I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 187 The Gears of Fate (Part 1)
Meanwhile, at noon, in the Kingdom of Brown, thousands of miles away from Faoken, in a clinic on the western edge of the village of Gooseberry at the foot of the Astra Mountains.

"Dr. Tracy, thank you for curing my daughter. These are my heartfelt gifts, please accept them!"

The middle-aged man, dressed in old linen clothes, carrying a basket of wild game in one hand and holding his young daughter's hand in the other, spoke with tears of gratitude to Tracy Plant, who was wearing a white coat, had a head of gray hair, and a somewhat hunched figure.

"No, Mr. Wilson, this is all I should do."

Tracy smiled and waved to the other person, then patted the little girl's head affectionately before smiling and reminding her, under Wilson's admiring gaze:
"Although Alice has now recovered her health, she is still suffering from a plague that has recently spread around Astra, a disease that has never been mentioned in medical books."

"Therefore, there is a possibility of recurrence. So if you find that Alice has symptoms such as fever and persistent high fever, please be sure to bring her to see me as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Dr. Tracy, I understand."

Upon hearing this reminder, Wilson immediately nodded earnestly.

Looking at the kind old doctor who treated his daughter for free, Wilson suddenly felt a little guilty. Just as he was about to grit his teeth and take out some money from his pocket...

As if she had seen through his thoughts, Tracy immediately smiled and interrupted him:

“Mr. Wilson, there’s no need for that. As a believer in the Golden Church and a local doctor appointed by the kingdom, it is my duty as a believer to help the villagers, so you don’t need to worry about it too much.”

"Besides, I've already received a lot of care from the villagers of Gooseberry Village for my food, clothing, and daily necessities. So please take these foods back with you. Alice needs more nutrition than I do."

"Furthermore, in order to ensure a complete cure for the epidemic, I still need to study the principles of this new disease, so please forgive me for not being able to continue our conversation."

"Oh, it's alright, Dr. Tracy, you're busy. If you need anything in the future, please remember to come to me anytime!"

"May the Hall of Heroes, which bears the golden will, forever protect your soul, Mr. Wilson."

"May you always be blessed by the golden will, Saint Tracy!"

"Tap, tap!"

Watching Wilson's retreating figure as he devoutly performed the rituals representing the Golden Church before leading his daughter away, Tracy maintained her previous smile.

Only after the other person disappeared from sight did the smile on his face slowly fade, and he slowly returned to the clinic.

After tidying up the messy desk, he began to carefully peruse the medical books at his desk again.

For a moment, apart from the rustling sound of Tracy turning the pages of her book, there was no other noise in the clinic.

It was as if the person in this clinic was a kind-hearted, elderly doctor, not a madman who had personally ordered the deaths of tens of thousands of children in experiments.

Time slipped away silently, and in the blink of an eye, it was evening from noon. The fiery red sunset streamed into the room through the window and shone directly on Tracy.

Seemingly finally drawn in by the sudden appearance of light, Tracy snapped out of her reverie and slowly closed the medical book again.

He then slowly stood up, rubbing his aching lower back, and slowly pushed open the clinic door. He picked up his cane and walked slowly toward the dilapidated church outside the village.

Along the way, Tracy encountered many villagers. Upon seeing the elderly and kind doctor, the villagers greeted him respectfully and invited him to their homes for a meal.

Tracy responded to the villagers with a smile, but declined their invitation to have dinner with them, citing his need to attend his daily doctrinal readings at church.

Then, under the admiring gaze of the villagers, he slowly walked towards the church outside the village, leaning on his cane.

By the time Tracy arrived at the dilapidated Golden Church, the sun had already set behind the mountains, and the sky was gradually being shrouded in night.

"Squeak!"

As the four-meter-high solid wood church door was slowly pushed open, Tracy stepped straight in and then habitually bolted it shut.

At this moment, his originally hunched figure began to gradually become upright.

The eyes, which had become cloudy due to the erosion of time, have now become sharp again.

His usual kind face was now completely replaced by indifference.

He exuded an aura that inexplicably made people's hearts flutter.

Like a wild beast that has torn apart a false pretense!
He coldly swept his gaze across the very center of the dilapidated church, where a statue carved entirely of pure white marble stood, holding scales and a longsword of order, representing the supreme deity of the Golden Church, named the Immaculate Golden God 'Olisius'.

Ignoring the statue's majestic gaze that seemed to see through all evil in the world, Tracy went straight to the podium and then turned the handle in the hidden compartment.

"Crack!"

After the handle was pushed, accompanied by the sound of the stone walls moving, a staircase leading underground quickly appeared on the seemingly flat platform.

The moment the stairs appeared, a strong stench suddenly erupted from within, but Tracy seemed oblivious to the smell, continuing to take a dim kerosene lamp from the wall and then expressionlessly descending the stairs.

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by the clanging of iron chains, and the mournful howls of wild beasts before their death, came from the depths below the stairs.

But after a sharp sound of a blade piercing flesh, the scream abruptly stopped.

Instead, there was the sound of flesh being cut by a sharp blade, followed by the sound of bones being smashed by an iron hammer.

About an hour later, accompanied by heavy footsteps, Tracy slowly emerged from the stairs below.

However, compared to before, his white coat was now covered with a large amount of scarlet blood. In addition to carrying a kerosene lamp in his left hand, he was also carrying a burlap sack that was constantly leaking blood in his right hand.

Just as Tracy, with a dark expression, was about to throw away the junk in his hand, change out of his dirty white coat, and return to Gooseberry Village to avoid being noticed as something was amiss.

At that moment, the church door was suddenly knocked on.

"Boom boom boom!"

"!"

Tracy paused abruptly, then without thinking, threw the junk he was carrying back into the depths of the underground staircase. After quickly moving the handle to restore the secret passage, he also cleanly and efficiently took off his blood-stained white coat and successfully threw the dirty clothes in before the stone slab closed.

Even so, there was still a little red stain on the chest of his shirt, which would arouse suspicion if noticed.

Seemingly realizing this, Tracy immediately frowned. But hearing the increasingly urgent knocking at the door, and realizing that if he didn't respond, the other party would most likely break down the door, he...

A cold glint flashed in Tracy's eyes as he drew the dagger hidden at his waist and walked toward the door, responding to the other person as he did so.

His expression was extremely cold, but his voice was full of exhaustion and confusion:

"Who is it? Is it Wilson? Is Alice showing symptoms? Stop knocking, I'll open the door for you right away."

Tracy walked to the church door. He first slowly opened the latch with his left hand, while his right hand gripped the dagger tightly and hid it behind his back.

Once he opens the door and confirms that there is only one person there, he can immediately raise his dagger and kill the foolish villager who disrupted his plans on the spot.

They threw the other person and the failed test subject into the monster cave in the Astra Mountains. The monsters, which feed on human flesh, could easily destroy the evidence, just like always.

Then he would fabricate excuses, claiming that he had stayed inside the church the whole time and had not seen the other person at all.

Relying on his prestige among the villagers, he could easily clear himself of suspicion and, under the identity of Dr. Tracy, continue his mysterious and great transformation experiments in this dilapidated church.

Although such actions may bring uncontrollable risks, considering that once the matter is exposed, what awaits him is probably not only reports from the villagers, but also a punitive expedition by the Thorn Guard of the Kingdom of Brown.

At that time, even if he were a high-ranking mage, let alone a low-ranking one, he would probably not be able to escape death.

"I didn't really plan to make a move against the people of Gooseberry Village so soon. After all, even with my prestige, doing so would probably arouse suspicion from the other civilians."

"Therefore, although it is regrettable, Wilson, why did you have to be so blind as to interrupt my research?"

"Since you are willing to die, then I have no choice but to grant your wish."

"Of course, you don't need to feel too lonely. After I use you as research material for my modification experiments, I will soon send your daughter Alice to reunite with you!"

A cold glint flashed in Tracy's eyes, and then he slowly opened the door in front of him.

But before he could get a good look at the figure in front of the door, he was caught off guard.

The next second, in Tracy's narrowed pupils, the figure in the black cloak, whose face was completely covered by the hood, appeared in front of the church gate.

The moment she saw him, instead of asking him anything, she raised her fist and punched him hard in the chest.

And the speed was so fast that he could only see the afterimage left by the opponent's punch.

Then, a terrifying burst of power suddenly erupted from his chest.

"Oh!"

"Crack!"

A dull thud, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking, suddenly rang out from the church entrance.

Tracy, struck squarely in the chest by the opponent's fist, was sent flying like a rag doll being tossed around, crashing heavily into the podium behind him.

His chest had now caved in deeply, and blood was gushing from his mouth. The feigned pretense on his face had vanished, replaced by intense shock, anger, and horror.

What is this...

"I've been thinking about this day for far too long."

"So long that the moment I see you, I can't help but want to kill you on the spot!"

"!"

The mysterious man spoke softly, then suddenly ripped off his cloak, revealing his almost signature red hair.

Then, to Mephisto's incredulous gaze, he uttered, word by word, the name that the other party had been trying so hard to hide, trying to prevent anyone from noticing:
"Mephisto Dragon, it's been a long time!"

"Cough cough, it's you!? This, this is impossible!"

Watching Serbia, whose face had become half-dragon-like due to his unconscious use of magic under the influence of anger, was a sight to behold.

With just one glance, Mephisto realized the other party's true identity:

Experiment subject number 1158!

But was the enemy killed by the Imperial border garrison twelve years ago?

The report also stated that a magic cannon was used, blasting the opponent so badly that not even ashes remained, leaving no flesh and blood samples for further research.

Why is this experimental subject, who should have died long ago, able to appear here?
They might even be able to reveal your true identity with a single sentence?

What on earth is going on?!
Mephisto found it unbelievable, but when he looked into the eyes of the experimental subject in front of him—who had undergone near-hellish modifications such as flesh stripping, dragon crystal cutting, and unique circuit reconstruction—he felt a terrifying killing intent that made his soul tremble.

At that moment, Mephisto realized that he had to do something, otherwise...

Death is probably all that awaits him.

But if his memory serves him right, this test subject, number 1158, seems to have had his parents killed by soldiers he had arranged before being sent here, leaving him with no relatives.

The only one who could influence the other party and buy time for himself was probably the one who helped the other party escape, and who was ultimately ripped out of his heart in a fit of rage, with his body thrown into the dissolving pool.

Subject No. 1875, who is estimated to be dead beyond any doubt.

However, the 1158th test subject was unaware that the heart of the 1875th test subject had been dug out and thrown into the dissolution pool!
In other words, as long as you can fabricate a lie and successfully deceive the other party, you can buy yourself a chance to try to escape or even launch a counterattack!

Realizing this, Mephisto immediately looked up without thinking. Serbia, who was about to raise his hand to complete his final half-dragon transformation and deliver the fatal blow to the enemy who had ruined his life, uttered a sentence that made Serbia's pupils shrink just a second before the Serbia unleashed its energy blade slash:
"Wait, Subject 1875 isn't dead! I know where she is!"

……

(End of this chapter)