Read Novel Full Chapter 521: Vincent
Chapter 521: Chapter 521: Vincent
Vincent clenched his jaw, heat rising in his chest
"We cannot keep pretending to be noble while stumbling blindly in the dark," he argued. "We have a torch in our hands, and you refuse to turn it on."
Ivy met his gaze without flinching.
"My principles are clear," she replied. "Any experiment that requires harming a human will never happen in my base."
Vincent let out a sharp breath. "If that is the case, then I would like to leave."
The declaration hung heavily in the air.
Ivy fell silent. Some of the researchers exchanged glances, relief flashing across their faces.
’She’s backing down,’ they thought.
Encouraged, a few of them stepped forward.
"If Vincent leaves, we will leave too," one of them said.
Others quickly followed, nodding in agreement as if swept up by momentum rather than conviction.
Ivy watched their sudden unity. Then... She chuckled.
The soft sound sent a strange chill through the room.
Though her expression remained calm, the laughter felt completely out of place, like something breaking beneath the surface.
"Since you all want to leave so desperately," she said lightly, "I won’t stop you."
She reached into a drawer, pulled out a sheet of paper, and placed it on the table.
"Now, tell me the names of everyone who no longer wishes to remain here."
She paused, then added,
"This list will help me blacklist you."
The color drained from their faces. They had expected resistance. Negotiation. Even pleading.
They had never imagined she would let them go so easily. And then reality struck them.
They were not even part of the core research team.
They had been placed in this military research division precisely because their qualifications were insufficient for the main scientific body.
This unit existed as a training ground, an intermediate department meant to handle anomalies and gain experience.
Yet they had forgotten their own standing and dared to make demands as if they were indispensable.
Some of them immediately panicked.
"We were joking... we didn’t mean it," a few tried to backtrack.
Ivy did not respond.
She calmly wrote their names on the list anyway. Then she looked at Vincent.
"Do you need anything else?"
Vincent stared at her grimly. "You’re serious about this?"
Ivy nodded once. "If you have nothing further, you may leave."
Vincent’s eyes darkened.
"You will regret this," he said before turning and walking out.
A handful of researchers loyal to him followed, though their steps were far less confident.
The remaining researchers lingered, looking at Ivy with hopeful expressions, silently begging for their names to be erased from the paper.
Ivy did not even look at them.
She simply gestured to the guards.
"Escort them out."
The decision was final.
As the room emptied, Ivy leaned back slightly, exhaustion brushing against her mind.
’I need tighter control over these divisions,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, they will create disasters while believing they are making progress.’
She could not comprehend how they believed diluting an antidote without authorization could lead to discovery.
’What a reckless kind of stupidity...’
.......................
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the base, General Frank was forming plans of his own.
After learning about the strange connection between Jade and Ivy, his mind began racing with schemes.
If Ivy divorced Silas and married Jade instead, then Jade would become her husband.
And that would make Frank... Her father-in-law.
From there, authority over the base would naturally shift.
After all, in Frank’s mind, how could such a powerful stronghold continue to be led by a woman? Eventually, it would fall into Jade’s hands anyway.
So he concluded it would be far better to guide the outcome now.
He began encouraging Jade to find a way to seduce Ivy.
Jade initially agreed to approach Ivy.
But the moment Frank revealed his true intention, to seize control of the base after Ivy fell in love, Jade’s expression turned cold.
"If you think you can take something from her," Jade said quietly, "then you don’t understand her at all."
Frank looked at his son, unfazed, even faintly proud.
"I know you love her," he replied. "But only when power is removed from her hands will she truly rely on you. If she can betray Silas once, what guarantees she won’t betray you later?"
Jade frowned deeply.
"I am certain that if Ivy comes to me, she will not look away," he said. "We are connected. I cannot explain it, but she is my true soulmate."
Frank cut him off, a calculating gleam flashing in his eyes.
"I respect your feelings," he said, his tone softening. "But can you not see the situation we are in?"
Jade remained silent.
Frank pressed on.
"You understand your own heart, but have you ever tried to understand your father’s struggle?" he asked. "Do you know how it felt... being behind bars, powerless, watching everything slip away?"
General Frank shivered, thinking about how much fear he had felt on getting thrown in prison.
If only he had still possessed the authority he once held in the military, no one would have dared to throw him behind bars.
That thought gnawed at General Frank like a slow poison.
Now that the power belonged to Ivy, he could only wait helplessly for someone else to rescue him. It had been Jade who managed to get him released. Otherwise, he might have rotted in that suffocating cell for months... or even years.
Jade looked at his father quietly, the tension between them thick as smoke.
"Then why can’t you stop chasing power?" he asked.
Frank froze.
Jade continued, his voice low but firm.
"If you hadn’t attacked General Dante in your pursuit of authority, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have been imprisoned. You might still be leading the military as a respected leader."
Frank’s face darkened.
Jade did not stop.
"You imposed taxes on your own people just to strengthen your position. You wanted to squeeze everything out of them so you could rise higher."
Frank stared at him in disbelief.