SSS Ranked Beast Tamer: My EP increases with girls-Chapter 52: CH 0: Dad? (MR 6)

The moment the lockdown was initiated, the heavy sound of metal grinding against metal echoed through the building, signaling that every door, every window had been sealed shut. The quiet hum of the security systems was the only thing that could be heard now, a constant reminder that escape was impossible. Even the faintest breeze from outside was cut off, leaving the room stuffy and oppressive.

No one spoke at first. They were all aware of the gravity of the situation, trapped inside a lab with no way out, and the knowledge that those who controlled the facility were not exactly friendly. There was no other option but to wait. Wait for the lockdown to be lifted. Wait for a chance to escape.

The minutes dragged on in a tense silence, and one by one, they each found their own distractions. The three teenagers, Felix, Fin, and Gab, shuffled closer to Ella, as if magnetically drawn to her in this moment of uncertainty.

Since they knew her in school, they had started talking to her, but Ella didn’t seem to be giving them any response, her gaze kept on lingering towards Dave’s direction. She wished she would be the one beside him instead of Chris.

Eric, however, was restless. His eyes scanned the room, landing on a set of items that seemed out of place. There were several metal shelves, a few crates stacked high, and a series of medical supplies scattered about.

Most of it seemed irrelevant in the moment, but one door tucked away behind the clutter caught his attention. It was slightly open, the faintest sliver of darkness beyond it tempting him. His curiosity was stronger than his hesitation, and without thinking, he stepped forward, pushed the door open, and slipped inside.

The room was darker than the rest of the lab, but the air felt different. There was a strange coldness to it. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed rows of containers, some sealed tightly, others with labels too blurred to read from this distance.

A faint, metallic smell hung in the air, mixing with the sterile scent of chemicals and antiseptic that seemed to saturate the entire lab. Eric stepped forward, his heartbeat quickening with the unease of finding something unexpected. Whatever this room was, it was more than just a storage area.

Meanwhile, Dave and Chris had found a corner of the room, far from others. They had started talking, their voices low as they discussed. Dave’s mind was still reeling from everything that had happened, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something far worse was coming. It was the sound of Chris’s voice that brought him back to the present.

"Still can’t believe she’d go this far over a stupid fight," Chris muttered, shaking his head. "It’s like she’s obsessed with getting back at you for defeating her nephew."

"Yeah," Dave replied, running a hand through his hair. "It doesn’t make sense, though. It’s more than just a grudge now. She’s clearly working with White, who knows what else she’s been involved in."

Chris sighed, leaning back against the wall, his eyes scanning the floor as he began to speak. "White wasn’t always like this. He used to be a doctor, you know. My dad worked with him at a hospital years ago. He was brilliant, skilled, really knew his stuff... but he always had this... edge to him. Like something was off. Like he was willing to do anything to get what he wanted."

Dave’s eyes narrowed. "What are you saying? He was a problem even back then?"

"Yeah," Chris continued. "He didn’t follow the rules. He’d do crazy experiments, things that were borderline unethical, you know? But people didn’t really care because he was good at what he did. They overlooked it. I guess they didn’t expect it to get worse." He paused, looking at Dave. "I think they were wrong."

A heavy silence followed, punctuated only by the sound of Eric rummaging around in the inner room. Chris let out a bitter laugh. "Hell, my dad warned me about him. Said something was going to go south with White eventually. But he couldn’t have known just how bad it would get."

Dave leaned in, his curiosity piqued. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"White was making a name for himself, working at the hospital, when the whole thing blew up," Chris explained. "He created this... this drug. It was supposed to cure diseases, you know? Help people. But it didn’t, at least not the way they expected. The side effects were catastrophic. It healed the person’s disease, sure. But it did something else. It was like the drug was... causing other damage to the user. People started getting worse, not better. And then, one of the patient who got treated by white had decided to report it to the cops. White got arrested, thrown in jail."

"Sounds like he got what he deserved," Dave said quietly.

Chris shook his head. "Not exactly. My dad said it was all too clean. White shouldn’t have been able to get out so easily. Two weeks after he was sentenced, he walked free. Like nothing happened. And then the woman who reported him... she disappeared. Vanished. No trace."

Dave’s brow furrowed in confusion. "So you think... he had something to do with it?"

"Of course, I do," Chris replied, his voice thick with frustration. "There’s no way she just disappeared on her own. White’s got connections, probably more than anyone realizes. My dad caught wind of it, started investigating. That’s when things went south for him, too. They became enemies after that. My dad cut ties with him, stopped visiting him, stopped going near his lab. And it looks like White’s been up to even worse stuff since then."

The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, pulling them out of their conversation. It was then that they heard Eric’s voice, frantic and full of fear.

"Guys, you need to come see this."

They all exchanged worried glances before rushing toward the sound of his voice. Eric was standing in the doorway of the room he had discovered, staring at something on a stretcher. The man on the stretcher looked half-human, half-beast, his body twisted in ways that made Dave’s stomach turn. His skin was stretched and torn, his face a grotesque mix of human and animalistic features. freēnovelkiss.com

But what was worse than the transformation was the sight of the gunshot wounds, multiple bullets embedded in his chest and head. It was as though someone had shot him in the middle of a transformation.

Dave and the others stared at the body, confused and horrified. But Chris’s reaction was different. His face went pale, his body trembling slightly as he stepped closer to the stretcher.

The word slipped from his mouth before he could stop it.

"Dad," he whispered, his voice breaking as tears welled in his eyes.

The room fell into a heavy silence, everyone stunned by Chris’s revelation. The man before them wasn’t just a victim of White’s twisted experiments. He was someone Chris had known, someone far more important than any of them could have imagined.