Protagonist? Antagonist? I Reject Both

Leon and Lucien standing at the edge of the cave, looked ahead and saw distinct layers of rocks and cliffs. A few steps ahead, Leon saw a rusty metallic chain extending downward.

There were signs of mining on rocky ridges. There was also the smell of rusty metal coming from the rocks due to their rich iron content.

'It seems that this place used to be an iron mine previously.'

Muttering inwardly, he stepped forward but halted, noticing something amiss.

Leon then turned around abruptly and saw Lucien standing at the entrance with a slight hesitation on his face.

"What happened kid? Why are day dilling and wasting time now?"

Lucien felt a bit uncomfortable and fidgeting his finger, he answered shyly.

"I think I shouldn't go in there."

"Why? "Leon tilted his head in a confused expression.

"This is an opportunity founded by you Brother, I don't think it would be good for me to go in. Moreover, I already have been delayed. And according to the map, the Lost Jewel is a few kilometers away from here. I should hurry as there might be many people who are into that thing."

Leon paused for a moment seeing the kids using some brain for the first time.

If not for meeting this kid, Leon wouldn't have remembered that there used to be protagonists who were kind and had their principles before the market was filled with shameless jack-of-all-trades.

Society had changed from people wanting to see a hero of justice which was nearly impossible to a violent hero and a bit evil that seems more realistic.

The reason Leon led him here was to test him. Who knows if this guy is shrewd and has plans of his own and all of this is just an act? Fortunately, his worries didn't come true.

Leon with a dry smile walked forward and patted Lucien's head with a smile.

"Lucien, I understand that you have a huge burden on your shoulders. I don't think I can understand your feelings nor I might be much of a help on your path of bitter struggle but in this power struggle to find Lost Jewel, I promise to lend you a hand."

Lucien's eyes widened and his expression radiated a mix of relief and gratitude. The moment he was protected, he had always found a newfound security with this man.

He knew it was not wise to trust a random stranger but with injury and hunger gnawing at him and death haunting him, his heart longed for someone…..

Someone to protect him, help him, and provide him a sense of belonging. And at his lowest, as he found someone extending a hand, he couldn't help but lunge forward to grab it tightly.

"Brat, stop being a crybaby now and get the hell out of here."Leon cursed and kicked the guy's butt.

"Hmm!" Lucien nodded and turned to leave.

"Brother, will you help me? "Lucien asked again for assurance looking at the gray-haired Leon.

"I will," Leon nodded.

If his hunch was correct, he would also benefit greatly soon.

After Lucien left, Leon pulled out a flaming torch and scaled down the rocky cliff where the sunlight disappeared.

After descending for a few minutes, he arrived on the ground with a thud.

Sweeping the area, Leon found himself in a metallic corridor. There were reinforced concrete structures everywhere and walls were covered in rust.

Leon pointed his torch around and after a few steps, he raised it above.

"What th…"

His heart almost came out from his throat seeing the dense red light covering the entire roof emitted by the eye of an unknown insect.

It had the body of a cockroach, but the legs of a spider. As for the head, it's better if he doesn't talk about it.

"Let's just take the thing quickly and run. This place is so spooky. "Leon muttered to calm his pulse that had been running wildly.

But after a few minutes, he almost screamed again seeing a dark visage through a wide-open door.

"Is this a place of treasure or a haunted ghost house?"

As he raised his torch, the faint shimmering light fell on a figure lying in a cage with hands and feet shackled.

It has elongated hands, long gnarly nails, and legs with 7 toes. It had no skin but a red layer of muscles that were rotting and filled with various kinds of wriggling worms.

It had a small neck and its eyes were hollow, probably dead and rotting but the sockets were a bit too huge for a human.

"Thank God! It's dead. I don't want to fight such an ugly guy."Leon wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Leon sucked in the cold air and scanned the layout of the room. It seemed to be an experiment lab with a room filled with broken medical capsules.

Leon searched for anything useful but finding none, he just followed the golden trail. Eventually, he reached the end of the room.

It was a gigantic lab with machines and medical equipment lying everywhere. The dust was stirred by Leon's movement and a pungent rotting smell filled his nose.

At one end of the corner, lay a bed over which there was a dried shriveled corpse laid covered in dust.

There was a small dusty gun laid beside him along with a dairy in his hands.

With a slight nudge, Leon attempted to pull out the dairy but in doing so, the corpse's hand dislocated and fell to the other side and turned into dust.

"Believe me. I didn't mean that."Leon apologized and flicked open the dairy, emitting a layer of dust clouds.

[August 8, Year,3120 Finally, I have gained a Ph.D. in Biotechnology of Human Genetics. I have already applied for a grant and have been waiting for funding.]

[September 20, Year,3120, My research has been approved. My aim to lower the gap between cultivators and normal humans has begun in earnest. Superhuman can never be compared to Cultivator so instead of making humans gain a superpower, I want to tap into genetics and improve overall aspects as in the end humans are 99.99% the same at the DNA level.]

[November 1, Year 3120, The lab rat showed signs of overall improvement. The effect exceeded my expectations]

[November 4, Year 3120, Failure..It was a failure, the rat died. Its brain is dead due to the inability to control the rhythm of enhanced organs. I am disappointed but I won't give up.]

[November 12, Year 3120 The rat survived but its overall life span decreased. The side effects were quite severe as it lost its ability to reproduce. I need to find a way to break through.]

[....]

[.....]

Leon skimmed through pages that recorded things in quite great detail and paused.

"Ohh!" Leon stared at the pages with curiosity.

[April 4, 3125. I am forced to carry out the clinical trials. The chances of death were quite high so I refused but the Federation was desperate. In the end, it was a compromise and the lab experiment consisted of humans who were already on death bed.]

[August 12, 3127. The experiment showed clear signs of progress but I feel that I am being closely monitored.]

There was no date on the next page and it was filled with writing of despair and anguish expressing the feelings the man went through.

[it's shit. All of them are fucking pieces of shit. I thought they were looking forward to evolution but who knew that had such shady plans. They wanted to use this to make people slaves. The families wanted to restrict it and use it to do their bidding to gain superiority creating a group of ass-licking dogs and I am powerless.]

[Those fucking Rothschild, Kim, Patel, Greymore, Johnson we're core that advocated this but I can't accept their demands.]

[No, I can't let this thing fall into their hands. I don't want my life research to be used like this. I will leave. With this research, I will go into hiding. I won't let this fall into their hands. I will destroy all the trial data….I won't let this thing which should salvage humans be used as plaything for the families. I will erase everything and leave.]

There were more entries but Leon stopped reading and walked toward the table over which lay a black suitcase. He then flipped the suitcase over where there was a vial of tubes.

Leon smiled with a heavy breath."Finally, I found my salvation."

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