Chapter 40: The Self-Cultivation of a Ruthless Man

Military Restricted Zone, Aberrant Containment Facility.

This place is like an animal fighting arena, with electric fences surrounding the cages, and thick chains tightly wrapping around the sole prisoner, the Necro Cult disciple captured today.

For this Necro Cult disciple, today is undoubtedly a humiliating experience. He had devoted his soul and body to the great Mother Womb, and through the power bestowed upon him, he had gained dignity and freedom. Yet, in the end, he is captured and put on display like a monkey in a zoo.

He roars, "Sata, Aba..."

But before he can finish, another piece of rotten flesh is stuffed into his mouth.

Mike sneers, "Who are you calling?"

In the stands around the arena, most of the high-ranking military officers are present, accompanied by the mechanics from Noah's Organization and some priests and pastors from the medical department.

Including the foul-mouthed old secretary.

Despite the breakthrough in the case, everyone's expressions are rather grim.

When Mike returned to the military base, he found everyone with sullen faces, until he saw the injured and dead being carried out on stretchers, then he understood.

Looks like the situation at the front lines is not ideal, no wonder Williams told him that the information he has is what the military needs the most right now.

"This guy is an off-the-grid resident from the underground district, with no records in the Divine Intelligence network. Of course, there are many such people in the underground district. But the reason he's brought here is that he is the legendary... Necro Cult disciple."

Mike draws his revolver, pointing it at the Necro Cult disciple, "Isn't it strange? If heretical beliefs were to appear among the scavengers outside the city, it would be understandable. But the problem is... this batch of Necro Cult disciples has appeared directly within Avalon City."

Upon hearing this, Jack clenches his fists, struggling to maintain his composure.

Lisa's gaze sharpens as she recalls the aberrant that had appeared in the military base before.

"So what?" the old secretary says flatly.

Mike empties his gun, firing seven shots at the Necro Cult disciple.

But the bullets seem to have no effect as if they were hitting steel plates.

"At such close range, the bullets cannot inflict any real damage, and the high temperature doesn't seem to have much effect either, as there are no signs of the bullets burning him. Undoubtedly, this guy's defense is astonishing, an aberrant never seen in humans before," Mike holsters his gun.

He raises his fist and starts pummeling the Necro Cult disciple's neck...

Crack.

The Necro Cult disciple roars, his neck joint on the verge of snapping.

"Of course, even this can't truly incapacitate him. When the hardness of his surface layer reaches its limit, he will eventually succumb. But what about more advanced aberrants? Their defense and toughness must be even greater. If I'm not mistaken, the aberrants appearing on the battlefield today should have similar abilities."

Mike withdraws his hand, "You can bring back a few samples for comparison."

The old secretary is stunned, "No wonder the Demolition Cannon was useless!"

The mechanics from Noah's Organization are frantically taking notes, as the failure of the Demolition Cannon today may well lead to budget cuts, requiring them to quickly improve and upgrade the weapon.

What they are witnessing now is the most valuable data.

"More importantly, look at the vein patterns on this guy's body."

Mike grabs the Necro Cult disciple, exposing the protruding veins, "You all are elites, so I'm sure you know what this means."

The old secretary stares at the patterns for a long time, his expression changing dramatically.

The high-ranking officers in the room rise to their feet.

As evolved individuals with advanced education, they all know of the existence of the evolutionary chain.

Those so-called "gods" are meant to transcend the Aberrants, representing the ultimate nightmare of this world.

"The evolutionary chain!"

Lisa takes a step forward, grabbing the young man's shoulders.

"Where did you find these heretics?"

Mike winces, his expression seeming to be in agonizing pain.

Lisa quickly releases him, realizing his condition is not right.

Wrapped in bandages, his face is ashen white, devoid of color.

"Don't move."

Lisa directly tears open his uniform, revealing a gunshot wound on his shoulder, a knife wound three centimeters from his heart, and four more gunshot wounds on his abdomen.

As for the bandage on his head, it looks as if he's been pummeled by a hammer.

If not for the incredible vitality of an evolved individual, and the timely treatment and care, he would have been dead long ago, unable to make it this far.

"What's going on?"

The female officer's eyes flashed with a cold light as she coldly questioned.

It was hard to imagine that Mike had managed to hold out this long with such severe injuries.

If it were her, she might not have been able to hold out.

Mike was silent for a moment, not saying anything.

"Speak up!"

Lisa said, "Don't worry about offending anyone."

Mike hesitated for a long time before saying, "This morning, Captain Williams from the Inquisition Office took me to the underground district to carry out an arrest mission, but unexpectedly the law enforcement bureau intervened along the way..."

He embellished the events that had happened today, emphasizing how the law enforcement bureau's inspectors and mechanical guards had tried to seize the criminal, not hesitating to use firearms and force.

Of course, he also mentioned that he had been held at gunpoint himself.

As for the rest, he left it to her imagination.

After hearing this, Lisa was indeed furious, her beautiful eyes flashing coldly. "Those bastards, they dare to attack my soldiers? Has Charles gone mad?"

She picked up the huge iron bow, "I'll go shoot him to death right now!"

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Mike instinctively grabbed her wrist, "Lieutenant Lisa, don't be hasty. It's not worth offending the law enforcement bureau just for the sake of a lowly private like me. Moreover, the war situation is tense, and the frontline needs your combat power. What I want to say is not about my injury, but that you need to understand, the Fallen that appear on the frontline have the same power as the heretics within the city."

"These heretics have transplanted the Dark Matter of the Fallen into their bodies," he pointed towards the direction of the city, "These Fallen look no different from ordinary Fallen, but are a completely new species. This means that the recent failure on the frontline is not primarily the responsibility of the military, but rather the departments within the city."

He couldn't help but feel guilty as he said these words.

At least he wasn't the mastermind.

Williams was.

The injury was inflicted by Damon.

The words were edited by Rose.

Mike was just forced into an untenable situation, he was still the good young man from five hundred years ago.

"The law enforcement bureau, the Inquisition Office."

The old secretary next to him was furious.

The Inquisition Office had just undergone a reorganization, and Williams had just taken up his post.

You can blame him, but he is not the main culprit.

"Oh, so that's why there are always people trying to conceal the existence of those heretics. It turns out they already knew the Fallen outside the city had mutated, but they just suppressed this huge matter and ended up pinning the blame on our military department?"

The old secretary hit the cane with a bang, "The law enforcement bureau, Charles!"

After all, the deputy commander of the military department had a good relationship with the law enforcement bureau.

Ideally, the former commander should also have lobbied the Inquisition Office.

But who would have thought that the current decision-maker in the Inquisition Office was Williams?

No one in all of Avalon City dared to provoke him.

"Quickly, go to the frontline and find Fallen corpse samples for comparison."

The old secretary ordered, "I want the results before tonight!"

The officers looked at each other, all getting excited.

Now it's good, although the war on the front line has failed, at least they don't have to take the blame.

And they also know the reason for the failure, believing that they can win next time.

"Wait."

The old secretary suddenly turned around, looking at the young man.

Mike felt his gaze was piercing, and he shuddered.

"You're not bad!"

The old secretary stared at him intently, "What's your name?"

Mike saluted, "Private Mike."

The old secretary nodded slightly, "You've done well, but now you're a first-class private. I'll allocate an extra 1,500 merit points for you as a reward. In addition, you will also enter the recruit optimization sequence, with the highest priority for Yggdrasil sap."

Although everyone didn't like Williams, they had to admit his abilities.

Anyone selected by Williams to assist in the investigation must have exceptional talents.

Now Mike has proven his worth.

Although the old secretary was working for the Duke family, he was not a pure-blooded Duke family member.

He had a brain, of course, he knew what kind of person he should cultivate.

"Keep up the good work, I have high hopes for you."

The old secretary turned around, looking at the dumbfounded officers, suddenly getting angry, "What are you all standing around for? Didn't you hear what I said? Are you all deaf? Hurry up and get moving, like a bunch of donkeys!"

The officers quickly left, afraid of being devoured by this old man.

Mike's legs weakened, and he almost fainted on the spot.

This time he wasn't faking it, he was really about to collapse.

To put on a show, he had forcefully turned himself into a seriously injured person.

Just for this effect.

But after holding out until now, he could no longer endure.

"Can you still make it? I'll take you to the infirmary."

After Lisa calmed down, her gaze towards him had a rare hint of gentleness, her vermilion lips parting, "Why didn't you say so earlier? If you had waited any longer, something could have happened."

Mike waved his hand, "This is just a minor injury, nothing serious. After all, if I didn't contribute at all, I'm afraid I would be considered a deserter by some."

The departing Jack's footsteps paused momentarily, his expression extremely rigid.

Especially when Lieutenant Lisa gave him a cold, piercing stare.

Her gaze was as sharp as a blade.

Jack cursed under his breath and turned to leave.

After everyone had left, Lisa silently crouched down, supporting the young man's arm and taking a look at his injuries. In a flat tone, she said, "Aren't you afraid of the pain?"

Mike shook his head, "I'm used to it."

Lisa was not a cocoon breaker; she was someone who grew up in Ember.

She had undergone harsh training since childhood, receiving the education of the strong from the Duke family.

Your strength can be weak, but your bones cannot be soft.

Especially for the cocoon breakers, the lifestyle they had five hundred years ago was too comfortable, causing them to have a hard time adapting after coming to Ember, like delicate flowers in a greenhouse, fragile at the slightest touch.

But the resilience and tenacity this young man displayed were something she had never seen before.

The former Lisa had always envied the Knights of the Lionheart under her father's command.

Being able to lead those iron-blooded warriors was a great honor.

Now, Lisa also had excellent soldiers with such qualities under her command.

In the future, when they are fully trained, she can take them back and show them off to her father.

Lisa kept a stern expression and said in a serious tone, "Remember, you are a soldier under my command. If anyone dares to provoke you again, come back and tell me, and I'll shoot an arrow to kill him."

"Can you shoot Jack first?"

"Okay, Lieutenant. "

"Good, come, let's get you treated."