The underground transfer zone of Vine Corporation perpetually reeked of a cold, fishy stench, a mixture of machine oil and disinfectant.

  Michael Lu crouched in a corner organizing a cart, but his gaze was uncontrollably glued to a figure not far away.

  Manager Chen, Elena Chen.

  The most beautiful, the coldest, and the most unattainable mid-level manager in the entire Vine Corporation.

  The black uniform accentuated her slender waist. Her hair was tied up, revealing a section of clean, fair neck.

  The light fell on her face—her eyelashes were long, her eyes cool and clear.

  Though her appearance was simple, her beauty was overwhelmingly intense.

  Michael's heart pounded wildly.

  He was just a bottom-tier salesman, temporarily pulled to do manual labor—moving goods, hauling crates, getting barked at casually by the foreman.

  His salary was meager, and he lived like a shadow.

  As for Elena, she was someone he didn't even have the right to speak to, someone he could only steal glances at from afar.

  He had fantasized countless times at night.

  Fantasized that she might glance his way.

  Fantasized about getting close to her, even... possessing her, knowing her carnally with that fiery body.

  But he also knew that was a pipe dream.

  "What are you staring at? Don't wanna work, then get lost!"

  The foreman's angry shout struck him. Michael hastily lowered his head and picked up a metal crate labeled with top-secret biological materials.

  The next second, the box slipped from his hands and crashed to the ground.

  Clang—

  From the crack, a mass of crimson, wriggling flesh-like substance slowly oozed out.

  Michael reached to steady it, the palm of his hand scraped by the metal edge, blood instantly welling up.

  That mass of cells seemed to smell prey and abruptly burrowed into his wound.

  A cold, ancient, bestial consciousness directly invaded his mind:

  "Finally... found a vessel."

  Michael shuddered all over.

  Who?

  Before Michael could figure out what was happening, blinding red flashes and the sudden, ear-splitting shriek of an alarm tore through the air.

  "Experimental Subject 734, containment breach! Repeat, containment breach!"

  Roars, screams, and the sound of shattering bones erupted simultaneously.

  A monster over two meters tall, covered in dark fur with protruding tusks—a boar-headed beast—violently rammed the iron gate.

  The scene was too sudden. Of course, Michael wasn't the only one frozen in terror.

  The pants of the employee monitoring the experiment began to darken from the crotch down.

  While everyone was momentarily "paralyzed" by the monster, it had already used its brute strength to violently bend the guardrail of the iron cage.

  One of its claws seized the terrified, urine-soaked monitoring employee!

  The terrifying beast's claw easily snapped his neck!

  Head and body separated, each thudding to the ground!

  A torrent of red gushed from the headless corpse's neck!

  Everyone around reacted with a delay, but now they finally came to their senses, screaming and scattering in all directions!

  Only Michael remained. It wasn't that he didn't want to escape;

  it was that the fleshy mass was invading his body, leaving him completely immobile for the moment.

  And the boar-man finally forced its way out of the cage it had wrecked!

  The boar-man didn't rush to act next. Perhaps after being confined for so long, it threw its head back and let out a dry roar, the sound almost tearing Michael's eardrums!

  A shadow of death swept over him!

  The boar-man stopped roaring.

  A pair of scarlet eyes scanned the area, quickly settling on the rigid Michael...

  And now, the voice in Michael's mind spoke again. He roared internally:

  "If you don't want to die, give me your body!!"

  Consciousness went black.

  His body ballooned uncontrollably—muscles bulged, bones cracked.

  Grey-black bristles rapidly covered his skin, pupils transformed into silver beast-like orbs, and fingernails elongated into blades.

  In one second, Michael transformed from a skinny, low-level employee into a ferocious, savage werewolf.

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  Was this still Michael...?

  Experimental Subject 734, the monster with a boar's head and a human body, charged at him, bringing a foul, bloody wind.

  Its claws scraped past the metal crate by Michael's ear, sparking, and its fetid saliva splattered on his newly furred cheek.

  Michael twisted at the waist. His wolf-like body shot out like a cannonball, his shoulder plate slamming hard into the opponent's sternum.

  A crisp cracksounded as the boar-man was sent flying through the air.

  Before it even hit the ground, Michael pushed off with all four limbs and pounced. His wolf claws seized its neck, smashing it brutally against a transfer crate.

  The metal crate dented and deformed. The experimental subject roared, retaliating with a swipe of its claws, but Michael sidestepped, simultaneously delivering a heavy punch that shattered the bones in its right claw.

  Without waiting for the creature to struggle, Michael leaned down and sank his teeth into its head, fangs piercing through hide, flesh, and bone seams.

  The boar-man convulsed all over before finally going limp.

  When Michael released his bite, black-red blood splattered his wolfish muzzle.

  He shook his head and let out a roar that momentarily drowned out even the alarm, the beastly glint in his eyes not yet receded, exuding a unique, icy ferocity.

  Crack—

  A clear sound of bone fracturing echoed through the transfer station.

  The boar-man's head was directly smashed apart. Its body flew and slammed against the wall, motionless.

  Michael's power receded, the transformation undone.

  Utterly drained, wracked with excruciating pain, he collapsed weakly to the floor, unable to move even a finger.

  He was finished.

  He had become a monster.

  Vine Corporation would definitely capture him, dissect him, slice him up, use him as an experimental specimen.

  Footsteps approached from afar.

  A familiar, cool, hauntingly beautiful figure appeared at the edge of his vision.

  It was Elena.

  She hadn't run! Michael had completely forgotten she was even there!

  This cold, elegant female leader stood under the lights, her exquisite face showing not a hint of panic, only a knowing calm.

  She walked step by step closer, looking at the battered, blood-soaked Michael. Her eyes held no disgust, no fear.

  Michael's heart sank to the depths.

  His most wretched, ugliest, most monstrous side had been seen completely clearly by the woman he most desired.

  Elena crouched down, reached out, and pinched his wrist. Her voice was cold and clear:

  "Stop playing dead, Yang Chen."

  Michael's mind exploded.

  Deep in his consciousness, that cold voice slowly spoke, carrying a hint of amusement:

  "My... only descendant."

  Elena looked up, her gaze calm yet forceful:

  "Security has two minutes."

  "Do you want to be sliced up, or are you coming with me?"

  She didn't wait for an answer. Half-supporting, half-carrying him, she hauled him up and quickly headed for the back door.

  Weak, Michael leaned against her. The faint, clear fragrance from her body wafted to his nose. His mind was a chaotic mess.

  The goddess he secretly loved had saved him.

  But the one she saved... wasn't really him either.

  In the car.

  Elena started the car, driving away from Vine Corporation, into the night.

  She turned her head slightly, a utilitarian, ambitious smile appearing on her cold, beautiful face.

  "My name is Elena."

  "The thing inside you is called Yang Chen. He's my ancestor from two hundred years ago."

  "He wants to take back Vine Corporation."

  "I want to reclaim the inheritance that belongs to me."

  "And you—"

  She stared at Michael, enunciating each word.

  "You need to survive. You need power. More importantly, you need to break free from his control."

  "So."

  "Let's make a deal."

  The car drove into the darkness.

  Michael leaned back in the seat, his heart racing wildly.

  From this night on, he was no longer an ordinary bottom-tier employee.

  He was a monster's vessel.

  A chip in a power game.

  And also...

  The only man who could ignore status and get close to this cold, elegant goddess.