32) Dr. Echo

Once they descended the stairs, they found themselves in a huge white room, the only thing inside the room was a metal desk with a few things on it. The most eye-catching was a spiky metal ball the size of a human head. Ryker was not paying attention to anything the old man was saying because he was still lamenting his luck. He was brought back to reality when he was hit on the head.

*boink*

"Hey! We haven't even started and you are already zooming out? Bah! So useless! As I was saying, my name is Dr. Echo. You will call me Dr. You will also not complain and carry out the test exactly as I say and do not worry, you will not die. But you might suffer when testing a few things. Anyways, here" -he grabbed a gold watch with a black leather strap and handed it over to Ryker- "put it on, common."

[Infinity shield acquired]

Ryker tried to see the definition of the shield but all he came up with were question marks. He would have to either find out the usages of the shield or the doctor would have to tell him, which was not likely.

"Alright, now flick your arm and it will activate it"

*Swoosh*

Ryker did as he was told, he flicked his arm, and a green semi-transparent funny-looking energy shield came out of the watch. It covered from his knees to his chin and it was attached to the watch through a very thin green rope. It was actually very mesmerizing to look at.

*Click* *clack* Swoosh* *BOOOOM*

Ryker was sent flying through the room. Without notice, a laser gun had come out of the roof and attacked him. When the laser met the energy shield a small explosion was created, it was small but it had enough force to knock him out of his feet. It might also be due to his low level compared to the natives of this world. Before he could even stand up, the old man was already inspecting the shield up close.

"Mmmmh, interesting, I was not expecting the energies to react with each other and create an explosion. Well this won't do, the point of the shield is to block enemy projectiles, they are supposed to absorb the energy, otherwise, they are useless in battle." -he then realized Ryker was still laying down on the floor so he gave him a nudge on the head.

*Boink*

"Stop lazing around! We not only need to make improvements and then test it again, but I also have other gadgets that need testing!" -he said with very obvious annoyance in his voice.

'F*ck my life' -thought Ryker to himself before hell broke loose.

The next thing they tested was a handgun that shot a blue laser. It was not meant to damage the enemy and only disable them, that is why Ryker was shot directly. He then melted in like a puddle of slime. He did not lose consciousness because it was not painful at all, but it was weird being slime.

The old man then threw a bottle of a green liquid at him and he slowly regained his body. That process was painful.

The next thing was the head-sized metal ball. To Ryker's misfortune, it was a grenade that sent spikes in all directions. This time, some waist-sized covers came out of the floor, and without warning, again, the doctor threw the grenade in the air. When it hit the floor, the metal spikes were sent flying everywhere and all Ryker could do was duck and avoid being impaled by a bald man's hair.

The next thing was a pair of shoes that were supposed to be antigravity. As Ryker was climbing a wall that had raised from the floor, the shoes stopped working and he fell around 20 meters. As he laid there, the doctor did not miss any chance and shoved a pill down Ryker's throat. It was a pain amplifier that would be used in future tortures. And so, Ryker spent the next hour wiggling in pain and screaming while the doctor remained unfazed as he recorded everything down.

When he finally stood up, he realized that there was a mechanical bear looking at him.

'Oh f*ck'

He then started running all over the place as the mechanical bear shot fireballs out of its mouth while chasing after him. It would have been rather comical if it were not for the barbeque smell that was now permeating every corner of the room. Whenever he was heavily injured, a small white gun would come out of the roof, point at him, and cover him in a green glow which would heal his injuries.

When the sun was rising on the horizon on the next morning, Ryker had been subjected to over 50 experiments overnight. They were all different gadgets that when failed, would then be altered by the doctor and returned for Ryker to be experimented on. He was set on fire, poisoned, fell, crushed, bitten, stung, there were at least 20 times when he almost got his head blown off by either a rocket launcher or a laser gun or even a slingshot. He tried to quit at least a hundred times but every time he said something, the old man took it personally and sent him a more intense experiment. So he ended up shutting up and praying to whatever gods exist to end his suffering.

When morning came, a small old woman came down the stairs. She was fuming. When the old man saw her, he immediately cowered behind Ryker after stopping the current experiment.

"JAGGER! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT NOT SLEEPING FOR YOUR STUPID EXPERIMENTS?! YOU BAILED ON ME…. AGAIN!" -she was clearly mad but what surprised Ryker was that apparently the old man was called Jagger.

"I-I-I'm sorry my dear, I got carried away" -he said shyly while pushing Ryker in front of him.

"AND YOU WERE EXPERIMENTING ON THIS YOUNG MAN?!" -she then turned to look at Ryker who flinched under her gaze. She was surprisingly stronger than the doctor. "Oh dear, I am so sorry for my husband's actions, I will make sure he compensates you properly" -her gaze was filled with killing intent which only made her husband hide behind Ryker.

"Save me you useless thing! I will gift you the shield if you get rid of her" -he said to Ryker.

"I AM RIGHT HERE YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A MAN! AND YOU WILL GIVE HIM WHATEVER YOU PROMISED PLUS A THOUSAND GOLD COINS OR YOU WILL NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT!"

"A THOUSAND?! You crazy woman! You will drive me poor!"

"AND YOU WILL DRIVE ME MAD!"

An hour later, Ryker walked out of the building with a thousand gold coins and the Infinity Shield as a bonus. And he was also starting to wonder if he should come back, after all, he had been heavily rewarded.

'Whoever said money can't buy happiness was clearly poor' -he thought as he giggled happily like a little girl.