Maxwell Miller woke up in a bad mood. He got out of bed after freeing himself from the embraces of nude women he barely knew. His extravagant clothes were already prepared for him to wear by a servant while he slept.

He began his day as usual. He washed, dressed, and moved to his office while being completely absent-minded. He pondered about his work from the moment he opened his eyes. A workaholic to the bone.

“Bone… bone marrow? What if I transplant bones first and then…”

Max just had an ingenious idea and a potential solution to a problem that tormented him for a long time. He grabbed an empty piece of parchment and furiously started pouring his ideas. One after another connected like a puzzle and a larger picture started taking shape.

But then, he found no piece that would connect two half-finished groups….

“Argh, no way it will work…”

Max enjoyed a warm cup of strong, black tea in the morning. It was an expensive luxury, but he was rich enough to afford it.

Ever since he was promoted to a director of Site 17 his life drastically changed. He was provided with wealth and political power equivalent to the worth of his innovations from the old World Order. The sect-like organization, despite being one that united outcasts, and committed countless atrocities, was benevolent towards their own and gave out credit where it was due.

Loyalty to the organization was enforced. It controlled the lives of every member, and once you boarded this ship, you became the lowest of the low towards the people from the outside if you ever quit. Well, that is if you managed to quit with your head remaining on your shoulders.

Max was a lucky person. He was an innovator. He threaded the untrodden paths. To get what he wanted he would even go past lines others would not cross. He achieved his life’s work, only for the Witch Hunter Order to come knocking at his door. His research was gone, burnt to ashes and he was about to be executed for his crimes.

Then, he arrived. He commanded a small unit and layered the floor with witch hunter order elites. A mysterious general who went by the name of Death Tide.

Max allowed himself to be branded with a logo of the Old World Order, and soon he was rewarded for his research and unyielding loyalty. He received the position of a director of Site 17 a long time ago, enough for him to lose interest in the goods he was provided. Sex and drugs no longer gave him the rush of excitement as they did in the beginning. He needed something… more fulfilling. More thrilling. More rewarding. Just like his first invention.

The reason behind his anger in the mornings was his ambition. Unfortunately, his various experiments bore no results even after countless sleepless nights. Worst of all, the secret project he hid even from his superiors that he believed to be the greatest thing to ever be created stagnated for a long time.

He reached his hand to the table to grab a freshly brewed cup of tea. His servants always prepared one and left it on his desk when he worked to not bother him while he focused on work.

Then he noticed there was nothing on the table. Nobody entered his room to deliver breakfast today.

When Max leaned out of his office, he heard various people running and shouting from all directions. He left his building and noticed a commotion by the gate to the fort of Site 17. People were running to mount weapons on the walls. They were preparing for siege defense.

Max rushed to the barracks.

“Report what is happening.”

“Director Miller! There is an unknown, unmarked army banging at the gate of the site, they do not know the passcode and are all ready to fire at us. We did not retaliate as their leader apparently knows you.”

Max was shocked and sprinted off to see the enemy leader himself.

‘I managed to sleep through a siege? I must really fix my sleep schedule.’

Site 17 was a fort hidden from sight, as the majority of it was underground. The only entrance was embedded into a side of a mountain and even then it was camouflaged, and placed in the middle of a monster-infested territory to drive off wandering adventurers.

Max saw the invading force. It was over a hundred strong. Each warrior was equipped with armor worth a fortune. Furthermore, they had one thing nobody in this world knew about. Flintlock rifles. The only ones who had access to such tech and riches were elites of the Old World Order.

Nobody on site 17 was informed of their arrival beforehand, and the soldiers outside seemed to be on edge all the time as if expecting to battle at a moment’s notice. Because of that, the forces inside also grew restless.

“Oy, Maxwell Miller! Open the gate already.”

Leader was audibly annoyed. His booming voice reached Max inside the fortress who shuddered as he recalled who this voice belonged to. How could Max forget the very person who introduced him to Old World Order.

“Open the gate immediately!” Max ordered. At his command, the gate was finally opened and the people from outside could finally walk in.

Max looked at these people from up close. High-grade weaponry that only elites could carry was equipped on all of them, not just the standard rifles. Furthermore, each man was a muscular behemoth. The large amounts of mana in the hearts of these people was an icing on the cake as they could spend this magical energy to further enhance their already superior physique. If this army was hostile, they would not need to knock. One of them could conquer this place alone.

A single metal horse-drawn cart was led inside. The contents were covered with cloth.

Oddly, all of these elite, professionally trained soldiers looked afraid. Paranoid even, as if they expected to be attacked at any given moment. The moment they stepped in however, they breathed a sigh of relief.

“General Death Tide himself. I’m happy to see you again.” Maxwell greeted the general. “What brings you here?”

“Good to see you too, Max. Oh, now it’s Director Miller.”

The two shook hands. When max wanted to pull his hand back, the general gripped his hand stronger.

“Your birthday is around the corner, no? You see, I have been on a rather peculiar mission. Found something interesting. Thought you might find a use for it in one of your… side projects.”

Max froze. Did this man know about his experiments? He hid it from everybody but a few researchers who worked alongside him.

Could it be one of them? Unlikely, as the news of this taking place here would spell doom for them as my accomplices. Then how does Death Tide know… Who ratted him out?

The painful grip tightened.

“Why the sour face, Max? Don’t you want to see the gift this old man brought you first? I promise it's not anything nasty.” The general let go of Max. Any more and he would crush his hand.

“What are you talking about? I don't have any side projects. I don’t do anything-”

“Shush. Don’t play stupid with me. Not in a mood for games. You see, this thing was quite a pain in the ass to move. Follow me.”

The general led Max towards the carriage. Every escorting soldier was on guard and followed the two of them with their gazes as they approached the ‘gift’.

Max stopped. Were they expecting something to pounce at them from there? Then this caution each of them displayed could only mean inside of the cage was a deadly monster...

General lifted the cover and hopped on.

“Come on, it doesn’t bite.”

Max followed behind full of caution.

Inside was a single sturdy metal cage. Inside was a bound, nude girl. It looked like a human child, but not quite.

“It doesn’t have a rectum.” - Max spoke.

“Seriously? No asshole? Is that the first thing you notice? This is an evil undying fucking monster that looks like a human. A humanoid monster! It has freaking horns and… argh. Whatever. That’s not the important thing. It’s unconscious right now but the most important part is what's inside of it…

“Can I touch it?”

“Sure. Also, pay attention to the heartbeat”

Max examined the monster. Its skin felt different, It did not have the same texture like that of a human. This creature had very soft, smooth skin. It felt pleasant to the touch, but it was cold. In fact, the monster was very cold. It was barely above the freezing point of water, which was the same as the ambient temperature outside the facility during spring. He touched the chest like General Death Tide told him to and raised a brow in surprise. He then touched the neck to confirm.

“There is no heartbeat. It’s dead.”

The general shivered. He dashed forwards and grabbed Max by his fancy collar, and used all his strength to throw him out of the carriage like a javelin. Max crashed a solid twenty meters away.

*Cough* “Aagh. You want to kill me!? That was not me, it was already dead when I touched it!”

He angrily shouted. But then-

*Ba-thump*

The general heard a single powerful beat of the monster’s heart coming from behind him which caused him to shiver. He instinctively jumped off the carriage and rolled away.

“MEN! AIM AND FIRE!” - The general shouted as he dashed away from the cage. His paranoid men refused to let go of their weapons and were able to take aim and fire.

Max stared in shock. He was still dizzy from the impact with the ground. He thought he and his people were about to be shot. His men did not even manage to react when the general and his men already shot a salvo of bullets.

The elite rifles made a thunderous roar and flash of flames from a muzzle across the entire first floor of the facility which caused people to flee in panic. Even the guards hired by Max made a run for their lives.

“RELOAD!”

It wasn’t over.

Then, something in the cage moved. The monster girl had countless huge bullet wounds. Each of them caused enough damage to be considered fatal. Yet, the monster stood up and gazed ferociously at the people who attacked her. Thick black blood leaked from the holes like waterfalls as it bared its teeth. It was a creature from the depths of hell rather than a common beast-like monster. Seeing this instilled terror in Maxwell.

There were gaping holes in her abdomen, arms, legs, and neck. You could see right through them. The caliber the rifles used was not normal. Yet her ribcage only had surface skin scratches. Several bullets also hit the head, but they smashed into pieces and ricocheted away, as they could not pierce the hard bones.

The color of the girl's eyes slowly turned from abyssal black to bright, glowing pink. An attack was coming. Even the blood that leaked from her turned crimson with slight amounts of glow.

“FIRE!”

Another thunderous roar of the muzzles and thick clouds of smoke appeared.

“RELOAD!”

Even before the dust settled, the general’s men started reloading. How did a monster the size of a child manage to survive two whole rounds of shooting by the strongest weapons of the organization?

While the reload was happening, the monster spontaneously caught ablaze. The blood which turned red sprayed everywhere caught on fire too and burned very brightly as it chewed right through the metal of the cage and carriage.

Several salvos later there was a large explosion and only then did the men stop firing. The monster was reduced to a scorched black skeleton. There was almost no flesh on it. The entire ribcage was exposed, and it revealed that it was made like a solid plate of armor with no gaps.

“Wh-What was that?”

“That was round one. Round two starts in two minutes.”

Max blinked in disbelief.

“This thing will get up again?”

“Well, yea, but not any time soon. It should be safe to approach once the fire is put out. Tell me, do your people go and exterminate monsters in the vicinity?”

“We let them be so they drive off adventurers. The more the better.”

“Shit. Smell of its blood attracts nearby monsters. Smoke will carry its scent further.”

And at that moment, a howl could be heard in the distance.

“I will borrow your fortress and men for a moment.”

“Why are you acting like it's just another Tuesday! D-does this mean you are pushing this… Thing… onto me? I can't possibly-”

“Oh don’t be such a pussy.” Said General as he loaded his upgraded elite rifle. “Besides, there are far greater benefits than this small incident happening every now and then.”

“I don’t want anything that dangerous!”

The general pulled the trigger without even looking towards the direction he pointed his weapon at. A ball of flames erupted from the muzzle. At the same time, a sprinting quadrupedal monster vaulted forwards making a few mid-air spins, as if was hit by a car as its brains splattered in a spiral.

Several people had their jaws dropped to the floor. Three hundred meter no scope headshot with a flintlock rifle.

“Trust me, you will need it. And even if you don’t, I am not escorting this thing ever again. Dispose of it at your discretion.”

Death Tide gave his soldiers orders to get ready to move out, all while Max stood frozen from shock.

“As for what I want from you in return… let's just say I will ask you for something of equal value in the near future.”

Death Tide stepped towards a horde of monsters stampeding towards the gate. His silhouette blurred and the next instant a head of a monster several meters away went flying. His men followed right after their leader and laid waste to the incoming beasts.

Max approached the cage once more. He felt fear, confusion. The black, charred skeleton lay motionless where it was left when the shooting stopped. It looked even more dead than before. However, when Max placed his hand on the ribcage, he felt life.

Heartbeats. Five of them.

He trembled.

“To be able to withstand this much damage and live… If I can take even a fraction of this vitality the test subjects can survive the procedures…! This is priceless.”

His mind raced. The fact a creature like this existed turned all of his prior approaches to scrap.

“Yes, I must start from zero again.”

He giggled.

“I just thought of a name for you, child. My starting point, Entity Zero. You will be the beginning of something great.”

Max was busy giving orders. He was visibly excited.

Then, he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

“Do you remember our deal?”

No words came out of Max’s mouth. Initially, he disregarded General Death Tide’s request for something of equal worth. But now after witnessing Entity Zero’s true worth - a priceless treasure for someone like him. It could even grant him a position of one of the leaders of the Old World Order organization - He could only shudder at the thought of what this man would demand. General must have been well aware of it and planned for this, and if he wants something in return from the leaders it must be something no amount of money can buy.

Furthermore, he came here without prior notice, so this finding was not reported to the headquarters. That, and he would not be able to give away such a ‘gift’ to Maxwell Miller, who researched human modification behind Old World Order’s back.

This transaction meant the beginning of great changes.

Changes to the lives of every man.

“...I owe you one.”

“That’s right. Do not disappoint me.” General patted his shoulder with enough force to rattle all the bones, turned around, and left Site 17.

Max touched the brand of a phoenix rising from ashes in a circle that was imprinted on his neck. He sighed.

“I almost feel sorry for betraying you.”