Keiko Kitagawa's high heels clicked as she left, leaving Lin Ze alone in the Room.
The door was locked from the outside, but the hallway could be seen through the glass panel on the door.
White walls, white lights—it looked desolate and somewhat eerie.
Lin Ze, who used to be inseparable from his phone even when going to the bathroom, suddenly found this prison-like existence deeply unsettling.
Loneliness and longing for his family filled Lin Ze's mind... He suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing he actually wanted to play on his phone in such an environment, a feeling mixed with self-reproach and a touch of helplessness!
"System! System Daddy..."
...The system remained completely silent; no matter how Lin Ze called, there was no response.
At this moment, Lin Ze just wanted to find someone to chat and talk with.
Sleep? It was impossible to sleep.
"Squeak... Gurgle...! Clatter... Bang..."
After an unknown period, he heard sounds again, as if someone was pushing a cart.
Lin Ze quickly ran to the door, stood on his tiptoes, and strained to look outside.
Sure enough, two white-coated figures soon pushed a hospital bed past the door and into another Room.
It was a fleeting glance, but Lin Ze had already clearly seen a frail little girl lying on the hospital bed.
She looked about four or five years old, with several tubes inserted into her body, the other ends connected to an instrument, seemingly monitoring data.
Just then, Lin Ze suddenly felt as if he was being watched, and he looked up at the surveillance camera.
It didn't seem to be it!
Lin Ze inexplicably had a clear realization that the feeling just now did not come from the camera.
His scalp tingled, and he looked back at the hospital bed that had been pushed away.
He wondered when he, too, would be taken for similar experiments.
In fact, Lin Ze didn't have to wait long; after a simple meal that day, he was tied to a hospital bed by two burly men.
"Subject 103, don't be afraid, be strong! Dr. Bai will like you."
In the laboratory, Lin Ze saw Keiko Kitagawa again.
"Dr. Bai, experimental subject 103 is ready," Keiko Kitagawa reported to a middle-aged woman nearby.
"Record: Second batch, Subject 103, first experiment, preparing..."
The incandescent lights buzzed, and Lin Ze unconsciously clenched his fists.
His lips were tightly pressed, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, slowly trickling down his cheeks.
As the various preparation procedures were completed, his breathing became more rapid, and his chest heaved violently.
His teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, making faint clicking sounds that were exceptionally clear in the silent laboratory.
Lin Ze tried to clench his jaw, to calm himself down, but the trembling seemed to be under a spell, growing more intense.
In his previous life, he had seen many news reports about the tragic experiences of people who were tricked into going to Myanmar.
Images of having his kidneys harvested kept flashing in his mind, and fear, like a tide, engulfed him.
His hands also began to tremble, unconsciously gripping the bedsheet of the hospital bed, his knuckles turning white.
Lin Ze felt like a lamb on a chopping block, with nowhere to escape.
The trembling of his teeth seemed to affect his entire body, which also began to sway gently, as if he would collapse in the next second.
"Subject 103, first injection starting!"
"Heart rate 108... might be a bit nervous!"
"Cerebral cortex activation 9%..."
..."Ah... cough cough..."
The drug began to flow through his body, like scalding magma, igniting all his blood.
Pain!
From his muscles to his blood, even to the marrow of his bones.
"Replenish nutrients!"
"Start electrocution!" a white-coated figure commanded.
"First electrocution, 220 volts, 10 seconds!"
Then Lin Ze felt a tingling and itching sensation, a numbing itch that burrowed from his skin into his bones.
Damn you!
Lin Ze's eyes were bloodshot; he wished he could bite these beasts to death.
However, he slowly lost his initial nervousness.
Instead, there was only explosive killing intent... The experiment continued.
"I swear, in the future, I will kill every single one of you," Lin Ze secretly gritted his teeth.
"Oh! Subject 103 has strong willpower! He hasn't fainted even at this stage? I'm quite looking forward to it!" Dr. Bai seemed to only now truly pay attention to Lin Ze.
Over several decades, she had performed countless such experiments, and by now, she no longer had the interest to do it herself, only needing to act as a chief commander.
Lin Ze, with bloodshot eyes, glared at Dr. Bai, who had walked closer.
"I seem to have seen her somewhere... Dr. Bai... experimental subjects... 'The Witch: Part 1'... I know!" All the clues came together, and Lin Ze finally knew what world this was.
This was a movie from the Republic of Korea about genetically modified humans, in which the protagonist was a little girl named Zi Yun, codenamed Witch No. 1.
Lin Ze hadn't watched the movie, only seen movie explanations and some edited videos on Douyin, so he wasn't really familiar with the movie's title.
"If the timeline is in the first part, then the Witch's mother has already been captured and has given birth to the first-generation Witch.
The only chance to escape from here is to find the Witch and escape before the gene editing company decides to eliminate the experimental subjects.
I remember Witch No. 1 escaped around her eighth birthday..." The pain in his body made Lin Ze's thoughts exceptionally clear.
"This experimental subject is excellent, truly a perfect guinea pig," Dr. Bai said, a hint of madness returning to her.
"Bring me his data!" Dr. Bai shouted to her assistant behind her.
"Yes, Boss!" The assistant was about to retrieve the data.
A Scarface strongman had already handed over the data.
"Thank you, Mr. Cui!" The young assistant bowed in gratitude.
The strongman waved his hand.
His black gloves were as conspicuous and as cold as his sunglasses.
"This child is from Dragon Country?" Dr. Bai asked, flipping through the data.
"Do you have a prejudice against people from Dragon Country? Isn't No. 2 also of Dragon Country descent?" Scarface looked coolly at Lin Ze on the hospital bed, without turning his head.
(Here, No. 2 is a company management code name, not the same as the experimental subject numbers like Lin Ze's.)
With the changing international situation and the advent of the information age, human experimentation was widely condemned by the international community, forcing many experiments to be moved to more clandestine bases.
New experimental subjects also became increasingly difficult to capture.
"No, I don't care where they're from, but you must send me more experimental subjects," Dr. Bai said dismissively.
"Heh heh! You say that so easily; headquarters can barely withstand the pressure, let alone our branch base?
Where are we supposed to get so many children? This new one was even bought through the black market," Scarface strongman said coldly.
"Oh! Then can this child's relatives be brought in?" Dr. Bai pressed.
"Impossible; they've already been cleanly dealt with by the gang.
Their organs have already been sent into international waters."
In a foreign country, a few missing foreigners occasionally don't really attract much attention.
"Alas! What a pity..." Dr. Bai was not lamenting Lin Ze's background but rather regretting the loss of an entire set of experimental subjects... "As for my work here, when will there be results?"
Seeing that Dr. Bai had stopped talking, Scarface strongman took off his glove and extended his hand, signaling Dr. Bai to look.
It was a dark, somewhat festering hand.
This was the price he paid as a first-generation genetic warrior.
Among the first-generation experimental subjects, only Witch No. 0 perfectly completed the genetic modification.
Then she escaped, and when she was pregnant, she was captured and brought back, giving birth to Witch No. 1.
Witch No. 1 also had a cloned sister who grew up in a petri dish, who was Witch No. 2.
To cure his own genetic defect, Scarface returned to the base three years ago and personally captured Witch No. 0.
But even now, the experiments were not about solving the flaws for people like him but about researching the next batch of genetic warriors.
This made him very dissatisfied with headquarters.
"If this batch of children can successfully pass the big shots' inspection, then we will have ample funding, and then we can research how to modify you... It's been so many years; there's no need to rush, is there?"
"Hmph! If they abandon us, we'll reorganize a team!" Scarface snorted coldly.
"It hasn't come to that yet!" Dr. Bai said, somewhat impatiently; these matters gave her a headache.
Scarface did not continue to argue, turning directly and leaving the laboratory with several of his subordinates.
The first month, Lin Ze spent alone in his Room.
The second month brought his second experiment.
He recuperated for another three days.
Lin Ze was finally allowed to leave the Room.
He could go to the cafeteria alone for meals, go to the indoor gym for appropriate exercise, and was allowed to go to "classes" to learn some basic knowledge.
Soon, Lin Ze was sent to the experimental table for the third time.
During this period, he truly adapted to life here; apart from the pain and humiliation of being treated as a guinea pig, there was nothing else.
Perhaps it was the effect of the genetic agent, or perhaps it was because his soul was that of an adult, but Lin Ze now felt very good, his mind was incredibly clear, and his memory had significantly improved.
"I remember the most painful thing before was memorizing English words, haha, why didn't I think it was so simple back then?" Lin Ze chuckled self-deprecatingly while sitting in the lounge area.
In three months, he learned three foreign languages:
Korean was the common language in this base; most researchers and security personnel were Korean.
English was essential for communicating with special instructors, as some blonde, blue-eyed Caucasians seemed to be superior, basically serving as mid-to-high-level managers of the base. They carried the arrogance of a suzerain nation towards its subordinate.
Another foreign language was Japanese, thanks to Keiko Kitagawa. Perhaps enchanted by Lin Ze's repeated calls of "Keiko Kitagawa, Big Sister," she often came to see Lin Ze.
Not only did he gain a photographic memory, but another change was that his five senses became sharper. Sitting in his Room, he could hear all the activity in every Room on that floor. Occasionally, the feeling of being watched became clearer—it was that girl.
Additionally, his strength and speed had seen considerable growth, but the irregular, large blood draws for experiments made Lin Ze look a bit weak, and his complexion was somewhat pale. Of course, all the children who managed To Live here were like this.
After his routine blood draw that day, Lin Ze was allowed an hour of free time. As usual, he went to the lounge, where he tried to gather as much outside information as possible.
Because some magazines were delivered here, although they were mostly outdated and lost their timeliness, they still had some reference value.
Also, only here was there a television. When individual security personnel rested here, they would occasionally play some news or soap operas. Lin Ze would catch some fragmented pieces of information.
Sure enough, a security guard, holding a beer, turned on the TV. It was broadcasting news about the Olympics. A fleeting shot showed the Shanghai young man, known as the "Asian Flying Man," winning a gold medal. Korea seemed to dismiss the Dragon Countryman's gold medal, only briefly reporting it before focusing on how powerful Korean athletes were.
If it was similar to the real world, the timeline would be around August 2004. The movie "Xiao Monü" likely begins around the little girl's birthday in 2007. The gene company, after the test subjects showed immense destructive power, prepared to close this laboratory and destroy all test subjects and evidence.
Of course, Lin Ze was a bit confused by this. Since it was successful, why destroy it? But in the movie "Xiao Monü 2," it said the experiments hadn't stopped and were still ongoing at another base.
Perhaps it was due to international political reasons, or some other reason! These weren't too important anymore. Now, to To Live and leave here, he first needed to become strong himself, and then he needed to stick close to the plot. Perhaps the only chance to escape would be when the experimental base evacuated.
Because at this time, the base was full of fully armed security personnel, Lin Ze knew he didn't have the strength to escape... "If this world could openly modify humans, then the Olympics would be even more interesting, hehe! The Flying Man definitely couldn't outrun Xiao Monü! Speaking of which, I wonder if this world's Dragon Country has gene warriors. I remember a few gene warriors speaking broken Mandarin appeared in the second movie. At that time, it seemed they were recruited from Shanghai... Haha, that's probably nonsense... That accent didn't sound like someone born and raised in Dragon Country... Huh? Is my brain already that good, that I can remember such detailed things?"
Lin Ze sat in the corner, thinking about various things, his hands still flipping through the magazine. There were cameras everywhere, and Lin Ze had adapted to maintaining a harmless appearance under surveillance.
When Lin Ze looked up again, he found a little girl sitting opposite him, he didn't know when she got there. She was thin and weak, with single eyelids, typical of a Korean. Also a result of long-term blood draws, the girl's face was also a sickly pale.
Xiao Monü, Lin Ze was certain this child was the first-generation Xiao Monü, named Zi Yun, in the story.
But at this time, she probably didn't have that name yet, right?
"Annyeonghaseyo?" A faint smile spread across Lin Ze's face, making him look like a sunny big boy.
"An... Annyeonghaseyo!" The little girl seemed unaccustomed to communicating, her not-so-large eyes wide, looking innocent, bewildered, and very cute.
However, Lin Ze didn't believe this girl was truly as harmless as she appeared. In the near future, she would be able to repeatedly tear through the entire base by herself.
Xiao Monü sitting here wasn't by chance. In fact, she had already awakened her telekinetic abilities at this time and could observe things within a certain range through telekinesis. In her eyes, Lin Ze was a special child. She felt that Lin Ze always had a faint smile on his face. Except for the first few days he arrived, she never saw a frightened expression on Lin Ze's face, even when he was taken for experiments later.
Of course, it wasn't that Xiao Monü saw anything specific; she just felt that this child, who shared her same plight, didn't have the violence of other children, nor did his eyes have the emptiness and numbness of other children. He always wore a faint smile on his face every day and was very polite to both the researchers and security personnel. So, she became curious and finally came to sit next to him this time.
"My name is Lin Ze! What's your name?" Lin Ze said softly, his face full of smiles.
"Na... Name?" Xiao Monü seemed to not quite understand the meaning of a name.
"Hmm... Do you think this is a name?" Lin Ze pointed to his right shoulder, which bore his number, 103.
"They call me No. 1, Dr. Bai calls me the Perfect Body..." Xiao Monü blinked her innocent little eyes again.
Lin Ze was a bit speechless. Although Xiao Monü hadn't reached the point where she could escape, she was still quite simple. Could a four or five-year-old child really have such good acting skills? Unless she was also a transmigrator, which was probably impossible.
"Where did you get your name?" Xiao Monü seemed very interested in this topic.
"Names are given by parents and elders! That's not your name! Uh..." Lin Ze chuckled.
By now, the surroundings were a bit noisy. The two spoke softly with their heads down, so they weren't afraid that the people in the monitoring Room would hear the children's conversation.
He felt like ruffling the cute child's head.
"Parents? What are those?"
"Everyone is born and raised by their parents..." At this point, Lin Ze didn't know how to continue. It seemed it wasn't really like that here; there were indeed clones in the base.
"Is... is that so? Dr. Bai..."
"Parents will only love their children, protect their children. For this, many parents would rather give up their own lives..."
Lin Ze thought of his children in the real world; they were about the same age as Xiao Monü at this time. As he spoke, Lin Ze felt an urge to cry and unconsciously reached out to pat Xiao Monü's head.
"..."
"Oppaa!" Xiao Monü also seemed a bit flustered by Lin Ze's actions, a little surprised, and a little confused... "Ah! Haha, it's okay, Oppaa will find you parents later. Until then, Oppaa will protect you!"
"Oppaa might not even be able to beat me! I killed a wild wolf in training yesterday!" Xiao Monü wrinkled her little nose.
She seemed to feel Lin Ze was bragging, but looking closely, the corners of her somewhat numb mouth unconsciously turned up a little, though it was quickly hidden again.
Lin Ze, being a person with a 40-year-old soul, naturally wouldn't let a taciturn child kill the conversation. After a brief awkwardness, he continued to talk her up.
Sometimes he talked about studying and training, sometimes he chatted about the contents of magazines. He even followed the child's train of thought to complain about how awful the institute's food was.
"Have you eaten outside food?" Xiao Monü asked.
"I think so, I don't quite remember!" Lin Ze glanced at the camera above.
Xiao Monü seemed to realize something too, her eyes narrowing slightly. Lin Ze accurately caught this subtle change.
"What a smart child!" Lin Ze praised silently in his heart.
"Ding! Host conversed with the plane's protagonist, gaining some favorability. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 3 modification points!" The system, which had been silent for three months, finally reacted.
Lin Ze saw that time was almost up, so he decided to go back to the dormitory to do some research. He then actively stood up, preparing to leave. This was their first interaction, and Lin Ze believed that given time, he could build a good relationship with her.
In the monitoring Room, Dr. Bai rested her chin on the back of her hand, muttering to herself.
"How exciting! Is this Dragon Country boy's violent gene recessive? I wonder what his potential is?"
It's important to know that many of the genes injected into this batch of test subjects came from death row inmates, and the vast majority of them had violent tendencies. Thus, the violent factors expressed by the test subjects were particularly evident. However, since it was genetic modification, it was divided into two types: recessive and dominant. As the name suggests, some were expressed, while others existed but were not inherited and expressed.