Chapter 201: Mermaid Reef 02

The hard sensation beneath her bruised her bones and made her hair ache, and her skin felt a burning pain from the friction.

This is... a laboratory!

The place she thought she had long escaped from, yet still brings endless terror when she wakes from midnight dreams.

Her heart suddenly tightened, and a dense, cold fear coiled around her like a poisonous snake, nearly suffocating her.

The confidence in life she had painstakingly built on Zhu Shen Xing was shattered in an instant, leaving no trace.

She reverted to the socially anxious self who once curled up in a corner, trembling, fearing every unfamiliar human.

As her vision cleared, Ye Xi'an, still huddled, turned her head and saw Bao Jing, Ji Jiangci, and Yi Yang lying conspicuously on several identical lab tables beside her.

They, like her, were restrained by cold metal, looking like lifeless corpses, eyes closed, lying on the frigid lab tables.

How could Bao Jing and the others also be here? Extreme fear left Ye Xi'an's mind blank, unable to grasp what had happened.

At that moment, several figures clad in sealed white lab coats approached, their faces covered by heavy protective masks, revealing only cold, indifferent eyes.

In their hands they held metal instruments that glimmered with a faint cold light, emitting a subtle, heart‑pounding clink.

Ye Xi'an's pupils suddenly contracted, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Don't..."

Her voice was as thin as a mosquito's, carrying a desperate sigh, drowned in the low hum of the machines.

The cold‑glinting needle mercilessly pierced the skin of her arm, the sharp sting making her shudder.

An unknown, acrid‑smelling liquid was slowly infused into her body, bringing wave after wave of indescribable burning and tearing, as if it would incinerate all her internal organs.

She tried to scream, but her throat felt clutched by an invisible hand, only managing a suppressed, broken whimper.

Her vision blurred again, despair devouring her like an abyss, and she resignedly closed her eyes.

"An'an!"

Bao Jing's panicked shout snapped Ye Xi'an's thoughts back; she jerked open her eyes, realizing she was no longer alone.

Even if she were to be left for experiments, Bao Jing and the others wouldn't be.

Ye Xi'an looked at Bao Jing: his forehead was slick with cold sweat, his lips chapped, and his head and limbs were all pierced by ten‑centimeter needles; Ye Xi'an felt an even greater pain in her own body.

Bao Jing raised his hand to try to break the shackles, only to find that the fist that once could punch through steel plates was now limp and weak, and even his ability had vanished.

"An'an, I... I have no ability anymore!"

Hearing Bao Jing say that, Ye Xi'an finally remembered that she still had her ability; as long as the green mountains remain, there's no fear of lacking firewood. She would run first, and return later when she had a chance to rescue Bao Jing and the others.

She closed her eyes, trying to teleport, but could not detect any trace of space.

Her complexion turned terribly pale: "I also have no ability anymore."

Ji Jiangci and Yi Yang, who awoke in succession, also tried, and found that their abilities could not be used.

"What on earth is happening?" Yi Yang asked, his face bewildered, unable to understand how anyone could dare bind a female for experiments.

"These people can all turn into animals, and we don't even know the principle. Everyone, study this well; if we can crack this problem, maybe we'll all become internationally renowned scientists in the future, hahaha!"

The person in white let out a wildly excited laugh, as if already envisioning himself standing on the Nobel podium, towering over the whole world.

"What do you mean?"

Ye Xi'an hesitated, looking at the man—Li Zhao, the second person she feared most in the laboratory.

He was ruthless, willing to do anything for research.

But the most frightening was that person; Ye Xi'an, terrified, lifted her gaze to the lab doorway, "Lin Si, are you also here?"

Lin Si differed from Li Zhao; Li Zhao would use any means, whereas Lin Si seemed emotionless, treating everything with a flat indifference that was itself frightening— in his eyes, everything was merely experimental material.

He once, to study Ye Xi'an's brain cells, unsedated, sawed open her skull, then harvested tissue from the most active region. That day, the suffocating feeling of her body being opened still haunts her like a demon.

Had her constitution not been special, she would likely have died on the lab table long ago.

Li Zhao's laugh stopped abruptly; he excitedly pinched Ye Xi'an's cheek, his smile almost feral: "068, this time it's also thanks to you; I didn't expect that after you escaped, you'd still give me such a surprise."

Ye Xi'an's pupils narrowed, as if she realized something.

"No, no! I should be on Zhu Shen Xing right now! What's going on!" Ye Xi'an tried to recall what had happened, but her mind felt blocked like a wooden plug, falling into a void.

Beside her, Bao Jing stared fiercely at Li Zhao's hand squeezing Ye Xi'an's cheek and roared, "Let her go!"

Li Zhao flung Ye Xi'an's face aside, disdainfully grabbed a nearby alcohol swab and sneered, "Of course I'll let go; I still have to dissect your tissues later. How could I work otherwise?"

After speaking, he gave a signal to the assistant nearby, who stepped forward and pressed the machine's button.

The devices hovering above everyone's heads began to operate; these machines could slice sections from the Experimental Subject's various parts while ensuring the subject would not die.

"Damn, what are you going to do to my wife!" Yi Yang, utterly unconcerned about the blade about to fall onto his head, kept his eyes fixed on Ye Xi'an.

Ji Jiangci and Bao Jing kept struggling, but to no avail.

Ye Xi'an had long become accustomed that moving recklessly in this situation only caused more pain. She closed her eyes, having no extra thoughts: "Bao Jing, you all stop moving, or the cuts will be off‑center and only you will get hurt."

"An'an!"

Along with his call, the merciless machine descended; even as flesh was cut, the few remained silent.

The few whose slices had been taken were pushed into another laboratory, which contained no extra machines, only a few beds and surveillance with no blind spots.

Doctors gave their wounds a simple treatment, ensuring they would not die.

"An'an? How are you?"

When all the doctors withdrew and the scientists left, the lights in the laboratory went out with a click, and at the same time, Ye Xi'an slowly opened her eyes.

"An'an? How are you?" Bao Jing asked cautiously; anyone who went through this would have a shadow, right.

"Wife, why aren't you speaking?" Yi Yang's voice trembled; he was afraid something would happen to Ye Xi'an.

Ji Jiangci also looked concerned toward Ye Xi'an's lab table.

Ye Xi'an's lips trembled: "We... are doomed."