Razi made sense with her statement, but something of key importance eluded her. She wasn’t aware that I could easily steal her wealth by using my upgraded Value Meter. I didn’t mention this to her because she didn’t need to know.

“Alright, I’ll pay for the stupid repairs.” It would be rather costly but I had enough Crowns to spare. Besides, I could easily replenish my wealth by offing some other rich pig.

“Wow! You’re beginning to change my mind about you, Smoke Pac.” Razi was overjoyed by my decision. I paid her less attention and continued in the direction of the villa.

When I got there, Razi offered to open the door for me but I told her I could handle it myself. I also told her to remain outside because I was going to do something that could potentially cause her bodily harm.

I sensed that Rodent was coming out of his unconscious state. So I acted quickly to restrain him because I didn’t want him accidentally slipping outside to cause a great massacre. It was safer for the workers for me to do what I did.

There was a basement in the villa secured enough to mitigate sound leakage; it also had plenty of room for me to operate. Rodent was tied up to a thick metallic pipeline in the corner. After he became fully conscious, I realized just how silly I had been.

The pipe wasn’t strong enough to keep Rodent captive. He easily snapped the darn thing apart which caused water to start spewing out. Coincidentally, the water splashed all over his body which caused his vapours to subside. His rowdy behaviour was quickly put to rest when I grabbed him firmly in a chokehold and broke his neck.

“Look what you’ve made me do.” I stood over his corpse and uttered, “If you had behaved properly then you might have lived to suffer through my experiment. Now I will have to go find another live specimen to work with.”

At the time, I genuinely thought that I had ended Rodent’s life, but after a couple of seconds flashed by, I realized that I was wrong. Rodent’s neck gradually snapped back into alignment as he struggled to stand on one leg.

I later discovered that the only way to truly kill these Smokepires was to permanently destroy the Resurrection Rubik’s Cube shifting around in their chests. I tested this out a few times on my primary subject.

Using a chainsaw to cut off Rodent’s remaining limbs prevented him from physically lashing out at me. His severed body parts retained their vitality just by being in proximity of him.

The lingering vapours that he produced were trying to reattach his cut-off limbs back to the main torso. This vapour was unique and regenerative. However, I didn’t allow this process to complete fully. I put an end to it by chaining the severed limbs into a box.

Afterwards, I gave my full attention to Rodent and asked him, “Now, what next will I learn about you?”

My curiosity to know more about a Smokepire’s rare biology compelled me to execute several inhumane experiments which put Rodent through a world of hurt. He was screaming so loudly that I had to gag the bitch to shut him up.

It was surprising the level of torture he withstood. Any normal person would have been relaxing in heaven by now. But not this tough bastard. He refused to give up on his borrowed life.

“I want to see you cry some more.” My enjoyment skyrocketed through the roof as I observed the various agonising expressions Rodent was making while I tortured him. My excitement caused me to veer off track slightly.

“What the hell am I doing?” I berated my own conduct. “I shouldn’t get side-tracked. I should be figuring out a way to revert a Smokepire back to normal without excessive harm. I owe this to Himeko. Where do I even begin?”

After some time of thinking I got to realize that the first thing was that I needed a professional laboratory along with the knowledge to apply certain alchemical techniques. This wouldn’t come cheap, and neither did I have the time to go back to college to get a degree in science. Being left with no other option, I did what any other sane person would have done. I turned to the System for help. It was an object out of this world, so I was certain that it would have an answer for me. Turned out it did.

I was prompted by a series of messages to visit the Rubik’s Store. Once on that interface, I discovered that I had unlocked another tier tree. Many powerful items startled my eyes, many of which I couldn’t afford if I wanted to.

An item, in particular, caught my attention as I scrolled down the tire tree. It was titled Demetri’s Box. A sort of complex Rubik’s Cube.

“Is this for real?” The Rubik’s System generated an item derived from the dead scientist who gave me this power in the first place. I remembered him saying that he did extensive research about it with his fellow scientist until the secret government shut them down. So I figured this Demetri’s Box was just what the doctor ordered to heal my situation.

Being intrigued by it, I expanded the info log to get more detail. The information presented to me was goddamn brilliant.

--Demetri’s Box--

Provides a quick start-up package on the path of scientific discovery. Includes basic skillsets, knowledge and lab equipment. Additional resources of…

I needed this Demetri’s Box to solve my current issue. Based on what I’ve read about it, it would give me the necessary tools to become an adequate anatomical analyst.

One thing delayed me from purchasing this item straight away. It had an astronomical cost of 3,000 Skill Points. It was by far closest to the most expensive object on the tier tree.

I began to question myself. “How many persons do I have to kill to reach that amount?”

My current Skill Points in total was approximately 503sp. This was the remainder of what I had earned from slaughtering hundreds. How the fuck was I supposed to purchase Demetri’s Box?

The System realized my deep-seethed frustration and proposed a workaround to my predicament.

My Value Meter received a sudden upgrade whereby I was enabled to exchange real-life currency for Skill Points. 1 Skill Point equated to 150,000 Crowns. This means I needed to spend an equivalent of 450, 000, 000 Crowns to earn the required Skill Points to purchase Demetri’s Box.

“Why the fuck is the exchange so expensive?” I was pissed off and confused by this information. “One Skill Point for one hundred and fifty thousand Crowns. Is this how much value the System places on human life?”

It took me a while to come to terms with these numbers. I was in need of that Demetri’s Box so I had to sacrifice almost half of my existing Crown balance to purchase it. This reduction would be even greater after I factored in the budget for the construction project that Razi initiated.

Damn! This shit was painful. I still remember the hurt to this day. In less than 24 hours, the billions of Crowns that I’ve stolen from the dead had declined by 42%. Sure, I had a couple of million Crowns left over, but the feeling I got from this scrap wasn’t the same as being a billionaire.

I fucking love being rich. Having plenty of cash to wipe my ass with was a feeling of luxury. Whoever I had to kill to become a billionaire again would soon see me coming after them.

I no longer complain after this transaction came through. I located where Demetri’s Box was stored and equipped it. In my hand it weighed roughly 2.5 pounds; rather lightweight compared to what it had inside.

There was a round button on one of its faces that I pressed to kick start its magical properties. The blocks began to twist in random formatation while giving off a radiant glow from the creases. As the box expanded further, certain scientific knowledge and experiences started flowing into my mind. Also, the space around me shifted in dimensions while transforming into a laboratory containing various experimental apparatuses.

“This is surreal…” I was truly impressed by what was occurring around me. I watched the formation process of multiple small cubes combining to form an operation table among other things. I walked around the pristine lab interacting with a few pieces of equipment. To my knowledge, I knew of the various names and functionality of these items.

“This is a C12 Extractor. A most suited needle for exsanguinating microscopic residue from capillary clots in many robust reptilian anatomies.” While inspecting the object, I debated internally whether or not I should give it a test on Rodent.

“Screw it. I can’t resist this urge.”