Chapter 548

Underground base, everyone walked out of the space-time gate one after another.

The experiment transplanting psychic abilities succeeded without any waves. Jester, who became a mutant, had a very peaceful mindset. After discussing the details of rescuing Sophie and Phoebe with Esme and the others, he was sent home by Su Quan.

With Jester, one of his own, working from the inside, it would be easier to help mutants locked up or hunted by the Sentinel Services in the future, meaning he didn't need to worry too much about recruiting people.

Of course, there were still a few targets Su Quan had to go out for personally, such as Rebecca, who shone brilliantly in the second season.

Rebecca, codenamed Twist, could manipulate spatial dimensions. Her specialty was reversing the inside and outside of objects, which meant turning the exterior into the interior and the interior into the exterior.

Her individual destructive ability could be called the strongest among the characters who appeared.

And the most thoroughly corrupted.

Rebecca was originally an innocent and romantic little girl; although she possessed powerful abilities, she had never harmed anyone.

Until...

She was betrayed by her own parents.

Her parents secretly notified the Sentinel Services to come and arrest her. Rebecca, struck as if by lightning, cried and struggled, pleading with a heart-rending voice, yet they remained indifferent, merely standing by and watching as she was taken away.

She became furious, desperate, and corrupted.

Later, they paid the price.

Still later, she was locked into a mental hospital specifically for mutants.

Montgomery County, Bethesda, Maryland.

Linwood Mental Hospital.

This mental hospital is very famous in the mutant circle and also well-known in underground organizations, because Lorna was once locked in here too, but not long after, Magneto, who secretly cared for her, had someone fish her out.

As an aside, it wasn't the time Evangeline asked her to create the underground organization; that was at Lakeview Mental Hospital.

Mental hospital, basement.

In a certain patient room.

The young girl Rebecca, wearing a white hospital gown and a collar specifically designed for mutants around her neck, lay quietly on the narrow single bed, daydreaming as usual, killing the boring time day after day.

"Ding."

The small, crisp sound from the floor caught Rebecca's attention, and she turned her head to glance at it.

On the floor, there was a can of "Fatty Happy Water"!

Fatty Happy Water; she hadn't drunk it for a long, long time, so long that she had almost forgotten what it tasted like.

"If only it were real..."

"I really want to drink it."

Rebecca muttered softly; she knew very well that it was impossible for there to be Fatty Happy Water here.

It must be a hallucination...

Rebecca thought to herself.

"If you want to drink it, get up. Or... do you want me to feed it directly into your mouth?"

???

The man's teasing voice made Rebecca's eyes widen instantly, and she sat up. She stared blankly at a handsome Asian boy who bent down to pick up the Fatty Happy Water from the floor, then gave her a mocking smile.

Rebecca glanced at the room's door; the tightly closed iron door showed no signs of having been opened, which meant... even the man was a hallucination.

She suddenly chuckled and said self-deprecatingly: "Fatty Happy Water is one thing, but to even hallucinate a man... it's a pity... if only you were real."

Su Quan was speechless. Had she been locked in the mental hospital for so long that she had actually developed mental problems?

He thought for a moment and asked with interest: "What if I am real?"

Rebecca shrugged: "If you were real, I'd be willing even if I couldn't get out for the rest of my life."

After speaking, she gave a bitter smile: "Fine, I'm just saying it. Anyway, I probably won't be able to get out for the rest of my life."

"Not necessarily."

Su Quan opened the Fatty Happy Water with a *pop* and handed it to Rebecca.

The vapor spraying from the pull-tab made the self-deprecating Rebecca freeze instantly. She subconsciously sniffed it, and the familiar scent made her think of a possibility.

A possibility she dared not imagine, dared not believe.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the man with a smile on his lips and reached out with trembling hands.

Reason told her this couldn't be real, but she hoped it was. The feeling of being on edge made her movements slow and hesitant.

Finally, she touched it; her fingertips felt slightly cool, sending back an incredibly real tactile feedback.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Rebecca was dazed for a few seconds, then gripped the Fatty Happy Water tightly.

This is real?

This is real!!!

Rebecca's eyes were bright and piercing, emitting a dazzling radiance. She held the Fatty Happy Water with trembling hands and tilted her head back, gulping it down.

"Refreshing!"

Having finished the Fatty Happy Water in one go, Rebecca shouted frantically, wiping the corners of her mouth with her sleeve without caring about appearances.

She was so excited she was about to explode!

The Fatty Happy Water was real.

And the man?

He must be real too!

Rebecca stared at Su Quan with burning eyes, as if she wanted to swallow him alive. Immediately after, she lunged like a tiger, knelt in front of Su Quan with a *thud*, and grabbed his legs tightly with both hands.

"Take me away!"

"Take me out of here!!!"

Good grief, you scared me.

Su Quan looked down at the hysterical girl. What a beautiful little girl; look at what this mental hospital has tortured her into.

…………

"Calm down and listen to me." Su Quan patted her head and said with a smile: "Taking you out of here is easy for me, but the question is, why should I do it? What can you give me? And what can I get?"

"Me!"

"You can have me!"

Rebecca said excitedly: "As long as you are willing to take me out of here, my abilities, my loyalty, everything I have will belong to you!"

Su Quan said with a smile: "Whatever I tell you to do, you do. Can you manage that?"

"Yes!"

"I can!"

For Rebecca, rather than being trapped here for the rest of her life, she would rather become a puppet without a self outside. At the very least, she could feel the freedom of the outside world.

Even if it were a fake freedom!

Only those locked in here know how unbearable this feeling is.

If she hadn't seen the light, perhaps she could have endured the darkness here, but now, she was willing to pay any price to leave. She didn't want to wait even one more second.

"I know you are full of hatred for humans, but I want you to remember firmly: I am not telling you to kill anyone. Under no circumstances are you allowed to kill!"

Su Quan warned very seriously: "If you can't do it, I will send you back at any time, and you will really spend the rest of your life in this disgusting, narrow room."

Rebecca's corruption was not fake; her hands were too bloody. If given the chance, she really would show no mercy.

In the entire show, she was the one who killed the most ruthlessly.

……

— Author's Notes —

PS: The picture is Rebecca.