Biocores: The Legendary Weapon Designer-Chapter 87: The research

While Nioh flipped through the research logs, Akron and Althea returned from their individual scouting routes.

"I found traces of combat, north from here," Althea reported, walking up briskly. "There’s dried blood and some plasma residue. Judging by the patterns, someone in the research group is probably injured."

"They’re moving by flyship. An old model," Akron added as he pulled out his communication device and projected a map. "It’s likely equipped with a low-altitude frequency jammer—nothing advanced—but based on the energy trail and speed, they should still be within a thousand-kilometer radius."

He tapped on the map, zooming in on a single location.

"This is the only safe zone nearby."

Nioh didn’t respond immediately. His eyes narrowed as he sent the research log to both of them.

"The team wasn’t honest about what they were doing out here," he said. "The file refers to something called Operation: Pink Fog. Turns out these bastards were luring civilians from the outer city—offering them money, shelter, opportunities. Then using them as live subjects."

The atmosphere grew heavier as both Althea and Akron scrolled through the document.

"For over ten years... they’ve run tests on more than five hundred people," Nioh continued coldly. "Injecting them with condensed samples of the fog. Watching them mutate. Documenting every stage of their suffering."

Akron gagged, then turned to the side and vomited into the bushes. "They turned human beings into... into humonculi. Just to test their pain thresholds? Their endurance?! This is—this is monstrous."

"My guess," Nioh said, voice sharp, "is that this isn’t a kidnapping at all. The mercenaries? They’re not asking for ransom—they’re buying time. This is revenge. And the research team didn’t flee to the safe zone."

He pointed down on the map, to a different marker. freёnovelkiss.com

"They went back. To the original facility. Probably to erase the evidence."

"We need to move—now," Althea said, snapping her hoverboard into position. "If we wait any longer, the entire team could be dead by the time we get there."

"Why?" Akron snapped. "Why should we save these monsters? Is money the only thing that matters to you?!"

"We’re not here for moral judgment," Althea replied without turning. "This is the mission. We were paid to retrieve them."

"I don’t agree," Akron said, his voice rising. "I refuse to stop these people from getting justice. If I let them die, at least something in this world makes sense."

"And how does that change anything?" Althea shot back. "Another team will come. A stronger one. The factory will protect its secrets. All you’d do is throw away your chance to make a real impact later. Stop with the spoiled-boy act. This is the world we live in."

She flew off without waiting for a reply, vanishing into the trees ahead.

Akron looked to Nioh, face twisted with disappointment. "Do you agree with her?"

"Yes," Nioh answered flatly. "The mission is the mission. The world’s never been fair. If you need a minute, take it. But we’re moving."

"I was wrong about you," Akron said, stepping back. "I thought you were different. But you’re just another power-hungry wolf."

He launched himself forward, bounding across the trees to catch up with Althea.

Nioh sighed, then hopped onto his flying needle and followed.

The forest blurred beneath them as they raced through, the toxic pink fog glimmering below. Time was running out. If Nioh’s guess was right, this wasn’t just a clean-up mission or a hostage situation.

It was also a reckoning.

The mercenaries—they weren’t random thugs.

They were the aftermath of the Factory’s sins.

And strictly speaking, Akron was right.

They did deserve revenge.

But right now?

The mission was the mission.

Soon enough, the team arrived at the designated location.

It was a singular pipeline, jutting from the cliffside and descending directly underground. Two mercenaries stood at the entrance, dressed in civilian gear but armed with refurbished plasma rifles.

Nioh and Althea crouched behind a thick tree trunk, surveying the area in silence. They had the element of surprise—and they didn’t intend to lose it.

Nioh gave a subtle hand signal.

Althea bolted forward in an instant, her feet morphing into glowing plasma blades. Before the guards could react, she was upon them. One clean, arcing motion—and both were decapitated.

Their bodies hit the ground with a thud, just as Akron landed beside them. He moved quickly, dragging the corpses out of sight and disabling their comms.

But it was too late.

"Mayday. Everything alright out there?" a voice crackled from one of the fallen guards’ intercoms.

Nioh picked up the mic, his voice shifting seamlessly into that of the deceased.

"All clear," he replied coolly. "Just a bird hitting the sensor."

"Copy that. We’re forcing them to undo the mutation," the voice responded. "Soon, we’ll get our families back. Just hold the perimeter."

"Got it," Nioh said, cutting the transmission.

"They’re trying to cure them?" Akron asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

"If that’s true," Althea replied, "then the results of the experiments—the humonculi—they’re still alive. In the lab."

"That’s why we have to move fast," Nioh said grimly. "The research logs were clear. These things are aggressive, mindless flesh-eaters. There is no reversal. No cure."

"We need to reach them before they realize that," Althea added, her eyes narrowing. "Or worse... before they let them loose."

"An army of flesh-eating monsters," Nioh muttered as he pried open the pipeline hatch. "Great."

Without hesitation, he dove inside, sliding down the smooth metal tunnel. Althea followed close behind, then Akron.

The descent was rapid—just seconds long—but it felt like an eternity.

At the bottom, they landed in a dim corridor. The air was sterile and cold, the kind of cold that sank beneath the skin. It reeked faintly of disinfectant and blood.

Beeping monitors echoed in the distance, and green emergency lights flickered against the walls, casting eerie shadows down the passage.

Nioh stepped forward, his voice low but clear.

"We split up. Cover as much ground as we can. Don’t engage the humonculi in physical combat under any circumstances."

The team nodded and scattered, vanishing into the eerie silence of the underground facility, each step echoing like a whisper in the dark