fact...
The effortless way she tore through Specimen Fourteen's life-support firewalls reminded him of someone else.
A woman who had been dead for years.
Aria Wynn.
Meanwhile.
Serena kept her eyes lowered, watching the last drops of the crimson fluid flow into the chamber.
Suddenly, the screen filled with erratic vitals went completely black.
When it lit up again, it was a blinding, solid red.
A stark line of text appeared.
[Omega Purge Protocol initiated.]
[Target: AWS-14.]
[Execution countdown: 60 seconds.]
[59.]
[58.]
Amidst the crimson glare, the numbers ticked down, second by second.
Simultaneously, Specimen Fourteen's barely stabilized neural network spiraled out of control.
Every metric shattered the maximum threshold!
Blinding walls of scrambled code violently seized the display.
Bang!
A heavy, muffled impact erupted from inside the pod.
The entire structure shuddered violently.
The thick life-support cables connecting to the exterior thrashed wildly.
Bang!
Bang!
Over and over.
The slamming continued.
Each strike was more devastating than the last!
It felt as though whatever was inside would burst through the reinforced glass at any second and rip everyone in the room to
Commander Richter stared blankly at the countdown for a fraction of a second.
Then, an expression of pure, unhinged triumph spread across his pale, blood- drained face.
It was a cold, vicious smirk.
The textbook grimace of a cornered villain.
It was The Raven!
The Raven had made his move!
He had realized something was wrong and knew that The Panacea was trying to steal Specimen Fourteen.
And so... he had triggered the Omega Purge Protocol!
Commander Richter glanced at the violently shaking pod, a fleeting pang of regret flashing through his eyes.
After all... Specimen Fourteen was the culmination of endless resources, money, and blood. It was their masterpiece.
It was the closest they had ever come to creating a perfected Obsidian Augment.
They had sacrificed countless successful formulas and underground bases just to secure this one asset.
But now...
They had no choice but to manually obliterate the very thing they had bled so heavily to create.
Commander Richter was bitter, of course.
But there was nothing else to be done.
Even if it meant turning Specimen Fourteen into ash, they could never let it fall into the hands of, The Panacea and Joker!
This bitch wanted to steal their prize so badly?
Let her try.
Not only would she walk away with
absolutely nothing, but she had
completely cemented herself
be
also
asan
enemy of their organization.
There was no way this would end well for her.