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  "Five years ago..."

  As Chirayu looked at the two men standing before him, memories he had tried desperately to suppress flooded back.

  The laboratory, the experiments, the mechanical hum, and the muffled screams...

  Flashback–

  (Five years ago)

  A massive laboratory, bristling with cutting-edge technology, was in the middle of an experiment. The hustle and bustle of people there indicated how important the experiment was.

  It was crucial.

  In the same lab, two people peered through a massive glass wall at the ongoing experiment.

  Scientists in thick, heavy coats scurried around the lab. In the center was a human corpse, placed in a large cryo chamber, an 18G IV cannula was pierced directly into the center of the chest.

  At the Research Director's signal, a technician injected a thick, milky-white liquid into the green port of the cannula. As the fluid entered the body, the corpse began to glow light red.

  Red, and then dark red.

  But as the liquid touched his extinguished fighter core, a powerful spark erupted and a small explosion occurred. The body around his chest was blown away in the blast, and his body sank to the ground in the cryo chamber like a lifeless piece of cloth.

  The assistants opened the floor hatch, and the ruined body slid down into a massive waste pipe.

  One of them pointed his thumb down at the research director. The research director, standing nearby, shook his head slowly, as if disappointed.

  "Tsk, tsk... what a waste. People are so weak these days. I thought this one looked sturdy, but he was garbage too."

  The research director, who looked to be in his late fifties, clasped his hands behind his back, adjusted his glasses, and went back to sit on the sofa. A man with light brown eyes, different from everyone else's, came and sat down opposite him.

  "Dr. Navopam, I told you to get a Supreme-tier subject. You’re still stuck playing with Low and Mid-tiers."

  "What are you blabbering about? There are only 12 Supreme-tiers in this country. Touch one and we’re all dead."

  Chirayu burst out laughing at this. Meanwhile, Navopam couldn't understand what was so funny about it. He was right! But the man sitting in front of him didn't care, he just kept laughing.

  "Listen! Just say it straight and stop with the riddles. My patience is wearing thin, and you really don't want to see me when I'm pissed."

  "Okay! Okay!"

  Chirayu took out his phone and started scrolling through it.

  "Why not go for the Diamond Cores? I heard the descendants of that bloodline have the potential to reach the Ultimate level."

  Navopam coughed as soon as he heard this. In old age, even a simple cough can seem harsh. What Chirayu said had the potential to shake everything inside him. Navopam gulped down the glass of water in one go.

  "You're talking as if Diamond Cores are a joke! There are only two such families in the world. One in the UAE, one in Malaysia. And neither is pure. You need both parents to be Diamond Cores to produce a PURE one."

  Navopam's eyebrows furrowed when the man sitting across from him was laughing quietly again. He didn't know why he was laughing.

  "Why are you laughing? Did you get bitten by a mad dog today?!"

  Finally, Chirayu put his phone down beside him and, resting his face on his hand, looked at Navopam.

  "You know... there was a family in India, too. Their children were pure Diamond Cores. Did you forget the Supreme-tier Healer Sudhansh and his wife Padma, the Supreme-tier Fighter?"

  Navopam was stunned to hear these words. But then he let out a deep sigh, knowing what to think about.

  "That family died twenty years ago in the Firozabad train accident, and so did those two little children, India's first pure diamond cores. What hope do you have for them?"

  And now Chirayu picked up his phone again, scrolled a bit more, and held up the screen to the research director. The old man adjusted his glasses, looking at Chirayu as if he would eat him raw, without any spice, if whatever he was showing him was wrong. But he still kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

  Headline: Massive Train Accident in Firozabad. 134 dead on the spot, many injured.

  And now Navopam was furious. Rubbing his forehead, he looked at Chirayu with such stern eyes that for a moment even Chirayu's hair stood on end.

  "Do I look stupid to you? Why are you showing me 20-year-old news?"

  "Oh! Quiet! Quiet! Read this first, then fight with me."

  Chirayu slid the screen further down. Right to the very end. And this was the last page of the news, where the news ends.

  : ...In this accident, Supreme level fighter Sudhansh and his family were also caught in the wreckage, leading to their immediate death. Bodies of all family members have been recovered. However, Mrs. Padma and the two children have not been found yet. The cause of the accident remains unknown. The state government has announced compensation for the families of the deceased...

  Navopam snapped his fingers and turned his fierce gaze back to the man in front of him, causing Chirayu to scratch his head.

  "You still don't understand?"

  "What's there to understand?"

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "That woman and her two children survived."

  On hearing this, Navopam felt as if he had received a 440-volt shock. He immediately stood up, took off his glasses, and began wiping the sweat from his forehead. He started walking around, from front to back, then back to front.

  "No, no, no! How could this... happen? What proof do you have?"

  "Why not? Come, let me tell you something."

  Navopam sat back on the sofa, ready to hear something he had never heard before.

  Double Flashback:

  (Five years ago: 1 day before the first flashback)

  "Haha! You're right, Madan. Our last headline was a hit!"

  Two men, seemingly in their late forties, were descending the stairs. One held a bag containing a large box of sweets.

  It was obvious Holi was near. Everyone gives each other some sweets.

  Madan was also giving.

  "What can I say now, bhai! No one can understand people's minds better than you, Deepak!"

  It was quite late. It was 10 o'clock at night, and only the two of them were in the building. They were leisurely coming down, chatting, when Deepak's steps stopped, as if he had suddenly frozen. As if he had seen the face of a ghost.

  "Forget all that! Be sure to wish Bhabhi a Happy Holi from me."

  Madan said with a smile, but Deepak was startled to see him staring behind him with wide eyes.

  "Deepak?"

  And then he turned in the direction Deepak was looking. A man dressed in an expensive suit and boots approached, walking slowly.

  "Who are you? You can't be in here—"

  Before Madan could say anything, the men standing behind him knocked him down with a single punch.

  "Aaaah!"

  Deepak immediately rushed to Madan and tried to free him from the clutches of the man, who looked like a bear over 6 feet tall. But before he could do so, another man came and threw Deepak face down on the ground. Both Madan and Deepak groaned in pain.

  "Leave me!! Aah!!"

  And the man in suit and boots sat down, near their muffled mouths.

  "I won't bother you too much if you answer one question correctly."

  "W-what?!"

  "Twenty years ago! The Firozabad train accident! Where did that woman go?"

  Deepak's face turned pale. He hadn't even thought anyone would even know about this.

  "I don't know–"

  And before Deepak could say anything else, the man pressed Madan's face harder into the ground. Madan began to struggle, which made Deepak tremble.

  "Madannn–!!!"

  And grabbing Deepak's hair, the man yanked him up, his face facing the man in the same suit and boots.

  "Tell me quietly. And this friend of yours will be safe!"

  "No! No Deepak! Don't tell!"

  Deepak tried his best to free his hair, but instead, his hands tightened. Deepak groaned. And as the man raised his hand to hit Madan, Deepak screamed.

  "Wait! Wait! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

  And at that moment, the man lowered his hands. Deepak took a shaky breath and began.

  "Twenty... T-twenty years ago... our news agency reached that spot first and..."

  Triple Flashback:

  (20 Years Ago)

  Death was everywhere. Smoke filled the air. Bodies were scattered, and people from nearby residential areas were slowly arriving to help. Two men were walking through the carnage.

  "Oh my God! Please turn back. I-I can't watch anymore. I’m feeling sick..."

  Madan said, covering his mouth and running away towards a bush.

  "Madan? Are you okay?"

  Deepak immediately ran after him towards the bush when he heard a groaning sound coming from the bush.

  "Water... water...water...."

  Madan and Deepak looked at each other in utter surprise, as if they had found something they hadn't expected.

  They quickly cleared the bushes and saw a wounded, blood-soaked woman clutching two unconscious children. One boy, about eight years old, lay senseless, and another, barely three years old, was huddled against the older boy’s stomach.

  "Oh my God, Deepak! Do you have a bottle?"

  "Yeah, hold on!"

  Deepak pulled a bottle from his bag. Madan splashed some water on the woman’s face to bring her to consciousness.

  "Madam? Madam? Hello?"

  The woman sat up with a groan. Madan and Deepak helped her. Deepak quickly checked the boys.

  "Bhai ! It’s a miracle! Both boys are safe."

  "Water.."

  "Yes, here!"

  The woman slowly drank water and turned to the side to wash her face, which was stained with blood. After washing her face, she wiped her mouth with the end of her saree and looked at the two men. Both were stunned, as if they had been bitten by a snake.

  "I swear! Madam, are you?"

  "Padma Ma'am?"

  Both were completely stunned. They didn't know what to say or do.

  "W-wait! I'm going to call an ambulance right now–"

  "No..."

  "What?"

  "No... they'll find out..."

  "But Ma'am, you're hurt!"

  Padma spoke so softly that neither of them could hear. Madan and Deepak exchanged glances. Then they knelt beside her.

  "But why, Ma'am? You're badly injured?"

  Then the woman showed her hands, from which the bleeding wouldn't stop.

  "My God!! Ma'am, you've been hit by so many poisonous bullets! How? These... These were banned?!"

  Padma somehow managed to control her faltering breath. She picked up her children and handed them to Deepak.

  "There's no time... Take them and give them to my husband's second-in-command, Mr. Sukshmunkur. Please...!"

  "But, Ma'am?"

  "Go! If you stay with me much longer, you too will be affected by this poison. Go! Don't tell anyone about me...Or about my children! Tell only Sukshmunkur."

  The two men stood up with heavy hearts. Padma began to sob as she saw her children being taken away. She kissed their tiny hands one last time.

  "Take care of your little brother, Shaurya..."

  Saying this, the woman immediately began to walk away, crying.

  A poisonous smoke began to rise from her body.

  She kept running.

  kept running.

  And kept running away....

  Madan and Deepak stared blankly at the direction they could no longer see. They held the small children in their arms. Children they had just watched become orphans with their own eyes.

  Double Flashback–

  (Five years ago: 1 day before the first flashback)

  "Aha! So we finally found the nest of the chicks."

  The man in the suit and boots burst out laughing, and his two men squeezed Deepak and Madan's crushed and injured faces with all their might.

  After one loud scream, everything went silent.

  "Happy Holi..."

  Flashback –

  (5 Years Ago)

  "Aha! You turned out to be quite clever, Chirayu! By the way, you already dealt with those two yesterday? What about their bodies?"

  Chirayu pointed a mocking finger toward the waste pipe of the cryo-chamber. Both of them burst into loud , dark laughter.

  To be continued...