Chapter 178: Containment Breach
(Hydra Star System)
(Unknown Location- Secret Laboratory)
Zachary hid under his bed in fear as he listened to the facility's AI unit continue to ring out an alarm.
He was a member of a team of scientists working on Project Rhat'ets with the position of research ȧssistant.
It was the middle of the night and he had woken up to the sounds of panicked screams and what appeared to be plasma shots being fired continuously.
The lights above his bed were flashing bright red, and he could also hear the heavy footsteps of armed guards running through the nearby hallways.
This was madness.
All of the experiments should have been heavily sedated at all times in order to prevent any accidents from occurring.
No one knew what kind of changes in behaviour would occur when crossing the DNA of a human with that of an Insectoid.
Zachary could not help but secretly think that those horrific monsters should never see the light of day....
The recent breakthroughs using the new samples of genetic material obtained from the battles at the border produced stronger hybrids than the previous batch.
The turning point was using a vial of purplish blood obtained from the body of an Insectoid commander after his death at the hands of an Imperial officer.
Images from the battlefield showed that this alien was over eight feet in height with four translucent wings that enabled him to fly short distances.
His metallic exoskeleton was resistant to most physical based attacks and his five long pincers, ten compound eyes and two blade-like scythes for arms made him a nightmare to face.
Before his death, this Insectoid had managed to eliminate an entire squad of qi tide stage cultivators all by himself.
So far only three individuals had survived the gene-splicing procedure performed using the Insectoid commander's DNA, and they were named the zero generation.
Although they were still far from being effective weapons, it was certainly a step in the right direction.
But still.... the intelligence of even the most successful hybrids created by the scientist were not any higher than that of newborn infants.
Something just wasn't right about this containment breach.
How could they possibly escape without outside help?
Zachary reached under his bed and pulled out a small laser knife that he usually used for dissecting tissue samples.
It was unlikely to be of any real help if one of those freaks actually came into his room but feeling of a warm blade in his hand was oddly comforting.
Ding!
Zachary glanced down at his communicator and saw three messages sent from the emergency broadcast channel.
[Attention All Units!]
[This Containment Breach Has Been Declared A Class 1 Emergency- Lethal Force Has Been Authorised!]
Shit.
Each viable hybrid produced was a valuable product and an important part of the research done at Project Rhat'ets.
For the leaders at the facility to enable lethal force meant that the threat had truly reached the point of no return.
The void stage cultivators stationed around the base would probably be making their move now.
Zachary knew that these hybrids would not survive for much longer.
For all their physical advantages and enhanced cultivation base, it did not matter when facing a cultivator in the void stage.
The gap was just too large.
Zachary gripped the knife even tighter but secretly felt a bit relaxed in his heart.
Doctor Valenna was truly a heartless demon and it was under her direction that the test subjects had gradually shifted from only using hardened criminals to a mix of both criminals and slaves.
Bang! Bang!
The metal door shook heavily, and Zachary fell back in horror as he saw the imprint of a blade pounding against the material.
"No.... no.... no," Zachary whispered softly as he stared at the door without even blinking.
Fear.
Shock.
Horror.
I don't want to die.
The comfort of having a knife in his hand was now completely gone as all the researcher could think about in that moment was whether he would live to see his family again.
"Urghhh...... REEEEEEEEEEEEE!" an inhuman mix of screeching and animal grunts could be heard from the other side as it appeared that the hybrid knew he was in there.
Suddenly a loud tearing noise could be heard as a large section of the door was torn off and Zachary could see the monster staring hungrily at him.
It was the stuff of nightmares.
A vaguely humanoid figure whose arms and legs were coated in a metallic chitin-like material with bulging veins clearly visible beneath the surface.
Its eyes were bloodshot red and leaked out a yellowish crusty liquid that fell to the ground with a soft splash.
The mouth of the hybrid was filled with razor sharp teeth that cut the upper part of its lips whenever the monster made a noise.
Three deformed and misshapen wings grew from his back with the left wing being slightly more developed than the right.
One hand was that of a normal human male while the other had somehow transformed into a blade-like scythe.
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" the hybrid squealed in excitement and stumbled across the room towards the researcher on the bed.
"Stay.... Stay.... STAY BACK!" Zachary was now fully panicking.
The hybrid seemed to enjoy watching the researcher shiver as its creepy smile stretched even further.
Stab!
Zachary's eyes briefly widened in shock as the blade-like scythe went straight through his ċhėst and ripped out his heart.
He died instantly with a frozen expression of disbelief still present on his face.
"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" the hybrid threw back its head and swallowed the heart in one bite.
The siren continued to blare loudly as the creature walked out of the room and sniffed the air a few times to find any more prey.
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.
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(Command Center)
Multiple hologram windows were floating silent in the air as Doctor Valenna eagerly watched the performance of her children.
The higher ups had secretly approved of this new experiment that would test the combat abilities of these newer hybrids in a real-life scenario.
All of the important personnel were warned in advanced and were temporarily housed onboard the starship floating above the planet's atmosphere.
The remaining members were those deemed as expendable and contained a mix of trained security guards and researchers who were not experienced in combat.
Of course, the void stage cultivators were forbidden from making any moves as it was obvious that the hybrids would not be their match.
But it would be valuable information to see how they fared against those around the same cultivation level as themselves.
"Hmmm," Doctor Valenna frowned and recorded some data on her notepad.
One of the three hybrids had just died under heavy gunfire.
The creature had still managed to kill ten guards before its eventual demise but that simply was not good enough.
The hybrid who had just killed Zachary was currently hiding in the shadows and watching a squad of armed personnel march by with a hungry gaze.
But that was not the scene that attracted Doctor Valenna's full attention....
The last hybrid had just single-handedly ripped apart twenty cultivators in the qi spirit stage and was now gleefully rubbing the blood from the corpses all over its body.
"How fascinating," the cold-hearted women smirked and continued to write notes.
"Perhaps they can be tamed using psychological methods such as hypnosis or obedience training."