On the opposite side of the road, Cooper was watching the commotion. He recognized Reed and wanted to help. He moved to a trash bin and wanted to lift it, but it was too heavy. He wanted to remove the cover, but the seal was too tight. He saw two cans of soft drinks in the bin, then firmly held them. He sharply stared at the men that surrounded Reed. "AHHHH.

Cooper did not see his loose shoelace. He stepped on the shoelace and fell. His face hit the concrete road, causing him to pass out.

The men heard the shout. They looked around them but did not see anyone, so they continued moving to Reed.

Two men approach behind Reed. One of them dashed to his back and punched his head. Reed stepped to his side and struck the man with his elbow.

The man held his belly as he stepped back. He was kicked and pushed to his back. He was held by the man behind him.

Reed ran forward and suddenly jumped. He kicked his right foot to the man's body, then jumped to his back as he turned around in mid-air. He hit Austin's jaw with his fist, causing the giant man to wobble.

Austin hit John and one other man as he stepped to his back. They all crashed to the ground when Austin's body was hit by Reed's flying kick.

Reed saw Clayton and Cole approaching them as they rode their motorcycles. He ran and jumped onto a parked motorcycle. His foot kicked the seat and jumped toward Clayton. His feet hit Clayton's body, then he jumped toward Cole.

"Fuck!" cursed Cole as he ducked and dodged Reed's flying kick. He dodged Clayton's motorcycle, which crashed to the ground, then accelerated and ran away. He did not want to experience more suffering from the abnormal boy. A hand suddenly held his shoulder.

"It seems you have to sleep again," said Reed while squatting at the back of the rushing motorcycle.

"Fuck," cursed Cole in his mind.

In a particular corner, a bald man who was two meters tall, wearing a fitted shirt and black pants, witnessed the fight.

The bald man named Colton chuckled. He crashed the can of beer that he drank and threw it in a trash bin that was fifteen meters away. The can rapidly flew straight to the hole in the bin.

Colton walked toward a car that was parked on the roadside. The car looked like a Hummer in mint color. Within the car, there was a man in the driver's seat and two men in the back seat.

One of the men in the back seat was a middle-aged man wearing a coat and holding a folder with a mark of classified information.

"A twenty percent success rate. Only two out of ten will survive the S serum to unlock the Starl gene. The failure rate is still too high," said the middle-aged man named Hudson as he read the information in the folder.

The other man was cutting his nail with a sharp dagger. He had quite long hair and a beard. His name was Hunter. He was tall, had a fit and strong body. He smirked when he heard Hudson."The failure rate was even lower when you gave us the serum. You allowed mercenaries and ordinary citizens of the country to act as lab rats, but you won't allow your precious soldiers to receive the serum. It will take decades before the research can reach the threshold of safety that you want. No risk, no reward."

The man in the driver's seat, named Wyatt, looked at the rearview mirror. He looked at the man with ridicule.

Hudson chuckled when he heard Hunter. "There are only a few Argans. We selected people that will likely stay loyal. We made so much effort to recruit them and brainwash them into obedient soldiers. How could we accept the high failure rate?"

Hunter chuckled. He tossed up the dagger in his right hand. The dagger spun in the air, then its sharp tip landed on Hunter's index finger, which was pointing up. Hunter swung his finger. The dagger was slowly spinning while floating in the air. Hunter kept playing the spinning dagger with his finger."Stay loyal? Obedient soldiers? That doesn't sound good to my ears. Do you mean that we will likely become traitors?"

Hudson stared at Hunter, then laughed. He patted Hunter's shoulder and said,"You know that is not what I meant. I believe in you guys. I will contact you again later."

Hudson put the folder in a briefcase, then came out of the car and entered another car that was in front of the Humvee.

"Damn dogs,"said Hudson when he sat in the back seat of the car, then looked at the driver who seemed like a bodyguard."Go."

He took out his phone and called someone. "I got the result, sir, and the success rate has slightly increased."

"How's the operation black mouse?"

"It's already in motion, sir, and red fist will lead the operation."

"Inform me once there is a result," said the man on the other line, then he ended the call.

"Will Dark Order bite the honey we prepared for them?" thought Hudson with a smile as he looked outside the window.

"Boss, should we find another job? They will likely eliminate us when they no longer need us,"said Wyatt as he looked at Hudson's car that was moving away.

"No. You know the reason why we can't leave them. Although the serum succeeded, our genes are still unstable and need regular injection of stabilizer. Some test subjects perfectly unlock their genes without the need for stabilizer, but we are not lucky enough because we were the test subjects of the first official version of the serum that had a very high failure rate."

"Can't we just join the Dark Order? They also have a stabilizer, and we could try to find the formula and make them on our own."

"Dark Order? Do you want us to live like them? Those sorcerers that are leading that organization and the Argans that joined them are like rats that have to hide because they are being hunted by the government. The sorcerers have too much pride in their blood. They even have a term for ordinary humans, Pleb. They also don't have much respect to Argans. We can't easily find the formula because the facility where the stabilizer is being made is strictly confidential. I don't know where it is, at least not yet. Even if we find the formula, the necessary materials are probably strictly monitored by the underlings of that man in the government. 

I don't know how Dark Order can have a stabilizer. They might have an insider in the facility or have a facility on their own. Unlike me, they have much higher influence in the government because that hidden organization was formed by sorcerers with thousands of years of history, so they could hide the tracks on the materials. Although we are hired hounds of that man, at least we don't have to hide like rats, and we are paid well."

Wyatt had an unwilling look on his face."Does that mean we are going to be their slaves forever?"

Hunter was holding the dagger in his hand while looking at his face on the shiny blade. His eyes looked sharper."Forever? That is foolish. We just need to wait until they research a permanent stabilizer. If there is a peaceful condition in receiving it, then we could remain as their hounds for a little longer. If they won't give it, then we'll risk it all. A hound will bite its owner if not fed well."