Chapter 1672

In a villa located on the outskirts of Seathburn City, Sergio stood in the doorway of the room where Liam was being held. The space was suffocating and dark, with nothing but a single bed in the center. The windows were boarded up tightly, sealing out any trace of the outside world. From the moment Liam handed over the raw stone to The Lucent, he'd known his fate was sealed. For The Lucent, accepting a defector came with a price—a ritual they called the "Blessing Ceremony". But there was no blessing in it. It was nothing more than a cover for injecting experimental drugs into the bodies of defectors. It was essentially free human testing for The Lucent. Death was often the kindest outcome. For those who survived, what remained wasn't much of a life. The process itself wasn't painful—in fact, it could even be described as an almost heavenly experience. That was why it was called a blessing. "When did they inject you with that stuff?" Sergio asked. Liam leaned casually agains