"A deal?"

Corvus Thorne narrowed his eyes, anger burning in them. He stared at Juniper Payne with murder in his gaze, gritting his teeth as he sneered, "You want to strike a deal with me? On my turf? Do you even have the right?"

"In ten minutes, if Subterra Vanguard doesn't hear from me, the payload in the chopper will be dropped right onto Sanctum Holdings."

Juniper wasn't panicked in the least. She spoke with a leisurely drawl. "When that happens, Wraithfall Mountain will be reduced to rubble."

"I'm sure you don't want to see your life's work go up in flames, do you?"

She curled her lips into a faint smile, her tone unhurried. "Dr. Sommers sent me a complete copy of all the lab's data. If this place is destroyed, the only surviving data will be on my personal server. Want to test me?"

Hearing this, the veins on Corvus's forehead bulged. He wanted nothing more than to strangle her on the spot.

"Dr. Sommers isn't the only person in the world capable of researching genetic mutations."

Juniper lifted her brow, her tone remaining impossibly calm as she enunciated every word. "What if I offer you someone else in exchange for her and Silas Blackwood?"

"Who?"

"Me."

Juniper peeled off her mask, revealing a flawless, radiant face to Corvus. "I promised you that you'd get to see Dr. Sommers' youngest daughter with your own eyes—the test subject you've been obsessing over. Now that she's right in front of you, how do you feel?"

Staring at the girl who looked almost identical to a young Theia Sommers, Corvus's pupils dilated. His breathing hitched for a split second.

"You..." He stood rooted to the spot, asking in disbelief, "You're Theia's daughter? But aren't you Specter?"

"Don't I look the part?"

Juniper's icy voice rang out. "To be precise, I'm Specter, and I'm also Dr. Nocturne."

"A prime test subject with unparalleled medical expertise. There's no one better suited for your genetic modification research than me. Compared to my half-dead father and my fiercely uncooperative mother, I'd say I'm vastly more useful."

With that, she tossed both the prosthetic mask and her gun onto the table. Leaning back in the chair, she casually crossed her bare feet. "Trading them for me is a massive win for you."

"If you agree, let them go. I'll come with you and help with the research." She ignored his increasingly frosty glare and continued, "If you refuse, my mother will still walk out of here. After that, it's either you die or I do. But whoever ends up dead, I'm confident Subterra Vanguard will find my father. You have exactly three minutes to consider."

Staring at that face so eerily reminiscent of Theia, Corvus stumbled back a few steps, barely able to keep his balance.

She looked exactly like her. A living, breathing incarnation of the young Theia.

"How can I trust that you'll actually work for me?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Smack-

Juniper tossed a flash drive at him, then pointed at herself. "Once you have the ultimate test subject, does Cooperate? Slicing

it event matter if I

me open drawing my blood,

extracting my brain tissue... isn't that far more effective than your blind experiments?"

Corvus prided himself on being a ruthless man, but the girl sitting in front of him seemed even more merciless.

The modification project... there could be no room for error.

"Fine, we have a deal."

He pulled out his phone and dialed his subordinate. "Release Silas Blackwood."

Moments later, through the window, Juniper watched as Luella Langley safely escorted her father away.

"I still don't trust you."

Corvus pulled out a vial of liquid and handed it to her. "Drink it."

Juniper glanced at the medication and downed it without a second thought, even shaking the empty bottle to show him.

"Aren't you afraid it's poison?" he asked.

"Then I die."

She smiled faintly, her expression impossibly relaxed.

He stared at her, experiencing a momentary daze. She was an absolute replica of Thera Even that infuriatingly stubborn temperwas exactly the same.

A few seconds later.

As a heavy wave of drowsiness crashed over her, Juniper fought to maintain her fading grip on reality, "Don't touch anyone else, or bswear I'll kill you."

she passed out completely.

Having delivered her final threat, the young woman's head lolled to the side, and