Monster

Yokohama, secret base.

On a lonely island stood a long-abandoned watchtower, surrounded by rusted steel structures, overgrown weeds, and tangled branches. Crumbling walls draped in cobwebs, collapsed partitions, and fallen support pillars formed a desolate ruin buried beneath a thick layer of dust, as though no one had set foot here in ages.

This had once been a supply station for passing ships, but it had been damaged and collapsed in an earthquake several years ago. Government agencies had been unwilling to spend the money to repair and rebuild it, and as more ports opened along the coast, the related industrial and warehousing businesses gradually moved elsewhere. This place was slowly forgotten.

A ferry pulled up to the shore, and Doctor Green, temporarily away from Yashida Mansion, stepped ashore. This seductive-looking private physician had shoulder-length flaxen curls. Beneath her beige overcoat was a green skintight outfit, her legs straight and slender, her entire body radiating a bewitching charm.

In the distance, sea and sky met in a single line. Dark clouds hung low as snow-white waves crashed against hard reefs, shattering into sprays of fine droplets. The tides washed against the shore with a rushing sound, producing the same monotonous noise over and over.

Beneath the overcast sky, the sudden appearance of a private physician from a great family on this desolate island was truly eerie. No matter how one looked at her, she did not seem like an outdoor adventure enthusiast.

Doctor Green strode into the watchtower, her high heels clicking against the floor. A rotten stench permeated the building. Less than ten seconds after the uninvited visitor stopped in the middle of the room, the tiles beneath her feet suddenly sank with a deep rumble.

After a brief moment of darkness, brilliant light shone down from above. Who could have imagined that beneath this long-abandoned watchtower lay Hydra’s secret laboratory?

Lights illuminated the steel structures inside, where numerous staff members in white lab coats bustled about. Doctor Green passed through without obstruction. She seemed to hold extremely high status; the alloy doors separating different areas opened automatically, as though she required no authorization at all.

"How is the progress?"

Standing on an upper level and looking down, she saw the underground laboratory operating like a tightly wound machine.

"Doctor Marcus combined leech gene fragments with the Progenitor Virus and isolated an entirely new virus. It primarily enhances the ability to recombine biological genetic factors…" the manager holding the experiment log said respectfully.

Doctor Green was merely an identity used when dealing with the Yashida Family. This alluringly beautiful woman’s real name was Ophelia Sarkissian, one of Hydra’s upper echelons. Known as Viper, she was a master toxin maker with the special ability to resist poison. She was also a senior spy and infiltration expert.

"Show me the test subjects directly."

Viper, who enjoyed a distinguished reputation within Hydra, waved her hand. She did not care about those complex mountains of research data. She only wanted to see the virus-infected test subjects with her own eyes.

The manager nodded obediently and took her down to the third level by elevator. Inside the numerous rooms separated by reinforced glass, many humanoid creatures wandered and roared—they had lost even the basic appearance of humans. Their skin seemed rotten and peeled away, leaving only intact muscle fibers, organs, and viscera exposed to the air. Their powerful bodies were filled with a sense of strength, solid red-and-white muscles knotted and coiled like twisted steel wire. Veins stood out clearly, like dense little green snakes, while their arms had evolved sharp bony claws.

Their appearance alone was highly intimidating.

"These are Tyrants," Doctor Marcus, the laboratory team leader, introduced proudly. "My masterpiece! Although most organisms cannot adapt to the mutagenic effects of this new virus, once it succeeds, a human body that withstands the virus’s power will undergo unprecedented changes!"

"The virus grants accelerated metabolism. We tested it: even after being raked by machine-gun fire or bombarded by grenades, a Tyrant can remain alive and slowly recover. Both its strength and physical constitution have been vastly enhanced! They are practically perfect biological weapons!"

Doctor Marcus was brimming with self-satisfaction. He cast a seemingly casual glance at the Hydra executive, hoping for lavish praise.

"Very good. Keep improving it."

Unfortunately, Viper ignored his display and merely replied in an indifferent tone.

She stared at the test subjects with blood-red eyes, violent and crazed. Compared with the inferior products created before—the zombies—the biological weapon known as the Tyrant was clearly much stronger, but it still had flaws.

Hydra wanted an army of fearless biological soldiers, not a viral weapon capable of destroying the world. Unable to obey orders and carry out coordinated actions like Super Soldiers, these zombie creatures derived from the Progenitor Virus could only be used as cannon fodder—and the key point was that they were not cheap. A survival rate of one in ten thousand meant an exceedingly high cost.

"Have those First Generations that escaped from the laboratory been captured?"

Feeling Viper’s cold gaze, Doctor Marcus’s hands trembled. He knew that his predecessor had been thrown into the feeding chamber to be devoured by zombies after carelessly allowing three First Generations mutated by the Progenitor Virus to escape from the laboratory.

The agonized screams of that man being torn apart and eaten by a pack of beasts still made Marcus shudder. It had been an absolute nightmare!

"They are still being tracked! They are species similar to humans, with the same appearance and biological emotions, and they possess the ability to infect others. Once they hide within human society, they are very difficult to identify."

Cold sweat streamed down Marcus’s face. The three First Generations called ghouls were "monsters" created by mutations of the Progenitor Virus. Unlike the terrifying zombies, they possessed human forms, the ability to think, and biological emotions, along with a certain ability to infect others.

The only thing they had in common with zombies was that ghouls also fed on human flesh and blood, and had evolved specialized predatory organs.

"Capture them! At any cost!" Viper said solemnly.

Compared to Tyrant zombies, ghouls were undoubtedly more valuable. They retained basic human intelligence and learning ability, while every aspect of their physical capabilities had been strengthened to varying degrees. With proper training, they could immediately be formed into a powerful army.

"Monsters cannot be exactly like humans. They will always expose themselves. Hunting, feeding… these are traits branded into biological genes. No matter how well they hide, it is useless."

Viper looked at Doctor Marcus. A faint smile bloomed on her seductive face, like a brilliantly colored venomous snake gently flicking its tongue.

"Tokyo has already become a vast hunting ground. The ghouls cannot hide for much longer. Have those idiots at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department mark the places where cannibalism cases occur frequently. Like animals, these First Generations each have their own hunting territory. It will be easy to find clues."

Doctor Marcus nodded. Hydra agents embedded in Japan’s upper ranks had long since ordered the creation of a special department called C-C-G to hunt ghouls.

The First Generations that had escaped from the laboratory possessed a certain chance of infecting others. If they were allowed to roam freely, all of Tokyo might become a paradise for monsters.