Chapter 55: The Mission Continues
With a thud, the man crashed to the ground, his body shattering into pieces and kicking up a cloud of dust.
His left arm and left leg had already separated from his body, and his waist was twisted at an unnatural angle. Yet, even in this state, he did not die. His grotesque figure writhed on the ground, a twisted smile frozen on his face as he vomited mouthfuls of foul, congealed black blood.
"What did you do?" Drake descended from the sky atop his Dragonite, rushing over with a mix of anger and fear as he took in the creature's severed scorpion tail and its hideous visage.
The monster's entire skeletal structure was fractured, but its vitality was far from ordinary. It still struggled to crawl forward, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. From the parts that had not completely shattered, thin worm-like tendrils emerged, writhing as they attempted to reconnect the severed sections.
It was a scene both eerie and horrifying.
Drake took several deep breaths, suppressing the dread in his heart. "Use Ice Beam."
Dragonite opened its mouth, releasing a frigid blue beam that encased the dismembered creature in a massive block of ice.
"Take this thing to Cinnabar Island immediately," Drake ordered.
Dragonite nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. Without hesitation, it seized the twenty-cubic-meter ice block and soared into the sky.
Drake watched his partner disappear into the distance before dialing his phone.
"Hello, Blaine... It's Drake..."
He explained the situation and requested treatment for Dragonite. After hanging up, Drake let out a long sigh.
He knew these monsters' attacks carried a corruption that could assimilate the injured—whether human or Pokémon—like a curse.
Even though his Dragonite was a King-class Pokémon, Drake wasn't certain if it could resist the horrifying infection. He couldn't afford to gamble.
The best course of action was to take it to Cinnabar Island's research lab. Blaine, the island's Gym Leader, was one of the Pokémon League's top researchers. If anyone could help, it was him.
Dragonite was not only Drake's closest companion but also his only King-class Pokémon. If anything happened to it, his standing as the Orange League's Champion would be stripped away.
In every organization, the difference between a Champion and a non-Champion was like night and day.
Drake summoned a Gyarados from its Poké Ball. Climbing onto its back, he commanded it to continue the search. No matter what had just happened, the mission had to go on.
...
Success...
Lucius could barely contain his joy, nearly bursting into laughter in front of Nanli.
Originally, he hadn't planned to interfere with the experimental subjects on Sunburst Island, preferring to let them act freely. But when Drake appeared, Lucius immediately changed his mind.
A Champion-level Trainer with at least one King-class Pokémon—infecting such a powerful Pokémon would yield a harvest greater than all the others combined.
King-class Pokémon represented the pinnacle of combat strength in this world. Sacrificing a mutant with over 80% fusion rate to infect one was a bargain.
After all, this was not the world of Resident Evil. Here, the enemies were not soldiers or terrorist organizations but Pokémon wielding miraculous powers.
Even with an 80% fusion rate, mutant humans were little more than glorified monsters. Their true combat ability was pitiful, easily annihilated by powerful Pokémon.
Even Alexia Ashford, the original Veronica Emperor from Resident Evil, was killed by a linear launcher. These imperfect mutants were far weaker.
Once the virus became widely known, the League would undoubtedly take countermeasures, making mutant humans even less valuable.
But Pokémon were different. They wielded incredible powers, and once infected, they would transform into devastating bioweapons.
Imagine an army of millions of mutated Pokémon—even if they were just Rattata and Pidgey, they would be a nightmare.
A King-class bioweapon would be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb.
Compared to that, Tyrants, Nemesis, and even the God of Vengeance would be mere trash.
Lucius himself hadn't expected the infection of Drake's Dragonite to succeed so easily.
It was largely due to humanity's limited understanding of the virus. They only saw how victims turned into monsters but didn't know that high-level infected retained their intelligence—and could even hide their transformations.
By chance, the man who started the infection was a foreign Trainer who had come to try his luck after hearing rumors of the Crystal Onix. Instead of finding the Onix, he encountered a fallen Team Rocket member...
Because of his high genetic compatibility with the virus, the man did not lose his mind after being scratched. Instead, his mind became sharper, and he vaguely sensed the "Source"—the entity he instinctively worshipped and obeyed.
Suppressing his hunger through sheer willpower, he remained hidden, never commanding the low-level mutants around him.
He could sense their growing numbers, but he didn't care.
They were expendable. Only the Source mattered.
Finally, when Drake and Dragonite appeared, the Source's command came:
"By any means necessary, infect Dragonite."
Humans were easy to manipulate. Exploiting their kindness, he had succeeded.
He knew he would die. The Trainer's anger was palpable.
But it didn't matter. He was merely an extension of the Source. As long as the Source existed—so would the Emperor.
Drake hadn't killed the mutant directly. At least he had some sense.
Through the virus now lodged in Dragonite, Lucius could monitor the situation clearly. Whether the mutant survived or not no longer mattered.
Dragonite was all that mattered.
Lucius carefully observed the virus within Dragonite's body. Though it had infiltrated, the infection progressed agonizingly slowly.
If it were a human, the transformation would be halfway complete by now. But in Dragonite, not even 1% of the corruption had taken hold.
Instead of frustration, Lucius felt elated.
A slow infection was still an infection. Whether it took a day, ten days, or fifty days—if he could fully control a King-class Pokémon, the payoff would be immense.
The stronger the host, the greater the reward.
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