When The Black Dragon Roars, All Mortals Shall Bow.
When The Black Dragon Roars, All Demons Shall Cry.
When the Black Dragon Roars, All Gods Shall Tremble.
Draco's freed bloodline energetically melded with his body, as he felt a wild and rampant power flow through him. It was much more intense than gaining any legendary or divine item in the game world.
It was a thrilling and euphoric feeling, like a prisoner finally being freed from confinement after years of being locked up.
The Black Mass that contained the Black Dragon as well as the other God Serpents melded with Draco's body. It rushed through his blood vessels, destroying all of his red blood cells and white blood cells, expelling them out of his body.
The Black Mass then penetrated into his marrow, expunging all the spongy tissue and the red marrow which produced red blood cells for the body.
It then replaced those parts of the human body with itself, leaving black marrow as the source of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. It evenly spread itself throughout his body, the large majority of the Black Mass going into his heart.
When there, it once again rent everything apart before expelling it like trash, replacing what it destroyed with itself.
On the outside, Draco's body froze as a blood poured out of his seven orifices as well as some dark brown goop that stank like death. First was the brownish substance and then the red blood, which washed away the filth from his skin.
However, Draco's eyes became blank and lifeless. He stood ramrod straight, no outward movement showing from him, not even breathing. For all intents and purposes, he was no different from a dead person.
Unfortunately, Draco was dead in truth. Whether or not his bloodline was a part of him, it had destroyed his blood and marrow as well as the lining of his heart, which caused that very organ to stop functioning.
All his blood and impurities that had been built up from eating low quality food and treated water were also expunged, using his blood as an means to do so.
Draco was human, he wasn't a God. Putting aside his heart stopping, just having every single drop of blood in his body expelled sent him straight to death.
Yet, he hadn't keeled over.
Even though his body was empty of any liquid, it wasn't dried up or dessicated either.
The Black Mass in his body began working, pumping out new blood cells that were drastically different from the old ones. These had no specific blood type and no set shape, only bearing the typical red color.
They seemed to possess endless vitality and strength. If we were to give the average healthy human a blood vitality of 1, then Draco's would be 100!
These new cells rushed through his vessels, rupturing them and repairing them in the same instant. White blood cells followed, their shapes no longer spherical but looking like tiny serpents with huge mouths and red eyes. Anything that was an impurity would be swallowed to death!
The Black Mass naturally provided the plasma, which was the liquid that allowed these cells to move around in the body. Draco's plasma was thick and hot, bearing a heavy density that would normally block the vessels of a normal human.
The salts and proteins in his blood were incomparable to anything food could provide, managing to supply his powerful blood with the necessary nutrients to survive.
Draco's blood vessels were destroyed and repaired with each beat of his now black-colored heart, they too becoming a dark black in color as they were refined. Keeping his old vessels would not allow his blood to flow properly.
As his vessels were refined, so too were his organs and inner flesh. They were like malnourished children being fed the highest grade of NuSmoothies, soaking up the nutrients provided by his Lucifer Bloodline.
As they did, the transformed and became blackish and smaller. Their mass compacted on itself many times over, allowing its density and thickness to rise substantially. Now, a common bullet from a non-military grade weapon would have difficulty penetrating his organs in anyway.
Once his organs were strengthened, it was left with his flesh and bones. The inside of the bones had been replaced, but the exterior was still the same.
It was his flesh first. On the outside, Draco's skin began to flake off like sawdust, revealing brand new skin underneath. This was what Fyre had described the other time, which was molting!
The new flesh of Draco's that came up to the surface was incomparably firm, yet smooth like jade. Despite his terrible upbringing, his skin had been largely unblemished previously, which was surprising.
In fact, majority of his handsomeness - of anyone's handsomeness or beauty - came from the quality of his skin. A person's facial features could be lackl.u.s.ter, but if their skin was smooth and neat, they would still be attractive to the eyes of many.
If Eva stood beside Draco - or even any beauty in the world currently - she might just jump of a cliff due to defeat. After all, how could a man possess such beautiful skin that even surpassed the most beautiful woman?
His features didn't change and neither did his skin color - except becoming brighter - but Draco was incomparable to before. Before, he was good looking in a devilish and mischievous way, making any female who looked at him have a moderate interest depending on their tastes.
Now though, he looked heavenly and ethereal. He looked like the very incarnation of the most beautiful fallen angel, Lucifer. It was said that before Lucifer had fallen from heaven, even God had praised his beauty.
On his chest, right where his heart was located, was a small rhombus shaped black scale. This was his reverse scale, the one weakness of any dragon, but also their source of power.
Inside his body, his bones cracked and were broken down into dust, rapidly consumed by his voracious and snake-like white blood cells for nourishment.
Over the now exposed marrow, was the formation of new bones which were sturdier and shined with a resplendent sheen.
Of course, this occurred somewhat slowly and at different sections of his body at a time. Had all his bones been shattered like this at once, he would've collapsed like a wet sack of meat.
Once his body was perfected, the Black Mass hesitated a bit before dealing with the most trouble some aspect of his body…
His nerve system!
It began with his spinal cord. The external bone was refined by each segment, while the blood vessels and nerves within were rent and replaced with newer and more powerful versions.
Especially his nerves. What was the most fragile part of the human body became elastic and tensile like the strongest rope, while still maintaining the ability to transmit neural information throughout his body.
After his spine came the various nerves in his body, before the last and most dangerous hurdle, which was his brain!
Here, the Black Mass didn't dare to be rampant. Like a f.u.c.kboy trying to convince his recently acquired 'girlfriend' to open up the path to heaven for him, it was incomparably gentle and soft in its actions.
His brain was broken down, reforming countless times but in small segments. The rate at which this occurred was so slow that compared to the earlier refinement, it seemed like watching paint dry.
By the time this was done, Draco's brain was much more firm and the tissue that comprised its mass was like blubber, able to absorb all impacts without being damaged in the least.
At this point, there was only a tiny bit of Black Mass that had been idle all this while, not attached to any particular organ or blood vessel.
This mass now moved and wrapped around Draco's brain, fusing with it seemlessly. Draco's brain became darker in color and the cerebrospinal fluid that covered his brain became much more viscous and dense.
Now that Draco's body had been rebuilt from scratch to suit his newly released bloodline, it was time to wake him from his slumber!
Dead? Utter nonsense!
If a Dragon could be killed so easily, why would literally every culture or religion hold it in the highest esteem?
The Black Mass that existed in his brain let out a little shock, jolting Draco's brain a bit. However, he still remained lifeless like a dead puppet.
The mass in his heart also did same, pushing his blood and vitality to the limit as it pumped in tune with the jolts from his brain. His nerves connected with this rhythm as well, allowing a wealth of information to flood through with every beat.
Draco's fingers twitched and his eyes lost a little of their murkiness.
The tempo of the jolting as well as the beating of his heart increased steadily, like a beautiful musical piece reaching a crescendo.
Once it reached the point where it occurred rapidly within a second, Draco's whole body began to twitch and shake madly.
It was like someone being shocked by electricity in certain areas. He flinched, twitched and twisted, looking like a weird robot.
An expression of ferocity appeared on his face as he clenched his teeth.
His eyes became clearer and clearer every second, until his brain and heart made one final and heavy jolt, totally reviving Draco's consciousness from the abyss of death!
A bright beam of light burst out from his eyes as he roared to the sky, or in this case the ceiling.
Draco felt the limitless power and vitality flowing through him, which felt incomparably great. He felt like he had been a paralyzed and dessicated old man his whole life, having now achieved his youthfulness once again.
Draco clenched his fists and felt the strength in them. It was no exaggeration to say that he was invincible now!
Of course, that was just the euphoria and dopamine talking. Fact was, Local Lord had a 10 times more physical strength and vitality than Draco, since that was the focus of the Pangu Bloodline.
However, for him to have this much power when physical strength was the greatest weakness of the Lucifer Lineage members, was mind blowing.
Of course, it was a mixture of three things. His new celestial-like handsomeness was due to his Dark Angel Inheritance. His super strong and durable body was due to his Horned Demon Inheritance. His endless vitality and ability to manifest a suppressive aura was due to his Serpent God Bloodline.
Draco had very little information on the Dark Angel and Horned Demon Inheritances, so he could only use them passively like this. However, he was more attuned with his Serpent God Inheritance, having a few ideas on how to manifest it.
Draco walked into the dark mass, which was been severely pushed back by his aura, with look of calmness and nonchalance on his face.
Once he truly merged with the endless abyss, he realized that it disappeared, leaving him in a futuristic white room. In that white room was a beautiful woman with blond hair and hazel eyes, standing before a giant and transparent capsule containing a huge brain.
That woman was Amber!
She was observing the brain that was suspended in a clear yet greenish fluid, respect and wonderment in her eyes.
Draco walked up behind her and grabbed at her throat, twisting her around and bringing her face near his own.
"You have 2 minutes to explain yourself or I will rend you apart. Your time starts now."
Draco's voice was so dark and cold that the temperature in the room dropped sharply, and even the liquid in the capsule began to freeze over.
A feat that should only be possible in a digital world like Boundless was created in the real world…
Truly, the Lucifer Bloodline was scary!
Amber didn't seem bothered by Draco's malice, only tapping the hand he had around her throat gently. Draco released her neck and waited for her to speak with his hands behind his back.
She rubbed her bruised throat gingerly before speaking with a smile.
"Hello, Mr.Draco. My name is Amber, and I am the lead researcher for the Boundless Artificial Intelligence Project."
As she made that introduction, she gestured to the capsule behind her.
"This is the current form of the AI that runs Boundless. Because of the immense heat that it generates, as well as the fragility of its form, we need to keep it in this fluid for it to remain stable."
Draco watched the giant brain emotionlessly. Despite being calm outwardly, inwardly he was astonished. He had always thought the omnipotent and omniscient AI of Boundless would be in digital form, its hardware like super powerful machinery.
To see that it was just a giant human brain was a bit…
"And? That has nothing to do with attempting to humiliate me." Draco's face fell. He felt like this woman was trying to play smart.
To that, Amber smirked. "Well, Mr.Draco is here to steal our property. Does Mr.Draco want us to kowtow while you steal our hardwork for nefarious third parties?"
Draco froze as he was rendered speechless.
This woman…
Did she not fear death?
The good guy thoughtstream in Draco's mind wanted him to let the matter go and apologize before leaving. After all, he was in the wrong here.
The bad guy thoughtstream in Draco's mind wanted him to press down Amber and ravage her, turning her into a breeding slave for future Lucifer Lineage warriors! That was after he shared his Vital Yang with Eva of course, haha.
However, Draco's youngest thoughtstream pondered the matter silently and objectively. It was neither evil nor good, possessing aspects of the two as well as something more.
Instead of molesting or forgiving, it felt that the best course of action would be to listen and analyze what Amber had to say. There was also the matter concerning the twin's survival, so he needed to be prudent.
When Draco focused on this thoughtstream again, the other two lost a bit of power while the third one became stronger and more corporeal.
"Alright then, it seems like you have something to say. Speak."
Amber's eyes flashed with surprise. She had expected to be abused and killed right then, based on the profile that had been gathered on Draco, so she had braced herself for a horrible fate.
To see him so reasonable, although a little cold, was surprising to her.
"Yes. I am not the creator of the Boundless AI, just its handler. As for who created the AI…"
Her face became uncertain and her eyes flashed with hesitancy. "That we do not know to be honest…"
Draco felt certain that Boundless' existence was becoming more and more mystical. Still, its world was central to his plans in this life, so he would still utilize it how he wanted.
"The AI does not communicate with us or even acknowledge the team. It only follows its directives to the letter and provides us with logs and various technical data on Boundless."
"The idea to create Boundless was its idea and its project, but it was imposed directives by its developer, who has remote access to the AI's source code despite not being here."
"This creator is the founder and CEO of GloryGore Conglomerate, but no one knows who he is, where he lives or what he does…"
"As far as I can tell, the only human this AI has actually shown anything other than indifference to is you, to a larger degree and your woman, to a lower degree. Its fixation on you has been shown in our logs. Majority of it concerns you, your actions, speech and personality."
Amber became a little uncomfortable here. "Its almost like… like the AI is in love with you…"
Draco, who had lost his calm demeanor as Amber had revealed more and more about the bizarre circ.u.mstances surrounding Boundless' existence, was absolutely floored when Amber made that remark.
Draco shook his head in disbelief, such a thing was not possible. The AI was incapable of human emotions.
Draco and Amber failed to notice that once she made that startling observation, the brain in the tank trembled a little, like a child caught stealing meat from the soup pot.
"So? Why do you all work here if you have no idea who your Boss is?" Draco asked with a strange expression.
"Well… for most of us, its because the pay is good and the workplace is healthy for the mind and body…" Amber answered while blushing with shame.
Draco nodded in understanding. Even 40 years ago, a person would stick with any good paying job as long as they weren't harassed and asked to do difficult things, much less now, where the cost of living was so high.
"Is that all?" Draco asked with a frown.
"That is all I can share at this time. When you broke the defense of the lab, the Boss sent me a fax stating that I was to inform you of all this as well as the fact that the women you were with had been captured by the enemies of your mission provider."
Amber's reply was worried. She feared Draco would suspect them for the capture of his associates since she had foreknowledge of this and had delayed for so long. However, the Boss had asked her to do exactly that for some strange reason.
Draco's eyes flashed with sharpness. This 'Boss' was… hmmm…
He turned around to leave, but asked one more question before he went.
"Was the remark about the AI 'loving' me also from the Boss?"
His tone was a bit mocking as he asked that, but all Amber did was lower her head and go red to her ears.
"Erm no, that was just my woman's intuition."
Draco scoffed and left, taking the elevator back up to the surface.
Unlike before where his descent seemed normal, Draco felt his body piercing a thin membrane halfway through his journey upwards.
Clearly, this lab was in a whole different space than what should be there…