Chapter 138: Our Baby...is a Monster ?
During break, Dennis was called by Steve to the operations room inside the gym—alone, without Daisy.
"What’s up, sir?" Dennis asked, feeling a bit confused.
"Here’s the deal. I received a request from the Emerald Military Academy in the south. Because of the incident yesterday, four out of their six core team members were arrested and won’t be getting out anytime soon. They’ve asked for you and your team to go there and help them select new members, since the PE teacher there was also involved in that syndicate case," Steve answered.
"Huh... you mean we’re the ones choosing for them?" Dennis asked, not quite following.
"You aren’t choosing them; you and your team are the ones testing them," Steve clarified.
"Oh... like back when I had that match against Ivan’s team, sir?" Dennis asked.
"Something like that. But since there are quite a few candidates, the test will involve five-minute one-on-one duels," Steve replied.
"It seems a bit weird though, sir. The tournament is coming up soon; it feels off for us to be the ones picking their team," Dennis countered.
"Oh... they aren’t competing in the tournament this year," Steve said.
"I see. In that case, I’ll ask the others about this first, sir. When exactly would we need to head down there?" Dennis asked.
"If not tomorrow, the day after is fine. If you guys are okay with it, I’ll let them know, so please let me know what you decide," Steve answered.
"Understood, sir. If you’ll excuse me," Dennis said, taking his leave.
After that, Dennis left the operations room and walked out of the gym toward the cafeteria where Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly were waiting. As he walked,
"Four members involved in the syndicate and the teacher too? It’s a mess over there, and I bet one of them was Chris," Dennis muttered in his heart.
Suddenly, an interface popped up showing photos of the four people involved and the teacher at the southern branch who knew what was going on but didn’t report it—and even allowed it because he turned out to be part of the syndicate himself. Just as Dennis suspected, Chris was indeed one of the four involved.
"Hmm... so these are the guys," Dennis muttered in his head, looking at the photos on the interface other than Chris.
[Correct, Master. They were all involved because most of the victims were also female students from the same school.]
"Good grief, that syndicate really caused a massive stir throughout the city... I didn’t expect us to bust a case that huge," Dennis muttered in his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
[However, if it hadn’t been handled, there would have been more and more victims. It was all for the sake of justice.]
"Hmm... I wasn’t really thinking about all that; all I was thinking about back then was Destiny, haha," Dennis replied in his head.
[Precisely, Master. It is a good thing you didn’t think.]
"Huh... what do you mean by that?" Dennis asked.
[If you had actually thought about it—if you knew the scale of the impact that would occur if a syndicate like that were exposed—you would have thought twice before destroying them.]
"Oh... true enough. Well, whatever, the important thing is everyone is fine now," Dennis replied.
[Should I add Destiny to the party, Master?]
"Hah... are you kidding me? Don’t do that; she’s just a baby," Dennis answered.
"Vwoooong," suddenly another interface snapped open in front of Dennis’s face. He read it instantly, then jolted in shock. His pace ground to a halt, his face went pale, and his jaw hit the floor.
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Name : Destiny Larson.
Race : High Human.
Class : All Rounder.
Power : +99,999
Health : 99,999 / 99,999.
Stamina : 99,999 / 99,999.
Spirit : 99,999 / 99,999.
Magic : 99,999 / 99,999.
******************************************
"Thud,"
Dennis’s knees suddenly went weak, and he slumped down onto the floor with a dazed expression, drawing stares from everyone passing through the hallway.
"W... what the hell is this... how is this even possible?" Dennis asked in his head.
[I do not wish to keep secrets from you; that is why I am informing you.]
"Explain it to me—how did this happen? She’s a baby... she hasn’t even been alive that long. Plus, she’s not blood-related to any of us, right?" Dennis asked, fire-hosing questions in his head.
[For clarity, Master, I will show you what your other wives—excluding Daisy—have been doing while Destiny was with them.]
Another interface appeared, showing footage from the moment Destiny arrived. First, it showed Deborah mixing infant formula for Destiny using alchemy; for the first time, Dennis could clearly see the ingredients Deborah was using. Then the scene shifted to Diana, who occasionally let drops of her own blood fall into Destiny’s mouth, likely so the baby would inherit her lineage.
This was followed by Dahlia placing her heirloom necklace on her, only for the necklace to be absorbed directly into Destiny’s body. Then came Donna, who let Destiny hold one of her knives, and it was clear to see something flowing into Destiny’s form. Even Dulcia, who always claimed to be anti-baby, was seen secretly breastfeeding Destiny herself—which seemed impossible, and the effects were still unknown.
But the worst part was Daphne. She had called for Destiny’s biological mother, talked to her, and then transferred the mother’s power—who was actually a Hunter—directly into Destiny. Meanwhile, Destiny herself looked happy, as if nothing were wrong. Dennis immediately rubbed his face with his hands, his expression suddenly looking ten years older than his actual age.
"We’re screwed... absolutely screwed... this means we’re turning Destiny into something terrifying, isn’t it?" Dennis muttered.
[This is all for Destiny’s sake, Master.]
Then, in Dennis’s head, he started imagining Destiny at a little over a year old, learning to toddle toward him. But suddenly, the image shattered, replaced by a Destiny who was already jumping, sprinting, and even performing martial arts. Next, he imagined Destiny starting school normally and having lots of friends; that image shattered too, replaced by Destiny beating up all the other kids her age at school. Finally, he pictured a normal teenage Destiny with friends and even a boyfriend—of course, that image broke apart again, showing Destiny as a gang leader and a Hunter out there slaughtering Crawlers.
"Waaaaaah, my daughter’s entire future just went up in smoke!" Dennis screamed in his head, clutching his skull with both hands.
[Calm down, Master. The future hasn’t happened yet. Besides, you also played a part in shaping Destiny into who she is now. Think about it: Diana always drinks your blood; you were the one who gave that protective necklace to Dahlia; you were the one who gave Donna a knife because she usually fought bare-handed; and Deborah—weren’t you the one who asked her to handle the milk?]
"How is this coming back on me? Whose side are you on?" Dennis said.
[It is only natural, Master. Your wives want to pass their legacy down to their child. It is normal. And there is one more thing I must show you.]
An interface appeared once again, and this time it displayed DNA test results that seemed to come out of nowhere. Dennis’s eyes widened because the paternity result was 99.99%. Destiny was his biological child, sharing his own blood, and a second test showed the exact same result for Daisy.
Dennis read it twice because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing; he blinked repeatedly and kept his eyes squeezed shut for a long moment before opening them again. The result remained the same: Destiny was truly his and Daisy’s child, which should have been impossible.
"Huh... how is that possible?" Dennis asked, completely bewildered and turning even paler than before.
[It’s simple, Master. Daphne spoke to the spirit of her mother and asked for permission. She relayed this to Daisy, and of course, Daisy asked me for help in altering Destiny’s DNA.]
"Haaaaah... is something like that even possible?" Dennis asked in shock.
[What isn’t possible, Master?]
"Good grief... good grief... even biology can be altered... mercy. I’m going to be seriously stressed out if this is how the story goes," Dennis muttered in his head.
[Weren’t you the one who said, "from this day on, Destiny is our child," in the car back then?]
"Uuuh... right... but... maybe not like this... man... I feel like screaming. But when did all of this happen? When did you switch Destiny’s DNA?" Dennis replied, clutching his head with both hands.
[For the past two days, all of your wives distracted you by inviting you to "play" in the basement, right, Master? That is when it all took place.]
"So all that was their plan. Please, next time tell me beforehand—don’t wait until everything’s already done to let me know. And you’re saying all of this, from asking about putting Destiny in the party to showing her status, when the bottom line was just wanting to tell me that Destiny has officially become my and Daisy’s biological child, right? Admit it," Dennis replied in frustration.
[Exactly, Master. You finally understand my point.]
"Uuh," Dennis looked around to his right and left, noticing that he had become the center of attention for the people passing by until they finally stopped staring. Dennis tried to stay calm, then he stood up and immediately sprinted toward the cafeteria.