160 Holy Child

“Morgana, I am curious. Just what type of chance do they have of success?” Orlando spoke as he looked at the giant cauldron sending more and more blood into the Recovery Capsules.

“Hahaha, success? There is none!”

The masked old woman could not help but laugh as she heard Orlando’s question.

That answer surprised Orlando. He knew that they were experimenting on these youths, and they were all disposable assets, but the fact there was no chance for them to succeed surprised and confused him.

Morgana saw the curiosity in the blonde old man’s eyes, and since she was in a good mood, she chose to share a little.

“This is just the first clinical trial of the First Phase of the Olympus Project. The sole goal of this experiment is to gather as much information as possible from them so we can use it in the second clinical trial, and so on.”

Orlando’s eyes widened a little as he heard that, and the curiosity in his gaze only increased. Whatever the Olympus Project was, it involved massive resources and manpower.

Luckily for the old man, for the first time in a very long time, Morgana found herself in the mood to chat, so she continued speaking.

“The bloodline running through the youths’ bodies generates all sorts of chances in their genome. Most of them are mistakes that will lead to systemic failures and diseases, but some are beneficial and part of the Lineage that corresponds to that bloodline.

.....

Our job is to map the genome of these eighteen. We must record the Lineage’s genes they had awakened and figure out the flaws so they will not happen in the subsequent clinical trial.

Most of them will die in around a week due to the accumulation of genetic flaws, but it doesn’t matter. The lucky ones will survive, but their bodies will slowly crumble due to the damage in their genes.

We will send those still alive to their homes since they could give us more information. If they think they can live, their bodies could find a way to adapt. Although the chances are small, miracles happen in science.”

Morgana smiled as she thought of the magnificence of this experiment. As someone that dedicated her life to Genetic Coding, this was her dream job.

“Ahh, I wish I could know more about this incredible Lineage we are searching for, but sadly I am only part of the First Phase. After it is over, my involvement in the project will be over. It seems that my Genetic Coding abilities are not enough.”

Orlando thought he had just heard wrong as those last words did not seem possible.

“How can that be true!? Although your age makes long hours of work hard, you are a Quasi-Saint Genetic Coder.”

This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.

Orlando did not care that his words revealed some secret since there were only Morgana’s three disciples and the brainwashed bodyguards.

Morgana sighed as she heard that and shook her head.

“Although they gave me little information, the ones in charge of the Second Phase of the Olympus Project will be Saint Genetic Coders. I could have become an assistant with my Quasi-Saint Genetic Coder credentials, but my frail vitality makes it impossible.

It doesn’t matter. Being a small part of this project will be the most outstanding achievement of my life!”

The voice of the masked woman filled with energy as she spoke the last part. She was ready to give everything she had in this clinical trial.

“This useless garbage spent their life without giving anything back to the world. They should be grateful that their life will finally have meaning.”

Morgana’s eyes went to one of the bodyguards on the ground. He was the man that came with the Level 8 Essence Wave Warrior and ended up severely injured.

“Cristian, toss him into the cauldron. Since that girl can not leave this place alive, there is no point in this bodyguard keeping his life. It is better if we used him as fuel.”

The scientist with the scars in his eyes nodded. Without hesitation, he undressed the bodyguard before tossing this one into the cauldron.

“All bodyguards, stand before the capsules of your masters.”

As soon as those words left Morgana’s mouth, the seventeen bodyguards in the room moved.

“If the people they need to protect perish, toss them into the cauldron.

I will go to sleep now. It might take me two weeks. You will be in charge until then. I expect to see accurate data when I come back.”

Although sleeping for a couple of weeks might sound odd, Cristian and the other two scientists only bowed toward Morgana.

Morgana trusted that her students would do a good job, and she left along with Orlando, who had other assignments in the city.

Cristian and the other two scientists were extremely diligent with their work, analyzing every piece of information that reached their A.I. Chips and discussing it among themselves.

The way the trio discussed Genetic Coding was unlike what one could find in a class administered by the Imperial Military Force. They described procedures that broke any ethics code and were truly cruel.

Although the concept of ethics in the Godslayer Humankind Empire was unlike the one spread across the Old World, where the idea of a divine being looking over us affected our decision-making, there was still a consensus around it.

Using human lives to figure out Genetic Chains was a clearly unethical use of Genetic Coding. Yet, the mysterious organization for which the trio worked did not have a problem with it.

The days passed, and the screams inside the Recovery Capsules grew louder, and it was clear that some of the youths inside were at the last leg. One of them was about to fall unconscious due to the pain.

The first one that would fail was no other than the seventh son of the Samar Family, Simon. His willpower was so weak that he could no longer resist the pain and only wanted to give up and forget everything.

Cristian heard Simon’s screams stop, and then he saw on his A.I. Chip that this one had fallen unconscious. He simply shook his head before walking toward the scion’s bodyguard.

Since Simon fell unconscious so soon, the chance that he could endure until the clinical trial was over was zero. That is why Cristian was about to toss Loras into the cauldron full of boiling blood.

Just as Cristian was about to grab Loras’ body, his eyes unleashed a red light that no one in the room noticed.

Cristian was starting to undress Loras when he saw in his A.I. Chip that Simon had woken up. He was confused, but after hearing the scion’s screams renewed, he returned with the other two scientists and continued his work.

—

Cristian did not know that currently, inside Simon’s mind, there was an ancient voice shouting at full power.

“Holy Child, you must endure this agony and carry on. A destiny so majestic as yours can not end here.

Wake up and bear this agony as you are one of the Godslayer Humankind’s Shooting Stars!”

Simon had just fallen into unconsciousness when a force acted on his brain and brought him back to reality. The pain was just too much for someone like him, and he was about to fall unconscious again when he heard those words.

The scion was about to shout, asking for the name of the person inside his mind. He was so stupid that he did not understand that doing that would have revealed that person’s presence to the scientists.

Luckily, the blood and pain affected Simon’s speaking ability, and the voice interrupted him.

“Holy Child, do not speak. Just think out loud, and I will be able to hear you.

Before anything else, allow me to alleviate some of the pain you are feeling.”

Simon’s eyes widened when he felt his unbearable agony diminish greatly. It was still painful, but he could think and kept a resemblance of serenity.

‘What is a Holy Child?’

At this point, many questions crossed the scion’s mind, but he first uttered this one.

“You are a Holy Child. You are an anomaly, a divine gift of Aether to the Godslayer Humankind. A hidden force inside you will awake with time and grant you the power you deserve.

I am a Holy Spirit, and my purpose is to guide you once the force has awakened. I was supposed to wake up with your hidden power, but the danger to your life accelerated things.”

The voice inside Simon’s head spoke all those words with a sense of ancientness and majesty that would draw awe into the heart of some people.

As for what type of people, those would be children. That tale was so ridiculous that only a child or an extremely stupid and narcissistic person would believe it.

One could imagine how Simon reacted to the tale that he was the mighty Holy Child.

‘I am special. I knew it!’