Before the two of them lay a giant tank filled with a transparent green liquid.
Inside the tank was a human-shaped network of nerves and blood vessels.
Densely packed.
At the top of the nerves, it connected to a brain and numerous syringes!
The sight was overwhelmingly shocking!
Far more terrifying than mere flesh and blood!
"This is..."
Yang Linlin's eyes widened, pointing at the giant tank, unable to utter a word!
Zhao Yi stroked his chin, looking on with admiration, and said:
"This thing is truly a work of art!"
"Stripped of all bones and most of the flesh, leaving only the most crucial blood vessels and nerves, maintained with nutrient solution and a suitable environment to keep the cells active, and using external stimuli to replace the heart in completing circulation, channeling all energy to the brain."
"Such a full nerve stripping surgery, among the patients I knew before, only one person could complete it."
Live Streaming Comments:
: Damn, what kind of patients does Zhao Yi have!
: Is he bluffing? How could such a surgery be possible in real life?
: I graduated from ChuanX Academy, and I can responsibly tell everyone that this surgery is indeed possible in reality, but the academy only used cadavers, never live subjects...
: Indeed, I'm also a surgeon, practicing for twenty-three years, and for nerve stripping of this degree, anesthesia is completely ineffective, the process is almost done while the patient is awake, it's just too cruel!
: This is too inhumane, damn it!
...
Yang Linlin cautiously approached the cultivation tank, shivering involuntarily.
"Zhao Yi... do you mean... it's still alive?"
Zhao Yi nodded.
"Yes."
"The cost of these nutrient solutions and machines is extremely high, those mad researchers wouldn't go to such lengths for a dead person!"
Yang Linlin turned her face, her expression stiff.
The thing inside the tank... is actually... still alive?
What kind of feeling would it have now?
Cold?
Painful?
Desperate?
Zhao Yi moved to another side of the lab table, where a notebook was placed, recording the related experimental process. He glanced over it, which was nothing more than how to use various inhumane methods to torture this experimental subject, bringing endless pain, yet not letting it die.
The first page of the notebook read:
[The God Above Says—]
[Focus is a necessary quality for concentrating the spirit.]
[Kindness is the lock that seals strength.]
[Anger and fear are the keys to unlock it.]
It seemed to be some theological and philosophical quotes.
"Zhao Yi, come quickly!"
Yang Linlin exclaimed from the other side of the cultivation tank. Zhao Yi walked over and saw the back of the tank in the direction Yang Linlin was pointing.
There was an electronic label stuck on it.
...
[X-2]
[Original Subject: Chen Qiong (16 years old)]
[Adaptability: 96%]
[Activity: High]
[Brainwave Compatibility: 92%]
[Spirit Concentration: Excellent]
...
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
The name displayed made the two of them suddenly freeze.
Chen Qiong?
The top student expelled from school for teen romance, actually... turned into this mess of nerve endings and blood vessels before them?
Yang Linlin felt a wave of nausea, retching a few times, her face turning pale!
"Interesting... Chen Qiong was actually used to create X-2."
Zhao Yi stroked his chin, his gaze deep.
As he turned around, he glanced at the list of experiment participants and suddenly found a few familiar names!
"Zhang Ya... Pang Xiao... Li Sheng?"
Zhao Yi raised an eyebrow.
His mind started racing!
"So that's it... I understand now!"
"Pang Xiao isn't the mayor's son, and Zhang Ya isn't the goddess of Class 8, Grade 1!"
"They're experiment personnel disguised as students, helping to select experimental subjects in the school!"
"These two deliberately approached Chen Qiong one after the other, aiming to unlock Chen Qiong's kindness and release the demon within him, as recorded in the notebook!"
"Generally speaking, the better a student's performance, the higher their focus naturally is. It's hard for someone who is distracted to achieve academically!"
"This city's best school... its real purpose is to screen for those with extremely high focus as experimental subjects!"
"No wonder their names weren't on that roster."
"Those two bastards... might have fled long before the curse occurred!"
As Zhao Yi finished speaking, a cold voice suddenly came from behind.
"You're basically right."
"But those two bastards didn't run away; they became sacrifices too."
The two quickly turned around, only to find Li Sheng, covered in blood and missing an arm, pulling out an MP5 and aiming it at them, his face twisted with rage!
There was even a hidden passage under the table behind him!
"Didn't expect that, did you?"
"Through all the hardships, I still made it in!"
"I'm not meant to die, you little brats... the game ends here!"
Li Sheng's eyes were bloodshot, somewhat hysterical.
But his dark lips indicated his current condition was dire!
With the black muzzle pointed at them, Yang Linlin immediately raised her hands, while Zhao Yi continued to move nonchalantly.
"Stop!"
"If you move again, I'll shoot you dead!"
Li Sheng was in poor condition, but he didn't forget to threaten Zhao Yi, who remained unfazed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Go ahead and shoot?"
"If you had bullets, you would have shot already; I don't believe you can hold it in."
Bang!
Li Sheng fired, hitting Yang Linlin's left leg!
Yang Linlin groaned, falling to the ground, clutching her leg, and said tearfully:
"I wasn't even provoking you, why shoot me!"
Li Sheng, somewhat flustered, said:
"Ah, sorry!"
He aimed at Zhao Yi again, his expression ferocious.
But his vision was already doubling due to blood loss.
Bang!
Another burst of blood erupted from Yang Linlin's leg!
"My leg!"
Yang Linlin screamed.
Li Sheng: "..."
Zhao Yi: "..."
Live Streaming Comments:
: I'm dying of laughter, this shooting is definitely personal (dog head).
: Is this gun called 'The Woman's Woe'?
: Although, I admit I laughed so hard I snorted.
: A moment of silence for Goddess Linlin three... hahaha sorry hahaha.
...
"Alright, you tricked us once, we tricked you once, rounding it up, you owe us a favor now."
"Tell us, what can you do to help us?"
Zhao Yi spoke eloquently, his shamelessness almost suffocating Li Sheng.
Damn it, rounding it up, I owe you a favor!
If it weren't for the fact that you might still be useful, I'd really want to give you a burst of bullets!
"Since you've made it here, it proves you already have a general understanding of what happened."
"Yes... we did it!"
"Including the curse on this school!"
"To leave here, you must find a way to close the curse!"
Li Sheng dragged the gun to the front of the tank.
The material of this tank was very special; even armor-piercing bullets couldn't leave a mark on it!
He was about to operate the instrument, but Zhao Yi stopped him!
"If you shut down the instrument, X-2 will lose its energy supply, and the specters in the fog outside will soon flood into the experimental base. Do you think you can withstand their attack?"
Li Sheng's eyes darkened, his face turning ashen.
"As long as X-2's life chamber is shut down, the riotous X-2 will die, and the remaining mutants will pose little threat. The organization will soon send people to close the curse and clean them all up!"
"I participated in this experiment, holding secret data they don't have, making me highly valuable. The organization won't easily abandon me!"
Zhao Yi replied:
"You're deluding yourself."
"If you were really important to them, they would have sent someone to rescue you long ago."
"You're in the curse, even able to contact them, yet until now, you're still alone."
"Hoping for your organization to save you is less reliable than trusting us."
"At least for now... we're reluctantly on the same boat."
Li Sheng was enraged, pressing the MP5 firmly against Zhao Yi's forehead, his eyes bloodshot, gritting his teeth:
"Shut up!"
"Say another word, and I'll blow your brains out!!!"
Zhao Yi showed no panic, his lips curling into a sinister smile.
"Being abandoned feels terrible, doesn't it?"
"You were loyal like a dog, yet ended up like this!"
"They painted a rosy picture when they used you, but discarded you like trash... don't be foolish, do you want to live or not, just say the word."
"Right now, only we can help you... if you kill me, it's the same as committing suicide!"
Li Sheng's hand holding the gun trembled, his breathing heavy, making Yang Linlin and the live streaming audience extremely tense, fearing he might accidentally fire and blow Zhao Yi's head off!
This dungeon was about to be fully cleared, many mysteries were about to surface, it would be a real shame to lose it here!
Finally, Li Sheng closed his eyes in pain.
He lowered the gun.
Due to exhaustion, Li Sheng slumped to the ground, his ferocity turning into despair.
He slowly pulled out a cigarette, putting it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.
The smell of tobacco eased some of the tension in the air.
"Do I look pitiful now?"
Li Sheng exhaled a puff of smoke, laughing bitterly.
Yang Linlin, clutching her injured leg, walked over, gritting her teeth and scolding:
"Do you even have the nerve to call yourself pitiful?"
"Those students you tortured and transformed, those families you destroyed, and this heap of nerve endings in the tank... aren't they more pitiful than you?"
Li Sheng sighed deeply, his head slowly leaning against the cabinet, his eyes vacant.
After finishing one cigarette, he lit another.
In just a short while, his face aged considerably.
"My daughter is in their hands."
"Seven years ago, my wife died of cancer, and before she passed, she asked me to take care of our daughter."
"I failed my wife."
"And now... I'm failing my daughter too."
Saying this, he laughed maniacally as if he'd lost his mind.
Yang Linlin, seeing his pitiful state, felt most of her hatred dissipate, suddenly recalling the letter they saw on the severed hand outside, addressed to his daughter, and asked:
"All of your wives and children, are they controlled by that organization?"
Li Sheng closed his eyes, his breathing gradually weakening, the gun discarded to the side.
"What else?"
"Killing a pig is just one cut, but those young students outside, here they're not even as good as pigs..."
"You think we're unforgivable, but where do we have the right to choose?"
"If you had to choose between your family or a stranger to die, would you choose your family?"
Yang Linlin fell silent.
She despised Li Sheng, seeing him as a heinous villain.
But if she stood in Li Sheng's shoes, she might make the same choice he did.
People are selfish.
"You managed to infiltrate this school, so you're probably not ordinary people... if you're willing to do me a favor, I'll tell you how to close the curse."
Zhao Yi, hands in pockets, smiled:
"You're not asking us to save your daughter, are you?"
Li Sheng shook his head, sarcastically saying:
"With you guys?"
"Save my daughter... if you approach the organization, you'll be discovered and dealt with in no time."
Pausing, he glanced at Yang Linlin.
"Of course, if you don't bring this silly woman, with your little cleverness, you might live a bit longer."
Yang Linlin retorted angrily:
"You're the silly one!"
"Your whole family is silly!"
Li Sheng ignored her.
Zhao Yi locked eyes with Li Sheng, hesitating for a moment.
"What do you want us to help with?"
Li Sheng struggled to get up from the ground, staggering to an inconspicuous corner of the lab, and opened a cabinet.
He tore off a wallpaper that was the same color as the rest of the cabinet.
Behind it was a small hole.
Inside was a metal safe.
Li Sheng opened the safe using fingerprint verification and handed a peculiar green reagent to Zhao Yi.
"What is this?"
"Another project's product, the method is still immature, but its danger level is no less than... X-2!"
Li Sheng handed it to Zhao Yi, his lips growing darker.
"The organization won't let this thing go, maybe in a few months, maybe a few years, once this place becomes a complete ruin, they'll definitely send someone to search for it!"
"This kind of thing, once it falls into the organization's hands..."
He didn't continue.
The dizziness from excessive blood loss was becoming more severe.
Li Sheng shook his head, trying to stay awake, breathing heavily:
"Regarding the curse... everything comes from a magic box."
"As long as you close that box, the curse will disappear!"
"That box... is in... the center of the fog..."
"The ominous things in the fog... won't attack things that seem dead, if you can minimize your emotional fluctuations, maybe you can... reach there!"
"They... have no eyes, no noses, no ears... they judge their targets through the brainwaves emitted by emotional fluctuations of living beings..."
"Remember... no matter what you see in the fog... don't be surprised... don't be afraid..."
"Once you have significant emotional fluctuations... the nearby demons will... smell the scent of flesh..."
Li Sheng, muddled, managed to finish his last sentence before passing out.
Yang Linlin hurriedly approached, taking out some bandages to try to stop his bleeding.
Zhao Yi shook his head and said:
"Don't waste your effort."
"Long-term hunger has already weakened his body to the extreme, and during the escape just now, adrenaline further exhausted his body... now with such blood loss, unless there's a proper hospital nearby to give him a blood transfusion, not even Hua Tuo could save him."
"Put away the bandages, they're useless now."