The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 109

Chapter 109: A Desperate Pawn is The Perfect Pawn
Far from where Reid and Darren’s duel was ongoing, deep within the restricted sector of the military base, in a dimly lit chamber lined with monitors and reinforced steel, two figured observed the battle unfold through a screen.

One of the figures, a man clad in a dark, high-ranking military uniform, leaned forward slightly, his eyes narrowing as he watched the moment Darren’s Forged-Beast turned on him.

The speakers of the monitor capturing every agonizing second of Darren’s screams. The creature had been built to be powerful, yes, but the result was… disappointing at best.

They had watched as Beel toyed with the creature, effortlessly taking bite after bite while it failed to land a single hit on the fly.

“So, it failed,” the man muttered, his voice carrying an air of disappointment.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure,” said the other figure—a man in a white lab coat, bearing the symbol of a cloaked figure on one of the chest pockets.

His tone suggested that he knew something that the other man didn’t.

“What do you mean?” The military man asked with a raised eyebrow. If the creature could even turn on its tamer then I was nothing but a failed product…. Unless,

“You see, the Hybrid Codex contained far more information than we anticipated,” the scientist began, his tone measured. “And among its secrets… was the process to create a human-Forged Beast chimera.”

“You don’t mean—” the military man’s eyes widened even more.

“Exactly. That creature was designed to merge with its Tamer as a last resort to ensure its survival,” the scientist said with an eerie grin, his eyes glinting as he kept them fixed on the monitor.

“How did you convince the kid to bond with that abomination?” The military man asked.

It wasn’t that he felt any pity for Darren, but no one in their right mind would willingly bond with a creature that could take over their body the moment it was in danger.

The scientist chuckled, his fingers lightly tapping against the steel table before him. “Convince him? Please, it was far easier than you think.”

At the military man’s questioning glance, the scientist’s grin widened. “Ambition, desperation, the desire to prove himself—Darren had all the necessary traits of a perfect pawn.”

——-3 days ago——–

The training facility was nearly empty, save for the rhythmic sounds of Darren’s fists slamming into a reinforced punching dummy. Sweat dripped down his face, his breathing raggrd but he didn’t stop.

His lackeys had long given up on convincing him to take a break, leaving nearly an hour ago when it became clear that Darren had no intention of listening. He didn’t want to stop—not after what happened a bit earlier.

Darren was born and raised in a different Scrapyard than the one Old Man Scrappy protected and like most kids growing up there, he blamed the rich for his situation.

To them, the world was unfair—granting everything good to the rich while they were left to survive on mere crumbs. His first visit to the city, just before heading to the military, reinforced this belief.

He watched the rich hoard trays of food, only to discard them while the people in the Scrapyards starved. It was a sight that burned itself into his mind, a cruel reminder of where he stood in the world.

And today… today had only made it worse.

A boy no older than him had been promoted—and it hadn’t even been a full week since they had all arrived together as cadets.

And why was this an issue? Because, according to Darren, Reid’s promotion had nothing to do with skill or merit. It was only because he carried the Fletcher name.

Although Darren was one of the few who lasted when the Platinum-tier Primal appeared in the simulation, he had been on the other side of the map and never witnessed Reid and his team holding their own against the beast.

Even when Commander Ajax explained the real reason behind their promotion, Darren dismissed it as nothing but bullshit—an excuse to cover blatant favoritism.

Darren struck the dummy harder, feeling the sting in his knuckles. He wanted to scream, to break something.

He had done everything right, hadn’t he? He had trained relentlessly, put in a lot more effort, proving that if anyone deserved that promotion, it was him. And yet, it was not enough, because he lacked one thing—

Family backing.

Or at least, that’s what he believed.

He threw another punch—this one so forceful that the reinforced dummy groaned under the impact.

“Impressive,” an aged voice interrupted.

Darren spun around, fists clenched. He hadn’t heard anyone approach.

Standing at the edge of the training room was an old man, his back slightly hunched, draped in a tattered cloak.

His face was filled with wrinkles, his hair thin and white with large patches missing here and there.

Darren narrowed his eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

“Someone who knows the pain of being treated unfairly, even though you’ve done everything to earn that promotion” the old man smiled, a knowing grin spreading across his wrinkled face.

“Spare me the sympathy” Darren scoffed.

“Oh, I don’t pity you,” the old man said, stepping closer “I actually admire you.”

“What?” Darren frowned.

“You’re different from them,” the old man continued. “Not handed everything on a silver platter. You weren’t born into greatness. You have to earn it.”

He tilted his head. “But tell me, Darren… how does it feel to know that no matter how hard you work, you’ll never be their equal?”

Darren’s fist and jaw clenched.

“Unfair, isn’t it?” The old man’s grin widened.

He remained silent.

The old man took another step forward. “But what if I told you there was a way to change that?”

“If you’re trying to sell me some enhancement drug, I’m not interested.” Darren said, shaking his head.

The old man chuckled. “Oh, no. I offer something far greater.”

—–Present time —–

“And with a promise of the kind of power that would let him match even high ranking officers” the scientist continued “he was eager to accept the forged beast, even if it looked a ‘little’ different”

“And he never questioned it?” The military man asked.

“He was too eager to get strong,” the scientist scoffed “his thirst for power blinded him. He never even wondered why I knew exactly what he wanted or why a random old man was in the military base.”

“As they say,” he continued with a chuckle “a desperate pawn is the perfect pawn”.

“And why did he challenge the Reid kid?” the military man asked, pointedly ignoring the absurd saying the scientist had just made up.

“Well, the Master wanted to see how strong the kid had gotten,” the scientist said, his grin widening. “He is sure that the boy might have a Codex of his own.”

“Isn’t that impossible?” The military man asked “shouldn’t there only be the Hybrid Codex?”

“Not according to the latest data we extracted from it” the scientist pulled a file from under his coat and handed it to the military man.

The man read through it, his eyes widening with each line. By the time he reached the end, his grip on the document had tightened.

“This means there are two more of those things?” The military man asked in disbelief.

“Exactly,” the scientist affirmed “and the master is sure that the kid owns the Evolution one.”

“This makes him a threat. A variable we cannot ignore” The scientist finished.

“Should I use my power in the military to confiscate the Codex from the kid?” the military man suggested, his voice laced with impatience.

The scientist shook his head, his smirk unwavering. “That won’t work. From what we’ve gathered, the Codex has already bonded to him.”

The military man scowled. “Then how do we extract it?”

“We can’t” the scientist shrugged “according to the information from the Hybrid Codex, as soon as a Codex bonds to a host, they become one.”

“So what did the master say we should do?” The military man asked again.

“For now,” the scientist paused, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the table, “we observe his growth and find a way to control him. But if that proves impossible…”

A wide grin stretched across his face as his eyes gleamed with anticipation “The lab team has already begun preparing the contingency plan against other Codices.”

“Perfect” the scientist said with a large grin, he had turned back to the monitor displaying the creature that had completely taken over Darren’s body.

The military man felt a shiver run down his spine as soon as he saw the ‘forged beast’ in Darren’s body. He turned back to the grinning scientist and shook his head.

Only the Master knew where he had gathered this bunch of psychopaths who called themselves scientists.

But he couldn’t claim to be any different. He was just as unhinged as the rest of them. After all, what kind of sane person would willingly devote themselves to the very Primals that plunged the world into chaos?

“Now this is what I call success,” the scientist murmured, his grin stretching wider as he leaned closer to the monitor.

His fingers rapidly tapped on the steel table he barely contained his excitement.

“Come now, Reid Fletcher,” he whispered, his voice dripping with anticipation. “Show us if you really are the host of the Evolution Codex.”