Edel was in shorts and a tank top with a sleeveless shirt wrapped around her chest. She was beautiful and exhibited an aura of youth and health. She also had a bright and cheery personality. Even if Roman Walter was a normal man who didn’t craze over women, he would be drooling over her.

  Landre, having found a gem, suddenly forgot his mission. With sleazy eyes, he started examining her.

  His gaze traveled up from her ankles, her strong thighs, and stopped at her tight butt.

  Gulp—


  Landre swallowed then pulled his gaze back upwards.

  Her waist was thin, but her chest was full in comparison. She had smooth falling shoulders, a thin and delicate neck, a small face, proportioned facial features, flawless skin, clear blue eyes, and voluminous hair that she half-heartedly tied up in a bun.

  The vision of Saint Dominique hotel flashed before his eyes. The bouncing bed, the skilled movements of her body. A part of his body started to stir and grow.

  “Do you want to get your eyes gouged out?”


  The clanging noise brought back Landre’s mind, which had been wandering in Andromeda.

  Edel, who had grabbed the surgical scissors, dropped it to her surprise. It was because she felt Black Mamba’s gaze. A woman could instinctively sense when a man was staring at her without having to physically witness it. Her cold face quickly melted into sweetness. Caramel could not compare to how fast she melted.

  “Mr. Landre, it’s nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy your time here.”


  Edel greeted him then moved to a position that blocked Black Mamba from view. She waved her fist slightly over at Sun WooHyun before stepping into the bedroom. She looked like she might throw up. Sun WooHyun raised his eyebrows.

  “Huh, that lioness sure is something,” Ombuti said in awe.

  The Tuareg tribe were monogamous, but a majority of the other Arab and African tribes were polygamous. The first wife should at least be as strong as her so that the Wakil would stay comfortable.

  “You son of a b****, do you want your neck removed?”


  Unlike Ombuti, Sun WooHyun was more direct with his threat. Ombuti stopped Sun WooHyun, who was on the brink of attacking.

  “Relax. Wakil will take care of it.”


  “Did you see her grab the scissors in that fierce way? That’s some temper.”


  “To become Wakil’s woman, she must be that way.”


  “Did you see her swing her fists just now?”


  “She’s very adorable.”


  “I think Edel is scarier than Wakil.”


  “Haha, that’s how you differentiate a good woman. By the way, the DGSE must have lost their touch to send a loser like that. Tsk tsk!”


  “What should we do? That guy’s more like a thug from the streets instead of the shiny DGSE.”


  Sun WooHyun and Ombuti whispered to themselves as they looked pathetically at Landre.

  “How ungentlemanlike. Have some respect.”


  When Landre burst out in anger, Black Mamba cut in.

  “For what reason did you come here?”


  What a bunch of incredible punks! Did all the disrespectful punks decide to come together at once here?

  Landre’s forehead wrinkled into a frown. He had already known that Black Mamba was a horrific and disrespectful punk. There were truckloads of documents on Black Mamba in the tactical department. Just reading about them sent chills up his spine.

  Seeing Black Mamba for himself boosted his self-esteem. He looked like a regular Asian man that wasn’t all that special. Landre looked down on people of color. He wanted to pound on these punks who should merely be his assistants, but if he messed up his first task, he would be the serpent’s lunch. He lowered his head after controlling his bubbling anger.

  “Black Mamba, I’m sorry I caused you discomfort. It was the mistake of my men who were only trying to ensure that you concentrated on getting your needed treatments.”


  “I’ve got my treatment under control. There is nothing to worry about. Get rid of those men and make the call instead.”


  Black Mamba pointed to the men who were stacked in the corner of the room. He was arrogant. It put Landre in a bad mood. A DGSE director was on the same level as a colonel. Regardless of rank, having a young punk talk to him like that annoyed him.

  “A phone call has already been made.”


  “You’re quick. Get rid of the men in black, standing in front of the door.”


  “Do you mean the guards? I will remove them right away.”


  “I’m glad you are quick to understand. Now, hand it over.”


  “What do you mean?”


  Landre was confused. All of a sudden? What did he want him to hand over? If it was Miguel, he would have understood right away. He was nothing but a tool to block the leaking dam.

  “The list!”


  “List?”


  “I guess you aren’t ready for this conversation yet. Go back and ask your commanding officer.”


  “How dare you……”


  Landre raised his eyebrows. He forgot the words of his commanding officer, which was to do whatever Black Mamba requested.

  Slap—


  Sun WooHyun hit the back of Landre’s head. He couldn’t finish his sentence and fell forward.

  “If you’re told to leave, you should just leave. You’re asking for a beating, aren’t you?”


  Sun WooHyun focused his emotions into his foot and kicked Landre hard. He wanted to turn Landre into an octopus after witnessing him staring sleazily at Edel. However, he resisted knowing that this guy was needed to fulfill their motives. Ombuti joined in and tossed him outside the door like a bag of trash.

  Son of a b****, I have to beat the shit out of him to gain some points with Edel.

  The sidekick was learning fast.

  “It’s impossible to talk to these punks, impossible!” Black Mamba muttered.

  “I don’t think they understand what’s going on here yet,” Ombuti concurred.

  It wasn’t something they should have been complaining about, having cut the conversation short themselves.

  “Hm, this will only make it more expensive.”


  Black Mamba’s eyes turned unfriendly.

  On the third floor of the DGSE foreign tactical team African division director’s office, a man was making a call. The top of his head flashed as it reflected the sunlight. He had a patch on the back of his neck for pain relief and was wearing an expression of severe distress.

  The red light on the phone kept blinking. The audio listening device had been activated.

  “Director, why are you so set on making an enemy out of Black Mamba?”


  “Hm, just because of this one guy, our tactical team is going to be ruined. Even the serpent seems to be afraid. This is about France’s pride. It is the responsibility of the tactical team to erase the man that is a threat to our country.”


  Unfortunately, Landre didn’t think that he was one to be pummeled in front of a beautiful lady. He only thought of getting rid of the man who was a threat to the country and the organization. It was a symptom of his arrogance.

  “This is because they see the pride you have for your country. How much have his injuries recovered? Even if he is injured, he is not one you can attack foolishly.”


  “They say he is recovering fast, which means he is experiencing minimal discomfort from daily activities, but I don’t believe it. When he was talking to me, he was still sitting in bed.”


  Colonel Tanshe broke into a large smile. After receiving Landre’s phone call, he wasn’t sure what to do, but the idiot had called him first. The DGSE would be in charge of guarding Black Mamba. It was the best opportunity to get rid of Black Mamba.

  “The punk’s right-hand man, jjol ttagu, is no joke either. Those three are nothing compared to the skills of my men. How should we plan the attack?”


  “We can’t move the tactical team. If the serpent finds out, he’ll eat me alive. I’ll make a path for infiltration.”


  “If the director directly leads the team, then I will have the attacking team ready.”


  The sordid Tanshe coerced Landre to be a part of his plan.

  “Alright, I will lead the team.”


  After finishing the call, Landre gritted his teeth.

  “Damn punk, he dares touch my body with his yellow hands!”


  He was feeling a combination of jealousy and embarrassment, which messed harshly with his mind. Right then, Landre had made the worst decision of his life.

  In the hallway of the hospital break room, three team members were enjoying their coffee time while wearing white gowns. The atmosphere didn’t look too cheerful.

  “Cavani, did you check BM’s side stab wound?”


  “Yes, the skin cells have repaired themselves and new blood cells have finished regenerating. His broken ribs are currently in the remodeling phase. The callus is hardening quickly over the broken ribs. I can feel only a slight swelling to the touch.”


  “Have you used the EGF[1] on him?”


  “Not at all. The lioness refused.”


  “This is driving me crazy. We anticipated three months for recovery, but he’s practically cured within five days. At this rate, he will be at full strength in a couple of days. There’s no way this could happen if he is human. There isn’t much time.”


  Blanc and Flaubert had wanted to gather just a drop of BM’s blood contrary to the directions of the intelligence agency. Their attempts had failed time and time again. The government agents were one thing. The old Arab and the Korean staying around him at all times were another. Even if they somehow got past them, it was impossible to escape the vigilant eyes of the lioness.

  Blanc was the director of surgery. Meta Shef Flaubert and himself were blocked from entering BM’s room. They had been caught attempting to collect BM’s blood by the lioness. Getting the intern, Cavani, to do it for them was proving to be immensely frustrating.

  They didn’t know how lucky they had been. If Ombuti or Sun WooHyun had been the one to catch them, their wrists would have been broken instead of being kicked out.

  “Maybe he was exposed to radioactivity?”


  “We’ve already tested for radioactivity. There is not a drop of Cesium in his system.”


  Flaubert cocked his head. Several machines in the hospital emitted radioactivity. The workers usually exhibited about three to four millisieverts of it in their bloodstream.

  Other than the people exposed to outside contamination, some exhibited traces naturally. If a random sample was taken from the public, most would exhibit at least 0.3 millisieverts in their system. The fact that he, a human, showed no record of it was weird.

  “Maybe he was genetically engineered?”


  “Don’t talk nonsense. We are just beginning the stem cell research. They had just started adjusting the first button in place. Even that took 100 years to accomplish.”


  Blanc waved his hand, indicating it was preposterous.

  “Then, what the heck is he?”


  “Shh, lower your voice. Didn’t you hear him tell you not to be curious?” Blanc warned Flaubert.

  “I think he’s a mutant. An ancestor of mine had been Napoleon I’s attending physician. During that time, the Arago cave incident had occurred. Every villager who had gone into that cave died, but one boy had come out alive. I think BM has genes that are similar to the boy from that cave. If I could get my hands on his blood and stem cells, I would win the Nobel peace prize.”


  At Blanc’s words, light emanated from Flaubert and Cavani’s eyes.

  “If the Arago cave incident was real, then we must get that blood sample.”


  Flaubert prodded his intern.

  “Cavani, did you fail today too?”


  “I’m sorry. The old Arab and the young Asian won’t let him out of their sight.”


  “Do whatever it takes to get it. His spit, urine, feces, skin flake, tear, snot, or whatever.”


  “The Arab and the Korean are keeping a close watch. Avoiding the lioness is also proving to be difficult.”


  “Idiot, quit your crying and think of a way. If it was easy, do you think I would pay you to do it?” Blanc yelled at his lowly intern.

  “Blanc, with his current rate of recovery, there is a high chance he will be able to check out by spring.”


  Blanc shook his head at Flaubert’s nervous rambling.

  “Not spring, from my perspective, he’ll be fully recovered in about 10 days. His recovery speed is progressively getting faster.”


  “Unbelievable. The recovery pace went from four months to 10 days? It’s not like he’s an amoeba or something!”


  Flaubert reached for the back of his neck.

  “What about his shoulder gun injury?”


  Blanc gulped down the rest of his coffee. The one place they had given up on was the gunshot wound on his shoulder. A human’s shoulder was the most flexible out of all the other animals. Its structure was complex and highly sensitive. It was obvious that it would need plenty of time for recovery. At the time of treatment, BM’s shoulder was in the worst shape possible. The injuries to his side damaged his muscle and broke his rib, but the gunshot had blown out his shoulder, including pieces of bones and muscles. It was because he had continued fighting even after he was severely injured. Flaubert, who had looked over the injury, estimated less than 50 percent of his normal shoulder movement for the time being.

  “The damaged subscapularis and teres minor are almost fully healed. Surprisingly, his muscles seem to be regenerating. About 10 millimeters are growing from each end.”


  “How could something so incredible happen? Are you saying he’s not human, but an axolotl[2]?”


  A vertically damaged muscle could regenerate and heal on its own without additional medical treatment. A broken muscle could be stitched back together through surgery. However, in the case of muscle loss, it would take years to recover. In the case of Black Mamba, he had lost three centimeters of it.

  “His stem cell regeneration is so fast that it will connect to the rest of his tissues by tomorrow. It may sound strange, but the new muscle fibers seemed to have engulfed the artificial pig muscles we placed inside him.”


  “Wha……what! It engulfed the pig muscles?”


  Blanc and Flaubert’s mind went blank. They had used pig muscles, which closely resembled that of a human, to prevent it from shriveling up inside the body. If what Cavani said was true, then it meant that his muscles were using the substitute to feed its own regeneration. It was a process that could only happen in sci-fi novels.

  “Damn, what the hell did I learn from all that time in medical school.”


  Blanc groaned.

  “Blanc, there is one method I’ve been thinking of.”


  Unfortunately, Flaubert lost his opportunity to tell him his idea. He also lost his chance to obtain a sample of Black Mamba’s DNA forever.

  Thud—


  A can the size of a fist flew in through the window and fell to the floor.

  Swish—


  The can spun in circles and started emitting a hazy, grey smoke.

  “Ack, save me!”


  [1] Epidermal growth factor.

  [2] A Mexican neotenic salamander that is closely related to the tiger salamander. It can regenerate parts of its body almost instantaneously.