**"What the…?"** the scientist muttered.
On screen, Jin and his friends stared as the creature growled… but this time in *pain*.
"What's happening to it?" Jin shouted, his eyes wide.
Wei Lin's grip on his storm blades tightened. "Ming Ji, can you help it?"
Ming Ji's eyes narrowed. "I… I can try."
He reached out for the creature slowly… but it flinched back before he could touch it.
̶Then—**screams.**
Not from the creature.
From *Ming Ji.*
He fell to his knees, clutching his chest as shadows writhed violently around him—uncontrolled, lashing out like serpents.
"Jin—" he gasped. "It's… it's the Beacon… *it's* spreading."
Jin dropped beside him instantly, light flaring in his palms. "Fight it! Stay with me!"
But on screen after screen beneath the city, the scientist watched with cold fascination.
"Not just resistance," he murmured. "Subject Omega is *overloading.* The bond between him and that creature—it's creating a feedback loop."
A grin curled his lips.
