“Liuliu, are you going to sleep already?”
“Yeah. I have a headache. I’ll get some sleep and see if I feel better tomorrow.”
“Okay, go to sleep. We’ll keep our voices down.”
“Aww, love you, girls!”
Li Leyou took a cold medicine tablet, wrapped herself tightly in her blanket, and prepared to go to sleep just as her roommates were settling in for their usual late-night activities.
Before falling asleep, the last thing she heard was her two roommates whispering excitedly about the freshman welcome party at the university next door and a new mala tang restaurant that had opened in their school cafeteria this semester.
Their soft chatter gradually faded into the darkness.
Then a strange ringing passed through Li Leyou’s head. When her hazy consciousness slowly cleared, the sounds around her suddenly became much louder.
First came a rapid series of beeps, like the machines used in hospitals during an emergency. Then came a chaotic mixture of voices and hurried footsteps.
Li Leyou’s first thought was:
No way. Did I faint in the dorm and get sent to the hospital?
But the moment she opened her eyes, she accidentally swallowed a mouthful of strange-tasting liquid.
Something was very, very wrong.
She was lying inside a round, transparent chamber filled with some unknown liquid.
It looked exactly like those glass tanks from science-fiction movies—the kind used to grow experimental subjects, usually containing aliens or bizarre creatures.
Honestly, she had to admit that the whole thing looked much more impressive for display than for actual practical use.
So while I was sleeping, someone stuffed me into this thing? What the hell is going on? Am I even still human?
The problem with being a person born and raised in the information age was that Li Leyou had read countless books and watched countless movies and games.
Her imagination immediately came up with hundreds of possibilities.
She shuddered and began struggling frantically, desperately trying to make sure her arms and legs were still attached to her body.
Her violent movements finally caught everyone’s attention.
A researcher who had been busy packing things suddenly pointed at Li Leyou’s tank in shock.
“Look!”
“She’s conscious? She can move on her own?”
“How is that possible? Didn’t her vital signs disappear just now?”
“Did our experiment finally succeed? Did we actually create a living—”
“Why now? Of all times, why now?!”
Separated by the glass and liquid, Li Leyou couldn’t make out what they were saying.
All she knew was that there were four people in the room—three men and one woman—and every one of them looked extremely agitated.
They rushed toward her.
Soon, Li Leyou felt the liquid around her being drained away. The glass panel in front of her opened.
As she breathed in fresh air, she looked down at her hands and feet and let out a huge sigh of relief.
At least she still had all her limbs.
The next second, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the tank.
Li Leyou immediately stumbled backward.
Wait! Brothers, sisters, uncles—I’m naked!
“There’s no time! Take M089 with us first. Once we get through this, everything we want will be ours!”
The oldest researcher barked the order.
The only female researcher quickly took off her white lab coat and draped it over Li Leyou.
“Thank you—”
As a modern university student, Li Leyou was accustomed to saying “thank you” almost automatically.
But before she could finish, she was roughly dragged forward, nearly stumbling to the ground.
“Ow, what the heck!”
Less civilized expressions were also a common part of her vocabulary.
The female researcher supporting her stared at her in surprise.
“M089 can talk!”
The other three immediately turned toward her.
But the situation was far too urgent for them to investigate.
Li Leyou was caught between a man and a woman, practically being half-dragged as they ran toward the exit.
Her arms and legs felt weak, and she had no strength to resist, so all she could do was turn her head and observe her surroundings.
It looked like a basement.
The laboratory was old and crudely constructed. Mold covered the white ceramic tiles on the walls, while large yellowish stains spread across the plain white ceiling.
The small room was crammed with all sorts of strange experimental equipment, organ samples, and more cultivation tanks like the one she had just been inside.
Then something even stranger flashed across her vision—
A huge fish tail inside a glass tank.
Everything about the place screamed unprofessional.
If this is supposed to be a laboratory, why are there talismans stuck to the walls? And why are there crystals and candles on the floor?
Science and the supernatural existing side by side like this was something Li Leyou had never seen before.
This looks bad. Am I even still in China?
After leaving what appeared to be a laboratory, she finally discovered where the constant beeping had been coming from.
An alarm flashing red was mounted in the corridor.
Its shrill, urgent sound filled the glaringly white surroundings with an ominous sense of danger.
The small office outside was a complete mess. Documents were scattered across the floor, and broken glassware lay everywhere.
Li Leyou’s bare feet were dragged through a pool of rust-colored liquid.
Only after a moment did she realize—
That was probably blood.
Li Leyou might not have had many talents, but she was good at reading the room.
And more importantly, she treasured her life.
So she didn’t dare resist at all, allowing these people to drag her along as they fled for their lives.
They ran forward without saying much.
Then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the entire building.
The walls trembled, and the blinding white lights flickered violently.
The old researcher leading them cursed.
“Damn those sea-fish bastards! Why are they chasing us like rabid dogs?!”
“How did they get here so quickly? Professor, what do we do now?”
“Go lower. Take the tunnel.”
As they spoke, Li Leyou looked left and right in bewilderment.
She felt like a university student who had somehow wandered onto a battlefield.
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her.
She was tossed over one researcher’s shoulder like a piece of meat and carried toward another passage.
The ground shook beneath them, while explosions continued to thunder outside.
Li Leyou was painfully pressed against the researcher’s shoulder. She placed one hand against the top of his head for support, accidentally grabbing his thinning hair as she tried to find a more comfortable position.
This definitely can’t be China, right? Our country doesn’t allow people to blow things up like this.
Amid the flashing red warning signs, the emergency passage leading underground glowed with an eerie green light.
On the underground tracks stood a heavy, old-fashioned rail vehicle that looked like someone had modified a train engine.
“Get M089 on first. I’ll start the vehicle. You two check the engine and fuel tank.”
The old researcher gave the order before taking the driver’s seat.
Li Leyou was thrown into one of the seats, with the female researcher sitting beside her.
The other two young researchers were still on the ground checking the vehicle when muffled explosions suddenly echoed from deep within the tunnel.
The sound grew closer and closer.
The old researcher cursed.
Then, without warning, he slammed the doors shut and forced the vehicle into motion.
The two researchers outside panicked.
“Professor! We’re not on yet!”
But the heavy black vehicle had already begun to rumble forward, leaving the two shouting men behind.
The railcar disappeared into the darkness.
About three minutes later, the seemingly quiet tunnel ahead suddenly exploded.
Huge chunks of dirt and rock blasted through the air.
A burst of light struck them.
The black railcar violently flipped over.
Inside, Li Leyou was thrown around in a dizzying whirl and lost consciousness.
Fortunately, she was only unconscious for a short while.
The safety straps had twisted around her body, leaving her trapped between two collapsed seats.
Through a crack in the shattered window, she saw the ceiling of the tunnel blown open.
One by one, strange, dragonfly-shaped single-person aircraft descended through the opening.
They surrounded the overturned railcar.
More than a dozen fully armed people approached, weapons in hand.
They forcibly tore open the doors and dragged the two researchers inside out.
Even the two researchers who had been left behind were brought over under guard. All four of them were covered in dirt and forced to crouch together.
“Run, will you? Still want to run?” a voice sneered. “Hiding like rats, and yet I still managed to catch you.”
The man who stepped down from the largest aircraft appeared to be the leader.
He pulled off his helmet, revealing striking blue-green hair.
Then he casually smashed the helmet against the old researcher’s battered head.
The two clearly had some personal history.
The blue-green-haired man kicked the old researcher again, sending him rolling helplessly across the ground.
“Boss Anla! The detector says there’s still another life-form over there!”
One of the armed men standing beside the railcar shouted while holding up a device that was continuously beeping.
Soon, Li Leyou was dragged out from beneath the airbags.
“What? There’s another one?” Anla frowned. “I thought there were only four of them left. How did we miss someone?”
As he spoke, the blue-green-haired man walked toward Li Leyou.
She was wrapped in a white lab coat and lying on the ground, squinting up at him as he approached against the light.
He was tall, with a slightly roguish expression, and surprisingly young and handsome.
However, when he crouched down in front of Li Leyou, he suddenly stared at her face and went—
“Huh?”
His expression became strangely foolish.
At the same time, Li Leyou noticed a gold tooth embedded in his mouth.
Li Leyou: “……”
She desperately pinched her own thigh to keep herself from laughing.
Don’t laugh! Don’t you dare laugh! You might get shot if you do!
Another armed man carrying a folder came over and looked her up and down.
“She doesn’t look like a researcher.”
Anla rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“Her scent is strange. There’s something about it that’s similar to mine.”
The old researcher, still lying on the ground and breathing heavily, suddenly shouted:
“Our research succeeded! She is our most successful experimental subject! You can see it yourselves—she has developed self-awareness! Can you still claim that we’re violating your genetic laws? This is evolution!”
“Oh…”
Anla seemed to suddenly lose interest.
“So she’s an experimental subject.”
He calmly shifted his gaze away from Li Leyou.
Without being affected by the old researcher’s passionate speech, he casually said,
“If she’s one of those useless chunks of flesh you people cultivated, then dispose of her the same way we disposed of the other experimental subjects.”
Li Leyou: “?”
Wait.
“Hold on! You can’t do that!” the old researcher shouted. “Can’t you see? She’s different from those failures! You actually want to destroy her? Do you even understand what a magnificent miracle you’re about to destroy?!”
The moment Li Leyou heard that she might be killed, she discovered something rather depressing.
She wasn’t nearly as emotional about her possible death as the old researcher was.
She simply slumped down again and awkwardly sat there.
From their conversation, Li Leyou had roughly figured out what was happening.
These researchers had apparently been conducting illegal experiments in some underground facility and had been discovered and raided.
The armed people were probably some kind of law enforcement officers from this world, sent to shut down the illegal operation.
Li Leyou had spent her entire life obeying the law.
She had never once imagined that she would somehow become a prohibited experimental specimen.
The old researcher was still desperately arguing for her life.
For some reason, Li Leyou even felt a little touched.
Unfortunately, Boss Anla completely ignored the old man’s efforts.
He stood with his hands on his hips and casually chatted with the people beside him.
“You were looking at that experimental subject pretty carefully just now. Did you notice something strange about her?”
“Huh? I just thought she looked really familiar. Like I’d seen her somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.”
“Then stop thinking about it. At your age, it’s normal to be forgetful…”
He paused before continuing.
“By the way, once this operation is over, you can finally get some rest. I heard that Laoumu… is about to return to the sea. You’re the person closest to him, so maybe spend more time with him during this period.”
“Tsk. That guy Laoumu is getting more and more withdrawn. He doesn’t want me hanging around him.”
Anla suddenly stopped walking.
Then he whipped his head around.
“Wait!”
His eyes widened.
“I suddenly remember why she looks familiar!”
“What?”
Anla hurried back toward Li Leyou.
Two armed men had already started taking her away. When they saw Anla approaching, they stopped and released her, looking confused.
Li Leyou was equally confused.
She knew very well that her fragile little body couldn’t withstand much trouble. Her survival strategy was simple—
Cooperate with whoever has the gun.
She was even already holding out her hands, preparing to let the officers handcuff her.
Anla crouched down in front of her and carefully examined her face from left to right.
“Yes! That’s it! I knew she looked familiar!”
He pointed at her in shock.
“She looks exactly like Laoumu’s lover—the one who died!”