“Xinglan? She’s actually not dead?!”
Seeing that figure, bound tightly and looking unbearably fragile, Duxie and the others reacted as if they had seen something terrifying, their faces instantly turning deathly pale.
If Xinglan found out what they’d done to Aili during this time, they were dead for sure!
“Sis!” Aili ran toward the iron box in tears, passing by Dr. Forefinger and throwing herself directly onto the hibernation chamber.
“How touching, sisterly love!” Dr. Forefinger chuckled and turned to Lin Zhen, “I told you, I’d get her out for you—give you a perfectly whole Xinglan.”
“A perfectly whole one… I thought the little Xi inside the box would need to be pieced together bit by bit.”
“What do you mean, piece together Xi Xi?”
“Hah, I laughed so hard I lost all today’s good karma.”
“Someone put a digital wooden fish here.”
“…Thank you,” Lin Zhen replied slowly.
His breath was quick, his eyes locked on the girl, full of undisguised pity and guilt.
That once healthy, sunny Yun Ruoxi had become this pale, almost sickly figure…
He dared not imagine what she’d been through these past four months, for her skin to be in this state, freshly healed from rapid treatment in the chamber.
Aili stroked the cover of the hibernation chamber, as if, like this, she could touch the girl’s cheek through the barrier.
“Doctor, please, I beg you, let my sister go!” She turned, crying, and pleaded.
“Doctor…” Lin Zhen also pleaded, looking at the young man.
“No problem.”
Dr. Forefinger agreed so readily, it was suspicious, but at this moment Lin Zhen couldn’t care about that.
He only wanted to save the girl, let her rest and recover, and return to her former healthy self as soon as possible.
“Step aside,” Dr. Forefinger gestured at Aili, and the blonde girl immediately jumped away.
He operated the switch.
The lid of the hibernation chamber slowly opened, and the hibernation fluid inside vaporized into a blue gas upon contact with air.
The girl’s body, losing the support of the liquid, sagged under gravity and began to fall out.
The iron chains binding her limbs snapped taut, suspending her diagonally outside the chamber in a spread-eagle position.
Her pale skin looked especially fragile; just being yanked by the manacles caused her wrists and ankles to split and bleed bright red.
Lin Zhen’s breath caught. He rushed forward and, together with Aili, caught Yun Ruoxi.
He supported her limbs to prevent further injury.
Click!
Dr. Forefinger pressed the switch again, and the manacles on the girl’s limbs opened simultaneously.
Lin Zhen slowly laid the girl down, letting her rest in his arms, and reached to remove her mask.
But after several attempts, he couldn’t do it.
Afraid of hurting her, he could only turn to Dr. Forefinger for help.
The man shook his head with a smile, “This isn’t something you can just pull off. Let me handle it.”
With that, he came over.
He pressed twice somewhere on the high-tech mask. Instantly, a gap appeared along the edge, as if a seal had been released.
Dr. Forefinger hooked the gap and pulled.
The mask loosened a bit but didn’t come off completely.
Because inside, a thick Black Tube was directly inserted into the blue-haired girl’s mouth, propping her jaw wide open, saliva constantly dripping out.
What… what is this… Lin Zhen stared in shock, instinctively glancing inside the mask.
He saw that in the eye area, the iron mask had a lens-like structure not visible from the outside.
And at the nose, there were strange protrusions.
This was definitely no ordinary mask!
Hiss, hiss…
Dr. Forefinger continued to slowly pull the mask away.
He was unhurried, his hands steady as if performing surgery.
The mask pulled along the saliva-soaked Black Tube, drawing it out from deep in the girl’s throat.
This seemed to cause her great pain.
Her brow furrowed, her eyes darting behind closed lids, and she whimpered in agony.
“It’s alright, it’s alright, it’ll be over soon.”
Lin Zhen watched, his heart aching.
He could only hold her right hand and gently comfort her, hoping to ease her suffering a little.
Aili, mimicking him, gripped her left hand.
“What do you want?” Zi Jiu suddenly turned, blocking Duxie and the others who were making a move.
“We just want to leave!” Duxie snapped.
Staying here was like sitting on needles. Even if it meant risking Dr. Forefinger’s wrath, they wanted to escape.
“This matter won’t end like this!”
Zi Jiu coldly warned, then stepped aside to let them pass.
“That’s our line!”
Duxie retorted defiantly, then quickly led the others out the alloy door.
They rushed out of the restricted area, back to the living quarters, where they finally stopped.
Tang Ji, ranked 124, asked with a tremble:
“Duxie, what should we do?”
“Don’t be afraid… She’s been gone four months, and now she’s like this—surely she’s been tormented by those above for ages, and her strength might not even remain.”
Duxie didn’t fully believe her own words.
But what else could she do? They’d already offended Xinglan. They couldn’t lose their nerve before even fighting—Xinglan hadn’t even acted, and they’d be surrendering already.
“And we can still go to Mo Yuan. I’m sure he’ll help us!”
“But hasn’t he refused several times already?” someone said.
“This time is different!” Duxie gritted her teeth. “Because Xinglan is back. He and Xinglan haven’t settled their grudge. Even if it’s just to spite her, he’ll protect us!”
“It’s our only way!”
With these words, the group fell silent, inwardly regretting ever trusting Duxie’s nonsense, only to end up in such a sorry state.
Dr. Forefinger continued to pull back step by step.
Finally, the thick Black Tube seemed to reach its limit.
With a sudden jerk, it came out of the girl’s mouth and fell to the floor, over half a meter long.
The saliva-soaked end twitched on the ground, leaking some fragrant Orange-Yellow Liquid.
“So harsh, my god, is this even something I should be watching?”
“Blushing (covers face)”
“Don’t waste the holy water—let me have a lick too. Just a sip of a beautiful girl’s saliva is life-extending!”
“Slurp slurp, sss-ha! Delicious!”
“Our prisoned Xi… has been broken, sob sob ()”
“So heart-wrenching”
“Class 1-3 Chen Zihao watching in person”
Lin Zhen glanced at the Orange-Yellow Liquid pooling on the floor and asked,
“What exactly is this mask and this liquid?”
“Mm…” Dr. Forefinger thought for a moment and replied, “You could think of it as a Spirit Restoration Device, used with the treatment chamber, so that Xinglan can return to the war camp in her previous state, without affecting her training.”