Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 395: Chapter 27 – I am Anna, She is Annie (for the trellis climbing rewards from Mahuateng)”_1

Las Vegas, even before the apocalypse, held the nickname Sin City.

This was largely due to its thriving gambling industry.

A flourishing gambling industry inevitably brings illegal activities such as prostitution, violence, and money laundering!

After the apocalypse, the label of Sin City seemed all the more fitting.

The reason was an experimental research program by the U.S. military—the Bio-War Beast Reform Program!

Humans, masters of Earth and the strongest species in the world, possess an insatiable desire for control.

Before the apocalypse, American Emperor was the world’s most powerful scientific and research force. Consequently, it turned its attention to humanity’s most visible enemy after the apocalypse: mutant beasts.

That was the beginning of it all, and the source of all evil.

「Over four months ago, Las Vegas.」

A gentle rain was falling. Under the dim, gray sky, the entirety of Las Vegas seemed eerie and frightening.

The growls of zombies echoed intermittently from buildings, along with the sounds of professionists battling them.

Mutant creatures of various sizes appeared frequently on the streets, some solitary, others in groups of three or five.

Amidst this silent yet grimly tense atmosphere, a vast number of armored vehicles streamed continuously into Las Vegas.

American flags fluttered proudly from these armored vehicles, and the grim, tense atmosphere enveloped the whole of Las Vegas!

Most conspicuous was a woman at the forefront of the convoy.

She was around twenty-five years old—the peak of a woman’s allure. Clad in a suit of vibrant, sci-fi-themed armor, she resembled a Valkyrie straight out of a movie.

A soldier quickly approached her and gave a respectful military salute.

”General Claire, Dr. Bart says this place is suitable for establishing a research institute.”

Claire surveyed her surroundings—a large hotel in pre-apocalypse Las Vegas, with the English letters ”MGM” adorning it.

She gave a slight nod. ”Since Dr. Bart says it’s suitable, let’s build the research institute here.”

With that, Claire stepped into the somewhat dilapidated MGM Grand Hotel.

In the hotel lobby, a few zombies, alerted by Claire’s footsteps, staggered toward her.

Claire frowned slightly and quickly drew the gigantic handgun from her waist.

”BANG! BANG!”

Two gunshots, and the world fell silent.

Then, Claire strode into the MGM Grand Hotel. Countless heavily armed soldiers followed her and immediately began clearing the hotel.

For these battle-hardened soldiers, clearing out these undead was undoubtedly a task they were more than happy to undertake!

Wandering within the MGM Grand Hotel, Claire inspected its interior.

Although blood was splattered everywhere, its former luxury was still evident.

Then, Claire slowly walked to the second-floor restaurant.

The restaurant was large, but numerous obstacles blocked its entrance. Yet, with Claire’s powerful Hearing Ability, she could clearly discern faint breathing sounds from within.

Survivors.

Fueled by her duty as an American soldier, Claire resolved to save them.

With her formidable physical strength, the tables and chairs barricading the restaurant entrance posed little challenge. It didn’t take long for Claire to enter the restaurant and walk toward the source of the breathing.

”Hello, my name is Claire. I’m a soldier. You’re safe now!”

Claire wore a warm smile as she observed the two survivors before her.

They were twin sisters, around her age. Though disheveled, they were strikingly beautiful, even inciting a touch of jealousy in the otherwise stunning Claire.

Terror and bewilderment showed on their two identical small faces as their beautiful eyes unceasingly studied the iron-armored female warrior before them.

After a moment, the woman at the front spoke softly.

”My name is Anna. Behind me... is my sister, Annie...”

Originally, after survivors were found, their accommodation was to be handled by other personnel.

But Claire might have forgotten one thing: this was a top-secret operation, so no other personnel were available. Furthermore, while Claire was the commander of this team, she was not its leader!

The one in control of everything here was a biologist named Dr. Bart—a young, promising... demon!

A terrifying Shadow hung over Las Vegas as Bart transformed it into Sin City in the truest sense of the term!

”Capture all the mutant beasts you see!”

”Seize all the survivors you find! I need them for live experiments.”

”Hurry up!!! I’m running out of experimental subjects. My research is nearing completion. I will definitely find a way to combine mutant beasts with humans!”

”I succeeded! I successfully implanted the fangs of a mutant wild boar into the body of a professionist without any rejection reaction. His intelligence dropped by fifteen percent, but he can still level up using the Exchange Stone Pillar!”

”Next is research on the Skill Exchange Technology! I need more experimental subjects!”

”Mutant beasts? No! That’s not enough! Humans, professionists! They are the crucial targets for the next step! This is what I want! If the technology cannot be applied to professionists, how is that any different from being useless?”

The cruel live experiments enraged all surviving beings in the city—both humans and mutant beasts!

Under the leadership of a black mutant cat and a professionist named Claus, humans and mutant beasts launched a fierce counterattack against the U.S. military. After all, they were all professionists—who was there to fear?

Unfortunately, the disparity in strength led to a crushing defeat for the Anti-Bart Coalition Troops...

The rebellion didn’t last half a month before the Anti-Bart Coalition Troops were defeated by the military forces led by Claire. The leaders of the resistance—a black Third-level mutant cat and a professionist named Claus—were captured by Bart and locked in the laboratory.

Heartbreaking screams permeated the entire MGM Grand Hotel.

Three days later, a weary Bart stepped out of the lab. He said to Claire, ”That cat’s abilities are interesting; it can manipulate Dreamland. However, the professionist named Claus—his blood and genes aren’t compatible enough with the black cat. I need another person.”

”Those twin sisters you’ve kept sheltered—I need one of them!”

The details of what transpired were no longer important.

Claire couldn’t refuse the highest order from the military. The significance of the Skill Exchange Technology was self-evident, especially its potential to transplant the abilities of mutant beasts into the bodies of professionists.

So, when military personnel ignored Claire’s roars of protest and dragged Anna away, everything unfolded as if destined.

Then came the cruel live experiments.

A few days later, Bart walked out of the lab, unconcealed irritation and anger in his eyes.

Judging by Bart’s expression, it was clear that the experiment had not progressed well—and that two precious experimental subjects had been lost.

Looking at the enraged Claire before him, Bart rubbed his temples and said placidly, ”The experiment failed. Continue preparing experimental subjects. And have someone clean my lab.”

With that, he turned and left, leaving Claire standing there, her fists clenched.

Claire personally cleaned the lab. The horrific scene inside was so dreadful that even she, a seasoned warrior, could barely bring herself to look.

Blood was splattered everywhere. The corpses of the cat and the human were intermingled, making it impossible for Claire to distinguish one from the other. She managed to sort the two bodies in the laboratory and bundled them tightly into a large bag. Afterward, Claire directly threw the bodies, Anna’s and the black cat’s, into the incinerator.

The Blaze roared as it burned away all traces of sin. At this silent funeral, there were only two people and two corpses.

Annie and Claire; Anna and the black cat.

There is no consensus on how a Divine Beast Seed is formed.

Perhaps it is an infusion by Earth’s will later on, or perhaps a certain creature of Earth has the Innate potential to become a Divine Beast Seed, or perhaps it is through some medium...

So, a new question arose.

What if a mutant beast, either in a Near-death State or recently deceased, received an infusion from Earth’s will and became a Divine Beast Seed? Or, what if this mutant beast inherently possessed the potential to become a Divine Beast Seed, but death itself was the trigger? What would happen then?

No other being could likely explain such a bizarre phenomenon.

But it truly happened...

When the black cat and Anna opened their eyes in some unknown place, the entirety of Las Vegas had plunged into a strange and devastating catastrophe...