Chapter 157: Fatal Flaw

"That's fine, then it's him." Old Luo hammered the decision.

Pluto, the Federal's highest-security prison——"Pluto Prison".

Here are imprisoned the most heinous criminals since the Federal's founding.

In the special alloy isolation chamber deep within the prison, Beckman was firmly strapped to a metal bed, his limbs and head locked in heavy restraints.

He gazed at the scientists in white protective suits and the soldiers in steel battle armor, his eyes showing no fear, only beast-like ferocity and mockery.

"A bunch of cowards," he growled in a hoarse voice, "if you've got the guts, give me a quick death—what's the point of all this fuss?"

The warden, behind blast-proof glass, stared at him coldly:

"Beckman, you should have been executed a week ago. Now the Federal gives you a chance, a chance to make a final contribution to human civilization."

"Contribution?"

Hearing that, Beckman burst into mad laughter, "My only contribution to humanity is killing more hypocrites like you!"

The warden no longer wasted words on him, respectfully telling Doctor Liang beside him:

"Doctor, you may begin."

A researcher entered, carrying a metal tray.

On the tray was the 【Super Nerve Gene】 serum emitting a faint purple fluorescence.

The cold needle pierced Beckman's arm.

The purple liquid was slowly injected into his body.

"Ahhh——!"

As the serum entered his body, Beckman let out a heart-rending scream.

He felt as if molten magma had been poured into his body—every blood vessel, every nerve, every cell burning, tearing, and reorganizing.

His muscles began to spasm uncontrollably; the blood vessels under his skin twisted and writhed like small snakes, and blood seeped from his eyes, nose, and ears.

The data on the monitoring instruments went berserk, alarms blaring in unison.

"Vital signs extremely unstable! Heart rate over three hundred!"

"Abnormal brainwave activity! Gamma frequency has exceeded measurement limits!"

"Warning! Warning! High-energy reaction detected inside the target!"

"He... he's about to die!"

A young scientist stared at the nearly off-the-charts physiological data on the screen, voice trembling.

"Wait a bit longer!"

Liang Zhiyuan stared fixedly at the data, his eyes flashing with a light woven from reason and madness, "This is a normal reaction of gene recombination! As long as he holds on..."

At that moment, Beckman's scream cut off abruptly.

He stopped twitching, lay silently on the metal bed, as if dead.

All the instrument readings, at that moment, strangely dropped to zero.

"Has it failed?" someone muttered.

But the next second, an anomaly erupted!

"Crack—"

A clear metallic breaking sound rang out.

The special titanium-alloy restraints binding Beckman's wrists twisted and snapped of their own accord!

Then came a second sound, a third...

Under everyone's horrified gaze, Beckman slowly sat up from the bed.

He lowered his head, his expression unreadable.

But an invisible, suffocating pressure instantly enveloped the entire isolation chamber.

He lifted his head.

What kind of eyes were those?

Inside them lay no human emotion—only pure, chaotic, violent madness.

"Power..."

He bared his mouth, revealing teeth stained red with blood, his voice hoarse and distorted, "This is... the power of a god!"

Before his words faded, he merely lifted his hand slightly.

"Bang!"

The blast-proof glass of the isolation chamber instantly turned to powder before everyone's eyes!

An invisible massive force exploded outward from Beckman as its center, hurling all the precision instruments in the room violently toward the walls!

"Quick! Activate the Energy Shield!"

At that critical moment, Doctor Liang Zhiyuan let out a hoarse, exhausted roar.

"Hum—"

A pale blue energy curtain instantly unfolded before the observation window of the control room, barely blocking that violent shockwave.

Inside the isolation chamber, Beckman floated midair, visible air vortices swirling around his body.

He laughed madly, reveling in this unprecedented sense of power.

He hated this world, hated every person who had imprisoned him here.

Now he had obtained the power for revenge.

"Die! All of you, go die!"

Beckman shoved both hands forward violently.

An alloy experimental table inside the isolation chamber was crushed by an invisible force into a lump, turned into a deadly cannonball, and slammed hard into that pale blue Energy Shield.

「Boom! 」

The shield flickered violently, sending ripples across its surface, but it ultimately held.

「Activate the highest-level defense protocol! The target has completely lost control; authorize the use of lethal force! 」

The prison warden's icy voice echoed through the entire detention block via the intercom.

No sooner had his words fallen than several pitch-black gun barrels protruded from the solid walls and ceiling of the isolation chamber.

Beikeman's face changed; he sensed a deadly threat.

He tried to twist those gun barrels with his newly awakened telekinesis, but his power was still too raw and chaotic to achieve such fine control.

The next second, several scorching energy beams shot out from different angles simultaneously, weaving a net of death that instantly engulfed Beikeman.

There was no scream, no struggle.

In the face of absolute, overwhelming firepower, Beikeman and his newly awakened, not-yet-unleashed terrifying power turned to ash together.

After the energy beams faded, only a pool of molten metal and charred scars remained in the isolation chamber.

In the control room, there was utter silence.

The young scientists slumped to the ground, gasping heavily, their faces etched with fear.

Doctor Liang Zhiyuan stared fixedly at the last remaining data on the central screen, his face grim.

「Success, but also failure. 」 he muttered.

The serum had been created, but its user had turned into an uncontrollable monster.

……

Blue Star.

Lu Lao and the others watched the complete video feed from Pluto Prison with grave expressions.

When the frame froze on the image of Beikeman being instantly vaporized by the energy beams, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew oppressive to the extreme.

「It seems the serum still has major flaws; it amplifies all the darkness and violence within Beikeman, turning him into a pure destroyer. 」

「This is just one Beikeman, 」 Cheng Haitang said, her face paling. 「If our two‑billion‑strong army were injected with this serum, the consequences are unimaginable. 」

That wouldn't be an army; it would be two billion potential time‑bomb psychopaths.

Lu Lao said nothing; he simply stared at the light‑purple depiction of the serum on the screen, lost in thought.

「I thought our scientists could handle all this without system optimization, but now I see they cannot. 」

After a long while, he finally spoke:

The power of superhuman abilities is beyond doubt; our soldiers must also master it, for when facing that interstellar empire, we would gain a crucial trump card.

Several people instantly understood Lu Lao's meaning; their gazes converged on Qin Hao without prior agreement.

「Xiao Qin, trouble you again. 」 Lu Lao said.

「Leave it to me. 」

The tension in the meeting room instantly eased.

It seemed that as long as Qin Hao stepped forward, any great difficulty would be readily solved.