Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"This is Mrs. Coleman’s laboratory." I looked around, astonished to see the countless lab capsules around us.

The Coleman family was indeed wealthy. With Mrs. Coleman’s charitable persona, she probably channeled a lot of money into this laboratory. Her laboratory was more than twice the size of Nancy’s.

"The laboratory is empty, Mom," Ashton reminded me.

Only then did I come back to my senses. Other than Ashton, Xan, and I, the other lab capsules were all empty.

It seemed like this lab capsule was used specifically for researching soul reincarnation. They conducted many experiments, ultimately proving that their experiments would not succeed without Dexter.

In Dexter’s words, there was a mechanism for reincarnation. Genes were the most crucial link that captured and bound a soul with the same genes. But a medium was also required for a reincarnation to succeed-it was something like a key.

At that moment, only Dexter knew what that key was as he was the only person who had succeeded in completing the Reincarnation Project.

"There’s a butterfly and a kitten over there, Mommy." Xan was sitting on the ground with her Rubik’s cube in hand. She was just like a naturally autistic child who enjoyed being immersed in her own world. Sometimes, she would say a few words that would hit the mark.

I looked over to that side of the laboratory. There were indeed animal specimens inside the glass enclosure some were alive, some were dead, and some were just born. They were likely all genetic clones.

"They’re also using animals to test whether the Reincarnation Project will succeed," I whispered. "They’re not as smart as Dad," Ashton quipped.

I did not refute him. Indeed, Dexter’s intelligence went beyond mere genome editing. He would have been a natural genius even without the genome editing.

He was basically unstoppable with his natural talents enhanced by genome editing.

As far as I remember, Dexter was particularly sensitive to numbers. His mathematical talents surpassed others since he was eight. It was as if he had suddenly grasped the mysteries and charm of mathematics overnight.

He used to tell me excitedly that he could accurately calculate locations and even determine the exact location of an asteroid. It was a completely unfathomable world to me.

Indeed, mathematics required talent. It was just like how Dexter was constantly calculating the value of pi. He said that everything could start anew as long as he calculated it to the end.

The so-called genetic sequence code was probably an inspiration Dexter took from his calculation formula of pi.

I leaned against the glass and looked at the animals inside the lab capsules. Mrs. Coleman must have devoted all her energy to reincarnation and combating cancer cells all these years.

"This laboratory feels quite spacious, doesn’t it?" The door to the lab capsule opened, and Mrs. Coleman walked in.

She said, "Initially, this lab capsule was dedicated to my investments and research in combating cancer cells. I, too, once hoped that the medical field would be able to save my husband. I was naive in thinking that we could grow old and spend the rest of our lives together."

Mrs. Coleman chuckled coldly before continuing, "Unfortunately, cancer cells are immortal as they divide and regenerate endlessly while humans cannot.

"Why can’t humans do so? Why can’t the human body be like cancer cells-dividing and regenerating endlessly, even reproducing infinitely outside of the human body?"

She looked almost crazed as she stood outside the glass enclosure, watching me intently. "Have you heard of the immortal HeLa cells? The biological research today, including the cloning technology, is closely related to HeLa cells."

I frowned, keeping an alert watch on Mrs. Coleman.

"Do you know why gods are immortal?" she asked, placing her hands on the glass enclosure. She was observing me as if admiring a work of art similar to the way she had looked at Una at the luxury goods store.

Mrs. Coleman continued, "Gods are immortal because they can divide and regenerate endlessly. In other words are gods just like cancer cells, in the sense that they could be continuously replicated through their genome?"

I felt chills running up my spine as I watched her. Was the Godmaker Project actually an attempt for humans to create a god?

Humans destroyed humans, and God created humans. Humans destroyed God, and they created another god with their own hands. It sounded like a mad legend, yet it seemed to have come full circle with a symbolic meaning at this moment.

Who knew what kind of monstrosities we would end up creating if humans were to continue to delve into their crazed research into genetics and immortality?

She said, "The emergence of cancer cells is essentially a genetic mutation process in the human body. They double every 24 hours, yet they need to constantly compete for nutrients with the human body, treating it as a battlefield.

"That’s why cancer cells would replicate endlessly and spread viciously when someone has cancer. The human body is too fragile to withstand such overwhelming destructive force. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"The reason why Miguel is suffering currently is precisely because the cancer cells within him keep multiplying and metastasizing uncontrollably, isn’t it?"

I looked at Mrs. Coleman, wanting to make her stop. But it was impossible as she was already on the brink of madness.

"I’m creating a god. I’m changing this world. My research will bring hope and a glimmer of light to patients and families affected by cancer," Mrs. Coleman said in a crazed manner. Her arms were outstretched.

"You’re not me. That’s why you can’t understand why I’m this mad trying to do this." She looked at me, as if mocking my ignorance from her own perspective.

She continued, "What would you do if Dexter had cancer and the cancer cells couldn’t be destroyed, yet they were slowly devouring him? You’d be even crazier than I am right now. That’s because you’re Sophia Milford-you’d only go to even greater lengths."

I was stunned. Suddenly, I could understand her intentions.

Her motivation was her love for Miguel. She wanted to combat cancer for his sake.

"At first, I only wanted to combat cancer cells and find a way to completely kill these immortal cells. But later on, I accepted the reality that they couldn’t be killed. The cost of killing them is just too high. I couldn’t possibly... sacrifice my loved ones in order to kill those damned cancer cells-"

Mrs. Coleman’s voice turned hoarse.

"That’s why I gave up on researching how to kill the cancer cells. I turned to researching symbiosis instead." Her lips curled upward.

"Dexter never told this to you, right? The medium for rebirth, which is the key, is based on the original gene chain. It involves a mutation that uses the uterus as a new source of nutrients and simulates the division of cancer cells using cloning techniques. All this is done just to achieve immortality of the soul." Dexter found his inspiration from mathematical formulas. He discovered the genetic code while building on the foundation of immortal cell division. And then... the laboratory found the medium for reincarnation. That was how the reincarnation of souls was achieved.

I stood in shock, unable to react for the longest time.

Mrs. Coleman asked, "Do you know why Dexter didn’t kill Una but kept her around? That’s because he’s keeping a backup body for you. He’s worried that something might happen to you."

She had a sardonic smile. "You see, Dexter is even more unhinged than I am when he loses control. In a way, you’re the first person to achieve immortality, Sophia. That’s because your genome was already spread worldwide through the Genome Society’s laboratories.

"There are countless vectors with the same genome as yours in this world. You can be endlessly replicated and reincarnated under Dexter’s manipulation just like HeLa cells."

The reason Dexter was keeping Una around was really to be a blood bank and backup for me. No wonder Una was so jealous of me.

Mrs. Coleman was mocking Dexter, calling him an unhinged madman. That was because he was more unhinged than anyone else and had done too many crazy things in trying to resurrect "Sophia Milford". "Now that you three are with me, I won’t hurt you as long as Dexter successfully reincarnates Miguel’s soul." Her smile faded. "After all, I don’t want to offend a madman who can create gods."

"If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that the soul of every clone subject could be reincarnated?" I looked at Mrs. Coleman questioningly.

She smiled and shook her head. "That’s what I’m curious about too. How did he reincarnate you so precisely? But only Dexter knows the answer to this secret because he’s the only one that holds the key to reincarnation and the creation of gods-"