The banging and scraping on the sealed door sent chills down Xander’s spine. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted, however, and brought his radio up to speak.

  ”Do not come this way. I repeat, do not come toward the direct route to the sector border. There is a mutant beast of at least Rank 2. I repeat, there is a Beyonder level beast patrolling this route.” Xander was taking deep breaths to keep himself calm.

  While he had been in several hairy situations, even before his time in stasis, he had to admit that this one was much more jarring, and far more hazardous, than any he’d faced before.

  ”Understood. Stay where you are. Once we circle around, we’ll try to get to the primary forces via the roundabout way. If Gerome says we can, we’ll come back for you.” Tami’s voice crackled over the short-range radio. “Out of curiosity, what did you find?”

  Of course that’s what they’re most concerned with. He sighed and glanced at the wall filled with gene serums. “Gene serums meant to stabilize Gene-Mods and evolutionary breakthroughs. A few of them are specific to the Sage Empire’s evolutionary paths, but a couple general stabilizers. I think that this ruin was one of their research centers. Specifically for the purpose of stabilizing and modifying genetic sequencing and development.”

  By this point, the scraping on the door had stopped. But Xander knew better than to open it to check if the beast was gone.

  At the same time, he didn’t receive a response from the radio for a few minutes either. When he did, it wasn’t Tami that answered.

  ”What Rank do they go up to?”

  Laisa’s voice was cold, and Xander felt his entire body tense up. It was a familiar feeling, even as new as it was.

  The beast that had hunted I’m through the tunnels on their way to the failsafe exit invoked the same sensation. A feeling of absolute death that would come down on him like the hammer of god if he failed to give a satisfactory answer.

  ”Remnant, Alexander Mar, tell me what Rank do those serums effect!”

  For a moment he didn’t respond. His hand clenched repeatedly, and while he didn’t know why he was being called ‘Remnant’, he knew that it wasn’t in honor of his status.

  It sounded more like an insult than anything else.

  ”Captain Tami is the commanding officer according to the hierarchy established by Lady Elyria Wrathmor. I do not answer to you.” With that said, he switched his radio off and began examining the room in closer detail.

  He knew that what he had just done was most likely treasonous, but if Laisa was taking over like that, then Xander had some serious questions about her loyalty.

  Of course, he knew that he was also biased, since she wasn’t the most welcoming to his presence. But if she served a different master, then it would make sense as to why she didn’t like him.

  It also meant that he would need to go over the method she had given him to overcome some of the genetic instability he experienced.

  No one had spoken up though, so he hoped that it meant that he was fine.

  For now, I need to figure out what is going on out there, and whether there’s a way out of here. He examined the collapsed wall more closely.

  Seeing little to nothing that would help him, he turned to the rest of the room.

  There were all sorts of equipment meant to aid in synthesizing gene-mods successfully. The serums themselves were of such quality that they didn’t even need the heavy-duty medical tables that the Wrathmor Kingdom used in their genetic modifications.

  Something to investigate further for when I leave. Xander let his mind wander for a moment.

  He would need to be able to modify his genes on the fly in the future. As well as undergo the evolutionary process without help, after he left the Wrathmor Kingdom.

  For now, he knew that he needed to get to work at bringing the terminals in this room online. Then he would have the tools he needed to plot out a way to get out of here.

  —————

  Formund groaned from his position on the ground. His limbs were bent out of alignment but still flexed as he tried to move from where he laid prone. Laisa stood on top of him, her boots digging into his spine and causing the bones and plates to crack.

  The radio in her hands crackled with static. No signal was picked up, and she was currently separated from the others.

  ”Hmm… I guess I played my hand too quickly.” She whispered with her other hand tucked under her chin. “No matter. I’ll just have to hunt him down directly.”

  ”Gah!” Formund exclaimed in pain as she stepped off him. “You… who are you… really?”

  “That’s none of your concern. Just know that my lady isn’t the kind of person to stand for her lessers rising to positions that don’t belong to them.” She reached into her satchel, a vial filled with red liquid was removed. “It’s a shame that you served the wrong master. Your potential wasn’t terrible.”

  By this point she had moved several meters away, and Formund had risen to a knee. His breathing was heavy, and his face was scrunched into an expression of rage and pain. His back cracked as the bones slowly ground against each other.

  Unlike Xander, he didn’t have a healing factor that allowed him to get back up without issue. Something that Laisa was taking advantage of.

  ”You won’t get away with this betrayal!” Formund growled, but his eyes widened when they caught sight of the vial in Laisa’s hands. “No!”

  But Laisa ignored his panicked cry. Instead, she tossed the vial behind her, even as he turned to try and run away. But his injuries were too great. His joints creaked, and he was too slow to get anywhere before the vial crashed onto the floor.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  At the same time, Laisa dashed away, the walls became a blur as she shot down the corridors toward where she remembered their group’s temporary base was at.

  Just as an explosion rocked the ruins, and a burst of smoke and dust shot through the hallways behind her.

  Had she bothered to double check, she would’ve seen nothing more than a large crater shallowly denting the walls and floor. Cracks and other damage could be seen in addition to this, but the explosion was only as strong as a top tier Rank 2 mutant beasts full power. Not nearly strong enough to damage the walls of a facility that withstood Rank 3s and 4s in the past.

  All the same, she moved forward, confident that she would be able to track down her wayward teammates quickly, even if they had abandoned their base, and get the serums that Xander had discovered, before they could meet up with Gerome and the others.

  —————

  Tami’s breath was ragged, and her face was scrunched up into an expression of anger and despair as tears poked at the corners of her eyes.

  She had served under Lady Elyria for over a decade at this point, and while not everyone on her team was a veteran like she was, it still hurt to know that she had been betrayed like this.

  “Captain… captain, come in! Can… you—“ Her radio crackled every now and then, but she didn’t stop moving. She and the other group leader had set off on their own, given that they didn’t need numbers as much as the others did, so it was just her in the corridor she was in.

  “”Com-silence for now. The radios can be tracked. Divert from the straightforward route. Laisa is likely going for Xander first. We need to meet up with Gerome as soon as possible.” Given that Gerome was Rank 2, he was their group's only chance of surviving.

  While she couldn’t figure out how Laisa had managed to hide her evolutionary rank from them all, the fact that she hadn’t made any overt moves prior to this was enough for Tami to assume that Gerome was still at a higher rank.

  Turning past one more corner, Tami slid to a stop. In front of her was a structure that didn’t match the rest of the ruin. The sterile walls and dimly lit corridor were covered in a crystalline substance that looked like solidified motor oil.

  The slick black substance spread out like spider webs along the walls and across the corridor. It was a substance that she didn’t recognize but could interpret as belonging to an insectoid mutant species.

  Taking the risk, she brought up her radio once more. This time on an open frequency, rather than her team’s specific one. She quickly recorded a message and sent it out on repeat.

  “This is Captain Tami Lane, my squad mate, Laisa Yeal, has betrayed us. I repeat, this is Captain Tami Lane, my squad mate, Laisa Yeal, has betrayed us. To anyone that can hear this, we are at the bottom of a bug nest. I repeat, we are at the bottom of a bug nest… Good luck.”

  With that message sent, Tami knew that she couldn’t risk being tracked anymore.

  Taking off her radio, she turned it on and set it to make a continuous noise that would attract every mutant beasts that could hear it.

  It wasn’t much, but hopefully the distraction would divert some of the attention away from her, as she went deeper into the ruin. As for the other squad… she couldn’t afford to worry about them and their safety. Not with bugs and a traitor now gunning for her life.

  Leaving the radio at the crossroad where she encountered the webbing, her body shifted while she walked away. Her bones and joints cracked, and her face extended into a ghastly bestial visage.

  She lost several inches of height but gained several in solid girth. Then, like a bullet out of a gun, she fired off, far faster than when she had carried Xander. Yet as silently as a feather fluttering in the wind.

  The only noise left behind was that of her radio, and an echoing chitter and tapping of mandibles and carapace on metallic flooring.

  —————

  Knee deep in panels and wiring, Xander shook his head to clear his thoughts. While he wasn’t entirely certain what he was doing, he had recognized a surprising amount of the hardware that was in the room.

  It wasn’t even that intensive when it came to the knowledge that flowed through his mind. He had only had to stop and regenerate three times when blood started leaking from his eyes and nose.

  The information regarding ruin structures and their tech that was on his tablet also helped. He had referred to it more than a dozen times by this point.

  ”Well, that’s not good,” he muttered in response to the final message from Tami as two wires sparked together in his hands. “Finally! Let’s see what I can get off these computers.”

  With that said, Xander disentangled himself from the mess he made. He turned back to stare longing at the serum that his instincts were pulling him toward, but with a shake of his head he went to the monitor instead.

  Lights flickered on, and a basic interface system appeared.

  The language was straightforward, and the files were seemingly unrestricted for the moment. He was able to quickly get the information regarding his location and the layout of the ruins with ease. Including several hidden tunnels and vents that didn’t have standard access ports. For the moment, he put that information to the side but determined that that would be his most likely way out of here.

  ”Now that that’s settled, let’s see what you are.” Walking over to the serums once more, he took them off their rack and placed them onto a scanner on the table.

  Going for the one that was screaming at his instincts first, he waited as a dull thrum of machinery turned on. Within moments he was looking at the information regarding the gene-mod serum that was apparently a part of one of his evolutionary paths.

  ”The energy sac of the Luminescent Gulper Eel…” information regarding the gene-mod scrolled across the screen.

  The Luminescent Gulper Eel was a freshwater creature that lived in the underground tunnels and rivers that ran throughout the area of the world they were in. Apparently, there was an entire underground civilization that the Sage Empire had tried to contact but had failed due to the other’s xenophobia toward surface dwellers.

  Something he noted for later but moved on from for now.

  Luminescent Gulper Eels had the ability to contain massive amounts of food inside its spatially expanded stomach, as well as having the most efficient energy distribution system that the Sage Empire had ever seen in a biological life form.

  All at once, another one of the silhouettes that existed in his mind lit up. This one corresponded to the eel in front of him. From it, several more lines of light appeared in his subconscious mind.

  There was also something strange. Like a hint of something that was recorded on the terminal. Information regarding the genes he was searching for wasn’t immediately present and prevalent to the biological functions of lesser creatures like these.

  But that wasn’t the thing that surprised him the most. It was the fact that the line between the gecko of his first gene-mod and the eel gene-mod was nearly a dozen times thicker than the line between the gecko and that toad.

  ”It seems that this one has a significantly higher level of compatibility than the toad.” With that in mind, Xander began looking through more files, searching for the information regarding the other routes his evolutionary path could take.

  ”Warning! Specialized Authorization required access to these files. Please scan DNA signature for approval!”

  It was only after he had found what he thought he was looking for that he realized that the files were more secure than he had thought.

  A Slider with a needle extended from the terminal, and without hesitation, Xander placed his hand onto it, allowing it to take a sample of his blood.

  “Scanning… scanning… identity confirmed. Welcome back, Ancient consort and High General of the Sage Empire’s Dragon Warriors. Access granted. Message from most recent use of this terminal found on record, and programmed to play should you return. Would you like to hear this recording now?”

  For a moment, Xander froze as his thoughts raced and his heart rate increased.

  This was it. A chance to get some answers, not just from disjointed memories that he could only partially recall, but directly from his own mouth.

  Blinking his eyes, and settling in for whatever was to come, Xander hit play.

  A familiar figure appeared on the monitor. It was one he saw in the mirror every day.

  ”Hello me… if you’re listening to this, then it seems you’ve woken up in a time that is not your own.”