"Did you find out what the drug is used for?"Melissa was busy reading some doc.u.ments as she asked her secretary, who handed her a detailed report and patiently explained:
"It"s an illegal drug sometimes used for people with bradycardia. It accelerates a person"s heartbeat and blood circulation but it has severe side-effects such as fast decay of certain cells and a significant decrease in white blood cells."
"That"s only half of what I want!" Berated Melissa as she glared at him.
"I want to know why HE is using it!"
"We"re still investigati-"
"Do it faster!"
After coldly saying that, she picked up the report about the drug and carefully read it. She was currently heading to the academy, though Rika didn"t accompany her as she wanted to rest for another day and since her father was arrested this morning, there will be a lot of gossip within the academy. Reporters are prohibited from entering the academy"s grounds but even the student"s words can be malicious enough to hurt the already miserable Rika.
…
Ann"s laboratory.
The siblings woke up only after four hours of sleep and started researching Bin"s condition and experimenting on some of his blood which they extracted during last night"s operation. Scarlett is an honorary teacher and guest in the magic academy but, currently, she couldn"t be bothered to attend, at least not after finding out the truth about her master"s secret patient.
"Big sister, I don"t think your theory about the black spot being metamorphosis is correct." Ann pointed at the screen, which displayed the internal circulation of blood within the mysterious black spots all over Bin"s body.
"The spots are utterly void of any blood but they don"t block the whole path, there are narrow ca.n.a.ls which the blood flows from one end to the other. The nerves are definitely dead hence the lack of any sensation but the cells are not dead yet. Even if it"s really metamorphosis, it"ll take much longer than what his body could handle. If a black spot appears in his heart, he"ll die on the spot. Same thing for his brain or deep inside his lungs."
Scarlett gazed at the blackened minuscule cells while pondering about something.
"What we know is that it has to do with Mana. There"s also the ma.s.sive blue whirlpool originating from his heart. Will everything stop if he"s isolated in a place devoid of any Mana?"
With a hand on her chin, Ann fiddled with the pen while answering: "I"ve thought about it but it isn"t easy to find a place that has no Mana and it"s not guaranteed to work. I don"t understand… if his body is this incompatible with Mana then why is it madly absorbing it? The expulsion rate is relatively slow and ineffective in an environment rich with Mana."
"How about a heart transplant?"
"I"ve thought about that too but we"ll need the right heart, furthermore, I"m not sure if the whirlpool will remain or not if we change his heart. Dr. Galen, your master, did plant something which I had never seen… it"s actually equilibrating the flow of Mana around his heart and is possibly the thing which generated the whirlpool but it"s also what"s maintaining the balance. Were to remove it, the Mana will stretch to all parts of his body and it"ll undoubtedly explode within seconds."-Ann
The red-haired doctor wrote a few things on a white sheet of paper before shaking her head standing up.
"Master should have left a few clues which may help us. I"m going to his office and look again."
She picked her colorful summer jacket and left the laboratory, her mind preoccupied with many things.
****
"Congressman, will you plead guilty?"
"Congressman! Did you really bribe the minister of defense?"
"Congressman, did you confess your crimes to the prosecution?"
Dozens of reporters flashed their cameras at him, they shoved each other, wanting to ask Hayden, who was guarded by two officers and guided to a large van meant for prisoners. He"s going to court tomorrow so, until then, he"ll be imprisoned at the nearby police station. Of course, the man objected but even the prosecutor in charge, who"s supposed to be bribed by him, was strict and refused to listen to him.
Hayden wore a black mask which covered his nose and mouth as he hung his head low and rapidly walked toward the van, refusing to utter a word.
A bit behind the crowd of citizens and journalists, a girl wearing a dark hoodie with two cute white cat ears was looking at the congressman. Her long black hair was hidden under the hoodie and her inky black pupils were fixated on the man.
She was Elise, the girl who smuggled herself from Italy all the way here in order to look for Bin, who"s supposedly her twin brother. Last night, she went to check his apartment only to see a road littered with corpses belonging to her pursuers. The area was filled with police officers but she heard them talking about the culprit, who was caught and dragged to the station.
Unfortunately, there was not even a whiff of Bin when she went to check, which led her to come here. Hayden is probably the only one who knows where Bin is and Elise didn"t plan on stay still.
Very soon, the black police van departed right before the girl, who turned around and disappeared seconds later.