The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Impending Danger
“So we’re dealing with an organization capable of creating entities that could even turn on their tamers?” Damien asked, trying to absorb everything Reid just explained.

“According to the memories extracted,” Reid took a pause “yes, we are.”

The room fell silent, the weight of Reid’s words settled in.

“So what’s the plan now?” Marcus broke the silence “do we at least know the faces of the cult members?”

“Not exactly,” Reid answered, pausing as he sifted through the absorbed memories. “All the faces the creature saw were blurred, except for a few scientists.”

“The one they referred to as ‘Master,’ on the other hand…” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “His face wasn’t just blurred—it was covered in darkness. The only thing visible were his red, glowing eyes.”

While watching through the memories, Reid felt exactly what the creature could.

He felt its pain when it first woke up and the overwhelming hunger it had, almost similar to what he experienced in his [Gluttonous Monarch] form.

Except, when compared to the endless hunger he felt while in that form, the creature’s hunger seemed….tame.

But the emotion that seemed even stronger than its hunger, was the emotion it felt when the master stared at it.

An emotion that even the creature didn’t recognize, mostly because it was just born but Reid clearly recognized what it was.

Fear.

An overwhelming amount of fear.

Whoever or whatever the master was, Reid knew he was dangerous and with the hybrid Codex in his hands, he was even more so.

The creature normally sees humans or anything with flesh as one of two things. Food, or a host.

But it’s father?

The creature saw him as a being akin to its god.

“And if I’m not wrong” Reid continued “he has the ability to make creatures submit to him, even primals.”

This wasn’t just baseless speculation. Just as Reid had felt the creature’s fear through its memories, he had also experienced exactly what happened when the Master touched it.

All its fear suddenly turned into worship.

It was an immediate, absolute shift—one that shouldn’t have been possible. One second, the creature had been drowning in terror, its instincts screaming at it to flee. The next, it adored him.

This combined with the fact that Mia’s father, a member of the cult, was somehow able to walk among primals without being attacked.

“How is that even possible?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know,” Reid admitted. “But what I do know is that we’re up against something dangerous.”

What Reid didn’t tell them was that the cult was specifically targeting him. At least, not until he was ready to reveal the truth about the Evolution Codex.

For now, he kept that detail to himself. But given what he had learned, he wouldn’t be surprised if they started encountering the cult’s members more frequently.

“There was also the old man who gave the creature to Darren,” Reid added. “But given the situation, I’m sure that was just a disguise.”

“There’s no way a random old man would be allowed in the military training facilities,” he continued.

Another wave of silence passed through the room again.

“So what’s our plan now?” Lisa asked.

“We stick to our previous plan,” Reid answered “Ethan, keep monitoring the military servers in case they try to attack again.”

“The rest of us will stay alert and watch for anything suspicious,” he finished and the others nodded.

Apart from that, there wasn’t much of anything else they could do. They could try informing someone like Commander Ajax or even Owen, their senior officer.

But without proof, it would be useless.

Accusing a hidden organization—one that clearly had influence and resources—without solid evidence would only make them look paranoid. Worse, it could tip off the cult that they were onto them.

The only other person Reid knew who might believe them was Elizabeth, but she was currently away on assignment.

For now, all they could do was stay cautious and gather more information.

____________

“I’m sorry, Master,” a man in a white lab coat apologized, his head bowed toward the flickering hologram before him. “The kid is a lot stronger than we anticipated.”

The figure on the other side of the hologram remained silent for a moment. Though the distortion obscured his features, his glowing red eyes were unmistakable.

“Is that so?” the Master’s voice was calm, almost amused.

“Yes, master” the scientist swallowed hard “neither the creature, nor the pawn had any chance to attack before he deployed a domain.”

“A domain huh?” The Master let out an amused chuckle “he’s using his toy more efficiently than I thought.”

“But we haven’t confirmed if he really has the—” The scientist’s words caught in his throat as the Master’s red eyes locked onto him.

His knees buckled instantly, crashing to the ground, and his head quickly followed, pressing into a deep bow.

“I’m sorry, Master,” he stammered.

Even through the hologram, he could feel the Master’s terrifying gaze bearing down on him, an invisible pressure bearing down on him. His breathing grew shallow, and a cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

For a long, agonizing moment, there was silence. Then, finally, the Master’s voice—calm, voice came.

“Do not question me again.”

The scientist swallowed hard, his body trembling. “Y-yes, Master.”

“Good” the Master said.

There was another round of silence before the Master spoke again.

“I heard about your pet project.” His words were more of a statement than a question, which made the scientist secretly rejoice.

If the Master was acknowledging his work, then that meant he was interested. And interest meant a chance to prove himself.

“Y-yes, Master,” the scientist said quickly, keeping his head bowed. “I’ve been working on this.”

He pulled out a vial bottle from underneath his lab coat and presented it to the master with his head still bowed.

“It’s an advanced mind control serum” the scientist explained “It grants absolute control over any target, binding them to a specified person.”

The Master remained silent, prompting the scientist to continue.

“Primals, humans, even Forged Beasts—regardless of the rank of the Tamer they’re bonded to. Once the serum takes effect, their will is completely overwritten. They won’t just obey orders, Master. They will belong to the one designated as their controller.”

“Interesting.” The master said, the amusement was evident in his voice.

“With your permission, Master,” the scientist said, his voice laced with anticipation, “I can find a way to use it on the Reid kid.”

This was his chance to impress the master and unlike in the lab, his success wouldn’t be associated with multiple other scientists,

Just him.

The Master let out a low chuckle before saying, “very well, you have my permission.”

A wide grin spread across the scientist’s face as he clutched the vial in his trembling hands.

He had the Master’s approval—this was his moment to prove his worth.

“I won’t fail you, Master,” he said, his voice brimming with excitement.

“You’d better not,” the Master responded, his tone was calm “for your own sake at least .”

The scientist swallowed hard, nodding quickly. “Understood, Master. I will begin preparations immediately.”

The hologram flickered and vanished, leaving the scientist alone in his dimly lit lab. His heart pounding in excitement.

“Reid Fletcher,” he murmured, turning to his workstation “let’s see how strong your mind really is.”

_________

Far from the military base and deep into the wildlands, a land roaming with primals of different strengths, sizes and ranks.

A Century ago, this was a land filled with humans, but now it barely had any evidence of human existence, save for a couple of stone structures here and there.

The entire land was filled with extremely high trees, their trunks stretched so high as if trying to touch the sky and their canopies blocked the sun rays, only allowing a few scattered rays to pass through.

Perched on one of these trees was a girl with short black hair and similar colored eyes.

In her hand was a small dark purple dragon with glowing lines passing through its scales.

The girl fed it what appeared to be cooked meat, while the primals below remained completely unaware of their presence.

The girl was Elizabeth, and her assignment was to clear this part of the wildlands of primals.

It was a punishment for abandoning her team in the middle of a primal siege, and the higher-ups hoped it would last long enough for her to learn her lesson.

Roar!!

A loud roar that would send chills down the spine of anyone who heard it, echoed from within the forest, abruptly interrupting her break.

It was soon followed by another, equally terrifying roar, scaring away the bird like primals that were brave enough to stay after the first.

The massive trees started making way, and the ground shook with every step the approaching creatures took. Whatever was coming, would definitely be colossal.

“I guess that’s the end of break time” Elizabeth said with a sigh before standing up the branch she sat on.

“Alright buddy, let’s get back to work”.