Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 36: : Playing with Fire

Chapter 36: : Playing with Fire

Ava woke up instantly.

No grogginess. No slow drift between sleep and reality.

Just awareness.

Because something was wrong.

Her instincts kicked in before her thoughts did.

Someone was watching her.

Her fingers twitched toward the knife under her pillow—

Golden eyes.

She froze.

Lucas Bai was sitting in the chair across the room, completely relaxed. One leg crossed over the other, arms draped casually over the chair, his expression utterly unbothered.

He smirked. "Morning, Beauty."

Ava’s pulse pounded."Why—are you watching me sleep?"

Lucas chuckled. "You’re in my apartment. I like knowing what’s happening in my space."

Ava scowled, sitting up. "That doesn’t answer the question."

Lucas tilted his head. "I was thinking."

Ava ran a hand through her hair, exhaling sharply. "Thinking. While staring at me."

Lucas grinned. "You should take it as a compliment. I don’t waste time watching unimportant things."

Ava narrowed her eyes. "That’s not a compliment."

Lucas leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.

"You’ve got a lot to do today." His golden eyes gleamed. "So I figured I’d let you sleep in. Until now."

Ava muttered a curse under her breath, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "How generous."

Lucas chuckled, tossing something her way.

She caught it out of reflex. A protein bar.

"Eat." Lucas leaned against the doorframe, golden eyes glinting. "We have our auction prize to open."

Ava sighed, tearing the wrapper open with her teeth. "The mystery case?"

Lucas nodded. "Time to see if we wasted our money."

Ava took a slow bite, chewing as she reached for her bag.

"You wasted your money."

Lucas walked toward the table where the case sat waiting.

"Well, hurry up. I’d like to know if I wasted my money before dinner."

Ava rolled her eyes, but she was already reaching for her bag.

She pulled out her tools—precision-grade, high-efficiency, the kind of equipment people in this bunker would kill for.

A high-grade multi-tool set.

An Advanced Soldering Kit.

A Micro-Welding Set.

Lucas glanced at the equipment, then at her. "You always carry that around?"

Ava arched a brow. "You don’t?"

Lucas smirked. "Touché."

She stepped forward, brushing past him to set up her workspace.

The case itself was military-grade—heavy, reinforced, built to withstand impact. Whoever had dumped it had expected it to stay buried.

Ava ran her fingers over the seam of the lock, her system flickering to life.

[SCANNING CONTAINER...]

[SECURITY MEASURES: ACTIVE]

[LOCK TYPE: BIOMETRIC + CODED FAILSAFE]

[OVERRIDE AVAILABLE]

Lucas tilted his head. "Well?"

Ava exhaled. "Give me a minute. I need to bypass the failsafe."

Lucas grinned. "Take your time. I’ll be over here, counting how much money I’ll lose if you fry it."

Ava shot him a flat look. "Helpful."

He smirked, but didn’t say anything else.

Ava rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

A few careful adjustments. A precise bypass. A flicker of light as her system processed the override.

Then—the lock clicked open.

Ava inhaled slowly.

Lucas leaned in, golden eyes sharp. "Moment of truth, Beauty."

Ava exhaled.

And cracked the case open.

The lid lifted with a soft hiss, releasing air that had been sealed inside for who knew how long.

Ava expected tech. Maybe encrypted drives, maybe old schematics—something valuable.

But the second she saw what was inside, her stomach tightened.

Not tech.

Vials.

Rows of them, perfectly preserved, cushioned in dense foam, different colors but all unnervingly pristine.

Beside them, a sealed folder. Thick, heavy, untouched.

Lucas let out a low whistle. "Well, well, Beauty. Looks like we found something fun."

Ava’s jaw locked. "Bai, shut up."

Lucas didn’t. Instead, he reached in, plucking a vial from its slot, rolling it between his fingers.

His smirk faltered.

Ava caught it. The slight shift in his posture, the way his usual ease sharpened into something colder.

"You recognize this?" she asked, voice even.

Lucas didn’t answer right away.

Which meant yes.

Ava reached for the folder, tearing the seal open. Pages slid out, dense with classified reports, test logs, numbers that didn’t make sense—until they did.

Her blood went cold.

Lucas peered over her shoulder, golden eyes scanning the pages. Then—he stilled.

His smirk was completely gone now.

Ava’s voice was barely above a whisper. "Project Eden."

Lucas’s fingers tightened slightly around the vial.

Ava look at him sharply,"You’ve heard of it."

"Only in theories. Rumors. About experiments from bunkers that didn’t survive the first collapse."

Lucas flipped to another page, scanning quickly.

Then—he clicked his tongue, tossing the folder onto the table.

"Well, Beauty. Looks like it wasn’t just rumors."

Ava exhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the table.

This was a disaster.

Lucas Bai wasn’t an idiot.

He knew exactly what kind of game-changing, world-breaking leverage they had just uncovered.

And that was why—without hesitation—

He grabbed a handful of the vials.

Ava’s stomach dropped. "Bai. No."

Lucas just smirked, rolling one between his fingers. The liquid inside shifted under the dim light—dark red, almost alive.

"Beauty," he murmured, "why would I leave something this valuable behind?"

Ava’s pulse jumped. "Because it’s a terrible idea?"

Lucas ignored her, inspecting the vial with genuine curiosity. "Imagine what someone would pay for this."

Ava’s jaw locked. "That’s the problem."

Lucas met her gaze, golden eyes gleaming.

"Which is exactly why I’m keeping them."

Ava took a slow, measured breath. "You don’t even know what they do."

Lucas’s smirk widened. "Then I guess we have some experimenting to do."

Ava swore under her breath.

Because she knew Lucas Bai.

And the second he decided something had value?

He wouldn’t just trade it.

He’d use it.

Ava had seen Lucas Bai do a lot of reckless things.

But this?

This was insanity.

She watched in horrified disbelief as Lucas held up one of the vials, inspecting it like it was some rare collector’s item instead of a potentially lethal biochemical experiment.

"Bai," she hissed, stepping forward. "Put it down."

Lucas twirled the vial between his fingers. "Relax, Beauty."

Ava gritted her teeth. "No. You do not get to tell me to relax when you’re about to—"

She cut herself off, because Lucas was already uncorking the vial.

Oh, hell no.

Ava lunged, but Lucas moved first.

He tipped the vial back—and drank.

Ava swore. "You absolute—"

Then he staggered.

Ava was at his side instantly. "Bai!"

Lucas caught himself against the table, golden eyes wide—pupils dilating, body trembling.

His breath hitched. His fingers dug into the wood.

Ava grabbed his wrist, scanning him immediately.

[SCANNING TARGET...]

[SYSTEM RESPONSE: UNKNOWN STIMULANT DETECTED]

[BIOLOGICAL STRESS LEVELS: RISING]

[NEURAL ACTIVITY: ACCELERATED]

Ava’s blood ran cold.

Lucas’s breath caught—

And then, suddenly, he laughed.

Ava froze.

Because when Lucas lifted his head, his golden eyes weren’t just golden anymore.

They were burning.

Like molten metal.

Like something waking up inside him.

Lucas exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers. Then—he grinned.

"Oh," he murmured, voice like silk. "That’s interesting."

Ava’s mind raced.

Lucas was still standing.

No—more than standing.

He looked fine. Too fine.

His breathing had already steadied, his golden eyes still glowing with something unnatural. His hand—where his fingers had clenched too hard against the table—had left faint cracks in the wood.

And when he lifted his arm and dragged a knife across his palm—

His wound healed instantly.

Not just fast.

Instant.

Ava’s stomach dropped.

"That’s not normal," she murmured.

Lucas examined his hand with mild curiosity, then turned to her and smirked. "Beauty, I don’t think I’ve ever been normal."

Ava ignored the way her pulse jumped. "Do that again."

Lucas arched a brow. "What, cut myself?"

"Yes."

Lucas chuckled but obliged, slicing his palm again—a clean, deep cut.

Ava watched closely.

Within seconds, the skin stitched back together.

This wasn’t Shifter regeneration.

It wasn’t Mutant healing.

This was something else entirely.

Something impossible.

Ava’s Blueprint System flared, running automatic diagnostics.

[SCANNING BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE...]

[ACCELERATED CELLULAR REPAIR]

[HEALING RATE: ANOMALOUS]

[FOREIGN COMPOUND DETECTED IN BLOODSTREAM]

Ava’s breath caught.

Lucas’s system was changing.

And now—he was watching her.

Reading her.

Then, without a word, Lucas took an empty vial, sliced his palm one last time, and let his blood drip into it.

Ava stared.

Lucas held the vial up, swirling the deep red liquid, eyes gleaming.

"You’re next, Beauty."

Ava’s fingers twitched. "I didn’t agree to this."

Lucas smirked. "And yet, you haven’t walked away."

Ava hated that he was right.

Because her Blueprint System was already analyzing the vial.

[SCANNING COMPOUND...]

[FOREIGN STIMULANT DETECTED]

[EFFECTS: ENHANCED SYSTEM PROCESSING, REGENERATION BOOST]

[WARNING: TRACEABLE SIGNATURE PRESENT]

[TRACKING MARKER DETECTED – SOURCE: LUCAS BAI]

Ava’s stomach twisted.

Tracking.

Lucas’s blood was now part of the compound.

Which meant if she took it—he’d be able to track her.

She exhaled sharply. "You knew about this."

Lucas tilted his head. "I suspected."

Ava clenched her jaw. "Bai, this is—"

Lucas stepped closer, voice smooth. Dangerous.

"You wanted to know what it does, Beauty?" His golden eyes gleamed. "Then drink."

Ava’s pulse pounded.

Because she knew.

The second she took this—things wouldn’t be the same.

But that had never stopped her before.

Ava grabbed the vial.

And drank.