Kill to evolve: A system that demands blood
Chapter 40: Body and soul

Chapter 40: Body and soul

Chapter 40

Ronan’s heart raced, his jaw tightening as he turned back to face the man on the chair. His voice came out controlled, but there was a quiet, simmering anger beneath the surface. "What the hell is this?"

The man didn’t respond immediately. His head twitched, the faint hiss of tubes punctuating every shallow breath he took. His lips barely moved, but the voice that followed was cold, distorted, coming through a mechanical speaker above him.

"Progress..." The boss’s voice echoed through the room, flat and unnervingly calm.

Ronan’s gaze darkened, stepping closer despite the two guards flanking the room, their hands twitching toward their weapons. He ignored them, his attention entirely on the dying man in the chair.

"You call this progress?" Ronan asked, "You’re experimenting on people, keeping them in tanks like fish, hooked up like livestock."

The boss’s laugh crackled through the speaker, dry and almost amused. "You should at least ask for my name. This is our official first meeting isn’t it?"

Ronan took another step forward, fury flashing in his eyes. "To hell with your name." He snapped back. He had never expected the person responsible for all this mess to be a disabled man who’s life was barely hanging on.

The man’s laugh came again, slower this time, almost patronizing. "You’ve evolved, Ronan. I can see it. Your system’s much stronger now. Just as I hoped."

Ronan’s chest tightened. He hadn’t expected that. The weight of the man’s words settled in. "I know you think you lured me here, but I’ll tell you this, I came here on my own accord, while being perfectly aware of what could happen. So what now? Wanna treat me as your next lab rat?"

"No." The boss’s voice was colder now, a twisted satisfaction lingering beneath his words. "Not just a rat. A masterpiece. A perfect vessel. The others... are all prototypes."

Ronan turned slowly, his gaze sweeping across the tanks. The bodies inside were horrific—some with extra limbs, others with blackened skin or missing parts. Deformities of every kind, evidence of the cruel experiments that had taken place here. The sight sent a shiver through him.

"You did this to them..." Ronan’s voice dropped, thick with disgust.

"Some volunteered," the boss replied casually, as if it mattered little. "Most didn’t. It doesn’t matter now. You’re here. That’s what matters. You must already be aware of why i do what I do. To make the world’s strongest and Invincible system user my vessel."

Ronan’s fists clenched, his anger rising again. He stepped closer to the chair, voice low, seething. "You think you’re in control here?"

"I already am, Ronan." The boss’s voice was calm, almost smug. "I’m inside you. The system you hold, it’s built on the very tech I created."

Ronan’s heart slammed, the man he had spared last time had told him about this man being capable of controlling systems. Was that really true? He had to find out more.

"Liar," Ronan spat.... right now, he didn’t even know what the hell he was doing here, risking everything just to find out more about this damn system. He wasn’t sure if he could make it out in one piece after seeing the horrible sight before him.

"You’ll see it for yourself." The boss’s voice was too calm, and it was clear he meant every word. "Check your origin logs. You didn’t just ’awaken.’ You were chosen. The moment you stepped into Lab-06, I marked you."

The words lingered in the air, thick with implication. Ronan didn’t respond. The silence between them stretched, heavy and oppressive. His system remained stubbornly quiet. No confirmation, but nothing to contradict it either.

A moment passed, and the boss broke the silence again, his voice unnervingly calm. "Now, we test. Let’s see what happens when the final piece of the puzzle walks straight into the lab."

Suddenly, a crushing pressure gripped Ronan’s body, like invisible chains wrapped around every joint. His system sparked irregularly, flickering inside him like a flame deprived of oxygen. Movement was difficult. Pain bloomed in his temples. Something in this room—some force—was locking him down.

Then the boss’s voice echoed through the room, distorted and emotionless through the filtered speaker. "You should’ve realized sooner. You were always the key. My key."

Ronan tried to take another step, but his legs barely moved. His muscles strained against the suppression field, every movement feeling like he was pushing through wet cement.

And then the tanks behind him hissed.

One by one, their seals broke open, releasing pale steam that curled across the floor. Figures stepped out, slow and unsteady at first. Ronan turned his head, forcing himself to look, and he froze from the sight.

They all looked like him.

His breath caught in his throat.

Dozens of them. Different builds, different scars, but all with his face.

"No..." he whispered.

"Yes," the boss replied, voice laced with cruel satisfaction. "You weren’t created to be unique, Ronan. You were meant to be replicated, improved, weaponized."

The copies began moving. Unnatural, jerky. Their limbs bent like machines still learning how to walk. But their eyes... Ronan saw it in each of them. Awareness, hunger, purpose. These weren’t lifeless clones. They were versions of him, each carrying a piece of his system, or worse, a more refined one.

Ronan tried to use his ability, to do something to get him out of his bondage, but he felt weak and was unable go use any ability, non was working. The suppression field was working exactly as intended, bleeding the power from his system with every second.

"Try to fight it," the boss continued. "But your system’s been exposed to my influence for too long. Every upgrade you received? Every surge in strength? It all leads back to me. You’re evolving exactly how I designed."

His jaw tightened. Ronan felt the pressure building behind his eyes, the headache intensifying as the system inside him buzzed erratically, fighting itself, resisting his control.

"You want me to be your puppet?" he asked, voice low and strained.

"It’s not about being a puppet," the boss said coldly. "You’re already mine, both body and soul."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.