Chapter 172: Defects

Once Adrian’s group departed, the members of the Freedom Convoy trickled back into the area.

Rex spoke first.

"So, your father was murdered?" He tilted his head. "Is that why you turned out like this?"

Leo stared at him, wondering if Rex had any common sense at all. Lacking the energy to entertain the meaningless banter, he shook his head and turned away.

Nina took a hesitant step forward.

"Big Brother Leo..."

Leo looked down at the girl. She clasped her hands together, her face radiating gratitude.

"Thank you for saving me."

Leo gave a faint smile and patted her head.

"You’re welcome."

The tension in Nina’s face melted away. A moment later, Valentine approached.

"Leo."

He turned to face her. She hesitated a beat before speaking.

"Thank you for standing up for us."

Leo waved a hand to brush it off.

"It wasn’t a big deal."

Valentine gave him a strange look. He had pointed a gun at a colonel’s head and threatened to kill him. And he called that nothing? She shook her head and swallowed her comments.

"There’s something you should know," she continued. "About Nina and Atlas."

Leo’s expression hardened. Valentine cast a glance toward the two children.

"Both of them grew up in a government-funded orphanage before the apocalypse began."

"After they turned eighteen, they were transferred into the military’s experimental program."

Leo frowned.

"Why?"

Valentine let out a heavy breath.

"At that time, the Rizen Group had already become one of the most advanced companies in the world."

"They possessed technology far beyond what ordinary people could imagine."

"And they already had superhumans before the apocalypse even began."

Leo’s eyes narrowed. Valentine went on.

"The Rizen Group was powerful, but they had also offended many influential people."

"Other major companies didn’t possess the same technology or superhuman abilities, but they had something the Rizen Group lacked."

"Connections."

She paused.

"Some of those companies had spent decades—or even centuries—building their foundations and influence."

"Together, they became a force that even the Rizen Group couldn’t afford to ignore."

"So the Rizen Group approached the militaries of various countries."

Leo remained silent, absorbing every word.

"To suppress the influence of those other companies, the Rizen Group agreed to share some of its superhuman research with the military."

"But they only provided incomplete information."

A shadow fell over Valentine’s face.

"Even that incomplete information was enough to satisfy the military."

"They immediately began conducting experiments of their own, hoping to create superhumans without relying entirely on the Rizen Group."

"And that’s when the children started disappearing."

Valentine continued.

"Children from government-funded orphanages began vanishing all over the world."

"Some were taken secretly."

"Others were transferred under the excuse of receiving special education or medical treatment."

Her hands curled into tight fists.

"Nina and Atlas were among those children."

A heavy silence settled over the group. Leo looked at Nina. The girl kept her head down, her fingers trembling. No one spoke.

Valentine broke the silence.

"Atlas was experimented on using Oshu’s DNA and blood."

She cast a look at Leo.

"You saw the Golden Ape during the battle, right?"

"His name is Oshu, also known as the Ape God."

Leo gave a single nod.

"Out of thousands of children, Atlas was the only one who survived the experiments and successfully inherited Oshu’s powers."

Valentine’s face grew grim.

"But the experiment came with a serious defect."

"Or, more accurately, a side effect."

She turned her gaze to Atlas.

"His brain capacity regressed to that of a child."

"And the stronger he becomes, the more severe the regression gets."

Valentine went on.

"Whenever Atlas falls asleep or loses consciousness, he transforms into the Golden Ape."

"In that state, he doesn’t recognize anyone. He simply attacks everything around him."

She paused.

"We’re afraid that one day, he may lose even the ability to think like a human."

The mood darkened further. Valentine shifted her focus to Nina.

"Nina’s situation is different."

"There is a doctor inside the Rizen Group. No one has ever seen him, and no one knows his real name."

"However, there are rumors that he is responsible for the Rizen Group’s incredible development."

"He supposedly invented many of the advanced technologies used by the company."

Valentine narrowed her eyes.

"He is also a superhuman."

"Nina and the other children in her group were experimented on using that doctor’s DNA and blood."

"Once again, Nina was the only child who survived."

"She gained extraordinary abilities, but they came with defects of their own."

Valentine drew a deep breath and continued.

"Her ability to make new inventions and machines improved dramatically."

"Her intelligence, mental processing, and ability to learn also increased far beyond that of an ordinary person."

" In short her intelligence when it comes to machines is extraordinary"

"But her body stopped developing after the experiments "

Leo looked at Nina.

"Even though she is the same age as the rest of us, she still looks like a child."

Nina kept her head bowed, her hands clenching into small fists. Valentine’s voice softened.

"We only discovered the defect involving her lifespan just now."

"After the military learned that both Nina and Atlas had developed serious defects, they were dissatisfied with the results."

"But they didn’t dispose of them."

"Instead, they decided to continue studying them."

A bitter look crossed Valentine’s face.

"They were transferred to another facility, where they remained subjects of further experiments ."

" Together with Atlas and Nina , there were other children with defects too but under the military’s cruel experiments , only Atlas and Nina survived until the apocalypse suddenly descended."

Leo’s eyes narrowed. Valentine drew a slow breath.

" When we reached that facility . At that time , the freedom convoy consisted of me , Cyrus , Rex and Grandpa Jiro "

"Our team was searching for advanced equipment and weapons inside a military facility."

"That was when we discovered Nina and Atlas."

"We rescued them from the facility."

She cast a look at the rest of the group.

"And after that..."

Valentine gave a faint shrug.

"The rest is history."