#054. The Test Subjects are Too Kind (1)

#054. The Test Subjects are Too Kind (1)

Ronove’s secret laboratory.

Much like the hidden research facility beneath the abandoned Sodom Village mine, Ronove’s laboratory was invariably concealed near a dungeon.

Once the experiments were complete and the dungeon had served its purpose, he would lure in other monsters from the outside, effectively blocking external access before calmly abandoning the facility.

He wouldn’t bat an eye, even if these dungeons, born in this fashion, threatened villages, entire cities.

He had already reaped all the benefits he could from them.

The suffering of those left behind was of no consequence to him.

* * *

After entrusting the village’s defense to Diego’s party, Theresa Clan led the bulk of Sodom Village’s strength, including Maria’s and Dapri’s parties.

“Can you really trust us with this?”

“You are a mercenary capable of discerning a ‘profitable transaction.’ I trust you understand how unprofitable it would be to lose this village, so painstakingly defended by Ian, myself, and everyone else.”

“Hmph. You know me well. I was merely surprised. I won’t let that trust be misplaced. We’ll wipe them all out.”

While Diego’s party took charge of Sodom Village’s defenses, we set off for the illegal experimentation site, guided by Pinky’s subordinate, Subrea.

“Originally, there would have been checkpoints and countless annoyances along the way, but thanks to the destruction of the neighboring villages, the path is clear. It’s the aftermath of the monster wave.”

The monsters, even after returning home, continued to be helpful.

Thanks to this, we encountered no humans, save for a few skirmishes with wandering monsters who’d lost their habitats.

“They look like ordinary warehouses on the surface.”

“But the security is excessive.”

Nina, with the keen eyes of an archer, and Dapri, the black frog beastman leader, meticulously surveyed the guards’ patrol routes and cycles.

“Roughly forty guards.”

“And their focus is reversed.”

“Reversed?”

“They aren’t guarding against external intrusion, but rather preventing escape from within.”

“If Subrea’s location information was accurate, the rest of her intel should also be reliable.”

Subrea hadn’t simply provided location data.

She had revealed Ronove’s plan to destroy the logistics terminal, the hub for all the goods he shipped throughout Westwood.

Warehouses filled with monster eggs that should never have been stored there, boxes containing mediums to summon denizens of the Underworld, and waste mana gas canisters rigged to release their contents automatically after a set time.

The risks were many.

So many, in fact, that even with Theresa Clan’s considerable strength, I worried it might not be enough.

“Ian… perhaps we should turn back now? I don’t think I can guarantee anyone’s safety inside.”

Gorgon hated to show weakness, but seeing such heavy security and the gravity of the situation, he couldn’t help but express his concerns.

“If you are worried about safety, distancing yourself from Mother would be more dangerous. The attacks targeting our family continue, after all.”

“Ian is right. If you’re concerned about the troublesome things we need to stop, trust in Maria’s party. We’ll show you the true worth of Sodom Guild’s fastest dream team!”

While our defensive capabilities were strong, Dapri’s black frog beastman unit drew aggro, and Theresa Clan forced a breakthrough. There was no one who could stop them.

Maria’s party was assigned to locate and remove the dungeon-ification triggers planted throughout the warehouses.

Their mana detection abilities, typically used to identify heretics, proved unexpectedly effective at detecting foreign substances.

“This way! Ian, Anna, hold on tight!”

“Eek!”

“Anna, stay still.”

Clinging to Nina’s back, my gaze naturally drifted to the centaur’s upper half – specifically, the human half.

I could see the marks where she’d bound her ample chest beneath her bra, likely to avoid any interference with her aim.

“Lookie, Oppa, look!”

“Hngyat?!”

Anna tugged at Nina’s bra, and Nina reacted with a startled whinny, like a horse having its reins yanked.

“She’s starting again, seriously. She gets jumpy in battle, so keep her in check!”

Ian stared down at Anna.

Knowing she’d done wrong, she giggled sheepishly, swinging her legs back and forth, pretending to be occupied with something else.

Instead of launching into a lecture in the middle of a critical battle, Ian wrapped an arm around Anna, silencing her mischief by pressing her head against his chest.

The playful imp went eerily quiet.

Ian glanced down at Anna as she squirmed against him, tracing words on his stomach with her finger.

-Nina Strongest

Ian had taught her how to write, but *these* kinds of words, he hadn’t.

She must have learned them from some mischievous adventurer looking to tease a kid.

-Quiet.

-No.

-No is forbidden.

-No No.

-No No is also forbidden.

While Anna used Ian’s stomach as a chalkboard and Ian used Anna’s head as a chalkboard, exchanging words with their fingers, a guard appeared from a corner in the underground facility and thrust a spear toward Nina.

Unable to make large movements because of Ian and Anna, Nina was spared when Gorgo raced from behind to parry the spear with his shield.

“The facility is under attack!”

“Stop the intruders!”

The storage area had been designed to prevent escape from the inside, so the meager cover and defenses were no match for the Theresa Clan.

But a research facility handling Ronove’s ‘test subjects’ couldn’t possibly be guarded by mere run-of-the-mill security.

“Test subjects!”

“That’s… an arm similar to Shoah’s, isn’t it?”

Deformed, grotesquely swollen muscles.

A body wracked with unsettling tremors.

By all appearances, it wasn’t a body built for longevity.

“So, they were developing and testing those function-enhancing doping pills here. b*stards.”

“Shoah. You alright?”

“I…”

I can fight.

Shoah was about to step forward, but her gaze, without her permission, turned to Ian, perched atop Nina.

Ian was looking at her, too.

She had made memories to last a lifetime.

Now, she wasn’t afraid of a battle that would shorten her lifespan by a little.

“I know the addicts’ weaknesses best.”

“Hanya, Joseph, Yuzu. Match Shoah’s speed!”

“Easy for you to say!”

“Such rough handling of people!”

“Uwaaa!”

Though Joseph and Yuze lacked exceptional combat prowess, the sheer number of powerful individuals around them allowed them to fill gaps, providing harassment and sneak attacks.

The all-out assault was a success.

The enemy lines crumbled quickly.

The experimental subjects’ senses were skewed, disproportionately focused.

The relentless targeting of weaknesses by Teresa’s party and Teresa’s overwhelming brute force, deflecting even the most dangerous surges, allowed them to withstand the experimental subjects’ sudden assaults.

“Save me.”

“Someone…? Here, it’s here. Let me out!”

“Please, just let us out.”

Cutting down guards and experimental subjects blocking their path, they advanced until they reached the prison sector housing the subjects.

“Dangerous.”

Shoa shook his head, observing their forms.

“The toxin is already advanced. Physical mutations are just the beginning. Their eye color is a sign they took an even more dangerous doping agent. Releasing them could be disastrous.”

“So, we just ignore them and move on?”

“At least I oppose saving the people in this sector. At any moment, ＜Rapid Mutation＞ could overwhelm their human forms. Maybe it’s best to kill them while they still retain some semblance of humanity.”

Shoa’s words were shocking.

The experimental subjects’ conditions were far worse than anyone had imagined.

Some had faces half-covered in toxic bubbles, while others had skin that was roughly cracking, revealing bulging, lava-red mutant cells that pulsed and subsided.

“You’re abandoning us…?”

“You b*stards, can’t you see what we’ve become?”

“You call yourselves human?”

“If no one’s going to save us, why even bother trying to remain human?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to become monsters and escape with that power…?”

The experimental subjects’ eyes glazed over.

They were giving up on even the last vestige of hope and intentionally accelerating their transformations.

“Teresa. Give the order quickly!”

“Ian. What do you think?”

A crossroads.

Mom was asking for my opinion.

Of course, with my player knowledge, I knew the future: these subjects would degenerate into monsters, unable to distinguish friend from foe, and plunge the underground into further chaos.

A painful future, and sometimes, I even thought it might be better to die.

The only words the transformed ones spoke were “die” or “kill me.”

“I… I don’t think we should take away the chance from anyone. I don’t know what kind of lives they lived before being dragged into this prison, but a human life shouldn’t end like this.”

“Is that so.”

“If there are enemies we must kill, I don’t think that enemy should be people who are at least trying to remain human. There are much more terrible ‘monsters’ in this underground, aren’t there?”

More terrible than the monsters losing their human form were the ones with the appearance of humans but with the hearts of monsters.

“I knew you’d say that.”

Mom chuckled and twisted open the bars of a prison cell with her bare hands.

Even the experiments within the prison recoiled with fear, faces questioning if she was truly human, but Mother simply opened the cell doors and coolly moved on.

“Whether you change, whether you endure without changing, whether you leave as you please, whether you follow – do as you wish. But I’ll promise you one thing. If you come with us, you’ll be able to kill the ones who made you like this.”

Those experiments who hadn’t yet lost their reason became our allies as soon as we rescued them.

Those who were artificially drugged to prevent attacks were instead turning into allies, assaulting the facility alongside us. The screams of guards and lab-coated researchers were ceaseless.