Chương 153: Chapter : 153

The reaction to the pure serum was instant and completely horrific. Augusto threw his head back and unleashed a deafening, demonic roar. His human body began to tear itself apart from the inside out. His bones cracked and elongated. His muscles bulged to a grotesque, massive size, tearing right through his white lab coat. His skin turned a sickly, glowing green, and thick, jagged spikes made of solid toxic radiation ripped out of his spine. He was mutating into a hulking, towering, highly dangerous demon.

The sheer output of dark magic in the room was skyrocketing, making the computers spark and short-circuit. Ken just stood there, looking profoundly annoyed by the entire situation.

"Why does every single bad guy in this city do the exact same thing?" Ken mumbled to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You start losing a fight, so you inject yourself with some glowing green juice and turn into a giant monster. It is such a tired cliché. I honestly do not want to look at another ugly specimen today. Let's just wrap this up so I can go find the others." Ken uncrossed his arms. He didn't get into a fighting stance. He just raised his right hand, his palm facing the ceiling of the control room. He didn't shout an attack name. He didn't yell. He just focused his mind.

A brilliant, blinding flash of pure white light illuminated the dark, metallic room. The light was so clean and so beautiful that it completely washed away the toxic green glow of Augusto's mutation. Floating gently in the air right above Ken's hand was a breathtaking, five-foot-tall bird. It looked like a majestic eagle or a phoenix, but it was not made of flesh and feathers. The bird was made entirely of pure, glowing, translucent crystal. It radiated a soft, humming energy that felt incredibly peaceful.

It was an absolute masterpiece of high-level magic. The mutating, hulking demon that used to be Augusto let out a furious, bubbling roar. It raised its massive, newly formed claws, preparing to charge across the room and smash Ken into the floorboards. Ken looked at the roaring monster. He looked up at his beautiful crystal bird. Then, Ken lazily snapped his fingers. Snap. The moment the sound echoed through the room, the magnificent, five-foot-tall crystal bird instantly exploded.

But it didn't explode into fire or smoke. The bird completely shattered into hundreds of thousands of microscopic, razor-sharp crystal blades. They were so small they looked like a sparkling cloud of glittering diamond dust. The cloud of microscopic blades moved with terrifying, completely unavoidable speed. They swarmed across the room like a tidal wave of glittering light. Before Augusto could even take a single step forward, the swarm of crystal blades completely engulfed his massive, mutating body.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The sound was absolutely chilling. It sounded like a million tiny pieces of glass grinding together. The razor-sharp microscopic crystals didn't just cut the monster. They shredded the demonic scientist at the absolute, literal molecular level. The thick, toxic armor, the bulging muscles, and the mutated bones were instantly, effortlessly vaporized. Augusto didn't even have time to finish his roar.

In less than a single second, the giant monster completely ceased to exist. The glittering cloud of crystal blades spun in the air one last time before simply dissolving into harmless white light and fading away into nothingness. The loud, chaotic control room went completely, totally silent. The humming computers had stopped. The roaring was gone. Ken lowered his hand and shoved it back into his pocket. He looked at the spot where the giant, ugly monster had been standing just a second ago.

There was absolutely no trace of Augusto left. The only thing remaining on the cold metal floor grids was a small, dark puddle of dark red liquid. Ken stared at the puddle. His face was completely flat, showing zero emotion and absolute boredom. He had just effortlessly annihilated one of the most dangerous, highly guarded masterminds in the entire capital city without breaking a single drop of sweat.

"Well, that takes care of the crazy scientist," Ken muttered lazily to himself, turning his back on the puddle of blood.

"Now I just need to figure out where he hid the glowing rock so I can get back to my team. I really hope Naomi didn't get too mad at me for running off." He slouched his shoulders forward, adjusting his crooked tie, and casually strolled out of the primary control room. The deadly showdown was officially over, and Ken was incredibly ready to find a quiet place to rest his eyes.

Leaving the messy, dark puddle of the defeated mad scientist behind him, Ken Eliot casually strolled down the final, heavily reinforced corridor of the underground bunker. He kept his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his tailored navy blue suit. He wasn't running, and he certainly wasn't sneaking. He just dragged his cheap shoes against the metal floor grids, letting out a long, highly exaggerated sigh that echoed through the quiet hallway.

"Honestly, this place is a total maze," Ken complained out loud to himself, looking at the endless rows of gray steel doors.

"Why do evil geniuses always build their secret bases underground? There is zero natural lighting down here. It is terrible for the mood. I just want to find the vault, put this glowing rock back where it belongs, and find a comfortable place to take a nap." At the very end of the long hallway stood a massive, incredibly thick pair of steel blast doors. These were the doors to the lowest, most secure subterranean vault in the entire facility.

Standing right in front of those massive doors was Augusto's chief assistant, O'Brian. O'Brian looked absolutely terrified. His clean, dark suit was completely wrinkled, and his hair was plastered to his forehead with nervous sweat. He was holding a heavy, high-tech magical rifle, but his hands were shaking so violently that the barrel of the gun was bouncing up and down.

He had heard the horrific, chaotic sounds of the battle echoing from the upper floors, and he knew that the entire facility was currently falling apart. When O'Brian saw Ken turn the corner, he immediately raised the heavy rifle and aimed it right at the boy's chest.

"S-stop right there!" O'Brian screamed, his voice cracking with pure, unfiltered panic.

"Don't take another step! This is a restricted area! The Doctor's vision will not be ruined by a messy, untucked intruder like you! I will shoot!" Ken stopped walking. He slouched his shoulders, letting his arms hang lazily by his sides. He looked at the trembling assistant, looked at the heavy magical rifle, and then let out a very tired, very loud groan.

"Look, man," Ken said casually, tilting his head to the side.

"It has been an incredibly long day. I have been yelled at, I got dragged on a terrible shopping trip, and I fell down a pitch-black elevator shaft. My social battery is completely empty right now. Can you just put the shiny gun down and step out of the way? I am really not in the mood for an intense conversation."