Triune: The broken path
Chapter 37: Death of specimen Z-10

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Death of specimen Z-10

"This is a rare concept. A powerful one. This is what our race needs to evolve. Start the extraction quickly," the female said excitedly as the others grinned.

Kael was barely holding on to consciousness when he heard this. His mind churned as he realized he might die here. But Kael wasn’t ready. No, he didn’t want to die. Yet, what could he do? He was nothing but a weakling.

Days passed, and every day, those beings extracted something from him, making him weaker and weaker. The mask connected to his face fed him essential nutrients to maintain his physical strength, but mentally, he was drained.

Kael truly experienced what it meant to be an ant. What it felt like to be a guinea pig under experiment. Every time his concept was absorbed, he felt a part of himself dissipating—it was agonizing.

Days turned into weeks, and finally, after a month, Kael was nothing but skin and bones when he heard a sigh of relief.

"Finally... we did it. We can integrate the concept into our genes and advance on the path of genetic power," the female said as she looked at a being in a cage. This was one of their own—one who had volunteered... or at least thought he had.

During this month, Kael had seen at least a hundred members of this race taken for experimentation. They had tried to introduce concepts into their genes, and every single one of them had died in the most gruesome ways. Some exploded, others’ bodies decomposed from the inside out. But Kael guessed this was the price a race had to pay to evolve.

It made him wonder... would humanity do this? Would they go this far to make their race stronger? Would they kill one to save millions?

What was the true value of a life?

Remembering how fragile human hearts were, Kael chuckled. Humans would protest against this. They would try to stop it. But let’s be honest—eight billion lives... would it not be acceptable to kill ten thousand to save the rest?

The logical answer was yes. Yet, people would still disagree. Would they rather see their entire race perish?

And then, there were those who could see beyond emotions. They would agree with Kael. Sacrificing ten thousand to save billions was worth it. But the real question was—if you were one of those ten thousand, would you still agree?

Humans were such funny creatures. They expected others to lay down their lives for them, yet they wouldn’t do the same.

A pathetic race.

And yet, even their governments conducted secret experiments. How ironic.

But the truth was—no matter how tired of life people were, no one actually wanted to die. Including Kael. He wanted to live.

On the other side, the female scientist smiled as she looked at the stats of the lone survivor.

For Specimen Z-10, only one hundred lives were lost. But they had experimented before—tens of thousands had died in their earlier attempts. No regrets, though. After all, this was a chance to fight in the Realm of War.

Did they realize what this meant?

Their race wouldn’t disappear. There would be continuation.

"Hahaha, well done, Miss Sujikn! You are one in a billion!" an old male scientist praised with a smile.

"Haha, if I’m that, then what do you have to say about our young miss? Now that this has worked, let’s observe him. Then, we’ll use the last and most effective concept remaining. She will be the wielder of nothingness—the one who will lead our race into the future!" Sujikn said with a smile, and the rest of the scientists nodded, grinning.

"Haha... I can’t die... I won’t," Kael thought, rage burning within him. But I am curious... let me see the so-called talent of this race. In the future, I will crush her with my own hands.

Darkness swallowed his consciousness.

********

Time passed.

Kael heard murmurs. He opened his eyes.

The scientists were gone. Now, he could see people dressed like doctors. They were checking on someone beside him, smiling.

"It is done. Her vitals are stable. Call Miss Sujikn," one of the doctors said.

Kael turned to his left.

There she was—a peerless beauty sleeping peacefully.

All-Seer...

Name: ???

Rank: Genetic Supreme

Concept: Nothingness

Ability: Hollow – Feeds off living beings’ emotions to grow stronger.

Good... good... Kael grinned as anger swelled within him.

Did this mean his concept was gone?!

All-Seer...

Name: Kael

Rank: Awakener (Middle Stage)

Concept: Void, Chaos, Nothingness

Ability: All-Seer, Chaos Body...

Status: Weak – Close to Death...

"Huh... how?" Kael thought. Is it because I have three concepts? Or did their technology fail to extract everything? Now that I think about it, they never discovered my other two concepts at all.

His body was getting weaker.

There was nothing he could do. Energy drained from him. His flesh withered, bones becoming more pronounced.

His intelligence was useless. His strength was meaningless.

Without power, what was intelligence worth?

"I just hope... I make it out," Kael muttered, his vision darkening.

"Miss Sujikn... Specimen Z-10 is dead," a doctor hurriedly reported.

"Haha, so what? His usefulness is gone. Dispose of him at the regular site," Sujikn said dismissively. The doctor nodded.

************

On a bed, a finger twitched.

A pair of eyes opened.

"Miss Riya is awake!" a guard said happily as doctors and scientists rushed to the bed near Specimen Z-10.

Riya’s eyes fluttered open. She stared at the dim ceiling lights, hearing murmurs around her.

"Miss Riya, how are you feeling?" a feminine voice asked.

Riya turned her head.

There she was—Miss Sujikn, the most talented scientist of their race.

"I... I think I’m fine," Riya said as she gripped the bed handle.

And then, something incredible happened.

The bed handle disintegrated, vanishing into nothingness.

Everyone stared in shock.

"It... it disappeared?" someone gasped.

"It turned into nothingness," Sujikn said with a triumphant smile.

"It worked...?" Riya muttered in shock, staring at her hands and the destruction she had caused.

"It did! Hahaha! Go and dispose of Specimen Z-10. Why are you still standing here?" Sujikn ordered a nearby guard. The guard hurriedly left, still stunned by the success of the experiment.

Riya glanced at the bed beside her, where a small child had been reduced to nothing but bones. She only spared it a brief look before turning her attention back to what had just happened.

"Everyone, step back. Miss Riya cannot control her strength yet, so she needs to be taken to the testing center," Sujikn announced. The scientists nodded and guided Riya toward a specially prepared room.

Once inside, Riya hesitated before daring to touch something again.

"How long do you think it will take for Miss Riya to control her concept?" one of the scientists asked.

"Probably a week or less... Let’s just observe," Sujikn replied with a grin.

The scientists watched through a reinforced glass panel as Riya reached for an object.

Puff!

The item vanished into nothingness. Riya froze, examining her hand and the space where the object had once been. She focused, trying to understand the sensation coursing through her.

She continued testing, but everything she touched disintegrated. However, the scientists smiled. Each time, the speed at which things dissolved had noticeably slowed.

"The one who will lead our race to a greater future indeed," a scientist remarked, and the others nodded in agreement.

Finally, Riya picked up a stiff object, and this time—it didn’t disintegrate.

"She only took an hour... A genius!" someone gasped in shock.

Sujikn smirked. "Fascinating... So this is the power of Nothingness."

After Riya’s success, Sujikn and the others became bolder in their experiments. More breakthroughs followed, even as their test subjects continued to die. But they didn’t care. With genetics and concepts merged, they were confident—this power would allow them to succeed in the Realm of War.

Or so they believed.

"Nothingness..." Riya whispered.

At once, the dozens of beings around her fell silent. Their eyes dulled, their bodies limp—lifeless.

"Incredible," Sujikn murmured, watching in awe. "She grows stronger by drawing out all emotions from a being... If we hadn’t acted fast, the humans would have gained a powerhouse. But now, our race has it—the key to unlocking our success!"

She had never been this happy before, never smiled this much. This was beyond extraordinary.

"Do you think she can face the space-time girl from that race?" the old male scientist asked, his tone cautious.

Sujikn frowned slightly. "There’s no doubt that Nothingness is powerful—one of the strongest concepts. But that girl possesses two dangerous concepts: Space and Time. And now that they’ve merged into a single entity—Space-Time—it’s no longer a mere three-dimensional ability, but a four-dimensional one. That gives her an immense advantage.

However, Nothingness isn’t limited by dimensions. It’s difficult to say who would win. It all depends on their level of understanding."

The old scientist nodded thoughtfully.

"But," Sujikn added with a grin, "she has a fair chance."

Riya moved toward the lifeless beings, touching each of their heads. Instantly, they disintegrated into nothingness.

"Delicious... I want more," Riya thought, her eyes gleaming with hunger. "I can’t wait to meet the other Awakeners... and even more—those forbidden beings of the Taboo Sequence. Hehehe..."

*******************†*********************†***************

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