Chapter 102: The Ultimate Human Development Center

Chapter 102

“Mei, are you really determined to go?” Ye Jingxuan’s gaze lingered on the sign not far ahead, marking the sanatorium. A lingering sense of foreboding gripped him.

Mei turned to face him, her expression a mixture of confusion and resolve.

“A-Ye, about that bracelet... Honestly, I don’t even know what it does. But there’s always been a voice inside me telling me I must retrieve it. So this trip—I have to go.”

During their encounter with Subject No. 3, he had emphasized only one thing: that bracelet, which had accompanied her into the laboratory, was still there in that temporarily abandoned experimental center. That information was like a second gift from him to her. As for what he sought, he hadn’t said—only handing her a series of codes to decipher herself.

“In that case, go,” Ye Jingxuan said without objection, stepping ahead toward the deserted sanatorium.

“Ye, you really don’t have to come with me,” Mei hesitated.

She wasn’t sure if the old experimental center was dangerous. This was her personal matter—something she must do—but he had no obligation to risk himself.

“Are you sure there’s no danger at all inside?” Ye Jingxuan stopped and turned to look at her.

Mei shook her head.

“I told you I’d protect you. Do you want me to break my promise?” he asked again.

This time, Mei neither shook her head nor spoke. She simply stared into his handsome profile and the unwavering determination in his eyes.

Only then did she truly understand the weight of that promise.

She could never say aloud that he wasn’t strong enough yet.

Because he had already proven with actions that, even if he wasn’t as powerful as she was, he could still protect her—shield her from harm until he fell.

Was she really that important to him?

That thought rose again within Mei’s heart.

“Ye, why? Why are you so good to me?” Mei asked the same question once more, though this time the person she addressed was not the same.

Ye Jingxuan’s lips curved into a faint smile. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“You’ll understand when you grow up. For now, just remember this: your safety means everything to me.”

Mei was silent for a long moment before replying, “I understand. Ye, I will protect myself. But I hope you’ll protect yourself too, because seeing you injured hurts me deeply.”

Ye Jingxuan stroked her head wordlessly, his smile deepening.

Since the sanatorium had shut down long before the apocalypse, when Mei and Ye Jingxuan climbed over the wall and entered, they found nothing but overgrown weeds—no movement, no life.

Guided by memory, Mei led Ye Jingxuan to a door marked “Special Care Ward” and stopped.

Opening it, they saw a room painted white with white beds. The only view of the outside world came through a small window the size of a fist set into the wall.

Seeing the room as Mei described, Ye Jingxuan’s heart burned with anger and pain. To think she had grown up in such a place made him want to tear it down immediately.

Unaware of his turmoil, Mei strode to the bedside and pried at a barely noticeable protrusion. Suddenly, a wall slid upward, revealing a passage leading underground.

Before entering, they faced an electronic door secured with a password. Mei approached and input a code she had previously deciphered. After a beep, the door clicked open.

Mei took a deep breath as she looked at the familiar scene beyond and said to Ye Jingxuan, “Let’s go in.”

Since leaving, Mei had never returned to this experimental center. She only heard from Mo Chen that it was closed and the subjects had been relocated. She had assumed it was emptied out—completely abandoned. But the truth was otherwise. Inside, everything remained almost exactly as she remembered, unchanged.

Mei proceeded according to memory, leading Ye Jingxuan through a series of rooms outfitted like prison cells, shackles hanging from walls, and other restraints. The thought that those instruments had once been used on her stabbed him with unbearable pain.

They stopped at a specimen room. Under the dim emergency light on the wall, Ye Jingxuan peered into massive glass cylinders filled with formalin. Inside were strange human organs and mostly half-grown children. Boys and girls, none older than fifteen, some as young as four or five. Every face twisted in agony. Bathed in the eerie green light, they looked horrifying.

Among them were grotesque half-human specimens. Bodies altered grotesquely—some with beast-like claws for hands, others with bat-like wings sprouting from their backs, and some covered in long hair, resembling the legendary werewolves.

After a brief glance, Ye Jingxuan turned to Mei, who stood silently before one cylinder. Inside was a blond girl of about ten, her once-adorable face now horribly distorted.

“This girl was the only one from my cohort close to my age,” Mei quietly recounted. “They performed the same experiments on us all. Watching the others die one by one because their bodies couldn’t adapt to the modifications, only she and I survived. I thought we would endure together, but she couldn’t make it through the final transformation. They preserved her here as a specimen. As for me, I became Subject No. 9—the ninth successful experiment.”

Ye Jingxuan found himself at a loss for words.

After witnessing so much, all he felt was sorrow for Mei’s past—and profound gratitude that she had survived such cruelty, giving him the chance to meet her.

Mei lingered by the glass for a moment before pressing onward to another electronic door deeper inside.

She pulled out her computer and connected it to the door’s lock, beginning a complex hacking process. This door secured the experimental center’s most critical assets; its password was far more complicated than the one at the entrance. That was why, back then, she hadn’t had time to take the bracelet along.

Her fingers danced swiftly over the keyboard. Ye Jingxuan watched the black screen flicker with white bars flashing by too quickly for him to make out. Only then did he realize she hadn’t even used half her ability back on the snowy mountain.

After more than ten minutes, Mei ceased typing, packed away her computer, and began inputting an eye-watering long password.

“Password accepted,” a mechanical voice announced. The door slowly slid open.

A cold white mist poured out from the crack. Beyond, the room resembled a refrigerated warehouse, with display-like cabinets arranged in rows. Each bore labels listing the contents’ names, purposes, and dates of entry.

Mei quickly located what she sought.

Item name: Black bracelet

Material: Unknown

Function: Unknown; suspected communication device

Collection date: Entered with Subject No. 9

Notes: Weak energy signature detected

Mei opened the cabinet and gazed at the black bracelet inside. About two fingers wide, it gleamed like jade but felt surprisingly light.

“This it?” Ye Jingxuan asked skeptically, unable to see anything remarkable about such an ordinary-looking object.

“Yes, this is what I came for!” The moment Mei laid eyes on the bracelet, she knew it was the one.

A voice inside urged her to put it on immediately.

Hesitating, Mei finally slid the bracelet onto her right wrist. Though slightly large at first, it instantly adjusted to fit snugly.

The next moment, Mei felt her spiritual energy being drawn into the bracelet. Before she could comprehend what was happening, an uncontrollable surge of energy erupted from within her.

The powerful force sent Ye Jingxuan flying backward.

He hit the ground hard and saw swirling energies of black, white, and green encircling Mei, who writhed on the floor in agony.

Ye Jingxuan struggled to rise and move toward her, but the intense pressure from the energies made each step a torment. Teeth clenched, he inched forward, enduring the crushing force and the searing pain as the energies cut like blades. Within a few steps, he was drenched in blood.

Mei lay on the ground, her vision blurred, watching the bloodied Ye Jingxuan approach. She wanted to tell him to leave her be, but the pain robbed her of speech.

Her inner world was in chaos. The energies within her surged like a boiling storm, three distinct forces tearing and mending her body repeatedly.

Just as she wished to faint from the torment, her body suddenly went limp, as if all strength had been drained. Her consciousness slipped into endless darkness.

As her body lost awareness, the scattered energies around her once again flowed back into her form.

(To be continued.)