Chapter 1121

"Yes, sir."

Gino, the steward, gave a slight nod and backed out of the room.

Corvus Thorne stood up.

He walked over to Theia Sommers' room, peering at her through the small window

in the door. "Sacrificing one child to save the other six. Theia, you're a smart woman. You know what needs to be done."

The youngest child was the ultimate test subject he had been searching for.

Once he had her, he could extract her blood and genes to finally determine if the genetic modifications he performed on Theia and Silas Blackwood had been successful.

Theia, as usual, kept her head tilted back, staring blankly at the air vent.

She completely ignored the man behind her.

"If you two hadn't thought you were so clever by taking drugs to damage your own genes," Corvus continued, "a new test subject might have already been born, and my research would be complete."

"You monster."

Hearing this, Theia gritted her teeth, her voice dripping with venom.

Back when they were fleeing, terrified of being recaptured, she and Silas had ingested a substance designed to scramble their genetic sequences.

Because of that, every subsequent attempt Corvus made to use their genes to 'create' more children had failed miserably.

Therefore, Seven was his one and only hope.

"Theia, have you ever heard of Rosen's Virus?" Corvus, entirely unfazed by her hostility, asked in a slow, deliberate tone.

Theia's pupils constricted violently. Of course she knew it.

Back in Albia Country, the research institute had used that exact virus on her to force her to hand over her core data.

"She really is your daughter," Corvus remarked. "To endure multiple cycles of it within five hours without breaking... she has a high tolerance."

Upon hearing this, Theia shot up from the floor, lunging at the door and glaring at him with pure hatred. "She's just a child! And she's pregnant! Are you even human, Corvus?!"

"Theia, didn't you just say it yourself?" He met her furious gaze calmly. "I'm a monster. How could I possibly be human?"

Theia gripped the door frame so tightly her fingernails snapped, smearing blood against the metal.

"I give you my word. Hand over your youngest, and the other six will remain completely unharmed," he offered, his patience wearing thin.

"You expect me to believe you?" She let out a bitter laugh, her tears

l.ne

mixing with the blood on her hands.

"You get what's coming to yo Corvus

"Karma?" Corvus's smile widened, his tone light. "Theia, my karma hit me a long time ago."

Losing her had been the universe's greatest punishment.

"I'll give her one more chance to talk..." His expression quickly morphed back into a mask of cold indifference "But I won't be nearly as gentle next time

"Corvus!" Knowing exactly what he was capable of, Theia's emotions spiraled For the sake of my father saving your life back then, please, let Celine go!"

Corvus turned his back and walked away without a second glance.

"Corvus... Corvus!"

Watching his retreating figure, she collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face.

What was she supposed to do?

How could she possibly save her children?!

Liberty Island.

Forced to rest by Shanley Schwartz, Juniper Payne had fallen into a deep, groggy sleep for a few hours.

When she jolted awake, the spot next to her was empty. Shanley was nowhere to be found.

It was only five minutes away from the eight-hour mark, the exact time Subterra Vanguard was supposed to send her the DNA test results.

Where was her phone?

She checked the room but couldn't find it, guessing Shanley must have taken it.

She threw off the covers and got out of bed.

Just as she rounded the corner into the hallway, she saw Melvin Steele yank Shanley into an adjacent room.

Right on their heels, Jimmie, Harold, Ebony Fox, and Coralie filed in after them.

"???"

Juniper frowned in confusion.

Did her siblings figure out something was wrong? Were they planning to interrogate Shanley?!