Chapter 203: Mermaid Reef 04

"I…," Ye Xi'an instinctively began to report, but thinking that she is no longer who she once was, if she continues to compromise today, she can endure Lin Si's torment, but Bao Jing and the others might not be able to.

Moreover, Ji Jiangci's body has not yet recovered.

No, she must resist! Why should she obediently be a human's lab mouse here?

"Lin Si, I'm human, you have no right to treat me like this!" Ye Xi'an stiffened her neck and confronted Lin Si.

Lin Si's slender fingers gripping the scalpel paused for half a second, his emotionless gaze striking Ye Xi'an like a hammer.

The fake smile at the corner of his mouth vanished, his voice cold as a winter ice spear: "Li Zao is right, 068, you're not obedient now."

"But that's fine, I can start over."

After speaking, Lin Si's scalpel sliced Ye Xi'an's abdomen with butcher‑like speed, not a drop of blood.

Ye Xi'an's eyes widened; the feeling of air flooding her abdominal cavity was oddly strange.

"You…," Ye Xi'an's mouth slightly opened, too shocked to speak.

"Wife!"

"An'an!"

Yi Yang and several others instantly reddened their eyes, shouting to kill Lin Si.

Li Zao, annoyed by the noise, impatiently grabbed a cloth to stuff in their mouths: "Quiet, it's your turn soon."

With mouths gagged and limbs bound, they could only watch as Lin Si leisurely cut out Ye Xi'an's internal organs beside them; Ye Xi'an trembled in pain, cold sweat exuded from pores, and finally she looked as if just pulled from water.

After Lin Si extracted everything he needed, he casually placed the organs back in, then crudely stitched Ye Xi'an's abdomen.

He waited quietly a while; when he saw Ye Xi'an's wound healing at a visible speed, he nodded approvingly: "No wonder it's 068."

"Dr. Lin, take a look at this, you'll definitely be interested," Li Zao flatteredly leaned toward Lin Si, showing him a video.

In the video, Bao Jing transformed into a sleek hunting falcon, wings cutting the sky, sharp as wind.

Yi Yang turned into a lovable Labrador, tawny fur fluffy and soft, yet still showing beastly wildness.

Ji Jiangci's North African lion form was extraordinarily fierce, mane trembling like golden flames, wood energy forming tiny green specks around him.

Lin Si's gray phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, flashing a cold frenzy.

Li Zao glanced at the half‑dead Ye Xi'an, saying: "All this was found where 068 hides; luckily we had enough people then, otherwise we might not have caught them."

Lin Si lifted his gaze, landing on Bao Jing; Bao Jing instantly felt a chill, as if a beast met its predator.

"068 really gives me surprises."

His fake smile deepened: "Process them too—bone structure, organ distribution, I need detailed data."

Lin Si casually instructed, as if discussing inanimate objects.

Ye Xi'an's newly healed abdomen throbbed repeatedly; hearing Lin Si's words, she jerked her head up, her violet eyes contracting fiercely with fear.

"No!"

Her voice was hoarse, heavy with despair.

"Lin Si, they're ordinary beast‑people, they don't have my regenerative ability! They'll die!"

"If they die, you won't have any test subjects!"

Lin Si glanced at her, his gaze unruffled, as if looking at a noisy pet.

"068, just watch quietly."

Li Zao, already instructed, grinned wickedly and led several experimenters toward Bao Jing and the others.

"No! Let them go!"

Ye Xi'an struggled, but the binding straps wouldn't budge; futile rubbing made her wrists bleed.

Bao Jing was the first dragged out; the cloth in his mouth was removed because tissue would be extracted from his oral cavity later. His black hair was disheveled, brown eyes burning with fierce anger.

"You perverts! If you have any guts, come at me!"

Lin Si ignored him, picked up a bone saw that glimmered coldly, and signaled to Li Zao.

"Start with the arm; I want a complete skeletal sample."

The cold blade sliced the arm inch by inch along the gap between ulna and radius.

"Ah—!"

Bao Jing's scream was gut‑wrenching; the sound of bones being ripped out echoed starkly in the silent lab, chilling.

Ye Xi'an watched in horror as Bao Jing's arm was torn off, blood gushing and staining the cold metal table red.

Her heart felt clenched by an invisible hand, pain so intense she could barely breathe.

"Stop! Stop!"

She cried out hoarsely, tears blurring her vision.

After Bao Jing's limbs were stripped of bone, Yi Yang was next; his sky‑blue pupils were filled with terror, his body trembling violently from the pain.

His flaxen hair was soaked with cold sweat, clinging to his forehead.

Then Ji Jiangci, jaw clenched, cold sweat dripping from his temple, his teal eyes reflecting Ye Xi'an's desperate face.

He tried to say something, but the agony prevented him from forming a full sound.

Lin Si, like an elegant butcher, leisurely removed their arms and leg bones one by one, his technique precise and cruel.

The lab was thick with the smell of blood mixed with the acrid scent of disinfectant, nauseating.

Ye Xi'an's consciousness was nearly devoured by the endless pain and despair.

It's all her fault.

If it weren't for her, Bao Jing and the others wouldn't have been captured here.

If it weren't her, they wouldn't have suffered this torment.

The intense guilt corroded her heart like poison, making her wish to die.

After a day of cruel experiments ended, they were locked again in a lightless laboratory.

Ye Xi'an, feeling guilty, didn't dare to look at Bao Jing and their empty limbs, her mouth trembling as she kept saying sorry.

"An'an... don't blame you..."

Bao Jing's weak voice came from him; he squeezed out a comforting smile on his pale face, though that smile was uglier than crying.

"How could it be? You must hate me to death."

Ye Xi'an put herself in their place: if she had married and her spouse was captured and brought here to suffer such a horrific experiment, she would surely hate them to death.

"Who said that? I like you so much I can't even keep up... how could I hate you"

Bao Jing's voice was intermittent, yet it carried his usual confidence and resolve.

Yi Yang also struggled to look at her, his sky-blue eyes holding no resentment, only pure concern and heartache.

"Honey, I never imagined you used to live like this."

"Don't worry, even if we die, I'll die beside you!"

Ji Jiangci also had no complaints, saying that if it weren't for Ye Xi'an, he would surely have died a far worse death: "What they said is right—we will support you without hesitation, follow you, and we can recite our family creed backward."

"So honey, don't blame yourself—we still need to break out together!"

Their words were like streams of warm current, pouring into Ye Xi'an's nearly dried-up heart.

She looked at their mutilated bodies, at their gaze that still protected her even in hell, and a strength she had never felt before surged from the depths of her soul.

(End of chapter)