Chapter 2: The Appearance of a Gentleman, Section 1

Everything was a vivid red, with a pungent smell of blood.
It would be hard to imagine that anyone in this world could remain utterly calm in the face of such a terrifying scene—let alone show no sign of distress.
Black Hair managed to do just that. Not only that, but even his familiar gentle smile remained unchanged, as if he were witnessing something entirely normal. He stepped into the room calmly, ignoring the viscous liquid on the floor; his movements were almost as leisurely as if he were strolling. This created a stark contrast with the surrounding atmosphere.
Why not?
Why can’t he smile?
Such a familiar feeling… such a long-missed scent…
Facing the horrific slaughterhouse, Black Hair felt as if he had returned home. A special sensation washed over him—a feeling he had known long ago, one he could never part with. Unconsciously, his eyes narrowed slightly. The long scar on his face twitched as he moved, as if it had come to life.
“Mr. Black Hair, what… what should we do? That one… he…”
A scavenger rushed forward, grabbing his thigh and crying out in despair. Behind him lay a corpse with only the lower body, resting in a pool of blood. Pieces of flesh and the intense stench of blood severely stimulated human senses.
Black Hair gently placed a hand on the scavenger’s forehead. His voice could almost be described as gentle.
“Gentlemen, could you please be quiet? Please forgive my directness. Though they were once your companions, they are now dead. Dead people don’t need to be cried over, nor do they deserve pity. So, please continue with your duties. Mr.Buick is still waiting for your response.”
His gentle voice carried a meaning colder than ice. Almost all the scavengers were shocked and stopped their panic and crying. They slowly stood up, looking at Black Hair as if they no longer recognized him, their faces showing expressions of surprise, confusion, blame, and disdain.
Could it be that this man, who seemed like a gentleman, was actually so heartless?
The empty room became utterly silent.
Yet Black Hair, the protagonist, seemed completely unaware. He simply clapped his hands and walked over to the nearest wall, where an oval-shaped “tomb” lay quietly.
Earth Federation Army’s Sixth-Level Gene Control Chamber.

A very special name, isn’t it? To distinguish it from the biotechnology of mechanical civilizations. Gene research and development were quite backward in that era of Black Hair. Due to the need for numerous human subjects for experiments, aside from clones, the most vicious criminals became the primary materials for research. Every year, thousands of lives were lost in the Federation’s Class-A prisons. Black Hair was one of them—just a bit luckier, perhaps.

“Bang bang…”

After several consecutive kicks, under the astonished gazes of the scavengers around him, Black Hair calmly crouched down to inspect the control chamber. No dents, no engravings. His heavy blows had no effect at all on this container made entirely of polymer alloy. As his fingers touched its edge, a chilling sensation spread deep into his heart. Black Hair could be certain that this control chamber was completely different from the one that had held him for so many years…

It wasn’t an experimental model—it was a true mass-produced version. Black Hair concluded this in his mind. When he stood up, his expression was as dark as stormy clouds.

As a victim of gene experiments, he knew all too well what such technology could bring to humanity. Put nicely, it was humanity’s challenge to its own evolution. Put harshly, it was murder.

Out of every ten million humans, fewer than three would successfully pass the first stage of gene filtering. After that, there were dozens more processes—tuning, screening, enhancement, diversion, and so on. The final outcome could only be described as extremely rare. In Black Hair’s memory, not a single human subject in gene transformation experiments had survived. Even he hadn’t succeeded.

Yet here, inside the core of this transport ship, there were over thirty mass-produced control chambers. Black Hair could hardly control his emotions.

Could it be that humanity had truly developed a safe path for genetic evolution? Black Hair shook his head, immediately dismissing this unrealistic thought.

“Mr. Black Hair, what is this?” A scavenger timidly approached from behind him and asked in a low voice. Behind him, the originally chaotic excavation team had fully regained order, quietly forming ranks. Everyone’s gaze passed over his shoulder and fixed on Black Hair.

Perhaps this strange man had discovered something. That was everyone’s belief.

“Open it.” Without answering the scavenger’s question, Black Hair simply stood up and gave the order.

Sixty fully armed scavengers—though they might seem like a small mercenary group—remained no different in essence. From the moment Blackhair spoke until the first control chamber was opened, not even a minute and a half passed. What was inside was immediately revealed to everyone.

“Ah…”

Uniform gasps, uniform breaths of shock. All the scavengers were equally stunned.

What did they see? A monster? A living human? Or a machine?

I’m sorry to disappoint the readers. Inside that control chamber was merely a corpse—a skeleton.

The only thing unusual about it was that this corpse had six arm bones and three heads.

“Good heavens, what is this?”

“What kind of creature is this? So strange?”

Voices rose one after another as the scavengers expressed their astonishment. Eyes gathered around, staring intently at the skeletons in the chamber.

Actually, they weren’t particularly surprised by such a strange skeleton. Most scavengers had seen all sorts of odd things. But since it appeared in an ancient ruin, there must be some explanation.

Perhaps OldBuick was already dancing around in the command room? Hopefully, he wouldn’t fall, they thought maliciously.

With this thought, the scavengers worked even faster, opening one control chamber after another. In less than ten minutes, over thirty identical skeletons were neatly displayed before everyone’s eyes.

“Tch…”

A soft sound suddenly came from the silent room.