A scientist, above all, must be a person of wit. Even by merely looking at the names of the theories scientists have created, one could easily see this truth.

I was no different.

"Who are you...?"

"─Nice to meet you. Dragon Bone Soldier, sir. I am an evil scientist."

"Oh, an evil scientist? Why would an evil scientist...!"

A perfect response, scoring a solid 100 out of 100.

"Now, release these restraints and let me go immediately. My body is the property of Dragon Corp, and damaging or forcibly detaining me constitutes illegal behavior─."

Dragon Bone Soldier No. 33, now awake, realized it was bound in restraints and began flailing its limbs wildly. Despite possessing the strength to easily flip a car based on its specs, unfortunately, the restraints weren't designed to be broken by brute force. In fact, the opposite was true. The more force applied, the tighter they would become.

If No. 33 had some kind of hidden superpower, perhaps it could have broken free, but in this regard, it seemed the specifications listed on the website were accurate—it did not manifest any hidden powers.

"No. 33? It’s unfortunate. I don’t hold any grudge against you... but I do need your body for something."

"My body... I wasn’t designed for that kind of use."

"Don't worry. What you're imagining won’t happen."

Of course, kidnapping No. 33 like this was an incredibly risky move. If it turned out that No. 33 was human, and merely a mercenary developed by Dragon Corp with special abilities, it could spark a huge controversy over human rights.

"Only if you're actually human, that is."

But my prediction was that No. 33 was not human. Not even a beastkin that resembled a human. More likely, it was an unauthorized synthetic organism, devoid of any rights.

Everything—my senses and the situation—was pointing to that conclusion.

"Well then, shall we begin the experiment?"

"Stop this at once. You are currently engaging in illegal activity against the property of Dragon Corp─."

"Yes, yes, unauthorized synthetic organism."

I rendered No. 33 unconscious again and activated various devices attached to its body. These tools would prove that it wasn’t human...

If the results of this test revealed that it indeed lacked human rights—that it wasn’t human at all—then...

‘I’ll have to put D City under scrutiny.’

Creating beings that resemble humans, yet aren’t, is illegal. Both in this world and on Earth, the same rules apply. If it turns out that D City is producing such creatures, no matter what action I take against them, the Union will side with me.

"Hmm?"

In the Dragon Skyscraper of D City, Hisberk, enjoying his usual leisure activities on the top floor, frowned as he felt a strange phantom pain. A toothache, one that should have been impossible, began throbbing from where his molar would be.

It didn’t take long for Hisberk to figure out the source of this discomfort. Something was interfering with his Dragon Bone Soldier. More specifically, something was attempting to probe its origin.

"How dare they?"

A creation of a dragon, while not as sacred as the dragon itself, still carried a degree of sanctity. Borrowing the dragon's authority made it so. Lower beings had no right to meddle with it. And to not only interfere but also attempt to probe deeper, even affecting Hisberk himself?

The audacity was beyond belief. Hisberk was enraged. A dragon’s fury, once ignited, materialized instantly. Like lightning, his magic struck out at whatever dared to probe him.

Boom!

As if piercing through several walls, the intrusive presence that had been surveying him vanished. Realizing the gaze was gone, Hisberk began probing the culprit in return. After all, he was a Dragon, a master of magic. A detection spell of this magnitude was child's play.

‘Let’s see what arrogant face belongs to the fool who dared to challenge me...’

But as Hisberk attempted to trace the source, he hesitated. He encountered a mental defense mechanism unlike anything he had ever seen before. No, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. Hisberk knew this structure all too well.

A firewall. Not magic, but something you’d see in a computer’s defense system. If Hisberk had been ignorant of modern science, he wouldn’t have been able to break through this barrier and would have been blocked from further intrusion. His pride as a dragon would have been deeply wounded.

Fortunately, Hisberk was well-versed in firewalls, and modern science in general. Breaking through this level of defense was no challenge for him.

‘Interesting... To incorporate something like this into a mental defense... Does this mean the person is specialized in mental fortification?’

At this point, Hisberk assumed he was dealing with a unique superhuman. It was only natural. After all, in the centuries since he had arrived in this world, he had never encountered anyone else capable of using magic.

He alone was the true master of magic, the only wizard in this world.

He thought this incident too was just a case of superpowers mimicking the effects of magic, a mere trick by lower beings. He maintained this belief, right up until he broke through the final firewall.

"What is this...?"

What greeted his eyes was a defense system composed entirely of complex equations. Countless encryptions that would take even a supercomputer thousands of years to solve, combined with a firewall that required simultaneously deciphering two codes that couldn't be viewed at the same time. Even with Hisberk's comprehensive knowledge of modern science, there was something completely incomprehensible here.

It was as if the enemy was toying with him, gradually raising the difficulty level. Hisberk realized that this was a test, designed to provoke him. And though he was filled with fury once again, this time there was nowhere for his anger to go.

"Are they... a singularity, like me? Has magic or science advanced this far?"

Hisberk instinctively realized the identity of his opponent, but he never got the chance to confirm his suspicion. Before he could, an overwhelming amount of data flooded his brain, far beyond what even his superior mind could process.

Furrowing his brow in discomfort, Hisberk was forced to completely cut off his counter-intrusion.

And just like that, his opponent vanished, leaving not a single trace, mocking Hisberk as they disappeared. For the first time in ages, Hisberk was consumed by rage.

"Hah- Hahahaha!"

His loud laughter startled his secretary, who burst into the office. Not Aussolion, who had previously reported to him, but a regular human secretary.

"Ch-chairman? Are you alright?"

"Alright? You’re asking if I’m alright? Hahaha!"

"S-sorry! I didn’t mean to...!"

Sensing the chairman's irritation, the quick-witted secretary immediately apologized, but the chairman waved it off, beckoning the secretary to approach.

The secretary, trembling, met Hisberk's gaze—filled with the fury of a dragon—and began to shake uncontrollably. The presence exuding from him was unbearable for an ordinary human.

"I’m fine. In fact, I haven’t been this amused in a long time..."

"Th-that’s good to hear, sir... Truly a relief..."

"But you know, you’ve just ruined my mood."

"P-please, forgive me!"

The secretary pleaded for mercy, and Hisberk pondered it for a moment before shaking his head, delivering his verdict.

"No."

"Ugh-! Please!"

"You’re docked three months' pay, starting now."

The secretary was so shocked, they staggered backward. But Hisberk wasn’t done.

"And all of your current paid vacation days will be converted into unpaid leave."

"You can’t be serious..."

"Spend the next few days reflecting on this and wallow in regret."

Hisberk dismissed the secretary, who left the office with their head hung low in despair. This was a tactic Hisberk had learned over the past few decades.

Hundreds of years ago, humans would act to preserve their lives. But modern humans? They didn’t move to protect their lives, but their money. It had come to the point where they valued wealth over life itself.

As a result, Hisberk no longer needed to threaten lives or blow heads off as an example. A simple piece of paper was enough to control them. Why waste the effort when all of these humans were his sheep and subordinates?

‘Still... who could it be...?’

Hisberk pondered the situation as he ignored the lingering headache, turning to look out the window.

After hundreds of years in this world, he had finally found another singularity. How could he not be intrigued?

"Secretary's office? There’s someone I need you to find."

[Yes, Chairman. Whoever it is, just give us the word—]

"I don’t know their face or name, nor where or what they’re doing, but one thing is for sure—"

Hisberk gave the order to track down this new singularity. Just as he had become the ruler of D City and the chairman of a massive corporation...

A singularity could never truly hide its existence.

Never.

‘So it was an unauthorized synthetic organism.’

I stared at the cylinder where the experiment had taken place. Inside was what had once been No. 33. I casually manipulated the machinery, beginning the refinement process.

As the process concluded, the machine spat out something white. I picked it up, examining the object’s composition with a curious tilt of my head.

"Ivory?"

In the end, what I had extracted from No. 33's body was a tooth.

A tooth belonging to a creature that had never existed on this planet.