The underground facility was shaking continuously.
Shrill alarms echoed throughout the entire area.
Green liquid flowed rapidly through transparent pipes.
A deep rumbling came from inside the walls.
It was as if the entire underground base was gradually coming to life.
Every member of the escort unit had already raised their weapons.
Everyone could feel the danger in the air.
The flowing green liquid was not merely some ordinary chemical.
It was the armed core extended from Viper's ability.
Once it completely went out of control,
no one knew what this place would become.
Just then,
Lucian slowly raised his hand.
"Everyone, evacuate."
The air fell slightly silent.
Several members of the escort unit immediately looked up.
"Young Master?"
Lucian did not turn around.
His gaze remained fixed on Viper.
"The battle that's about to happen here is beyond your level."
Dawolf's expression changed.
"But—"
"Get out."
His voice remained calm.
Yet there was no room for disobedience.
The underground facility shook again.
Large amounts of green liquid began spreading outward from inside the pipes.
Corrosion marks had already appeared on parts of the metal floor.
A dangerous smell began to fill the air.
Lucian slowly took a step forward.
"If you stay here, you'll only get in the way."
The room fell completely silent.
No one argued.
Because they knew it was the truth.
Whether it was Viper
or Lucian,
both had already exceeded the scope of an ordinary battle.
If they stayed,
they would only become a burden.
Dawolf slowly clenched his fists.
In the end, he lowered his head.
"...Understood."
Then,
he immediately turned around.
"Everyone, evacuate!"
The escort unit quickly began retreating.
Large numbers of personnel left the underground core area.
Meanwhile, Viper remained sitting there quietly.
He did not stop them.
He simply watched everything in silence.
Until the last person disappeared,
the underground hall returned to complete silence.
Only Lucian and Viper remained.
The sound of flowing green liquid continued to echo.
Viper slowly smiled.
"How decisive."
Lucian did not respond.
At the same time,
several kilometers away from the underground facility,
high on the mountain,
a figure was sitting quietly on a rock.
His black trench coat swayed gently in the wind.
Crow.
He was still wearing gloves.
There was no expression on his face.
His gaze calmly rested on the distance.
That was precisely the direction of the underground facility.
Beside him
were several portable surveillance devices, fully deployed.
Images from inside the underground base were continuously being transmitted.
Crow watched in silence,
as if observing an experiment whose outcome had already been decided.
The wind gently passed by.
He slowly closed his eyes.
No one knew what he was thinking.
And no one knew
how long he had been watching from here.
Inside the underground hall,
Viper slowly leaned back against his chair.
Green light reflected across his face,
making his eyes appear even colder.
After a long while,
he suddenly spoke.
"If I die here today,"
"it wouldn't really mean anything."
Lucian quietly looked at him.
He said nothing.
Viper let out a low laugh.
"You know?"
"Many years ago,"
"I was just an ordinary person."
The air gradually fell silent.
Viper's gaze
slowly became distant,
as if he had returned to a time long ago.
Back then,
he did not even have the name Viper.
He was born in a slum.
He had no mother.
Only a father.
And that man
was a complete alcoholic.
Inside the cramped, dilapidated room,
there was always the smell of cheap alcohol.
Tables were overturned.
The floor was filthy.
Empty liquor bottles were scattered everywhere.
And the only thing the man did every day
was drink.
Get drunk.
Go mad.
Then beat him.
Fists.
Belts.
Bottles.
Anything could come crashing down on him.
Young Viper curled up in the corner.
He did not cry.
Because he had learned very early
that crying would only make the man more excited.
So he began to learn how to observe.
Observe when his father would get drunk.
When he would lose his temper.
When he would strike.
He would hide in advance.
Lower his head in advance.
Obey in advance.
As time passed,
he became better and better at reading people's expressions.
Better and better at figuring out how to please others.
And better and better at understanding
how to survive.
One night,
a violent storm was raging outside.
His drunken father was slumped beside the table.
Suddenly,
the door was kicked open.
Several armed robbers rushed inside.
They began searching for anything valuable.
But the drunken man suddenly stood up.
He shouted and lunged at them.
The next second,
a knife plunged directly into his body.
Blood sprayed out.
The man collapsed onto the floor,
still cursing as he did.
The robbers' expressions turned ugly.
They stabbed him several more times.
Soon,
the man stopped moving completely.
Young Viper stood in the corner,
quietly watching.
He did not cry.
Nor did he rush out.
Because he knew
that anyone who rushed out would die.
The robbers searched for a long time,
only to discover that there was nothing valuable in the room.
One of them finally noticed the child in the corner.
"What do we do with this kid?"
"Sell him."
And so,
he was taken away.
No one asked whether he was willing.
No one cared.
After that day,
he entered the underworld.
Those people had originally planned to sell him to the underground trading district.
But along the way,
someone casually sent him on an errand.
That was when they discovered
that the child was unusually intelligent.
When they told him to deliver something,
he never made a mistake.
When they told him to pass along a message,
he always knew what should be said
and what should not.
Even when he was assigned to watch over a casino,
he knew how to calm the customers down.
So they did not sell him.
Instead,
they kept him.
From that point on,
Viper began truly entering the underground world.
He had seen dead bodies.
He had seen deals.
He had seen betrayals.
He had even seen people more disgusting than his father.
Yet he survived.
And he adapted more and more.
Several years later,
Viper, still in his teens,
was already capable of handling many matters on his own.
It was also during that period
that he met Crow for the first time.
That day,
someone inside the organization disappeared.
A shipment had been intercepted.
Everyone suspected there was a traitor.
No one knew who it was.
And just as everything descended into chaos,
a man wearing gloves suddenly appeared.
Crow.
No one knew when he had arrived.
No one knew how he had gotten inside.
He simply stood there quietly.
Then,
he accurately revealed the traitor's location.
That day,
Viper realized for the first time
that there were people in this world who could not be understood.
And Crow
was one of them.
From then on,
Crow would occasionally appear.
Sometimes he brought information.
Sometimes he simply stood in the distance.
No one knew who he belonged to.
And no one knew his true purpose.
But he had indeed helped Viper many times.
Later,
one day,
Viper's ability awakened.
At the time,
the organization was dealing with a group of hostile members.
And one of them
was the very robber who had killed his father years ago.
Viper recognized him.
But the man had no memory whatsoever
of the child who had once hidden in the corner.
That child had grown up.
That night,
the man died.
He died horribly.
The inside of his body was slowly corroded by toxins,
until his internal organs completely failed.
Viper simply stood beside him
and watched the entire process.
There was no anger.
No excitement.
Only calmness.
From that point on,
he began to truly master his ability.
Poison.
Corrosion.
Erosion.
Decomposition.
That power entered its prey's body little by little,
like a snake,
and slowly took everything away.
Viper loved that feeling.
Because it made him feel safe.
Later,
the organization's original leader suddenly died.
No one knew the exact reason.
Some said it was betrayal.
Some said it was an accident.
And in the end,
the one who took the position
was Viper.
After becoming the leader,
he began rapidly expanding the organization.
But soon,
Viper discovered something.
The organization lacked a true monster.
Ordinary people were ultimately still ordinary people.
No matter how many there were,
it was not enough.
Just then,
Crow appeared again.
He gave him a name.
Grave Hound.
An underground fighting arena.
At the very bottom,
an iron door slowly opened.
A heavy smell of blood rushed toward them.
Countless spectators were cheering wildly.
And in the center of the arena,
a blood-covered man was crouching there.
Corpses were scattered all around him.
Some were human.
Others were beasts.
His body was covered in scars.
Yet his eyes were as savage as a beast's.
No one dared to approach.
Because anyone who came close would die.
That was Grave Hound.
At the time,
Grave Hound had already gone completely insane.
The fighting arena even had to use chains to restrain him.
But Viper walked straight inside.
No guards.
No weapons.
Everyone around him thought he was crazy.
Grave Hound slowly raised his head.
He stared at Viper like a wild beast.
The next second,
the chains snapped.
Grave Hound lunged forward.
Boom!
The ground exploded.
The two collided instantly.
Grave Hound possessed terrifying strength.
His fists shattered walls.
They tore through steel.
The entire arena shook violently.
Yet Viper never took a step back.
Green poison continuously spread outward.
The air itself began to corrode.
The harder Grave Hound fought,
the more frenzied he became.
While Viper
grew calmer and calmer.
Until finally,
Grave Hound's body began to sway.
The toxins had already entered his bloodstream.
His movements gradually slowed.
In the end,
he crashed to the ground.
The entire arena fell completely silent.
Viper slowly walked over to Grave Hound.
He looked down at him.
Then,
he slowly smiled.
"Become my guard dog!"
From that day on,
Grave Hound became Viper's most loyal weapon.
And Viper
officially gained the foundation needed to establish Cobra.
Later,
he decided to enter the lawless zone.
A place with no order,
no rules,
and no country that truly governed it.
Everyone thought he was crazy.
Because wars were everywhere there.
But Viper knew
that the more chaotic a place was,
the easier it was to grow.
And so,
Cobra truly began to grow.
Poison weapons.
Corrosive equipment.
Underground transportation.
Mercenary organizations.
Intelligence networks.
One force after another was swallowed up.
And Viper
gradually became one of the most dangerous men in the underground world.
The underground hall fell silent once again.
The green lights slowly flickered.
Viper sat there,
as if he were telling someone else's story.
After a long while,
he slowly raised his head.
He looked at Lucian.
"So."
"Do you think I was wrong?"
The air fell silent.
And Lucian simply looked at him calmly.
He did not answer immediately.