Chapter 227: The Chains' Predicament and the Doctor's Gambit

The glaring pale-white lighting replaced the dim light of the Sea of Stardust, and the cold, hard metal floor replaced the rough rock and energy crystals. Sister Ai Li struggled awake through a bout of violent headache and nausea.

She found herself inside a small cell with no windows, constructed entirely of some kind of smooth, cold alloy. Her hands and feet were locked in heavy energy-binding shackles; faint suppression runes flickered inside the cuffs, not only restraining her movements but acting like invisible shackles that thoroughly suppressed the lingering power within her body—even attempting to draw upon a sliver of shadow energy brought on stabbing, intense pain and an even stronger backlash of suppression.

The wounds at her ribs and shoulder had been roughly treated and the bleeding had stopped, but a dull ache still throbbed. What chilled her most was that the shadow-erosion feeling, which had originally been purified away by Lin Mo and the leyline energy, now seemed to show faint signs of recurrence. The black lines beneath her skin had faded, yet a cold imprint still lingered, and within this cage steeped in cold technological sterility, she instead felt a strange… "comfort"? As if something in this environment were nourishing it.

The discovery sent a chill down her spine.

The cell door slid open without a sound. A male human walked in, wearing an immaculate pale uniform, his face expressionless, his eyes hollow. He held a data pad in his hand and didn't even look directly at Sister Ai Li, as though she were merely an object.

"Subject Number 734, original name 'Sister Ai Li', native human from a Wasteland World fragment, one of Lin Mo's core followers, skilled in stealth, assassination, and intelligence gathering." He read off the data pad in a flat, toneless voice. "Multiple bodily injuries, residual low-activity Abyss erosion imprint within the body, possesses considerable research value."

Sister Ai Li's icy gaze scraped across him like a blade, trying to find even a flicker of emotion, but found nothing. These people were like emotionless machines.

"Where is the Doctor? What does he want?" Sister Ai Li's voice was hoarse from thirst and weakness, yet carried an undeniable chill.

The worker finally raised his eyelids and glanced at her, his gaze like one observing an insect in a petri dish: "The Doctor's time is precious; he won't waste it on failed experimental subjects. Your value lies in your experiences, the erosion imprint within your body, and your connection to the 'Key'. Cooperate with the research, and perhaps you can avoid unnecessary suffering."

Experimental subject? Sister Ai Li's nails nearly dug into her palms.

The worker said no more and gestured for her to follow. An irresistible pulling force came from the energy-binding shackles, forcing her out of the cell.

Outside was a brightly lit, immaculately clean, endlessly long white corridor, with similar cell doors lining both sides. The air carried a faint smell of disinfectant and a disquieting low-frequency hum. Occasionally, workers in the same pale uniform walked past with expressionless faces, or transparent containers holding bizarre biological specimens or organs were transported by mechanical arms.

They rode a hovering platform upward, and through the occasional observation windows along the corridor, Sister Ai Li saw a shocking sight—outside was not a starry sky, but the vast, completely remodeled interior space of the Ark! The Doctor's forces had already infiltrated and taken control of this place on a massive scale! Huge mechanical arms were dismantling and altering the Ark's original structures, building base facilities steeped in cold technological aesthetics. Countless Scavenger units and various models of robots bustled about like worker ants.

They even saw, within a massive enclosed area, successfully "tamed" Crystal Clusters! They were connected to energy conduits, having their energy drained like batteries, their halos dim and listless.

The Doctor had not only captured them—he was madly plundering and remodeling everything in the Ark!

Finally, they arrived at a massive circular observation platform. Below the platform was a bottomless shaft, and at its center floated a World Tree Seed—bound and wrapped by countless energy conduits and mechanical arms—huge, dim, and even somewhat shriveled!

It was the very "Dawn" seed that had been corrupted by the Shadow Pupil and taken away! But its condition now was extremely poor; most of it displayed a deathly gray-black, with only the very core still flickering with an extremely faint, dying green light, as if it might go out completely at any moment. The dirty-purple traces of erosion still clung to it, yet were forcibly restrained by some power—neither spreading further nor being purified, but existing in a strange state of "equilibrium."

The Doctor had actually found it, and seemed to be using it for some kind of experiment!

"Quite spectacular, isn't it?" a voice, calm to the point of eeriness, sounded from the side.

Sister Ai Li whipped her head around and saw a middle-aged man in a white research robe, his hair combed immaculately, wearing frameless glasses. He looked like a refined scholar, but the eyes that gazed through the lenses were cold and profound as ten-thousand-year ice, devoid of any human emotion. He simply stood there quietly, as if he were the very core of the entire frigid base.

The Doctor! The first time she had seen this mastermind behind everything at such close range!

"What are you… doing?" Sister Ai Li suppressed the urge to rush over and tear him apart, asking through gritted teeth.

"Recycling and optimization, integration." The Doctor's tone was as flat as if discussing the weather. "This seed contains interesting power, both the side of Order and the side of Chaos. Destroying it outright would be too wasteful; purifying it would consume unnecessary resources. Maintaining this fragile equilibrium, letting it continuously output a kind of… stable chaotic energy, makes it far more useful to me."

He pointed at the conduits connected to the seed below: "Look, it is in pain, struggling, cycling endlessly at the boundary between life and death… the energy produced by this extreme state is the key to opening doors to deeper levels."

A madman! A madman through and through! Sister Ai Li felt a chill.

The Doctor's gaze turned to Sister Ai Li, as if it could see through everything about her: "And you, equally interesting. You can maintain a degree of self under Abyss erosion, even coexist with it. Your data is vital for perfecting my 'Sublimation' plan."

"Don't even dream of getting anything from me!" Sister Ai Li said coldly.

"I don't need you to give it willingly." The Doctor adjusted his glasses. "Your body, your memories, your energy fluctuations… they will speak for themselves. The process may be somewhat… uncomfortable, but the outcome is predetermined."

He waved his hand lightly, and two workers immediately stepped forward, preparing to take Sister Ai Li to the laboratory beside them.

Just then, a faint alarm sounded throughout the entire base.

A virtual screen popped up before the Doctor, displaying a structural diagram of the Ark, with a region deep within flashing red.

【Report to the Doctor: Abnormal energy disturbance detected in the 'Heart of the Ark' shelter network. The disturbance characteristics highly match those of the previously vanished 'Key' vessel. It is inferred the target did not die, and has activated a forward outpost.】

For the first time, the corner of the Doctor's mouth curved into an extremely faint arc, as if he had found an interesting new toy.

"Oh? More tenacious than expected. Good."

His gaze fell once more upon Sister Ai Li.

"It seems the 'uncomfortable' process prepared for you can have a new variable added. Perhaps, using you as bait will lure her out of her mouse hole on her own?"