Chapter 44: I’m not done yet!

Lucien lunged forward again, cursing furiously as he raised his fist once more.

"You bastard!"

Jake finally snapped out of his shock. He rushed over and wrapped his arms around Lucien to drag him back. Lucien struggled against his grip, shouting as he glared at the old man with barely restrained fury.

"Let me go! I’m not done with this motherfucker yet!"

The short, old researcher, named Doctor Edwin Vane, clutched his bleeding nose, his expression clouded with pain and disbelief.

He seemed unable to comprehend that someone had actually dared to hit him!

Edwin Vane finally seemed to come to his senses, his expression twisting with rage as he pointed a trembling finger at Lucien.

"Who the hell let this crazy person in?!"

He roared.

"Where are the security guards?!" ℴ

"How dare he hit me—Edwin Vane?!"

At his furious outburst, the other researchers in the room instinctively stepped back, unwilling to get caught up in the confrontation.

Yet Lucien only let out a sharp, humorless laugh, his anger flaring even more at the old man’s words. After all, he knew from the novel just how fucking disgusting this man was!

Jake’s arms tightened around him as Lucien once again tried to break free.

Realizing that simply holding him back was becoming increasingly difficult, Jake shifted his weight and firmly pressed Lucien down, forcing him to stop struggling.

"Calm down, Lucien!"

Jake’s usually carefree voice came out stern, carrying enough weight to finally make Lucien pause.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Lucien took a slow, deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His chest gradually stopped heaving as he steadied his breathing before muttering through clenched teeth.

"I am calm. Let me go."

Jake hesitated, watching him carefully, but eventually loosened his grip and let him go.

This time, Lucien restrained himself from lunging at the old man, even though every part of him still wanted to beat the hell out of him. Instead, he turned his attention to Zephyr and rushed over, quickly working to release the restraints and remove the wires and tubes attached to his body. It was only then that he noticed something was still being injected into Zephyr, and the realization made his eyes burn with even greater anger.

What Lucien failed to notice was the way Zephyr’s lips curled upward ever so slightly, a flicker of excitement crossing his eyes at the realization that Lucien had gotten angry for his sake, that he had even hit someone because of him.

Zephyr’s mana had long since enveloped Lucien from head to toe like an invisible blanket, thick with an unmistakable sense of possessiveness. Yet not a single person present could detect or even perceive it.

The only person who noticed Zephyr’s faint smile was the young researcher recording his readings, and he was utterly shocked.

He couldn’t believe that, despite the agony coursing through the Esper’s body, Zephyr’s expression held an unmistakable trace of satisfaction. The researcher had personally witnessed the medicine being injected into his body. Under ordinary circumstances, the resulting neural overload should have been causing this weak Esper excruciating pain.

Yet Zephyr was smiling!

Zephyr had no idea how much his smile had shocked the researcher. His mind was entirely occupied with Lucien, leaving him with no room to focus on anything else.

On the other hand, the shouting Dr. Edwin had already summoned the security guards.

He wanted Lucien, who had humiliated him in front of so many people, to pay for what he had done! He didn’t care about Lucien’s status or background. After all, Edwin held considerable influence and standing within the Association, having contributed greatly through his research over so many years.

However, before the guards clad in suits could surround Lucien, Jake and the two Espers accompanying him stepped in.

Jake showed Edwin his Esper ID, followed by the golden-bronze badge, confirming his affiliation with the Awakened Association, along with the official Association permit.

Jake’s voice was cold, carrying an unmistakable warning.

"We’re from the Association. Do you really want me to report what I saw after coming here? Is this how the lab treats people sent here by the Association? Even if the higher ups doesn’t take action, what do you think will happen if I report all this to the media?"

Edwin clenched his teeth, his aged face twisting with rage, but he still fell silent.

Seeing this, Jake knew his threat had worked, at least for the time being.

Having encountered plenty of hypocrites since joining the Association, Jake knew exactly how to handle people like Edwin.

Finally, Jake put everything away before stating the reason for their visit.

"We were sent here to investigate. We’re here to interrogate Zephyr regarding the Dungeon incident that happened a while back. We will be taking him with us. As for the rest, you can contact the Association."

The old, short researcher froze for a moment before sputtering furiously.

"What? But he’s an experimental subject! You can’t just take him away! Even if you have the permit, you still barged in here without warning. One of your people even assaulted me! I demand an explanation from the Association! No, I want this—"

He pointed angrily at Lucien.

"—person punished!"

Jake let out a chuckle.

"You can contact the Association and file all the complaints you have against us. For now, just step aside and let us do our work."

Behind him, Lucien had already removed the restraints and equipment attached to Zephyr’s body. He then helped him out of the bed, supporting Zephyr as he stood.

Lucien’s brows knitted together when Zephyr leaned his weight against him. He was a bit heavier than Lucien expected.

Seeing this, the two Espers standing with Jake stepped forward to help, but Zephyr buried his face against Lucien’s neck and wrapped his arms around him, clinging to him in a clearly defensive posture. The two Espers paused, speechless and unsure of what to do. Neither of them dared to reach out and forcefully pull Zephyr away. Lucien sighed and waved the two Espers away.

"It’s fine."

Jake smirked at the scene.

Beside him, Edwin nearly lost his temper, wanting nothing more than to drag Zephyr back onto the white bed. He wasn’t done with this interesting new test subject yet!

But when Jake fixed him with a cold look, he could only curse under his breath and watch as Lucien helped Zephyr out of the room. Jake and the other Espers followed closely behind Lucien, keeping an eye out for the security guards and researchers.

Quickening his pace to match Lucien’s, Jake clicked his tongue and whispered.

"You owe me one. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have made it out of this research lab today."