「A puppy, how cute.」
「People die if they are killed.」
「Lao Xi is so miserable.」
“What chocolate? What are you talking about?”
Lin Zhen certainly knew that dogs would die if they ate chocolate, but he didn’t understand what that had to do with Yun Ruoxi.
Was Dr. Forefinger saying he had some way to kill Yun Ruoxi from a distance and was using it to threaten them?
“Don’t you understand? Forget it, I shouldn’t have overestimated your intelligence. Let me put it in the simplest terms—I have already forcibly matured the Mental Brand in Yun Ruoxi’s mind!”
Dr. Forefinger laughed wildly. “And all of this is because of the series of messes you made, which forced my hand!”
Forcibly maturing the Mental Brand?
Lin Zhen had obtained information regarding the Mental Brand from Chicha, so he naturally knew that forcing its maturation would almost directly destroy the self-awareness of the brainwashed person!
And now, Dr. Forefinger was telling him that he had matured the Mental Brand in Yun Ruoxi’s mind?
“Xiao Xi has already been brainwashed. She is already one of your people. Why would you still do this?” Lin Zhen couldn’t help but roar.
“Would you actually destroy the battle camp’s strongest gifted student in years just to get back at me?”
“Wait, what are you talking about? A Zhen, what happens when a Mental Brand is matured?” Zi Jiu asked hurriedly. This was also what the others were desperate to know.
However, neither Lin Zhen nor Dr. Forefinger, who were in the middle of a heated confrontation, had any intention of answering.
“What do you mean Yun Ruoxi is one of mine? She has always been one of yours. Since we in the Saints’ hand society can’t have her, it’s better to destroy her—hasn’t she always been brainwashed by you to be one of your own?”
“Ah, you actually didn’t notice?” Dr. Forefinger seemed to suddenly think of something and smiled. “Most of the time, she wasn’t brainwashed at all!”
“Not brainwashed?” Everyone was stunned, except for Scarlet and Genbeier, who lowered their heads and sighed.
The barrage instantly exploded.
「Ah, was all of that just Lao Xi acting?」
「No way, was that previous madness also an act?」
「Dr. Forefinger is definitely lying, he’s launching a sneak attack!」
“No, that’s not quite accurate.” Dr. Forefinger changed to a more precise phrasing.
“I should say that since her second mind control session, she has been growing, allowing her to act in a conscious state, free from the control of the Mental Brand, at certain times!”
“She thought she disguised herself well and escaped my testing, but I’ve actually known all along. Otherwise, why do you think I sent Mo Yuan over to stop you?”
“Wh-what?” Lin Zhen’s expression was dazed as countless memories of his time with Yun Ruoxi flashed before his eyes.
Her every smile and frown, her agonizing screams…
Which of these were real, and which were fake? What were the words spoken by the brainwashed Yun Ruoxi, and what were her true feelings from her conscious state?
Amidst his thoughts, Lin Zhen suddenly caught a keyword in Dr. Forefinger’s speech.
“Wait, the second mind control session?”
“Ah, that’s right. The second mind control session,” Dr. Forefinger sneered. “As expected, you people know nothing. Just how far she went for your sake, and what she sacrificed.”
“Allow me to show you—the whole truth!”
The sound of a finger snapping came through the microphone, and surveillance footage from the battle camp appeared on everyone’s wristwatch.
It was something that had happened two months ago.
The surveillance footage played at five times speed and was heavily edited, starting from when she was lured back to the Laboratory for the second mind control session.
Despite that, one could still see the various efforts Yun Ruoxi had made and the pain she had endured to resist the Mental Brand’s brainwashing.
Frantically slapping herself, slamming into walls, self-mutilation…
Every night, she tried to control herself through various means, but in the end, she was forced to commit acts of slaughter.
Furthermore, due to the restrictions of the brainwashing, she couldn’t say a word about it.
She could only lie repeatedly, and then huddle in her blanket at night, weeping alone and whispering “I’m sorry” over and over again.
「Crap, the Production Team really aren’t human!」
「Lao Xi is too strong, this is too tragic!」
「Those inexplicable shots back in episode 10 were all hints and foreshadowing! Holy crap!」
Lin Zhen watched this, feeling utterly miserable. His heart was breaking.
He hadn’t expected that his attempt to lift the mind control would become the beginning of Yun Ruoxi’s second period of suffering.
He especially hadn’t expected that while Yun Ruoxi appeared normal on the surface during those days, she was suffering such cruel torture in secret.
Especially when he saw that day—
When Yun Ruoxi and he, who knew nothing, had entered that damned Laboratory one after another.
The two of them had pressed their hands together across an iron door. If he had only pushed that door open, he would have discovered the truth…
The guilt and pain in his heart erupted completely in an instant, nearly destroying him.
In the footage, Yun Ruoxi slid down the iron door in agony, tears wetting her blood-stained face.
She raised her hand as if seeking self-redemption, her mouth constantly whispering the names of Lin Zhen, Zi Jiu, Aili, and the others, her face full of pleading.
But her redemption—Lin Zhen—had refused the doctor’s request and turned to leave the Laboratory.
Dr. Forefinger opened the door.
He called out to the soulless Yun Ruoxi, pressed down on her shoulders, and used rhetoric and hypnosis to guide her into corruption step by step.
“Entering hell is entirely because of oneself. Entering hell is entirely because of oneself.”
「Does Lao Xi actually have a ‘watched by her lover’ tag?」
「The flavor is too strong. Interlocked fingers across a door while the victim doesn’t know the heroine is right behind him… this was definitely written by the Xiao Wo side.」
「So tragic. She’s definitely one of the most tragic heroines, isn’t she!」
“Forefinger, I will definitely kill you!” Lin Zhen said, his eyes red. Usually kind, he was now filled with an overwhelming killing intent. Even the star energy inside his body was tinged with a shade of blood-red.
“Can’t handle this already? What Yun Ruoxi has to endure is 100 times more than this little bit of negative emotion of yours!” Dr. Forefinger mocked while speeding up the surveillance footage.
After that day, the progress of Yun Ruoxi’s brainwashing had accelerated significantly.
However, she seemed to have learned something from Lin Zhen’s operation to lift the mind control that night, allowing her to maintain her sense of self even while brainwashed.
One of the costs, however, was a need for even more severe self-mutilation and even more cruel slaughter.
Dr. Forefinger knew Lin Zhen wanted to escape, so he had her find a way to plant trackers on them.
Yun Ruoxi pretended to be brainwashed and feigned agreement. Under the pretext of giving birthday gifts, she gave a tracker to each person.
Then, on that night in the tavern, after they were activated and given their mission by Dr. Forefinger, she quietly retrieved the trackers from everyone and replaced them with substitutes she had made herself.