Chapter 113: Return to Changyang Base

Chapter 113

This underground laboratory was enormous—far larger than the experimental center that had once been hidden beneath the sanatorium.

The many rooms, both large and small, were filled with experimental equipment, specimens, or various drugs, bacteria, cell samples, and other such materials.

The greatest difference between this place and the sanatorium was that nearly every room had a snow-white skeleton stationed beside its entrance.

Qu Wenyuan stared at the motionless skeletons, blue-green flames flickering within their skulls, and felt a chill run through her entire body. Almost instinctively, she edged closer to Lin Shaojie beside her before asking through chattering teeth, “Why are there so many skull-shaped candleholders here?”

“Who told you they were candleholders?”

Hiriel stopped. Under the dim corridor lights, his pale face looked especially sinister.

“They’re not candleholders? Then… then what are they?” Qu Wenyuan asked foolishly.

Hiriel said nothing. He merely curled his lips into a smile that was both mocking and vaguely malicious, then continued walking.

Without an answer, Qu Wenyuan was frightened, yet curiosity began to get the better of her.

What exactly were those skeletons for?

Unable to resist, she cautiously approached one of them to take a closer look.

One step closer. Nothing seemed unusual.

Another step. What were those flames burning to produce such a glow?

Qu Wenyuan took another step, hoping to see more clearly, and then—

“Ah—!”

Her scream suddenly echoed throughout the entire experimental center, startling everyone.

When they turned around, they saw Qu Wenyuan clinging desperately to Lin Shaojie with all four limbs like an octopus, her eyes squeezed shut as she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

“Wenyuan, let go! I can’t breathe!” Lin Shaojie gasped with a crimson face, his neck tightly trapped in her arms.

“Jie, that thing moved! It’s alive! It’s terrifying!” Qu Wenyuan cried, sounding on the verge of tears as she clung to him and refused to release her grip.

Lin Shaojie was nearly unable to draw breath. Seeing that she would not let go, he could only pry her arms away himself. If she continued strangling him, he would probably become one of those skeletons himself.

The others, meanwhile, stared in surprise at the skeletons by the doors. Were these skeletons really not mere decorations?

Hiriel seemed to have anticipated that someone among them would be frightened. Qu Wenyuan’s scream caused him to pause only slightly; he did not stop completely.

Carrying Mei, he walked all the way to a laboratory containing a massive glass chamber. He gently placed her inside, then bent down and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

“Be good and sleep a little longer. When you wake up, everything will be better.”

With that, Hiriel closed the chamber and activated the instrument beside it. The container was quickly filled with pale-green fluid. Buoyed by the liquid, Mei’s body floated inside, looking at first glance much like the human specimens displayed outside.

Only the bubbles that occasionally escaped from her lips proved that she was still alive.

Hiriel manipulated the various instruments in the room with practiced ease. After examining the data on the displays and confirming that everything was within the range he had anticipated, he finally walked out.

He glanced at Qu Wenyuan, who was still trembling with fear, then snapped his fingers.

The sharp snap was not particularly loud, yet it seemed to resound throughout the entire experimental center.

Immediately afterward came the sound of bones scraping against one another. Accompanied by a series of clicks, the skeletons walked over to Hiriel and lined up neatly before him.

At the sight of this, Qu Wenyuan miraculously stopped trembling. Aside from her pallid face and the cold sweat on her brow, she appeared to have returned to normal.

Those skeletons really were alive!

What she had seen earlier had not been an illusion after all!

Most fear arose from the unknown. Once the truth was revealed, that fear diminished greatly.

The reason Qu Wenyuan had been so terrified earlier was largely because she had frightened herself. The atmosphere here resembled a horror film so closely that she had kept expecting ghosts or monsters to emerge. When one of the skeletons suddenly moved, she had assumed that some supernatural event was taking place, and that was why she had panicked so badly.

Now that she knew the skeletons were meant to move, she no longer found them quite so frightening.

“Listen carefully. They are the guards here, and they will also be responsible for your daily needs. I will grant you access. You may command them to perform simple tasks. I will not have time to concern myself with you for the foreseeable future, so find something to do on your own. You may leave if you wish, but you are forbidden to bring outsiders inside or damage any of the facilities here.

“One final warning: while I am treating Mei, no one is permitted to enter this room without my approval. If any of you wishes to see what hell looks like, you are welcome to ignore my words.”

After speaking, Hiriel began issuing orders to the skeletons.

“Number One, take them to the rest area. Numbers Two through Five, guard the entrance. Nothing is to enter the experimental center. Numbers Six through Nine, obey the commands of these humans. The rest of you, return to your original positions.”

At his command, the skeletons began moving once more. One of them approached Mo Chen and the others, then bowed slightly and extended an arm in an exceedingly gentlemanly gesture, inviting them to follow.

Their astonishment deepened, as did their conviction that Hiriel was no ordinary man.

He could create all kinds of drugs and command skeletons. If he truly became their enemy, how much chance would they have of victory?

With that thought weighing on their minds, they dispersed.

After they left, Hiriel turned and entered the neighboring room. He took a large quantity of materials from his storage space and began preparing magical potions.

Relying solely on the genetic drugs of this world could only delay the deterioration of Mei’s condition; they could not cure her. If he wanted to heal her completely, magical potions were indispensable.

Hiriel once again felt fortunate that he had gathered a great deal of material before coming here. Otherwise, no matter how capable he was, he would have been helpless.

Repairing Mei’s damaged genetic chains was an extremely complicated and lengthy process. Almost every day, Hiriel had to inject a large amount of medicine into the chamber where she lay.

After more than a month, new muscle tissue slowly began to grow beneath her skin, while her bones gradually regained their former strength.

Of course, not every change was favorable. Once, not long after Hiriel added a new drug to the chamber, cracks began to appear across Mei’s body. Although he acted quickly and halted the deterioration, crimson marks remained scattered across her skin. She looked like a broken doll that had been pieced back together.

In addition, Mei’s appearance underwent tremendous changes. Her current features were at least eighty percent similar to those she had possessed in the other world, making her original appearance nearly impossible to discern. More importantly, her ears were no longer human. They had grown long and pointed, becoming the distinctive ears of an elf.

Mo Chen and the others knew nothing of these changes.

Though they desperately wanted to see how Mei’s treatment was progressing, they could not even catch sight of Hiriel. Ever since the day he had finished giving them his instructions, he had not appeared before them again, no matter how much they searched.

They did not dare barge into the room where Mei was being treated, afraid that they might interfere with her recovery.

With no other choice, the group could only go out each day and vent their frustrations on the zombies throughout the city.

The city was not very far from Changyang Base. An ordinary vehicle could make the journey in four or five days. Although Ye Jingxuan was worried about Mei, there was nothing he could do to help her. He therefore took the opportunity to return to Changyang.

He had never forgotten the score he needed to settle with the Situ family.

Mo Chen accompanied him.

If Situ Huang had not interfered back then, Mei and Ye Jingxuan would still have had a chance to escape even after the earthquake struck. Yet first, while Mei and the others were entangled with the mutated ants, he had attempted to steal the new energy source, triggering the earthquake. Then he had used his earth-based ability to destroy the outer framework and block the passage leading to the elevator, trapping them underground with no way out.

This grudge had to be settled with Situ Huang, no matter what.

When the two of them finally reached Changyang Base after traveling day and night, they discovered that the base had changed dramatically since their departure.

Not long after they had left, Ye Jingnan had launched a struggle for power. With astonishing speed, he had killed some members of the other three families and imprisoned the rest, swiftly taking control of the base.

Changyang Base now belonged entirely to the Ye family. There was no longer anyone to hold them back.

It was morning when Ye Jingxuan returned to the Ye residence. Before he had even reached the gate, he saw Uncle Yu standing there and looking into the distance. The moment the old steward spotted him, he hurried forward to greet him.

“Young Master, you’ve finally returned! I knew you would be all right!” Uncle Yu seized Ye Jingxuan’s hand, his face filled with excitement.

“Uncle Yu, I’m sorry to have worried you. I’m fine. Is everything all right at home?” Ye Jingxuan patted the old steward’s back reassuringly, his tone unusually gentle.

“Everything is fine! With the family head and Young Master Nan handling affairs, and with Changyang Base now belonging to our Ye family, no one lacking sense would dare come and provoke us!”

“That’s good.”

“Look at me—I completely forgot to invite you inside first. Why have only the two of you returned? Where are the others?” Uncle Yu asked in surprise as he glanced at Mo Chen beside Ye Jingxuan.

“They still have matters to attend to. We also have something to deal with here, and once it’s settled, we’ll leave immediately.” Since they were outside, Ye Jingxuan could not explain in detail and could only answer vaguely.

Uncle Yu said nothing more. He led the two men into the house.

After receiving word that Ye Jingxuan had returned, Ye Shitian had anxiously gone to wait in the sitting room. When the Situ family had first sent news that Ye Jingxuan had died during the mission, he had been stunned for a long time.

He had never imagined that his son could die. Ye Jingxuan had always been his greatest pride and the most powerful member of the Ye family.

How could he possibly have died just like that?

Although Ye Shitian had kept telling himself this, as the days passed without the slightest news of Ye Jingxuan, he gradually became unable to eat or sleep in peace. It was only several months ago, when he ordered members of the Ye family’s outer branch to send word from Longsheng Base, that he was finally able to put his mind at ease.

The moment he heard the door open, Ye Shitian immediately rose to his feet. When he saw Ye Jingxuan standing before him, unharmed, his eyes reddened uncontrollably.