CHAPTER 6

"Young Master Loyld, I know you must be really surprised to see me like this. This was the reason why I didn't come to you myself. I was diagnosed with this sickness ten years ago. And that's why I avoided coming to you because the sickness is rapidly contagious," Mr. Lakes spoke through the pipe that was connected to his throat, and his voice was magnified on a small speaker sitting on the nightstand next to him.

"What kind of sickness is this?" Edward asked, surprised.

"It's called a Spirogyra virus. The name is gotten through the green and sticky nature of the sickness. You get a symptom of part of your body turning green in color. It starts from the heart and spreads to the whole body. It usually takes 3 months for it to completely spread to the whole body, and if this happens, the victim would die at this stage," Mr. Lakes said and motioned to Donald to come take off the cloth covering him. Edward flinched in shock seeing Mr. Lakes' bare body almost covered with the green color. At its final stage, it damages the respiratory system and also the vocal cords. And when the vocal chord is damaged, an individual wouldn't be able to speak, except with an aid of a machine like the one connected to my throat," Mr. lakes said.

"Oh my God. I think the sickness is getting severe in you. It has spread to almost all parts of your body," Edward sighed in shock. "How bad is its tendency to spread?" he asked.

"It can spread through any form, but it is mostly recognized as an airborne virus. But don't worry. You and the butler can't contract the virus. This room has been fumigated with a chemical that weakens the spread of the virus. I can only spread the virus if I leave this room," Mr. Lakes explained, and Edward felt relief from the fear of contracting the virus.

"But why is this new to me? I haven't heard about this kind of virus before in all my years in medical school. Or maybe I didn't read enough books?" Edward asked, confused. But Mr. Lakes slowly shook his head.

"No, it wasn't about you not reading enough. The virus had actually been a secret that had been kept away from the public, and that was why I had called you here. The Spirogyra virus is a weapon invented by some top individuals in the government 20 years ago for their selfish purposes. Their plan was to invent the virus and come up with a vaccine which they could sell and make money out of it. Unfortunately, after making the virus, they couldn't come up with a vaccine for it, and so they approached your father to help them with the plan, but he refused. He said he wouldn't be part of an agenda that would take so many lives all because of money. He ended up fighting against the government which led to his death. But before his death, your dad was already a walking dead. First, the government poisoned his medical equipment and materials, and millions of people who purchased his drugs were killed; thereby, they accused him of manslaughter. They took the case to court, and when the corrupt judge charged him guilty, his company was packed up and bulldozed to the ground the next day, leaving him no investment at all. He died in prison."

"And what about my mom?" he asked.

"Your mom was never seen after your dad was imprisoned. Some said she ran away, and some said she died. But the latter is what the world believed," Mr. Lakes explained. However, the story of how Mr. Loyd was imprisoned and how his wife, Clara Loyld, went into hiding wasn't news to Edward. As a biochemist, he had read about his mentor, Mr. Loyd, and all the things that befell him and his wife, but he was still in shock to discover his mentor turned out to be his father. This sounded like a dream to him.

"This sickness isn't good," Edward sympathized, seeing Mr. Lakes' condition.

"Yes, and that was why I had brought you here. Your dad had something for you before he passed," Mr. Lakes said, and suddenly, Edward's face brightened up with a smile. His life was about to change. He watched as Mr. Lakes motioned Donald to go get something in the drawer in front of him, and Edward was excited as his mind was contemplating on what it would be. He thought of a black card with billions of dollars or a paper containing different houses and businesses which needed just his signature for him to become the owner, but his fascination dropped to a zero level when the butler opened the drawer and returned to him with an old dusty book that had part of its cover torn already and gave it to him.

"What's this?" he asked with his eyes fixed on the book which had the title, THE BOOK OF FORMULA'S written boldly on the cover.

"That's a medical book containing all of your dad's chemical formulas on his different medical experiments. He knew that the virus would get to this point, and so he made the equations and asked us to give them to you when you are of age before he passed. We believe you are the only one who can find the puzzle and get a solution for this virus, using it to save humanity," Mr. Lakes said.

Edward felt something surging inside his tummy the moment he heard this.

"Is this what you said would change my life?" he asked in a low tone, already angered, and Mr. Lakes responded with a wink.

Enraged, he hurled the book on the ground, clenching his fist with his teeth gritted angrily. He had heard stories of how poor kids, dealing with the shackles of life, got to know their true identity and became billionaires in a day. But in his case, he was given an old book of chemical equations? Why was his case always different?

"Is there a problem, my lord?" his butler, Donald, asked seeing the disappointment on his face, but Edward snapped at him angrily, "Don't call me that! You brought me here, promising to make me a millionaire in a day and provide me money for my mother's surgery, and all you could offer me was a book of chemical equations? Did I tell you I had an interest in exploring a book with old chemical equations?" Edward charged at Donald, who humbly bowed his head to him.

"Young Master Loyld, it's not about you having an interest in exploring the book. It's about you saving the world by following your father's path," Mr. Lakes replied.

"And I don't recall telling you that I had an interest in being a hero. I don't want to follow my father's path. By the way, I don't think my father had a good plan for me. If he did, he wouldn't have left me suffering for so long," Edward said.

"He didn't leave you to suffer, young master. He left you with a maid because he didn't want men in power to know about you or you would have been killed. He kept you so you could grow and ----"

"Grow and what?!" he impatiently cut Mr. Lakes off. "So I can follow the path that got him killed and also get killed like him? Never! All I'm bothered about now is taking care of my mom and not being a hero. Goodbye." He turned toward the door to leave, but Mr. Donald got in front of him and fell on his knees.

"Please, young master, you are the only one who could help the world now. If you don't do anything, the virus would spread and kill millions of people," Donald begged. And Edward turned to Mr. Lakes.

"If you are so interested in saving the world, why must it be me? Why don't you use the book and save the world yourself?" he asked.

"I'm not in the right position to do that, young master Loyld. The book is only meant for someone of the Loyld family lineage, and that's you. I can't even decipher what was written inside of it," Mr. Lakes replied.

"Please, master, accept it. You can give it a thought when you go back to your cell," Donald said as he picked the book from the floor and offered it to him.

At this, Edward reluctantly collected the book from Donald. "I'm only accepting this because I want to get out of prison and save my mom's life," Edward said as he received it.

"So where are you taking me now?" Edward asked Donald

"Back to your prison, Young Master." Donald replied

"What? But I thought you said if I come here I would be free?" He asked, and Mr lakes replied

"Yes, but the freedom would come soon. Freedom will find you in your cell and not you looking for it. Just read through the book and put the words into practice, and you will not only be free but become a living god in the world, just like your dad. And as for your mom, don't worry, Donald will go pay for the hospital bill immediately he drops you at your cell, and a new kidney would be administered to your mom," Mr. Lakes assured.

Though Edward wasn't cool with the idea of waiting for his freedom to come to him like Mr. Lakes had said, he sighed in a bit of relief to hear that his mom would be taken care of in his absence. With this, he and Donald walked out of the house and got in the car.

"The police followed us here?" he asked when they got downstairs and saw a police van parked in the compound.

"Yes, like I said, we were only able to get you out under their supervision. They are to ensure we take you back to your jail without any issues," Donald replied, and the two got into the car and drove off, being followed by the police van back to the cell.

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