NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104: Eugenics
“What are you doing!?”
“Hm?”
Dr. Frankenstein, busy sawing off Adler’s arm with a maddened smile, turned her gaze at the frosty voice, filled with endless murderous intent, coming from behind.
“Oh.”
Noticing the two girls standing stiff with their backs to the exit, her head tilted to the side.
“We have quite a few visitors today, I see…”
“I only want to hear the truth.”
Lestrade – eyes filled with a cold chill as she gazed at Dr. Frankenstein’s face, adorning a maddened smile – stepped forward and posed a question to the lunatic who was harming her lover.
“What have you been doing in this mansion?”
“Our little inspector is quite the curious one, isn’t she?”
Thrusting the silver saw clutched in her hands against Adler’s neck, Dr. Frankenstein effectively prevented the girls from coming any closer to her.
“Well, I like that trait of yours, Inspector. Curiosity is the most essential trait for the advancement of science and magic…”
“Speak. Now!”
Cutting her off, Lestrade commanded her to spill everything out, fury lacing her voice. And hearing her, Dr. Frankenstein began, her voice gentle and that unpleasant smile still plastered on her pale face.
“… Have you ever had the thought that… the people of London are all dimwitted dolts?”
“Do you harbor some sort of elitist belief?”
“That’s not what I mean… Seriously, simple statistics and the briefest of scientific analysis are more than enough to explain this conjecture.”
Her eyes began to darken in an ominous hue.
“Since the onset of the strange phenomena from the early 16th century, numerous changes began to occur throughout the world.”
“………”
“Forgotten races of the past and fairytale-like stories started becoming reality against all logical notions. A handful of people gained the ability to manipulate mana, and the gender ratio destabilized to 4:6…”
She continued her explanation with a deadly serious expression.
“But from my perspective, the most significant and regrettable change – on par with the onset of the strange phenomena that changed our world – is the steady decline of people’s intelligence.”
“That’s an unfounded story.”
“Not in the least, Inspector. Being a student of the August Detective Academy yourself, Miss Gia Lestrade, you should be more aware of this truth, right?”
Upon hearing her conjecture, Lestrade’s eyes widened in astonishment. Meanwhile, licking off Adler’s blood that had splattered on her cheek – with her tongue – Dr. Frankenstein resumed her speech after a brief pause.
“I once was a professor at the academy. I had grand dreams of enlightening the ignorant masses.”
“………..”
“But soon, I was forced to face the horrifying realization that… London was doomed. The competency levels of the students were utterly hopeless.”
Isaac Adler, cradled in her arms, began twitching faintly at her statement. A statement that echoed what Professor Moriarty had voiced not long before.
“At first, I despaired, but then I tried to find a solution. It was my duty as one of the last intellectuals left in our sordid country.”
“Such an ideology itself is…”
“And then, the realization finally dawned upon me…!”
Dr. Frankenstein, who had been caressing Adler’s cheek, raised her voice aloud; her eyes flashing with a maddening glint.
“The realization that… if the people of the era continue showing less and less intelligence, then we just need to throw superior genes into the mix to balance it out.”
Her slightly deranged gaze, coupled with her ludicrous statements caused Lestrade and Moran’s expressions to progressively deteriorate.
“With that realization in mind, I left the academy with my fellow colleagues who joined my cause and set up a laboratory in the basement of this mansion.”
“………”
“And so, I began my research in secret. The standard human reproductive activities alone weren’t enough to release sufficient genes into the world, so, I devoted myself to searching for a more efficient method.”
Despite the gradually worsening atmosphere, she nostalgically recalled her past; her spirits undampened.
“When the experiment to artificially combine my genes with his first succeeded, I was truly delighted. I even named it after my colleague’s surname.”
“That is…”
“But soon, I realized it was a failure.”
Her gaze, for a brief moment, turned to Neria Garrideb; the poor girl was lying in the corner, shivering as she was forced to hear the futility of her existence.
“The first had chronic fatigue and a constitution so frail that even a slight bump could shatter their bones. The second one suffered from madness and hydrophobia due to a neural issue…”
“Mother…?”
“We realized that releasing such imperfect beings into the world would never be able to save it from destroying itself. Thus, I focused on identifying the cause of these symptoms of unknown origin.”
However, she soon turned her head away without any lingering attachment to her own flesh and blood.
“Jill the Ripper secretly provided corpses and the fog that plagues London. That, along with Dr. Jekyll’s advice, was immensely helpful in furthering my research. With their continuous help, I was finally able to reach the truth…”
“Wait, what did you just say…”
Startled by the mention of Jill the Ripper
, Lestrade tried to interject, but the doctor’s attention was already focused on the cradled Adler in her arms.“The spark of life that all humans inherently possess. That spark was far too faint in the artificially created beings.”
– Swoosh…
“It seems that the spark is granted only to children born of sexual reproduction. Whether it’s a coincidence or a constraint created by the creator to prevent humans from encroaching on the realm of God, I don’t know…”
Her hand moved towards Adler’s chest.
“… However, I have finally found it.”
“Cough.”
“The beautiful ember that will even break that accursed constraint…”
Dr. Frankenstein began stroking Adler’s heart gently; her gaze growing more feverish and insane.
“From the moment I saw you regenerate your body after being half-eaten by a failed experiment, I immediately knew…”
– Badump, badump…
“You were the only solution to this problem…”
As Adler’s heartbeat resonated in her hand, a look of ecstasy appeared on the deranged woman’s face.
“Isaac Adler, you are superior.”
“………”
“Despite your young age, you’ve brought half the women of London to their knees. You possess the most superior genes in all of London.”
“… Ugh.”
“You, who flaunt that superior gene of yours without reservation… are the perfect companion and experimental partner for me. You are the only person who can help me to finally realize my ideology…”
Dr. Frankenstein, now speaking to him with the respect one would show to their companion, began murmuring in his ears; her voice languid and unfettered.
“… If it’s you, with your superior genes, even my genetic cells can be dominated and assimilated. We can create healthy test subjects even without the strong presence of the spark of life.”
– Swish, press…
“So, you’ll cooperate, won’t you?”
She continued to whisper, pressing her cheek against his face.
“We’ll fill this London with our wonderful genes.”
“……..”
“That is the only salvation for this land…”
Up until then, Isaac Adler had been silently watching the madwoman with weary eyes…
“… On one condition.”
“Yes, what is it? Tell me. I can do anything for you, except for letting you go, of course. I’ll be taking you in as my husband after all.”
However, his gaze soon landed on Lestrade and Moran, who were hesitant to approach him due to the silver saw blade touching his neck. Looking at their concerned visages for some time, he quietly spoke out to Dr. Frankenstein.
“Do you know how to resurrect the body of the dead?”
“… It’s quite simple, actually. What do you think I’ve been doing all this time while researching the Spark of Life?”
“If you teach me the method of resurrection, I will cooperate with you unconditionally.”
Hearing his condition, Dr. Frankenstein promptly pulled out a bottle filled to the brim with red smoke from her bosom. Flashing a radiant smile with the bottle in hand, she responded to Adler.
“You just need to drink this.”
“What is this…?”
“It’s the spark… made by mixing the essence of life with your blood.”
Upon hearing her reply, Adler couldn’t help but show her a look of skepticism. However, Dr. Frankenstein merely gently stroked him as she whispered into his ears.
“I have a certain expertise in alchemy, you see… If I have enough materials, it’s not too difficult to create an essence containing the life power of a single human being. Usually, we use it to power the undead.”
“But why my blood…”
“Normally, you would have to charge the essence of life with high-voltage electricity for months to activate its full effects. But your blood regenerates so well that, when mixed with the essence of life, it exhibits astonishing effectiveness incomparable to any finished product we were able to produce before.”
A glint flashed in Adler’s eyes at her words and he asked,
“Then, it would be easy to make more of these sparks, right?”
“No, actually, this is the last one I have left.”
“Why?”
However, at Dr. Frankenstein’s immediate response, Adler’s eyes and demeanor turned cold as glacial ice.
“We’ve run out of materials to create the essence of life.”
“What do you mean…”
“I said it’s easy to make if we have the materials, not that we can make it in their absence. And those materials are now impossible to procure, no matter how much money you have.”
“What are the materials that you are unable to procure?”
However, not noticing his frosty gaze, Dr. Frankenstein continued with her excited rambles.
“Dragon’s tears.”
“…………..”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter now, does it?”
As Adler fell silent at her answer, she only continued her words with a laughter-tinged voice.
“The moment I found you, with your superior genes that could overcome the limits set on an artificial being due to the Spark of Life, such things have now become utterly useless.”
“……….”
“The children we will have in the future will be the perfect beings… born with my intellect and your immense vitality… There’s no need for such elixirs for such children now, is th…”
But those words would never be able to reach their conclusion.
– Pff…!
The supercharged and invisible air fired from Celestia Moran’s air gun – the girl who had been quietly observing the scene with her keen eyes and senses – pierced through the abdomens of both Isaac Adler and Dr. Frankenstein at the same time.
.
.
.
.
.
“What the hell are you doing…!”
“Ending a hostage situation is quite simple.”
Looking at the dismal scene, both Adler and Dr. Frankenstein collapsed on the floor while leaking blood from their wounds, a dismayed expression soon covered Gia Lestrade’s face. As she was about to protest to Moran, whose whole body was trembling violently, Adler suddenly staggered his way up to his feet and began murmuring in a soft but deep voice.
“You just need to disregard the well-being of the hostage, that’s all.”
“Adler…”
“Of course, that’s only applicable to someone like me.”
Adler, now holding the bottle that the doctor had been carrying with her in his hands, patted Moran’s head for a job well done. Even though her whole body shuddered at just the thought of harming her master, she still faithfully carried out the telepathic orders conveyed to her. Adler, now done consoling Moran for the time being, quietly started moving out of the room.
“Where… are you going?”
However, before he could even take a few steps toward the exit… a chilling voice started to emanate from behind him, putting a halt to his stride.
“You said you’d cooperate…? Even after everything I’ve said, you still don’t understand me…?”
“………”
“Isaac Adler… We need to save London with our superior genes…”
Dr. Frankenstein, clutching her bleeding abdomen, managed to get up relatively unscathed for some reason. Once she was up, he could hear her mumbling with an expression of disbelief on her face as she reached out toward Adler. It was as if she was just not able to understand why Adler had taken such actions against her.
“… Superior genes?”
Hearing her words, Adler responded with a voice laced with cold mockery for the deranged woman.
“Perhaps if it were Charlotte or Professor Moriarty then it was feasible.”
“……….”
“You don’t even know that the cause of the failed experiments is due to the genetic disease you are suffering from, yet you continue to babble around about some Spark of Life nonsense… Why would I ever hand over my genes to someone so ignorant and deranged as you?”
Hearing his words, the lunatic woman’s face was momentarily veiled in a dazed expression. And soon, the mysterious, unpleasant fog from before began spreading in her surroundings.
“….. That’s a lie.”
– Bztzzztzzzz…
“The only one who has been able to overwhelm my superior genes is you and you alone. That’s why we must become the Adam and Eve of London…..”
As her words ended, the experimental monsters that had been writhing all around began rising to their feet once more.
“… I’ll leave the back to you.”
Adler, looking at the scene with a clearly disgusted expression, whispered in a subdued voice as he passed between Lestrade and Moran.
“I have some business to attend to.”
“Could it be that this business of yours…”
Following his words, Lestrade’s somewhat muffled voice came from behind.
“Is to feed the elixir to Professor Moriarty lying out there…”
“………..”
“Instead of taking it yourself?”
Turning his head for a moment, Adler replied to his lover with a bright and radiant smile.
“… Your deductive skills have really improved, Inspector.”
Subconsciously, Lestrade clenched her teeth so hard that… the bitter, metallic scent of blood began leaking out of her lips.
“I really, really despise you.”
Contrary to her harsh words, however, her eyes became slightly moist as she silently watched Adler’s retreating figure.