[Point of View Switch: Odin - Alex Morgan]
[Personal Status: Trust Value System Detection Interrupted, Physiological Parameters Abnormal]


Looking at her, at this woman who had just saved me with her own hands and might also be about to destroy me, I felt for the first time in three years a genuine... peace.

Not that performative peace artificially imposed by the power of faith's numbers, but a tranquility coming from deep within my heart, accepting fate.

She was right. We were the same. Both pawns manipulated by the "Genesis Group," both people who had lost themselves on the path to finding truth. She fought back with wisdom, I with strength; she chose revenge, I chose escape.


But now, perhaps we could choose trust.

"Alright. Time is running out," he said, his voice carrying a resolute determination of burning bridges, "I entrust my life to you, my... enemy."


He was right.

Time is our scarcest resource. Facing Drake's one-hour deadline, every second slipped through our fingers like golden sand.

I didn't waste any time on unnecessary emotions. The moment Odin nodded in agreement, he was no longer merely the son of my enemy, or an out-of-control dangerous entity. He became the most crucial and unpredictable piece in my plan.

"Lie down on that medical platform," I pointed to a relatively intact multi-functional medical diagnostic platform in the corner of the sample library, my tone brooking no argument, "Now."

Odin gave me a deep look, his eyes as complex as a nebula, filled with anger, reluctance, and humiliation, but ultimately, everything transformed into a resolute determination of burning bridges. He silently complied. As he lay down, I noticed his muscle lines tensed from nervousness, like a cheetah poised to strike. Gods, it seems, can also feel fear.

I walked up to the main console and connected my platinum bracelet to the platform. Thorne Industries' firewall instantly demolished the obsolete system of "Genesis Group," and control over the entire sample repository was transferred to my hands in a matter of seconds.

"What are you doing?" Odin's voice came from the platform, his eyes filled with vigilance as he watched me aim several cold mechanical arms at his body.

"Relax," I said without looking back, my fingers dancing across the virtual keyboard, manipulating the laboratory's resources, "or pretend to relax. Drake can't hear what we're saying, but he's definitely monitoring us through some hidden camera. He wants to see you broken by fear and despair, and me helpless. Let's put on a show for him."

I activated the medical platform's vital sign monitoring and transmitted the data to my bracelet in a concealed manner, in real time. Then, I mobilized the laboratory's reserve of the only remaining inert coolant and injected it into his circulatory system.

"This will temporarily suppress the activity of the serum in your body, making you feel a bit better," I explained. "But more importantly, it will make Drake's monitoring system believe that your body is rapidly weakening due to the previous loss of control, and that I'm inputting energy trying to save you, only to ultimately fail." I deliberately adjusted the heart rate and energy output data displayed on the public screen, lowering them by 30%.

Odin let out a muffled grunt, seemingly enduring the discomfort brought by the coolant. But I could see from subtle changes in his physiological data that his body was gradually stabilizing.

"Now, step two," I walked to his side, holding an auto-injector containing a high-concentration neural stimulant that I had urgently synthesized using the chemicals available in the lab. "Drake wants to see your mental breakdown. And the best triggers for a mental breakdown are pain, and... memories."

My gaze turned toward the golden life-support pod in the center of the hall.

Odin followed my gaze, his face instantly turning pale. "You..."

"That's right," I said coldly, "I'm going to forcibly activate the genetic resonance between you and that 'shell.' I'll make you see, hear, and feel all the information about the 'Creator.' Including how he was born, how he became powerful, and... how he, on that rainy night, killed my parents. —Consider this my revenge on you."

My voice was calm, but every word was like an ice-cold steel needle.

Odin's breathing became rapid, the fear in his eyes was no longer pretense. "You are a devil, Evelyn Thorne."

"Thank you for the compliment." I violently jabbed the syringe into his arm, pushing all of the solution inside, "Now, shut up and feel it all. Remember, the more you suffer, the more satisfied Drake will be, and the safer we'll be. Consider your pain our only shield."

I pressed a button on the main console.

The life support pod containing the clone of the "Founder" instantly lit up. Countless data about his life, battle footage, and even some never-before-released personal records flooded into Odin's brain through genetic resonance, like a tidal wave.

"Ah——!"

He let out a heart-wrenching scream. He began to struggle violently, causing the restraining alloys on the medical platform to creak and groan. His eyes were tightly shut, the muscles on his face contorted, as if he was experiencing the most cruel torture in the world.

I watched all this coldly, without the slightest ripple in my heart. This was part of the plan. I needed his pain, needed his "death" in spirit.

On the main control sphere, I simultaneously monitored his brain wave activity. The data stream, like a violent waterfall, showed his consciousness being bombarded by massive fragments of memories. Good, Drake would very much appreciate this scene.

But mental torture alone was not enough. I needed a more realistic illusion of a "breakdown" from failed rescue attempts.

I activated another program, causing the laboratory's power system to operate beyond capacity, channeling energy continuously into the medical platform where Odin was lying.

"Next, is the most critical step," I said to Odin who was enduring tremendous pain, "I need to use external energy to forcibly catalyze the 'Divine Spectrum Serum' in your body, making it enter a 'pseudo out-of-control' state. This process will be ten thousand times more painful than before, because your consciousness will be clear. You will feel every cell in your body burning, every nerve screaming. You must hold onto your consciousness, Odin, hold onto yourself. Imagine that power as a wild beast that you must tame. Control it, rather than being devoured by it. Can you do it?"

He didn't answer, only letting out a beast-like growl through gritted teeth.

"Very well." I hesitated no more and pushed the energy valve to maximum.

In that instant, all the lights in the laboratory dimmed. All energy, like countless rivers flowing into the sea, surged toward Odin's body.

Golden light once again erupted from his body. But this time, it was no longer a violent storm of energy, but rather a destructive power that had been extremely compressed, making it even more terrifying in its concentrated form. His torso bent like a frightening bow, and beneath his skin, golden energy flowed like magma. His agonized howl penetrated through the walls of the entire laboratory.

I stared intently at his brainwave data. The Alpha waves representing rationality were being frantically eroded by Delta waves representing instinct. His consciousness was like a small boat about to capsize in a raging storm.

"Hold on, Odin!" I growled into the communicator, "Think about Drake's disgusting face! Think about how he wants to turn you into a puppet under his control! Do you want to become like him?!"

My words seemed to have some effect. The Alpha waves that were about to be engulfed glowed defiantly for a moment.

Time was ticking away, second by second. I didn't know how much longer he could hold on. For the first time, my palms were damp with sweat. This plan was like dancing on the edge of a knife—one wrong step, and we would both be doomed beyond redemption. I had gambled everything on his pride as a "god," as well as on his will as a "human" who refused to be erased.

In this hellish torment, a strange, morbid dependency began to grow between us. Whenever his consciousness was about to be swallowed by waves of pain, he would unconsciously call out my name. And my voice, my cold, emotionless instructions, seemed to become the only piece of driftwood he could grasp in the storm.

He hated me, hated everything I inflicted upon him. But at this moment, he could only rely on me.

I tortured him, yet I saved him. We had become each other's poison and the only antidote.

Finally, with just one minute left before the one-hour deadline, I shut down the power supply.

Odin lay on the medical platform like a dehydrated fish, gasping for breath. He was soaking wet, as if he had just been pulled out of water. The energy storm within his body was forcibly suppressed at the edge of eruption, forming an extremely dangerous balance.

He looked like a bomb that could mentally collapse and completely self-destruct at any moment.

Perfect.