Chapter 69- Act Ahead
The sound of Scorpion echoed through the laboratory.
“Number 20, I’m pleased with the person you have came to be. Your first order from the organization is to kill everyone on the ‘Kill List’.”
He Ruge stood still in shock, staring blankly at the screen.
All screens in the control room instantly turned black, and the bright red words “Kill List” appeared.
The first name on the list was “Jiao*”!
- T/N: Just to those who might be confused, Jiao refers to He Ruge. “鮫” means mermaid in Chinese :>
What kind of trouble is this damn game trying to stir up again?!
For a successful test subject, personal feelings must be stripped away and discarded. Taking care of Number 20, whom Jiao could be called the caretaker of, had an influence that exceeded the caution line.
After observing for so many days, Scorpion could see the ambiguity between Number 20 and Jiao. In fact, over the years, there have been cases of experimenters falling in love with test subjects. This was simply unreasonable. Even though the love affair wouldn’t affect the organization, Scorpion still felt uncontrollable anger.
Anger towards this non-conformity and betrayal.
So she ordered the successfully brainwashed experimenter to kill his lover. A brainwashed person would never hold any resentment towards the organization, so Scorpion’s actions could be said to be unrestrained.
Creating despondent marionettes without scruples.
In Scorpion’s view, Number 20, who had already been “successfully brainwashed,” should not be disturbed by these unnecessary emotions. However, unlike the couple from years ago, the value of the experimenter was slightly higher.
But now, Number 20’s value was higher, so Number 20 could not be abandoned under any circumstances.
If, for the sake of such personal emotions, the brainwashing machine was activated again at a great cost, then obviously the sacrifice of Jiao was the most cost-effective choice.
Actually, there is a more hidden reason. For some reason, Scorpion always felt a sense of dissonance from Jiao. A dissonance that didn’t fit in with the Star Ocean Orphanage.
Scorpion didn’t know when Jiao appeared at the Star Ocean Orphanage; this person seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with no records. But before this experiment, she felt that Jiao’s presence was extremely reasonable.
As if… her memories had been tampered with by some unknown entity.
Scorpion shook her head vigorously, hearing the noisy buzzing in her mind, “Buzz… the game is about to end buzz… soul fragments are ready to be recovered… buzz…”
What is this sound?!
Scorpion clenched her fist and tapped her head, regaining her clarity as she looked at the monitoring screen. At this moment, Number 20, who had been brainwashed, had probably killed Jiao and was waiting for her to announce the new target.
However, when Scorpion looked at the monitoring screen, her blood seemed to freeze in her veins—
The silver-haired youth embraced Jiao, comforting him repeatedly in the posture of a protector. As if noticing her gaze, Number 20 slowly raised his eyes, revealing eerie dark red vertical pupils in his blue eyes!
“Buzz… soul fragments subjected to unidentified stimuli… buzz…”
Those eyes, as if containing all the malice in the world, she seemed to have seen them somewhere before, but where?
She remembered.
It was not long ago, in Room 104, that still not fully grown monster stared at her so coldly, like fire under ice, burning away all despair and madness.
That monster went crazy and rushed to the brainwashing room to find Jiao, and kept ordering her to open the passage. In the end, that monster hugged Jiao and died on the rooftop.
But even before that, she had seen those eyes. The monster from long ago, who had fully grown, killed everyone in the orphanage, regardless of whether they were innocent victims or not-so-innocent perpetrators.
That night, the blood moon hung high in the sky. Splattered blood, and torn limbs were everywhere and the giant monster emerged from the darkness, blood dripping from its mouth.
Its body was covered in filth, while the blood of her colleagues turned into raindrops falling on her. Amidst her terrified screams, the gigantic claws, gleaming with cold light, swung towards her!
Carrying a chilling wind.
The world in her eyes began to tilt, and only when the head rolled to the ground did she sluggishly see her headless corpse.
…So, she had died seventeen years ago.
Now, she was just a soul fragment picked up by an unknown entity.
Living in a delusional world like a marionette.
Life and death, neither under her control.
Xi Guican hugged He Ruge, constantly stroking the person in his arms’ back, trying to soothe his emotions, “I won’t hurt you, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid of me, even if I commit suicide, I won’t hurt you.”
He wasn’t very good at comforting people, stumbling over his words, but all his anxious and uneasy emotions were conveyed to He Ruge.
He Ruge, who had just thought he was about to lose his head, hugged Xi Guican foolishly. Listening to the other’s even more nervous voice than his own, all his anxiety receded like a tide.
Yeah, why should he be afraid?
Xi Guican could never hurt him. If he remembered correctly, Xi Guican’s affection for him had already reached a terrifying level—
【愛*】: You’ll never guess how much Number 20 loves you. Affection cannot be measured by numbers anymore.
- T/N: Literally translates to “love”
So He Ruge could splurge in the Love Mall, buying whatever clothes he wanted, because he had an unlimited ATM.
And if He Ruge remembered correctly, the original meaning of the main storyline was that after the end of the sixth experiment, if Number 20’s affection for him was below 60, he would die; if it was above 90, he would get a military uniform PLAY.
So from start to finish, the main task didn’t require him to complete the experimental tasks.
In other words, the success or failure of the “Kill List” had nothing to do with him!
Understanding this point, He Ruge breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his head and stared at the anxious Xi Guican.
With a snort, two tiger ears popped out of his silver hair, and with another snort, a tiger tail also emerged.
Only when Xi Guican’s emotions were so intense that they were out of control would these fluffy things pop out one after another.
He must have been scared.
It had been a long time since he had seen these cute fluffy things. He Ruge couldn’t help but curl up his lips, rubbing the snowy white tiger ears and whispering softly, “Yeah, I know, you’ll never hurt me.”
He Ruge held Xi Guican’s hand and found that the usually warm hand had been frightened cold. When the cold hand reacted, it tightly held He Ruge’s hand, their fingers intertwined, neither of them letting go first.
“I’m going to destroy this place, but tomorrow is the action time I agreed with Mao Zhengyong. But now that I think about it, it doesn’t matter if I unilaterally advance it by a day.”
Xi Guican said to He Ruge. In the reality that had happened, he and Mao Zhengyong had agreed to destroy this place on the second day of the start of the sixth experiment.
But he couldn’t hold back at that time.
The people on the “Kill List” were on other planets, and he was arranged to be a member of the “cleaner” on the star pirate ship. He got on the giant starship, saw the organizers of all this, the “Vultures.”
He was too angry, so angry that the monster inside him emerged again, biting the Vulture to death on the spot, then killing everyone on the starship, jumping off the starship and flying back to the Star Ocean Orphanage, single-handedly destroying it. When the Federation hinted at their arrival the next day, what they saw was him sitting on the ruins, with the helpless medicine-seeking mouse beside him.
At that time, he was also seriously injured, otherwise he wouldn’t have stayed there waiting for the Federation to arrive, and because his strength was greatly reduced due to the injury, he was forced to sign an agreement with the Federation to participate in the star war.
This time in the game, Xi Guican originally didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes. He had planned to act with the Federation tomorrow according to plan and find a time today to talk to He Ruge about this matter. However, Xi Guican never expected that this time the Kill List would change, adding He Ruge to it.
This was like touching his reverse scale, all rationality and plans were thrown out the window.
If He Ruge was harmed, then he would blow up this damn place!
Xi Guican covered He Ruge’s eyes, “I’m going to turn into my beast form to hold you. Whatever happens, don’t open your eyes.”
Similar to the request of the little monster back then, He Ruge felt a ridiculous sense of time and space reversal.
He grabbed Xi Guican’s hand covering his eyes and asked somewhat uneasily, “Are you. . .are you in danger?”
“No.”
A confident reply completely opposite to the last time.
A three-meter-tall white tiger appeared in the control room. He hugged He Ruge, spread his wings, and with his massive body, rose from the ground like a hurricane, flying out of the control room amidst the symphony-like alarm, speeding through the corridor as if in a deserted area.
He looked at the monitor, with a strange red light flashing in his eyes, “Activate self-destruct sequence.”
After giving this command, before the energy cannon on the negative fourth floor started, Xi Guican found its location in advance and infused the accumulated energy in his demon marks into his front claws. With a resounding clash, the hard energy cannon was shattered by Xi Guican’s claw!
A resounding explosion sounded, Xi Guican held He Ruge and swiftly moved forward, avoiding the blast’s aftermath. The door to the upstairs was automatically opened by Scorpion’s control. Xi Guican flew up to the negative third floor like a god of death, only to see a group of people waiting for him.
With a bloodthirsty glint in his blue eyes, Xi Guican let out a sharp roar and directly faced the impending attack. The expressions behind the masks of those staff members showed a hint of astonishment.
The silver-white insect wings, like two giant sickles, approached with a terrifying momentum to crush everything!
With each flap of his wings, the staff members along the way were knocked down by the powerful airflow, and the cold sharp wing edges cut through the fragile bodies.
A majestic tiger roar echoed through the negative third floor, like thunder from the sky, instantly turning the atmosphere cold and silent!
The sound of the wings cutting through bodies and the explosions continued one after another. The cutting sound was calm and composed, with no panic even as time passed. On the contrary, the explosions became more and more chaotic, until it was completely disorderly.
The staff members who threw down their weapons wanted to open their insect wings to fight, but at this moment, a power standing at the pinnacle of the insect race spread throughout the entire space. It was as if a deafening whistle sounded from all directions, converging into a huge torrent, resounding in the hearts of every transplanted insect-winged test subject.
When the king is enraged, corpses litter the battlefield.
Countless test subjects were startled in the Star Ocean Orphanage, their eyes emitted a crazy and bloodthirsty light!
Xi Guican’s Corner: ??? How could I be abusive, do you all have a deep misunderstanding of me? (Pouty face)
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Sleepyblue’s Corner:
Please also check my other works! Sea Monster Alliance 🧜🏼and Incurable Pain👫
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Dear Benefactors💌🙇♀️ ,
First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude to you guys for your love and support despite not updating this translation as frequently as I ought to be🥲.
Also, shout-out to Elearis for giving me my very first coffee!!😭☕It was really unexpected, thank you so much for your patronage🥹🙇♀️
