Chapter 35: Who’s Behind This?

He shifted so quickly—one moment a refined gentleman, the next, a ruthless enforcer. 

The man beneath Ricardo's foot writhed in pain but refused to speak. Ricardo increased the pressure, and the man let out a few strained groans before finally passing out. Watching this, Anran felt a chill run down her spine.

What puzzled her, though, was why Ricardo had asked what "species" the man was. He was clearly a person of Asian descent, just like her.

With the man unconscious and unresponsive, Ricardo frowned and muttered to himself, "So… they're just humans."

Anran glanced at the wreckage around them, her heart still racing. "Of course, they're humans," she said. "They've just injected themselves with some kind of drug. That's what turned them into… this."

"A drug? Such a thing doesn't exist in Rosewood," Ricardo said, his violet eyes sharp and penetrating.

Seeing that Ricardo was unaware, Anran explained, "A while ago, after school, I encountered a student with similar symptoms. He attacked me out of nowhere, though he still had some consciousness and was mumbling incoherently. The security guard who showed up told me the boy had taken some kind of drug that induces rage and delirium. No one knows who brought it into Rosewood. But these men today have completely lost their minds, and they're unnaturally strong. When I entered this room, I saw one of them holding a syringe. I think they injected the drug directly into their veins."

"Oh?" Ricardo raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying this isn't the first time something like this has happened?"

Ricardo knew a bit about Anran's previous encounter. He had been watching from outside the window when Anran subdued the boy. When she and the security guard went to check on the student in the neighboring classroom, Ricardo hadn't followed. So, he wasn't aware that someone at St. Augustine Academy was using such an unknown substance.

Anran nodded. "Yes, according to the security guard, he's seen students taking this drug before."

Ricardo thought for a moment, quickly connecting the dots. "I think… this isn't just a matter of dosage. The drug these six men took seems to have been improved."

Anran was startled by Ricardo's analysis. He was right. The previous student had retained some level of consciousness, and his strength hadn't been anywhere near that of these men.

"But why would whoever's behind this lure me here?" Anran wondered aloud.

At this, Ricardo's expression darkened. "It's possible you've already been targeted."

"What?" Anran exclaimed, shocked.

Ricardo's expression wasn't much better. Anran was someone he had taken an interest in, and he had made it clear that evening that she was under his protection. The fact that someone in St. Augustine Academy dared to trouble her meant they were blatantly disregarding him.

"Because you defeated someone who'd taken the drug when it wasn't fully developed," Ricardo said, his eyes narrowing. "Whoever's behind this likely brought you here to test the improved version."

Anran was stunned by Ricardo's deduction. Up until now, she had assumed someone was simply using these men to teach her a lesson.

She hadn't expected the person behind this to be so cunning and malicious!

Anran's thoughts raced, and the more she considered it, the more Ricardo's reasoning made sense. If that was the case, the mastermind must have first lured these men into taking the drug that caused delirium and rage, then observed its effects. During this process, Anran had accidentally encountered someone who had taken the initial version of the drug and easily defeated them. That must have come as a surprise to the person behind it all. So, when they acquired an improved version, they lured her here…

In other words, these men, just like Anran, were nothing more than test subjects for the mastermind's experiments.

Ricardo picked up the syringe from the floor and studied it. A few drops of a pale blue liquid remained inside. His voice turned cold as he said, "I'll find out who dares to play games behind my back."