A luxurious black bed stood in the middle of the room with black walls, and a black study desk as well, on which a high-tech computer was placed.
There was another machine, a capsule, and Zeus knew it contained virtual reality games and some programs designed for that purpose, such as mecha development software and simulations of their movements and complex physics.
Zeus observed all the details of his room and began to notice the changes from what he remembered.
He closed the door behind him and sat at the study desk, placing his hands over his head afterward, with a clear scowl on his face.
"I'm no longer fit for special missions... Should I join my brother in the police force?"
Zeus sank into deep thoughts about his future, especially since his brother had informed him just a few minutes ago that he had been temporarily discharged from the unit for one month.
If he did not regain his strength within this month, the discharge would be permanent.
Zeus knew very well that the energy transmission lines in his body were damaged beyond repair, and in fact, the energy lines within the body were one of the most mysterious aspects science—despite all its massive progress—still could not analyze or alter.
The only thing science had been able to do was to activate them if dormant and enhance their efficiency and capacity through genetic modifications of the body's physical cells.
Zeus tried to remember anything, but he couldn't.
In truth, all his memories from the past two years had disappeared, except for one.
It was a mysterious memory of two strange sigils, and Zeus knew that one of them functioned as an energy storage unit, while the other converted the energy stored in the first into kinetic energy.
Zeus didn't think much of it at the time and assumed it might just be a memory from one of his games.
But the vivid clarity of the sigil, and Zeus's instinct and feeling that he could draw it accurately and smoothly, made him grab the pen in front of him and draw the sigils on his left arm.
Strangely and shockingly, Zeus noticed that the ink of both sigils scattered into the air away from his hand the moment he completed the last stroke of both.
"That's strange... Did someone mess with the ink to play a dumb prank? Or is there something wrong with these sigils?"
Zeus didn't dwell on the matter further and decided to go see his brother, William, who had some knowledge of chemistry due to his studies in genetic fluids and various serums like the famous (Gene Activation Serum).
---
[Sound of knocking on the door]
— "Come in."
— "What's that smell?" Zeus asked with a clear frown, covering his nostrils with his left hand.
Zeus looked around William's lab, located in one of the halls of the vast palace's basement.
The second thing he noticed after the strange green smoke filling the place, and his brother working on mixing fluids, was the broken glass on the floor and a box containing thirty vials of temporary muscle enhancement injections.
Zeus asked curiously:
— "You're not making stuff to sell, are you? …" (William didn't reply, so Zeus continued) "… Seems like that's the case. What did you do to get your family to cut off your funding?"
— "That happened because I made a fast-acting sleeping pill… within one second of it reaching your stomach, you'd fall into deep sleep."
— "Well, what's wrong with that? Sounds useful."
— "The problem is… I tested it on your little cousin's pet dog."
— "!"
— "Turns out the effect is stronger than I thought."
— "What happened to the dog?"
— "It's been in a coma for a whole month."
— "!! Dude, you really need to stop doing experiments!"
— "Don't worry, I'm working on an antidote to wake the dog up."
— "You haven't managed to do that this whole past month? I thought you were good at making antidotes."
William scratched the back of his head and replied with frustration:
— "It would've been ready in a few days if they hadn't cut my funding... Your uncle insisted no more funds until the dog wakes up."
— "Zeus, with a sarcastic smile: I'm not trying to mock you, but you kind of deserve that."
— "So, what brings you here anyway?"
— "Oh right, there's something wrong with this ink. Can you take a look?"
William took the pen from Zeus, disassembled it, and inspected the ink inside with his bare eyes.
— "Looks like regular ink. What's wrong with it?"
— "I'll show you."
Zeus drew the energy-storing sigil on his hand, and when the drawing was complete, the ink exploded and dispersed into the air.
William observed the scene for a moment, then clapped once and smiled.
— "Your energy lines must be leaking some energy into the ink… wait a moment, I'll get you some Silinzer beast blood."
He went to search in the messy storage at the back and returned with a bottle of alcohol filled with slightly viscous silver blood.
— "Try writing with this."
— "I'm not putting that on my hand!"
— "Who said anything about your hand? Just write on this metal disc."
— "What is this?"
— "Just a shoulder armor plate from a small-class battle robot."
The disc was circular, with slightly sharp edges, and its area was about one and a half times the size of Zeus's palm.
Zeus tried to load the blood into the pen, but William told him a bird feather would work better.
Sure enough, William had many monster parts in his storage, including bird parts like tendons, claws, and sharp feathers from a species of large flying monsters.
Just as Zeus was about to draw the sigil, he stopped—the sudden stench, far worse than before, forced him to leave the room quickly.
Meanwhile, William wore a gas mask to continue working on the cursed green fluid, as Zeus had described it.
"Damn it! … The smells from this idiot's experiments are enough to create chemical weapons that could wipe out all of humanity!"