Apex's face twisted with pure, uncontrolled rage at Sliver's calm insult.

"You sissy boy—how dare you call me worthless? You want to die that badly?"

His voice echoed harshly through the underground hall, sharp enough that several generals winced. Apex took a step forward, fists clenched, muscles tensed like he was ready to lunge.

But before he could take another breath, Botulinum finally spoke—voice low, cold, and edged with irritation.

"Apex. Shut up."

The shift in Apex was immediate. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

His fury vanished as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. His posture stiffened; his throat clicked shut mid-breath. The man who had been ready to kill seconds earlier now wouldn't even make eye contact with his leader.

He didn't dare say another word.

General Darkling lifted his mask and revealed an unnatural smile—too wide, too sharp to be entirely sane.

Beneath it was a face far younger than his rank suggested, no older than seventeen or eighteen at first glance.

His skin was pale, almost colorless beneath the chamber's cold lighting. His strange, restless violet eyes never stayed still. They flickered constantly, as though tracking movements no one else could see. There was no warmth in them—only amusement, and something faintly unstable lurking underneath.

His midnight-blue hair, streaked with electric purple, was cut unevenly on purpose—long strands falling into his eyes, the back jagged and sharp. Thin black tattoos traced his face: delicate lines beneath both eyes, a small symbol near his left temple, and faint markings running down the side of his neck.

He lounged in his chair with one leg crossed over the other, fingers loosely interlocked, as if the entire execution bored him.

Then, still smiling too widely for most humans and he looked at Botulinum.

"Hey, Boss," he said lightly, though a thin thread of tension hid beneath his tone, "why do you always interrupt when it starts getting interesting? can i have fun?

then suddenly his voice changes to a childlike voice. "Boo! Boo! You're so boring! I hate you. You ruin my mood. You are—"

Oleander interrupted him with a loud and angry tone, "DARKLING, DO YOU WANT TO DIE? HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR PERFECT, GOOD-LOOKING, HOT, GOD-LIKE LEADER?"

Darkling and Oleander were the only two Generals who didn't outwardly fear Botulinum. Though for very different reasons.

Darkling sensed Oleander's killing intent—and grinned even wider.

"Oleander," he said softly, almost dreamily, "you're so beautiful when you're angry. Your pure emotions are wonderful. They make my heart race."

A faint blush even touched his cheeks. "Why don't you forget about your Boss and give me a chance? I promise I'll be a—"

Oleander moved before he finished. She stepped forward and struck him, both physically and verbally.

"Ha! As if I could ever love someone who calls himself Darkling. Pathetic. Unmanly. Soft."

Darkling twisted aside, dodging most of her blows with surprising agility. Even when a few strikes connected, he didn't lose that disturbing smile.

"What's wrong with the name?" he teased. "Isn't it cute? A little creature of darkness. That's adorable."

Botulinum watched in silence as two of his most valuable Generals behaved like undisciplined children.

For a brief moment, he genuinely reconsidered not killing them earlier.

"Oleander. Darkling. Stop."

Oleander froze instantly at her Master's command.

Darkling did not hesitate. He used the opening to step forward and slap Oleander on the butt with an open hand. The sharp clap echoed clearly in the chamber.

Darkling covered his mouth dramatically, eyes sparkling with delight.

Oleander went still for a moment. Then her rage multiplied.

It wasn't just that he had touched her. It was that he had touched something she considered her Master's property.

Her hand moved toward her Poké Ball belt.

"Oleander. Stop."

Botulinum's voice was colder this time.

He had no emotional attachment to Oleander's body. He was just annoyed that the two of them were wasting his time.

Oleander trembled with fury—but she obeyed. Her expression twisted with genuine sorrow as she did.

"But Master," she said quietly, "he touched what belongs to you. Can't we kill him? Please."

Botulinum began to grow a little tired of their nonsense. Almost every time they meet, these two behave the worst of his generals.

he thought.Perhaps I should kill just Darkling...but replacing him would be not easy.

Darkling was the only one among them whose Pokémon and talent could realistically reach Champion level within one or two years. Even Oleander, thougha bit closer to that threshold, would require more time.

Botulinum's eyes settled on Darkling.

His voice was indifferent. "I don't particularly care what you say."

A pause. "But if you touch my property again…"

His gaze sharpened slightly. " and I will make you regret it. I promise you that."

Botulinum noticed it clearly now: Darkling was becoming increasingly unpredictable, and today he had undeniably crossed a line that should not have been crossed.

Under normal circumstances, Botulinum would have responded to such behavior with excruciating punishment. Pain was the most reliable tool he possessed. It established order, reinforced hierarchy, and ensured that even the most arrogant subordinate remembered their place.

However, Darkling was an exception.

He had been born with a rare and deeply unusual condition. His body was incapable of properly feeling pain. He could sense touch, pressure, temperature, and other physical sensations without issue, but pain—the one sensation designed to warn, to correct, to deter—simply did not register in the way it should.

When Botulinum first learned of this anomaly, he had assumed it was exaggeration or defiance. No one was truly immune to pain and can have this physical sensations. At least, that had been his belief.

So he tested it himself. Carefully at first. Then more thoroughly. What he discovered was both fascinating and inconvenient.

Darkling did not react to severe injury with agony. Instead, when damage passed a certain threshold, his nervous system began to shut down in stages. Signals dulled. Muscles responded more slowly. Reflexes weakened. And if pushed far enough, entire nerve pathways temporarily went silent, as though his body chose disconnection over suffering.

Botulinum couldn't understand how such a human body could have come into being, but he had no choice but to admit that Darkling possessed such a body.

Fortunately, he had other options to punish him besides death.

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