Chapter 1354
Hikari: You're a bad guy!
He turned to look at Hikari beside him, his eyes filled with scrutiny and judgment, as if he were assessing an item to be dealt with.
Hikari immediately perked up his ears, his eyes behind his glasses gleaming with anticipation, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the scoreboard.
He knew that what Cui Ming was about to say would likely be related to whether he could obtain a new research sample, and the irrepressible excitement made his breathing quicken.
Cui Ming withdrew his gaze and turned it back to the Six Elements Gendo in the laboratory, speaking in a calm tone as if he were discussing an expired purchase order.
“You can continue to study the sextant; I think there’s something wrong with it.”
The moment those words were spoken, the air in the laboratory seemed to freeze for a moment.
Hikari's eyes widened instantly, his pupils behind his glasses contracted violently with ecstasy, and the corners of his mouth turned up uncontrollably, revealing an almost manic smile.
That's exactly what he was waiting for!
The guy lying on the metal bed, the man whose whole body was wrapped in bandages, whose legs were driven into steel nails, and whose face was swollen like a pig's head, although he looked miserable, definitely had a lot of secrets hidden on him.
The former commander of SEELE, a key player in the Human Instrumentality Project, had intricate connections with the Angels and Lilith. This kind of case study is extremely valuable!
Those apostle cells, those traces of artificial modification, those possible soul links—each one is priceless!
"it is good."
Hikari's voice trembled slightly with excitement. He nodded heavily, clutching the recording board tightly to his chest, as if he could already see countless experimental data beckoning to him.
He turned and was about to rush towards the metal bed, the hem of his white coat drawing an excited arc in the air, his steps light as if he were going to a long-awaited feast.
Seeing his impatient look, Cui Ming added expressionlessly, "Don't kill him, he's still useful."
"I know, I know!" Hikari waved his hand without turning his head, his voice full of perfunctory excitement, and his steps didn't slow down at all, but instead became faster.
Rokubungi Gendo overheard this conversation while on the metal bed. His swollen eyelids snapped open, and his pupils shrank to pinpoints with fear.
He struggled desperately, but the steel nails fixing his bones and the straps binding his body prevented him from moving. He could only let out incoherent howls, which sounded both comical and pitiful due to the air leaks and missing teeth.
"No...don't come any closer...Cui Ming...you beast...Aaaaaaah!!!"
Hikari walked to the metal bed, looked down at the man strapped to it, and gave a standard smile like a scientist looking at a perfect experimental subject.
He bent down and pulled a data board from his white coat pocket, beginning to record Rokufendo's current vital signs. He muttered something under his breath, his tone as gentle as if he were coaxing a child, but the content was chilling. "Don't be afraid, I just want to take a sample, it'll be quick, it won't hurt... I guess."
In the laboratory, the stark white lights made everything seem lifeless.
Only Rokubungi Gendo's screams still echoed, intertwining with Hikari's excited mutterings to form an eerie duet.
"Blood pressure changes, muscle spasm frequency, and skeletal stress distribution while the metal bed is in place... these data are invaluable..."
Cui Ming turned and left, shutting out the noise behind him, and walked steadily toward the command room.
Rokufengi Gendo definitely has problems...
Hikari's data panel gleamed coldly under the pale light, the flickering genetic map on the screen revealing a bizarre chimeric sequence. Those chromosomal fragments that didn't belong to humans, those cell samples radiating faint energy fluctuations, those forcibly implanted Apostle genetic factors—all were slowly proliferating in the blood vessels of the Sextans Gendo. Occasionally, bluish-purple lines would appear beneath his skin, wriggling like earthworms in the gaps of his bandages—traces of the Apostle cells and the human body's mutual repulsion and fusion.
He implanted the cells of an apostle...
This was no ordinary experimental contact, but a profound, irreversible, and almost insane self-modification. With the tacit approval of the old foxes at SEELE, Rokubungi Gendo underwent forbidden biological grafting on himself, attempting to gain superhuman power, enough to contend with Choi Myeong, and the confidence to reclaim NERV, reclaim Yui Ikari, and reclaim everything. He believed that with the power of an Angel, he could turn the tide and make that acting commander tremble before him.
He's already gone mad.
That obsession clung to his brain like a poisonous vine, corroding his reason from the inside out. He no longer saw himself as an ordinary human commander, but as some higher being, some monster somewhere between an apostle and a human. When he looked in the mirror, he could see the inhuman light that occasionally flashed in his eyes, and feel the strange, inhuman pulse emanating from deep within his bones. He felt himself sublimating, evolving, becoming the ultimate life form capable of crushing Cui Ming.
But for some reason, he just couldn't beat Cui Ming's side...
He tried to ambush someone in the corridor, but the moment he raised his arm, which was infiltrated with Apostle cells, Cui Ming slammed it against the wall, causing his internal organs to shift. He tried to poison someone in the cafeteria, but Cui Ming drank the spiked tea without batting an eye, then casually remarked, "It's bland," which startled Rokufen Yiyuantang so much that he smashed his cup on the spot. He tried to mobilize the newly generated Apostle power within him, attempting to create a barrier similar to an AT field, but the barrier was shattered by Cui Ming's punch just half a second after it formed, and the backlash energy broke three of his own ribs.
He couldn't even beat Spike, that dog who was by Cui Ming's side!
The burly bulldog usually lay lazily sunbathing by the command room door, looking like a docile pet. But whenever Rokubunji Gendo tried to get within three meters of Cui Ming, Spike would instantly pounce, moving with a speed that seemed inhuman, like a brown cannonball. Rokubunji Gendo's proudly enhanced apostle arms were as brittle as cucumbers in front of Spike's claws. One slap and he would be sent flying three meters away, embedded in the wall or slammed into the ground, without even the strength to get up.
Even the sextant wanted to cry.
He lay on the metal bed in the laboratory, his body wrapped in bandages, steel pins in his legs, his face swollen and shiny, tears streaming down his face, soaking his pillow. The grievances, the resentment, the despair overwhelmed him like a tidal wave. He had sacrificed so much, endured so much pain, transformed himself into a half-human, half-apostle monster, only to be defeated by a mere dog. What was this? What the hell was this?! (End of Chapter)