Chapter 228

The Doctor's icy words slithered like a serpent's tongue, licking at Sister Ai Li's nerves. Use her as bait to lure out any surviving Xiang Lingna? The thought filled her with boundless fury and… a sliver of fear. She absolutely could not let the Doctor have his way!

But at this moment, her hands and feet were bound, her strength suppressed—she was like a fish on a chopping board, utterly powerless to resist. She could only watch helplessly as two staff members stepped forward with blank expressions, pinning her from either side; their overwhelming force left her unable to struggle, and the suppression field of the energy-binding cuffs made even suicide impossible.

The Doctor no longer looked at her, his attention returning to the blinking red dot on the virtual screen. His fingers swept rapidly, pulling up more data.

"'Ark's Heart' network… ancient security protocols, indeed harder to crack than the main system. The disturbance signal comes from… Outpost Seven?" A calculating glint flashed in his eyes. "Records show that outpost is near the ancient ecological garden ruins, with an unstable energy environment and multiple structural damages… quite suitable as a hunting ground."

He seemed to be muttering to himself, yet also issuing orders: "Dispatch a 'Scavenger' hunting squad, equipped with the latest model trackers and energy suppressors. No direct assault—seal off all possible exits, set traps, apply pressure, let our 'little fish' grow uneasy and curious on her own… then drive her toward the direction we want."

"And this one?" A staff member pointed at Sister Ai Li.

"Take her to Observation Room 7, hook up the physiological signal monitor and neural emotion-reading device. Her emotional fluctuations—especially fear, worry, despair… these negative emotions are the best bait for attracting those energy-sensitive little creatures." The Doctor's tone was as calm as if he were arranging an ordinary experiment.

Sister Ai Li's heart sank. Not only would she become bait, but even her emotions would be exploited!

She was roughly dragged away from the observation platform and into a cramped room with pale alloy walls bristling with sensor interfaces. Cold patches were pressed onto her forehead and chest; faint electric currents pricked into her skin, beginning real-time monitoring of her physiological data and brainwave activity. A sense of utter violation, of having no privacy whatsoever, welled up in her.

She was forced to sit in a chair at the center of the room, facing a massive one-way observation mirror. She knew the Doctor was very likely behind it, watching her every reaction like a caged beast.

Despair? Fear? Yes, she felt them. But she bit down hard on her lip, forcing herself to calm, pressing every emotion into the deepest, most frozen depths of her heart. She absolutely could not let her emotions become a weapon to harm Xiang Lingna! She had to find a way… find a way to do something…

Meanwhile, inside Outpost Seven.

Xiang Lingna did not know of Sister Ai Li's ordeal or the Doctor's scheme, but a vague palpitation and unease kept haunting her, as if something bad were happening. The anomalous energy fluctuations detected by the Sentinel and that ancient distress signal drew her attention like a magnet.

That high-risk Maintenance Corridor Three… what exactly was inside? Merely an echo of history? Or was there truly something from the past that needed help?

"Sentinel, is there any more information in the database about the Seventh Ecological Garden and the 'Cradle'?" Xiang Lingna leaned against the control console, struggling to operate with her left hand as she asked.

【Information retrieving… relevant data severely incomplete. Only fragments remain: The Seventh Ecological Garden, one of the Ark's core ecological preservation units, responsible for preserving rare flora and fauna specimens and performing the 'New Homeland' species enlightenment function. 'Cradle'… points to multiple possibilities: an advanced ecological maintenance device, an emergency life-freezing vault, or… some kind of genetic information preservation and cultivation center based on World Tree technology.】

A cultivation center? Children? Xiang Lingna recalled the "children" mentioned in the distress signal.

【Based on analysis of the characteristics of the last received energy fluctuation,】 the Sentinel added, 【its frequency shows subtle differences from known elven energy signatures, closer to… some kind of life response in a state of deep dormancy or low energy consumption.】

A life response?! Although the Sentinel hedged with many uncertain qualifiers, this was undoubtedly like a thunderbolt striking Xiang Lingna!

Could it be… that back then, a portion of elves, or some other life forms, had truly been successfully placed into the "Cradle" before the Seventh Ecological Garden fell, and had survived in a special state all the way to the present?! And those anomalous energy fluctuations and the distress signal were signs that the "Cradle's" energy was about to run out or had malfunctioned?

This guess made her heart pound! If it were true, this was not merely history, but living, breathing lives in urgent need of rescue!

She looked at the entrance to Corridor Three, marked as high-risk and partially collapsed,

Go, or not go?

Go, and the road ahead was unknown, danger upon danger—her current condition was almost certain death. Don't go, and those possible survivors might perish completely in the silence…

Her gaze fell beside the medical bay, where several old uniforms and some basic tools found earlier lay. There was also a small vial of energy supplement the Sentinel had barely synthesized, its effect barely better than nothing.

The inner struggle lasted only a very short time. She thought of Brother Lin Mo's choices, of Sister Ai Li's determination to protect her companions beneath that cold exterior, of Big Sister Grona's bold, sweeping charge from the front…

She struggled to her feet, downed the energy supplement in one gulp—a faint warmth temporarily dispelling part of the chill and weakness. She tore the old uniform into strips, doing her best to bandage and secure the fractured wound on her right shoulder. The searing pain made cold sweat pour from her, but her eyes grew only more resolute.

She picked up a metal pipe that looked relatively sturdy as a walking stick and pathfinder, and tucked that sole remaining, small multi-function utility knife behind her waist.

"Sentinel, I'm going to check Corridor Three." Her voice was still weak, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

【Warning: Risk coefficient for this decision is extremely high. Your physical condition is extremely poor. Corridor environment unknown and dangerous. Recommend prioritizing recovery.】 the Sentinel prompted coldly.

"There's no time. If there really are survivors there, they might not last until I recover." Xiang Lingna shook her head. "Help me plot the safest possible route, monitor the corridor's structural stability and energy fluctuations in real time, and warn me immediately of any anomaly."

【…Command confirmed. Route plotting…Activating outpost's final reserved energy, reinforcing Corridor Three entrance sensors and support structures (temporary), establishing low-power communication relay…Good luck, visitor.】

The heavy airtight door slid slowly open, revealing the corridor behind—pitch black, exuding the scent of decay and dust. A bone-chilling wind poured out from within, carrying an indescribable sense of rot, as if from the depths of time itself.

Xiang Lingna drew a deep breath of icy air, tightened her grip on the metal pipe, and stepped resolutely into that darkness.

Every step was extraordinarily difficult; the corridor was littered with obstacles and debris, the floor tilted and uneven. Only the faint illumination and route guidance the Sentinel provided through scattered sensors gave any visibility—and it was extremely poor. The freezing air stabbed at her lungs, and the wound on her right shoulder sent tearing, searing pain with every movement.

But she did not look back.

She did not know how long she had walked—perhaps only a dozen meters, perhaps a century. The corridor began sloping downward, the damage growing ever more severe, forcing her at times to crawl over collapsed metal structures.

Suddenly, the Sentinel's warning rang in her ear:

【Detected structural stress anomaly fifty meters ahead! Suspected recent explosive impact causing weakened support points! Simultaneously detected multiple faint energy signatures approaching rapidly! Signature code…matching database…Scavenger units!】

The Doctor's hunting squad?! They actually found this place so quickly?! And from ahead?! Could it be that the other end of Corridor Three also has an entrance they've discovered?

Unknown danger ahead, pursuers behind!

Xiang Lingna's heart leapt straight to her throat!

And what made her heart pound even more was that, from the direction the Scavenger units' energy signatures came, she seemed…faintly, to hear a thread of an extremely weak, almost hallucination-like…little girl's crying?

A trap? Or…a genuine plea for help?