Chapter 2809: Story 2810: The Power Within

The golden symbol burned across Ryan Malik’s chest.

He dropped to his knees, gasping as seven radiant lines spread beneath his skin. The laboratory shook violently, and the enormous creature recoiled from him for the first time.

“Ryan!” Zara shouted, rushing toward him.

Captain Hamza raised his weapon. “Nobody touch him!”

Ryan looked up, his eyes glowing gold. “What is happening to me?”

Hamza’s face turned pale. “The containment system has recognized its original key.”

Adam stepped backward, fear replacing his usual confidence. “No. It cannot be him.”

The creature’s countless faces twisted toward Ryan. Its enormous fingers dug into the floor as it attempted to retreat into the darkness.

Then Ryan heard a voice inside his mind.

You were never meant to be human.

He clutched his head. “Get out of my mind!”

Every window in the laboratory shattered simultaneously.

A golden shockwave erupted from his body, throwing Hamza against the doorway and sending Adam crashing into a glass cabinet. The creature screamed as its black flesh burned wherever the light touched it.

Zara remained standing only because she had grabbed a steel railing. She stared at Ryan in disbelief.

“You did that?”

Ryan examined his trembling hands. Golden energy flickered between his fingers.

“I didn’t mean to.”

The creature suddenly slammed both fists against the floor. Black tendrils burst through the concrete, racing toward Ryan like enormous snakes. He raised his arms instinctively.

A golden shield appeared around him.

The tendrils struck it and disintegrated into ash.

Hamza slowly lowered his weapon.

“Unbelievable,” he whispered. “The first successful human host.”

Ryan turned toward him. “You knew this would happen.”

“I knew the project had produced something extraordinary. I never knew you could activate it.”

“Who designed the experiment?”

Hamza hesitated before answering.

“Your father.”

Ryan felt the golden light dim.

“You said he was a prisoner.”

“He was both a prisoner and a scientist. He discovered that the organism could be contained inside a living human body. When the experiment failed with your mother, he tried another approach.”

Ryan stared at Adam.

His brother looked away.

“You knew,” Ryan whispered.

Adam’s jaw tightened. “I knew Father chose you instead of me.”

Before Ryan could respond, the creature tore open its own chest. Beneath the black flesh lay a glowing golden core, surrounded by hundreds of moving faces.

One face belonged to Ryan’s mother.

Another belonged to his father.

“Ryan,” his father called weakly. “Do not destroy the core!”

The creature smiled through every mouth.

“Destroy it, and your mother dies. Spare it, and Karachi belongs to me.”

An explosion rocked the laboratory. Warning lights flashed as the ceiling began collapsing.

Zara grabbed Ryan’s arm. “We have to go!”

Ryan stared at the core, torn between saving his family and protecting the city.

Then his father spoke again.

“Son, there is another way.”

The golden symbol on Ryan’s chest suddenly changed, forming a door with seven locks.

His father’s final words echoed through the chamber.

“Open the seventh lock, and you will discover what your brother truly is.”

Adam screamed.

His skin began splitting, revealing something moving beneath it.