"Why would a man who has such power as you desire to experiment on shapeshifters?" When Robert asked that question, all the eyes in the laboratory fell on Lucas.
All of them were curious why this was so important to him, investing millions of dollars to have a laboratory with no scientists in sight.
Lucas could feel the curiosity in all of them, and he chose to give a simple answer. "For the good of mankind."
Silence encompassed the room as all of them were more or less doubtful of his answer. He could see it too, but Lucas was helpless.
"This answer again..." Robert’s face frowned in displeasure. "If you don’t even tell me the real reason, how am I even supposed to work for you?"
Lucas closed his eyes for a second, and the image of a little girl smiling even in the face of pain emerged.
When he opened his eyes again, he glanced at John with the corner of his eye, then looked at Robert.
"I...want to end the suffering of all children in the world." Lucas glanced at him with an unwavering expression, then his eyes turned cold as he gazed at Robert. "And...I will do it with or without you."
The moment that those words were spoken, John’s fists clenched together. His eyes scanned the laboratory once again, but this time it felt like a chance for his daughter, Hope, to live just like any other normal kid.
Robert’s emotions were affected when he heard about children, and he looked down in thought.
Just as Lucas thought he would refuse again, Robert’s next words brought a smile to his face.
"You know that it’s going to cost you a lot, right?"
"I have the money," Lucas replied with a confident expression.
"It’s going to take millions to even get started, not to mention maybe we will not even get any results." Robert gazed seriously at him and warned him as he wasn’t sure if he had that much money to burn.
"Ten million dollars." Lucas raised his hands high. "That’s the amount I’m willing to invest at the beginning."
The amount of money shocked even Robert. In his previous workplace, what they were doing wasn’t exactly legal, so the amount they had available wasn’t more than 50 million dollars.
That’s one of the reasons their research didn’t make any grand discoveries, and the other one was because the shapeshifters they had were few.
Seeing his reaction, Lucas smiled and continued speaking. "I’m even willing to invest ten times that amount, but I need results before that. Do you think you’re up to the task?"
"Yes!" Robert stood straight as if he was in the military, and his old face brightened as if an old spark had lit up once again.
Steven, who was in the back, was getting more and more confused as they were speaking, then he looked at Lucas as if wanting to ask him where he got so much money.
On the other hand, John wasn’t that surprised by the amount of money. He saw firsthand how Lucas turned half a million dollars into 50 million dollars in just a few months.
"Very good. If you have any further needs, you can ask John for help." Lucas pointed at John, then walked toward the elevator.
"Huh?" Robert watched him as he left with a question mark on his face. Lucas was the one who insisted on getting him to work on this project, now that he said yes, he left without any hesitation.
••••
Just as Stiles and Scott were laughing and talking in the hallway, they suddenly stopped and looked ahead.
"Please! I swear I didn’t do anything! I was set up!" The principal begged as he turned around to speak with the deputy behind him.
"Yeah, yeah. You and everyone else who took bribes." The deputy replied with an indifferent attitude.
The principal’s expression froze as he suddenly thought of his conversation with Lucas. Then he turned back once again. "It was a student! This is all his fault."
Even the deputy was stunned, but before he could say anything, the sheriff came up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Parrish, get him out of here."
"Yes sir!" The deputy nodded and grabbed the principal by the arm and pushed him toward the exit.
After seeing all of that, Stiles and Scott finally approached the Sheriff. Stiles looked at the lonely back of the principal, then at his father. "Dad, what’s going on?"
Noah grabbed the back of his neck and sighed. "We got an anonymous tip that the principal received a large amount of money to use his position to give favors, and the worst of all was that we also found that he may have had some relationships with some minors."
"What?" X2
Stiles and Scott looked at each other in shock. It’s not every day you hear that your principal may be a pedophile.