Just how powerful was a Pit Lord’s blood?
History offered an answer.
The old Horde had drunk the blood of Mannoroth and transformed overnight. They had shattered Draenor, nearly conquered Azeroth, and would likely have succeeded if Gul’dan hadn’t abandoned the campaign to pursue his own ambitions.
The night elves might still have proven another matter.
Humanity, however...
Would never have survived.
"What is this?"
Daniel Howister stared suspiciously at the tiny vial resting on his desk.
This?
This insignificant bottle was supposed to let twenty men hold off an American battalion?
Unless it turned everyone nearby into zombies, he struggled to imagine how.
Evenson remained composed.
"This is the Umbrella Corporation’s newest achievement."
"We call it..."
"Tyrant."
"Or, more simply..."
"The T-Agent."
"What exactly does this T-Agent do?"
"It enhances the human body."
Evenson spoke with practiced confidence.
"Strength."
"Endurance."
"Reflexes."
"Resistance to injury."
"Recovery."
"Virtually every measurable physical attribute."
To make the story more convincing, he added another carefully prepared lie.
"Our research team derived it by reconstructing Dr. Erskine’s Super Soldier formula."
Howister’s eyes widened.
"You possess Erskine’s formula?"
He understood better than almost anyone what those words implied.
Dr. Abraham Erskine had created two legends.
His serum had first produced Hydra’s greatest champion, the Red Skull.
Then, with an improved version, it had created the man who destroyed both Red Skull and Hydra.
Captain America.
For Hydra, Erskine had been both their greatest triumph...
...and their greatest catastrophe.
Evenson shook his head.
"Not the original formula."
"We reconstructed it by analyzing Steve Rogers’ blood samples and genetic profile."
That answer sounded far more believable.
After all, Red Skull himself had ordered Erskine’s execution. The scientist died before recording a complete formula, and the remaining serum had been destroyed shortly afterward.
Anyone attempting to recreate the project would inevitably begin with Captain America’s biology.
The only mystery left was how this mysterious Umbrella Corporation had obtained Steve Rogers’ blood.
Howister filed that question away.
If Umbrella possessed resources capable of acquiring something that valuable...
...and knew Hydra’s deepest secrets...
...then this organization deserved serious investigation.
Perhaps it was an equal.
Or perhaps something even more dangerous.
But those questions could wait.
"How effective is it?"
"Seeing is believing."
Evenson spread his hands.
"I could show you graphs."
"I could give you test data."
"But neither compares to watching it happen."
Howister nodded immediately.
"Very well."
"What equipment do you need?"
"I’ll have the laboratory prepare everything."
Equipment?
Evenson pretended to think for a moment.
"I’ll need..."
"...one healthy adult."
"Preferably male."
"No problem."
Howister answered without hesitation.
Hydra never lacked experimental subjects.
He could gather volunteers with a single order.
"What else?"
Evenson picked up the vial.
"Open the cork."
"And drink."
"...That’s it."
Howister blinked.
"...That’s it?"
"That’s it."
Silence.
The Hydra leader stared at him.
No gamma radiation.
No specialized machinery.
No banks of computers.
No doctors monitoring heart rhythms or brain activity.
Just...
Open the bottle.
Drink.
The simplicity felt almost insulting.
Every enhancement experiment Howister had ever witnessed required laboratories filled with expensive equipment, dozens of scientists in white coats, military observers, government officials...
An operation worthy of history.
This...
Looked more like someone taking cough syrup.
"I’m not one of the researchers," Evenson said with an innocent shrug.
"I’m simply telling you how the T-Agent is administered."
Don’t look at me.
Pit Lord blood has always been taken orally.
If you have complaints, take them up with Gul’dan.
Howister inspected the vial one last time.
Then he made his decision.
One life meant nothing.
He had personally dissected far more people than he cared to count.
If this man died...
He died in the service of science.
Howister stood and turned toward the six bodyguards lining the office walls.
"Who is willing to accept this gift?"
These men weren’t ordinary security.
They were his most loyal followers.
The people he trusted with his own life.
If the experiment failed, replacing one bodyguard would be inconvenient.
If it succeeded...
The enhanced survivor had to be someone whose loyalty was beyond question.
The response was immediate.
All six guards stepped forward simultaneously.
Not one hesitated.
Howister nodded.
"Rom."
"You’ll do it."
The chosen guard walked forward.
Howister handed him the vial.
"Drink."
"This is your destiny."
Evenson’s eyebrow twitched.
That line sounds awfully familiar.
He glanced between the two men.
So you’re casting yourself as Gul’dan...
Which makes Rom... Grom Hellscream.
Wait a second...
If that’s true...
Who’s playing Mannoroth?
His expression stiffened.
Please don’t let it be me.
Thankfully...
This wasn’t Warlords of Draenor.
Rom stepped into the center of the office.
He pulled the cork free.
"Hail Hydra!"
Tilting back his head, he swallowed every last drop.
The empty vial slipped from his fingers and shattered against the floor.
A heartbeat later...
His body convulsed.
A strangled growl escaped his throat.
He collapsed to one knee as violent spasms tore through every muscle in his body.
His breathing became ragged.
Animalistic.
His screams echoed through the office.
Then everyone saw it.
Muscle.
It expanded at a terrifying speed.
His uniform stretched tight.
The fabric strained.
Split.
Ripped apart as thick cords of muscle swelled beneath his skin.
With a deafening roar, Rom tore away the remains of his shirt.
His skin darkened from flesh tones to charcoal gray.
Jagged green veins spread across his body like molten cracks through cooling stone.
Bones snapped and reshaped beneath the skin with sickening pops.
From his forearms, sharp bony spikes burst outward.
The transformation continued for nearly two minutes.
Finally...
It stopped.
Rom rose slowly to his feet.
He now stood nearly seven and a half feet tall.
His skin had become dark gray, crossed by glowing green fissures.
His eyes burned crimson.
His upper body had swollen into an impossible wall of muscle, nearly twice the width of an ordinary man.
Combined with the vicious bone spurs protruding from his arms...
He looked less like a human being...
...and more like a living siege weapon.
Silence filled the office.
No one could look away.
Only Evenson spoke.
His voice was calm.
Almost proud.
"Tyrant."
He looked at the towering monster before them.
"That’s what we call this class of enhanced soldier."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter