Chapter 81: The Laboratory of Bones

Midnight. The heavy iron doors of Saint Pierre Cathedral creaked open.

Jackson walked in first, his weapon equipped with a silencer and a tactical light. Behind him were Sebastian, Luke, and Serenity (who refused to stay behind this time). Alex was in the surveillance van outside, monitoring the comms.

The Cathedral was silent. Shadows of stone angels danced on the walls.

"This way," Sebastian whispered, limping towards the main altar. "The entrance to the Crypts of the Saints is hidden behind the statue of Saint Peter."

He pushed a specific stone brick on the floor. With a grinding sound, the massive marble statue slid aside, revealing a dark, spiral staircase going deep into the earth.

"Stay close," Jackson commanded, aiming his light down the hole.

They descended. The air grew colder and smelled of damp earth and ancient dust. The walls were lined with skulls and bones of monks who died centuries ago.

"Creepy," Luke muttered, gripping his rifle.

They reached the bottom. It looked like a dead end—just a wall of skulls.

"Alex," Jackson whispered into his headset. "We are at the coordinates. But there is no door."

"Use the thermal scanner, Dad," Alex’s voice came through the earpiece. "Look for a heat signature behind the wall."

Jackson switched his goggles to thermal mode.

The wall of skulls was cold blue. But behind one large tomb in the center... there was a rectangular glow of red heat. Electricity.

"Found it," Jackson walked to the tomb. He found a hidden biometric scanner disguised as a stone carving.

"Hack it, Alex."

"Bypassing security... unlocking... now."

Click.

The stone tomb swung open like a vault door.

White, sterile light flooded out, blinding them for a second.

They stepped inside. And froze.

It wasn't a tomb. It was a massive, pristine laboratory.

Computers lined the walls, humming quietly. In the center of the room were rows of glass incubators. But unlike the one that held Margaret, these were smaller.

Inside the glass cases were... deformed shapes. Lumps of flesh. Failures.

"Oh god," Serenity covered her mouth, trying not to vomit.

"They aren't just watching us," Jackson walked up to a desk filled with charts. He read the file name: PROJECT CHIMERA.

"They are trying to replicate us," Jackson’s face was grim. "Look at these notes. They tried to synthesize the Royal Blood. They tried to create their own 'Super Soldiers' without the side effects."

"But they failed," Sebastian pointed at the horrific specimens in the jars. "Only the true blood of Aurelia can handle the energy. Everyone else turns into... monsters."

"Or corpses," Luke added.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from the back of the lab.

"Welcome, children of God."

Everyone spun around, guns raised.

A man walked out from the shadows. He was wearing the crimson robes of a Cardinal (红衣主教). He held a silver cross in one hand and a syringe filled with glowing green liquid in the other.

It was Bishop Lazarus, the highest religious figure in Montbert. The man who had crowned Serenity just days ago.

"Bishop Lazarus?" Serenity stared at him in betrayal. "You? You serve the Order?"

"I serve evolution, Your Highness," Lazarus smiled benevolently, but his eyes were black pools of madness. "Your ancestors hoarded the gift of immortality. I simply wish to share it with the worthy."

He raised the syringe.

"The blood of your daughter... the little Aurora... her power readings were off the charts during the ceremony. She is the final key."

"You stay away from my daughter!" Jackson stepped forward, aiming his gun at the Bishop’s head.

"Or what?" Lazarus laughed. "You think you can kill me? I have been injected with the concentrated serum of a hundred failed experiments. I am closer to God than you will ever be."

The Bishop plunged the syringe into his own neck.

He convulsed. His muscles bulged, tearing his holy robes. His skin turned grey like stone. He grew a foot taller in seconds.

He wasn't a priest anymore. He was a Hulk-like monster fueled by chemical madness.

"RUN!" Jackson screamed to Serenity. "Get out of here!"

Lazarus roared, a sound that shook the ancient bones in the walls. He charged at Jackson with inhuman speed.

The Battle of the Bones had begun.