Throne Of Supreme

Chapter 215: Killing Spree

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Aoki held up the cardboard box in his hand. It was heavy, and its contents felt densely packed.

"I just have one question—what exactly is in this?"

Before the pirate leader could reply, the man in the white coat identified as No. 2 spoke up, his voice filled with pride. "APX-135."

"And what is that?" Aoki asked.

No. 2's eyes gleamed with fervor behind his mask. "A powerful hallucinogen. Just one pill can erase all your worries, fears, and pain, letting you experience the purest and most extreme happiness imaginable."

"So, drugs," Aoki muttered, his tone both unsurprised and disdainful.

The revelation felt simultaneously unexpected and entirely reasonable. Aoki now understood the sense of déjà vu that had been nagging him. This was nothing less than a massive drug operation.

Still, some questions lingered in his mind. "Lab 2 produces APX-135, right? Then what's the purpose of Lab 3? Why are there so many human specimens there? And what about Lab 1?"

Instead of answering, No. 2 retorted fiercely, "APX-135 isn't just a drug—it's the ladder for humanity to ascend to godhood! It's the key to evolution!"

Though his face was hidden behind a mask, his fanatical enthusiasm was palpable.

Evolution through drugs? Aoki thought, incredulous. You'd have to be either insane or a complete fool to believe that.

"What about Lab 1?" Aoki pressed. "What's its purpose?"

No. 2 snorted disdainfully. "Lab 1? It's run by idiots chasing pipe dreams. They've accomplished nothing!"

"Then let me ask something else—who's in charge of this experimental base?"

Aoki was confident that Lab 1 was somewhere in this building. Destroying it wouldn't be difficult, fulfilling the mission's first requirement. The five senior researchers could also be dealt with easily. However, identifying and eliminating the head of the base was another matter entirely.

"Dead men don't need to know so much," the pirate leader interrupted, his voice cold and laced with murderous intent. His eyes burned with lethal determination. "I don't know how you got in here, but I can promise you one thing—you're as good as dead."

Aoki smiled faintly. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

The pirate leader sneered. "I know you're confident. You wouldn't reveal yourself unless you thought you could take all of us down singlehandedly."

His words caught Aoki off guard, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Strange, isn't it?" the leader continued. "But..."

Without warning, the pirate leader pulled out a handful of white pills and swallowed them in one go.

The other pirates followed suit, popping the pills into their mouths without hesitation.

Boom!

A surge of energy radiated from them, and their eyes burned with a crazed intensity.

"You didn't see this coming, did you?" the pirate leader said with a maniacal grin.

"APX-135?" Aoki murmured, his expression thoughtful.

Even the guards joined in, each swallowing the pills in unison.

No. 2 in the white coat let out a derisive laugh. "It's APX-135, but a special version—refined for enhanced performance."

"This is certainly unexpected," Aoki admitted, scanning the transformed pirates. "You're not ordinary pirates, are you?"

How could pirates be so disciplined and organized?

"Die!"

The pirate leader didn't bother to respond. He lunged at Aoki, drawing a massive saber that sang as it sliced through the air.

Aoki calmly sidestepped the blade as it narrowly missed him, and in one fluid motion, delivered a powerful kick.

Boom!

The pirate leader was sent flying, crashing into a nearby machine with enough force to shatter it into pieces.

Yet, without so much as a flinch, the leader stood up, his chest destroyed and ribs visibly broken. He ignored his injuries and charged at Aoki again.

The other pirates joined the fray, their attacks relentless and fearless, their eyes devoid of any hesitation.

"It seems the drug doesn't just enhance their strength," Aoki muttered to himself. "It heightens their spirits and suppresses their pain and fear entirely."

Aoki remained calm, observing the frenzied group around him.

"This kind of drug must have severe side effects," he thought. Still, he couldn't deny its usefulness in desperate situations. No matter how catastrophic the aftereffects might be, surviving always takes precedence over the consequences.

Though the drug had heightened their courage and significantly increased their strength, it was still far from enough to pose a real threat to him.

With a subtle motion, Aoki launched himself forward, his body shifting mid-air into his dragon-man form.

Swish!

He surged past, cutting three enemies cleanly in half. His tail lashed out like a whip, decapitating a man who had tried to sneak up on him.

A bloody storm erupted.

Aoki tore through his opponents like a tiger among sheep, utterly unstoppable. No one could match his speed, power, or precision. Corpses littered the ground, and the once-sterile laboratory was now soaked in blood. Rivers of crimson spread across the floor, filling the air with the thick, metallic stench of death.

The pirate leader glanced around, bewildered. At the start of the battle, he had dozens of comrades. Now, only two or three remained.

Even the effects of APX-135 couldn't suppress the fear creeping into his heart.

"Who… who are you?" the pirate leader asked, his voice trembling despite his enhanced state.

Aoki smirked. "What about you? You're not just some random pirates. What's your real identity? Who do you serve?"

The pirate leader's jaw tightened, refusing to answer.

"Fine," Aoki said, his gaze shifting to the mustached man beside him. "What about you? Care to answer?"

Plop!

The mustached man's legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed to the ground, scrambling backward on his hands and feet like a terrified animal.

"Don't… don't come near me!" he stammered, his voice quaking with fear.

Aoki loomed over him. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

The mustached man trembled violently. "We're from the Ram Kingdom!" he blurted out. "Our mission is to retrieve APX-135. We serve the Ram Kingdom's great prince!"

"The eldest prince?" Aoki repeated, raising an eyebrow. The answer surprised him, though not entirely.

He had suspected a powerful figure was behind this operation, but he hadn't expected it to be someone as high-ranking as the Grand Prince—next in line for the throne.

By the rules of this world, the eldest prince would inevitably become king.

"In that case," Aoki muttered to himself, "this spells doom for the entire Ram Kingdom."

The pirate leader, enraged, shouted, "Shut up! You—"

Phew!

Before he could finish, Aoki's pitch-black tail blade pierced his skull. Blood sprayed as the leader crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

Aoki turned his attention back to the mustached man. "What is your true identity?"

The man quaked even more, tears streaming down his face. "On the surface, we're part of the Third Fleet of the Twin Blade Pirates, but in reality, we're Royal Palace Guards. We spend most of our time protecting the Grand Prince and His Majesty. Occasionally, we disguise ourselves as pirates for covert missions."

"The Twin Blade Pirates, Third Fleet?" Aoki's lips curled into a smirk.

This revelation gave him hope for completing the mission objective of destroying the fleet.

However, Aoki couldn't help but criticize the eldest prince's tactics.

If you're going to raise black gloves, keep them completely black. That way, you can cut them off at any time. A half-black, half-white glove isn't a black glove—it's just incompetence.

Perhaps, he mused, they simply didn't care.

Without another word, Aoki's tail struck again, the blade slicing cleanly through the mustached man's forehead. The man collapsed in a pool of blood, his terrified expression frozen forever.

Aoki systematically eliminated the remaining pirates, sparing only No. 2 in the white coat.

"Where is the entrance to Lab 1?" Aoki asked coldly.

No. 2 chuckled darkly. "Hehehehe!" His laugh was strange and unsettling. Then, his head tilted to one side, and he fell silent.

"Suicide?" Aoki muttered, raising an eyebrow.

He swung his tail, driving the blade into No. 2's forehead. Blood gushed out as the aura that had been fading suddenly returned, growing stronger.

Aoki smirked. "Suicide? Not on my watch."

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