Badass in Disguise (Shadow) novel Chapter 308

Chapter 308

89

Jade’s POV:

I shoved the scientist forward, my gun pressed firmly against his spine as we entered the next laboratory. The doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss, and I froze at the sight before me. Twenty oval–shaped cultivation pods were arranged in perfect rows across the sterile white room. Each pod was connected to state–of–the–art biological monitoring equipment, with high–definition screens displaying vital signs and genetic sequences.

The antiseptic smell mixed with something else–something organic and unsettling. My stomach tightened with disgust and rage as I took in the full horror of what they had created here. Memories of my own time as their experimental subject flashed through my mind, intensifying my hatred.

“Open the pods,” I commanded, jamming the barrel harder against his back until he winced.

“No! Please!” His voice cracked with panic, eyes bulging behind his glasses. “They need ten more days–ten more days before they can be opened safely! If we open them now, they’ll have defects!”

I laughed coldly, the sound echoing off the metallic surfaces. “Do I look like I give a shit about defects? Your little science project ends today.”

Turning my face upward, I addressed the sphere hovering above us. “Maxi, cut this thing open.”

“Scanning structure,” it responded. Its lens glowed red as it analyzed the pod, its small frame rotating slightly to get the optimal angle.

“NO!” the scientist screamed, his face contorting in horror. He lunged forward but I yanked him back roughly. “STOP! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”

A precise laser beam shot from the sphere, slicing the cultivation pod clean in half. Blood and amniotic fluid gushed out, splashing onto the pristine floor with a sickening sound. The scientist broke free from my grip and frantically rushed to check the contents of the ruined pod. Inside lay a bisected clone, its life ended before it truly began.

I glanced at the face–a stranger to me.

“Cut them all,” I ordered Maxi, stepping back to avoid the fluid splashing onto my boots. One by one, the laser sliced through each pod while the scientist wailed and pleaded, his cries growing more desperate with each destroyed creation. The floor became slick with blood and fluid, the metallic smell filling the air and making my nostrils flare.

At the eleventh pod, I stopped cold. The face inside was unmistakable–Ace of Spades.

King of Hearts, his angular face just as I remembered. Then Queen of Clubs, her beauty preserved even in this artificial state. Jack of Diamonds followed. And finally, in the last pod, the clone of SPECTER himself–the Shadow Organization’s enigmatic leader whose real face few had ever seen.

“The royal flush,” I muttered with a bitter smile, running my fingers along the cool glass of SPECTER’S pod. “Well, isn’t that convenient? Ten more days and these would all be operational. I wouldn’t have flown out of here even if I was Superman himself. They’d have hunted

me down like a lab rat.”

The scientist had collapsed to his knees, sobbing among the carnage of his creations. Strands of his gray hair stuck to his forehead, wet with sweat and clone fluid. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small incendiary device, activating it with a flick of my thumb. The small red light began to blink rapidly.

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9:54 Thu, Oct 2

Chapter 308

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“What are you doing?” he gasped, eyes widening as he recognized the device. “No–that’s highly volatile material in here! The entire lab

will-”

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