Renata hummed a nursery rhyme as she walked down the corridor. The chalk on the walls flaked off in pieces, and every few dozen meters, a white light bulb flickered, emitting a hissing noise. These old bulbs flashed like ghostly flames, each illuminating only a small segment of the hallway. Between two lights, it was pitch-black—alternating between light and shadow as far as the corridor extended.
Renata wasn't scared; she grew up here. She wore her white cotton nightgown, holding her beloved stuffed bear. The bear was a birthday gift from the doctor, purchased by the icebreaker's first officer in Moscow. In Black Swan Bay, it was an extravagant gift; the icebreaker only came once a year. Renata named the bear "Zorro." She knew from books that Zorro was a masked hero, and all villains trembled at the sound of his name. When she slept at night, she also hugged Zorro. If any monsters hid in the darkness wanting to harm her, Zorro would take them down.
The corridor's right side was a thick wall, and the left side had small rooms—thirty-eight in total. On the iron door of each room, a number was painted in white, from 1 to 38, with each room housing a child, altogether thirty-eight children. Renata was number 38, the last one.
She peeked through the small window of one iron door. A boy named Yakov was sleeping in the small bed inside. She picked up a piece of the flaked-off wall and tossed it inside. The wall fragment hit Yakov's face, and his eyes suddenly opened, his pupils glowing golden in the darkness. His gaze slowly swept the entire room. After confirming no danger, Yakov closed his eyes again. He hadn't truly woken up; it was more like a lizard's instinctive response. When a lizard is asleep and feels a change in the wind, it doesn't wake up immediately. Instead, part of its nervous system awakens first, assessing the surroundings, and if all seems fine, it continues to sleep.
Renata knew he wouldn't wake up; she was just doing it for fun, out of boredom—mischievous without the nurses knowing.
Children who had undergone surgery were all like Yakov; once they fell asleep, they wouldn't easily wake up, only responding to the clapper's sound, following along.
Surgery-altered children didn't need to get up at night, but Renata hadn't had the surgery, so sometimes she would get up to use the toilet. The nurses were too lazy to always unlock the door for the "paper doll," nor did they want to deal with her wetting the bed, so sometimes they wouldn't lock Renata's door—she could just get up herself if she needed. The head nurse had sternly warned Renata not to wander around under the guise of using the bathroom, ordering her to go quickly and come back right away. If caught wandering, she'd face confinement or surgery.
But Renata was sly and quickly figured out the nurses' routines. After midnight, they wouldn't check the rooms; they were in the duty room drinking and playing cards. At that time, the entire floor belonged to Renata—she could do whatever she wanted. She patrolled the floor like a little queen surveying her domain—going to the utility room, then to the equipment room, tossing wall fragments at sleeping children, then warming herself by the heat pipe vent.
She had used this opportunity to search every area of the floor but found no trace of the black serpent.
Renata still remembered the first time the black serpent appeared. That night, she had made a mistake and was being punished in solitary confinement. She lay by the cold iron door, crying, hoarsely calling "Mama." It was the most she had ever cried, the nurses yelling at her through the door to cry until she was hoarse, so she'd finally quiet down. And so she cried loudly, hoping someone in the world would come to save her. She cried until midnight when she could cry no longer, yet no one came.
Moonlight shone in through the small window, illuminating her thin white cotton nightgown and her legs, which were so thin they seemed almost transparent.
That night, Renata realized one thing: those who cry out for help to the world are often the very ones the world will never come to save.
For the first time, she thought maybe she could die.
Just then, the entire building shook violently, as if countless metals were roaring. A massive figure like a black river swam through the corridor, with golden eyes shining like bright flames. The black serpent had come, bringing with it a fierce wind. A purplish-blue current clung to its scales and the iron doors. The iron scales on its body opened and closed like joyful clappers. As it passed by the confinement room, it glanced at Renata, and its huge tail struck the iron door forcefully.
And so, the door opened. Renata ran out, staring in a daze at its huge silhouette.
It had come… to save her?
"When the thousand years are up, Satan will be let loose from his cell, and will launch again his old work of deceiving the nations, searching out victims in every nook and cranny of earth, even Gog and Magog! He'll talk them into going to war and will gather a huge army, millions strong. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea." It was as if a billion demons were singing in unison from all directions.
Renata sat in the dark at the end of the corridor, covering her face and crying loudly. She wasn't scared; she was overjoyed. There was someone in this world who would come to save her after all. There was someone who could hear her voice, after all. She wasn't alone to the point of having no kindred.
In some corner of this world, there must be someone born for you. Even if you're standing at the edge of a cliff, don't lose hope. Hold on for just one more second, and that person will appear in front of you like a storm or lightning. You will leap onto their horse, even if they are a demon imprisoned by God for a thousand years.
She stopped walking. Ahead was the end of the corridor, where there was a lonely iron door with a large "Zero" painted in red on it.
"Room Zero."
There were 39 small rooms on this floor, but the numbering only went up to Renata's Room 38. The extra room was Room Zero. There were only 38 children in total, and perhaps Room Zero also housed a child, but that child had never appeared, never went outside with Renata and the others, never ate in the cafeteria, and never joined in the evening activities like watching revolutionary films. So, Room Zero should be an empty room. Some daring children had peeked inside and said it was a frightening solitary confinement room with something resembling a torture rack; others said there were actually two children in there and that they had faintly heard them arguing. In any case, Room Zero was a mystery, and the nurses used it to scare the children, saying, "The thing in Room Zero will eat you!"
According to Chinese feng shui, a room at the end of a corridor is a gathering place for all things unclean, where terrible things might grow. Renata knew nothing of this; she only instinctively disliked Room Zero. She had explored every other area on the floor except for Room Zero.
A dim kerosene lamp hung in front of the iron door, swaying on its own even though there was no wind.
Suddenly, a strange thought popped into Renata's head: could the black serpent be hiding in Room Zero? Tonight, her mind felt strange. The usually intimidating Room Zero now seemed mysterious and alluring. Without realizing it, she had crossed the "No Entry" sign. The kerosene lamp swayed above, casting shifting shadows. The iron door was covered in rust, with a large padlock hanging from it. Renata gently touched the padlock. She wasn't ready to open the door and find out what was inside; besides, she couldn't open it anyway.
With a "click," the padlock popped open and fell straight down! If such a heavy padlock hit the floor, it would definitely alert the nurses upstairs, and Renata would be finished! She quickly lunged forward to catch it.
In doing so, she ended up pushing open the door to Room Zero with her head. The room was dark, empty, with a faint smell of decay wafting out. The white curtains billowed slowly, stained with some black residue. The light from the searchlight filtered through the gaps in the wooden slats, revealing, on the left side, rows of iron racks filled with glass medicine bottles, and on the right, a cast-iron operating table covered in yellow rust. Suddenly, Renata realized what the stains on the curtains were—blood. This was an operating room. It wasn't surprising for an operating room to have blood, but she shivered violently. It felt less like an operating room and more like a meat processing factory.
Then she heard faint breathing. In the dark corner, beyond the reach of the light, there seemed to be something like a bed, and on it lay a pale, human-like figure wearing a straitjacket. That kind of garment was made of sturdy white linen, with over a dozen wide straps sewn across it. If a child misbehaved particularly badly, the nurses would put them in a straitjacket. Renata had worn one once, and when the straps were tightened, she could only lie rigidly on her back, completely cocooned like a pupa. Even moving her neck was difficult; it was truly worse than death. Compared to wearing a straitjacket, being put in solitary confinement felt like a luxury.
There was actually a disobedient child locked in Room Zero. She didn't know how long he had been in the straitjacket. After wearing one for a few hours, even the most unruly child would become as meek as a lamb.
Renata boldly approached. This time she saw more clearly—the corner held not a bed but a cast-iron recliner. It was just wide enough for a person to lie halfway on it, with many holes above and below to secure the straps on the straitjacket. Renata suddenly felt pity for this child. When she was put in a straitjacket, she had at least been thrown onto a bed in solitary confinement, but this boy was tied to an iron chair, unable even to wriggle.
Yet, this child was sleeping so peacefully.
It was a boy—someone Renata had never seen before. He wore an iron-wire mask, and through the mask, she could see an Asian face, delicate to the point of frailty. His black hair covered a broad forehead, and his eyebrows were dark and straight. Renata quietly watched him, listening to his even breathing, and her mood gradually relaxed. Seeing him sleep so peacefully made Room Zero seem less frightening. The smell of medicine and blood faded away, and the searchlight on the wall shone like a full moon.
"So pitiful," Renata whispered softly.
She didn't know how to help this boy; his lips looked chapped, so she went to the water pipe to gather a small handful of water, dripping it onto his lips through the iron mask. After the water soaked in, the boy's lips seemed a bit more vibrant, which made Renata a little happy.
She picked up Zorro and walked towards the door. Just then, a voice behind her said, "No rush to leave, Renata."
"He doesn't look quite normal," Bondarev said.
"We performed a corpus callosotomy on him," the doctor replied. "This surgery was originally used to treat epilepsy. It severs the nerves connecting the two hemispheres of the brain, causing each half to work independently without communicating."
"So he became dumb?"
"No, not dumb—split personality. Imagine it: in the same person's skull, two brain halves are working separately, without talking to each other. They would feel as though there are two selves within their body, unable to figure out who they really are. The left and right hemispheres are responsible for different functions—desires are governed by the left brain, while morality is managed by the right. The left brain likes attractive women; the right brain urges you to be a gentleman. Normally, the two sides converse and reach a unified decision, but after the corpus callosotomy, a patient may split into a 'moral self' and a 'desire-driven self.'"
"Like having the 'good me' and 'evil me' awake at the same time?"
"Exactly. We use this surgery primarily to limit the abilities of these children."
"What kind of abilities?"
"The extraordinary abilities brought by perfect genes. All these children possess genes from dragons. We gathered them in this orphanage and injected them with hallucinogens, triggering hallucinations while awakening their potential." The doctor gently stroked the boy's hair, like a hunter caressing his beloved hound. "What we ultimately awaken is not so much an ability as the divine power itself."
"Next, let us witness a miracle," the doctor said, stepping back slowly. "Don't stand within five meters of him. I must warn you, this is a potentially lethal experiment."
Bondarev tensed, his muscles bulging under his uniform. He was a rigorously trained soldier who could break a wolf's neck with his bare hands; he had no need to fear this frail boy. But he didn't dare underestimate anything supernatural, keeping himself in a ready-to-act state. The doctor once again struck the black wooden clappers. The boy's empty eyes lit up, a faint golden color rising in them. He slowly turned his head to look at Bondarev, as if a cold-blooded animal were examining its prey.
"Trying to kill me with just your eyes?" Bondarev said.
"Make a threatening move towards him," the doctor said, tossing Bondarev the Makarov pistol.
Bondarev flexed his fingers, suddenly half-crouching into a standard aiming stance, the gun pointed directly at the boy. The weight of the gun was substantial, and surprisingly, the doctor hadn't removed the magazine. The golden color in the boy's eyes suddenly surged, and Bondarev could see a violent, murderous intent in them! The boy uttered some strange syllables, and ripples appeared in the air around them. In just a few seconds, Bondarev felt the air growing thicker, like gel, enveloping him, making it impossible to struggle. Even worse, this glue-like air was flowing into his respiratory tract, the strange air gel behaving like a soft tongue, soon to reach down into his lungs. If someone's lungs were filled with gel—there was only one outcome: death!
Bondarev instinctively pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel, spinning visibly in the gelatinous air. The air kept slowing its speed, but the steel-core bullet had immense penetration power, and it was headed straight for the boy's eye. The bullet would have been enough to blow the boy's skull open. Bondarev was trained by the KGB: if he fired, it was either to kill or not to shoot at all.
The boy's pupils turned molten iron in color, and his power surged once again. The bullet froze an inch before his eye, its rotation gradually stopping. Despair flashed in Bondarev's eyes—what kind of terrifying power was this! He no longer had the strength to pull the trigger again; he was going to die.
The boy in the straitjacket woke up, his black eyes sparkling with an unusual liveliness, as if ripples were swaying deep in his pupils. He looked at Renata, smiling silently.
"You know me?" Renata was startled.
"I know a lot about you, actually. You're quite famous, you know." The boy stuck out his tongue.
His face was obscured by the iron-wire mask, making it hard to see his expression, but with just those lively eyes, he conveyed a lot to Renata. There was a sense of closeness in his gaze, along with a hint of pleading, as if hoping she would stay and talk to him a little longer.
"What's your name?" Renata asked, not knowing what else to say since she didn't have experience talking with strangers.
"Me? I don't have a name yet," the boy replied. "I live in Room Zero, so you can call me Zero."
The nurses usually addressed the children by their numbers, like Renata, who was "Number 38," and Anton, who was "Number 16."
"Hello, Zero. I'm Number 38, Renata," she said.
"What are you looking for?" Zero asked.
Renata hesitated for a moment. "Looking… for a friend."
She didn't want to mention the black serpent to Zero; he probably wouldn't believe something so bizarre anyway.
"If you're looking for a friend… how about me?" Zero said, his eyes turning expectantly. "We can be good friends."
He seemed to misunderstand Renata's words, or maybe he was just too lonely, intentionally misinterpreting what she had said.
Renata hesitated for a long while, then reluctantly nodded. "Sure."
In truth, she wasn't ready to accept Zero as her friend; she had just met this boy a few minutes ago. Renata thought a "friend" should be someone you knew for a long time, someone you were close to. She just couldn't bear to refuse him. Zero's face seemed sly, and his eyes stayed glued to her, bright black and pleading, almost flattering.
That year, a small seal had wandered into the port. The little creature seemed starving, crouching at Renata's feet, whimpering, looking at her with similar eyes. Just as Renata reached out to touch its head, the head nurse had struck it with a shovel, grabbed it by its legs, and carried the small seal's corpse away. That evening, they had an extra dish of fragrant seal meat soup for dinner, but Renata didn't drink a drop. She went back to her little room, hugging Zorro, crying silently.
Zero's eyes were just like that seal's.
The "little seal" in the straitjacket chuckled slyly, "Good friends ought to exchange gifts, right?"
This guy was clingy… Renata remembered reading that good friends should give each other presents. For instance, in Moscow, when the good children Petrov and Panteyev became friends, Petrov gave Panteyev a gold-plated sailboat model, and Panteyev returned the favor with a shell wind chime. But she had nothing to give Zero as a gift; everything here was rationed, and she had no personal belongings—except for Zorro in her arms. But without Zorro, she wouldn't be able to sleep at night. She unconsciously hugged Zorro tighter, worried she'd have to give it to Zero for the sake of this "friendship."
"I don't have anything to give as a gift," Renata said, her hesitation likely obvious to Zero.
"In that case, how about we each share one of our secrets?" Zero suggested. "Good friends should know each other's secrets."
"I'll go first," Zero generously offered. "I'm actually mentally ill!"
Renata stared at him blankly. Could someone with mental illness be so cunning?
"I really am mentally ill. I always feel like there are two people in my head talking—a good person and a bad one," Zero said, pausing, his eyes showing a bit of confusion. "One of them says, 'The thunder that shakes all—level this overgrown earth flat, and let not a seed of ungrateful humanity remain!' The other says, 'Without mercy, one is a beast, a savage, a demon!' And the first one continues, 'Annihilate all evil, the evil of evils!' while the other replies, 'All evil is nothing but the forgetting of forgiveness!' They argue like this in my head all day long, which is why I'm a bit mentally ill. That's why the nurses locked me up here."
"How pitiful," Renata said, nodding.
She couldn't understand what the voices in Zero's head were saying, but she figured it must be unbearable to have people arguing in your ear every day. Later on, when she read some books, she finally understood Zero's deceitful nature. The profound words he spoke, some of them came from Shakespeare's King Lear, while others were from Henry VIII. If Zero's mind was constantly filled with such disputes, then it was as if his brain was like the 17th-century Globe Theatre.
"In fact, we're all a bit mad," Zero smiled.
"I'm not mad!" Renata said, a bit upset. "I don't want to listen to you anymore!"
"Fine, I guess you could tell I'm a bit crazy already, so maybe that doesn't count as a secret." Zero thought for a moment. "Then I'll tell you another one: the girl I like the most here is Khorkina!"
Renata was stunned, unsure how to respond. It was well known throughout the orphanage that the prettiest girl was Number 21, Khorkina. She was a head taller than Renata, with pale blonde hair longer than Renata's, braided into a single plait. She was a year older than Renata and already had the figure of a young woman. Even in the white robe, her curves were noticeable, and a clear line could be seen at her neckline. Her eyebrows and features were as delicate as a princess's.
"Why do you like Khorkina?" Renata asked.
"She has beautiful long legs—men love beautiful long legs!" Zero said matter-of-factly.
"But you're not even a man yet."
"I'll grow up!"
Renata nodded. "Alright, I won't tell anyone your secret."
"And you? What's your secret?" Zero asked.
"I don't have any secrets…" Renata said, troubled.
"Impossible!" Zero persisted. "Everyone has secrets! If we're good friends, you should tell me your secret!"
Renata thought seriously for a long time. "Then you mustn't tell anyone—I sometimes wet the bed…"
She lowered her head, her cheeks blushing. No one had ever explained hygiene to her, so she didn't know it was a topic to avoid. She thought wetting the bed was a flaw, just like some children stutter. But for some reason, as soon as she said it, she felt it wasn't right, and her face burned as if it was on fire.
"Have you wet the bed since you were little?" Zero asked, looking interested.
"No way!" Renata quickly defended herself. "It only started recently!"
"How old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"Congratulations, you're starting to develop," Zero smiled.
"Develop?" Renata hadn't heard that term before.
"It means you're growing from a child into an adult. When you're a child, the female body's functions are dormant. Around your early teens, those functions begin to mature. You'll develop a chest," Zero smiled, "and you'll experience menarche."
He spoke seriously, without a hint of mockery or teasing, like an elder explaining the natural order to a young girl, conveying a sense of blessing.
"What is menarche?" Renata knew it might be a taboo question, but she couldn't help her curiosity.
"It means you'll start bleeding from below, and then every month there will be a few days of bleeding," Zero said. "The reason you've been wetting the bed lately is because you're starting to develop, and your nervous system is a bit disordered. Once your menarche arrives, it will get better. It's a good thing, a very good thing."
"A guy claiming to be mentally ill explaining a neurological disorder?"
"Have you ever had your first period?" Renata asked.
Zero looked embarrassed. "I'm a boy, only girls have menstruation."
"Will it be troublesome? Will I run out of blood?" Renata asked.
"It can be a bit troublesome," Zero thought for a moment, "but it's mostly a good thing. You'll become prettier, like Khorkina, and be liked by everyone. The hormones will also make you like a boy, and you'll feel happy being with him. You two will do things that boys and girls should do together…"
"What kind of things do boys and girls do?"
Zero rolled his eyes. "You'll know when the time comes. Anyway, it's a good thing. Girls are like flowers, and they always bloom. Maybe by then, I'll like you the way I like Khorkina. You should remember to wear a beautiful dress for me."
"I don't want you to like me." Renata pouted.
"Now that we've exchanged secrets, how about you hold my hand? If you hold my hand, we'll truly be friends." Zero looked at Renata with those innocent, pitiful, seal-like eyes, using that gaze to talk to her in a way he was obviously very practiced at.
Renata couldn't resist his pleading eyes and held Zero's hand, which was strapped to the iron chair. That's when she noticed that his fingers were covered with scars from blood draws, and his wrists were thin and bony, with deep marks from the straps. Renata touched those scars and suddenly felt an unspeakable sadness. A person lying here every day, with no one to play with, the whole world unaware of his existence. He didn't even have a name. His sole purpose seemed to be to provide blood and receive injections. And yet, he could still smile. Silent tears fell into Zero's palm.
"Why are you crying?" Zero asked, feeling the dampness on his fingers.
Renata wiped her face. "Are you suffering?"
"Anyway, every day is the same, but why are you crying?" Zero stubbornly fixated on this question.
Renata hesitated for a while. She didn't want to say those words that would embarrass her—how she cared about Zero's feelings. No one had ever needed her concern before, and she had never cared about anyone else. If one of the children around her quietly disappeared or reappeared, she would silently accept it and gradually forget. Here, every child only needed to live quietly.
"Tell me," Zero pleaded.
"When I look at you like this," Renata said softly, "I feel very sad."
"I knew it!" Zero smiled, the teeth behind his mask gleaming.
"Why did you have to ask?" Renata was a bit annoyed.
"I wanted to hear you say it," Zero said, looking up at the ceiling, dazed. "I've never seen someone else cry. When I was little, it was only me who cried, but I never saw what I looked like crying… because there was no mirror."
"When someone cries for you, it means you're something. Otherwise, you're nothing," he said softly.
In that sentence lay so much loneliness—a loneliness as vast as the glaciers on the tundra outside, accumulating year after year in the snowy winds, never melting, rising higher and sharper. But one day, when the weight of loneliness exceeded its limit, it would collapse, and an avalanche would engulf the entire world.
Renata reached out and gently touched his forehead, and Zero closed his eyes like a small wild animal, silently enjoying it. Sometimes, all a person needs is the warmth of a touch, as if that means possessing the whole world.
"Have you ever seen a black snake?" Renata asked quietly, "a really big one."
Zero opened his eyes and gave a mysterious smile. "Of course! That's my pet!"
Bondarev's face was purple, veins bulging, a sign of severe oxygen deprivation. His heart was still desperately trying to pump oxygen throughout his body, but it was all in vain. No matter how hard it worked, a heart couldn't save a person whose lungs were filled with gel.
The doctor struck the wooden clappers again. The boy began to tremble violently, like an epileptic having a seizure. The sound of the clappers controlled him, interrupting the chant. Bondarev could once again breathe normal air, and that cold gas felt so sweet. He staggered backward, coughing violently.
"Anton's ability is to transform the air within his domain into a gel. We don't yet understand the physics behind this power, but you've seen its incredible potency. Anton can even neutralize the kinetic energy of a high-speed bullet using this gelled air," the doctor said.
"Incredible," Bondarev said, panting.
The doctor had wanted him to experience this terrifying supernatural power, but the experience was far too harrowing—he felt as though he had just returned from hell. As the air was still dissolving, Bondarev noticed a transparent figure flash past his side. It was just a fleeting moment, a fraction of a second, but Bondarev, who had undergone strict KGB training, was absolutely certain it was a person—a transparent person! Under normal circumstances, this person would have been undetectable, but they became visible in Anton's domain. Anton's ability had frozen even the shape of the wind, leaving the shadow of the transparent person in the gelled air.
"Intruder!" Bondarev shouted. He immediately put on his infrared night vision goggles. In the infrared vision, a blurry shadow darted into the engineering elevator. The seemingly unmanned elevator began to ascend with a rumbling sound. The doctor also reacted; he and Bondarev simultaneously lunged, sliding across the ice to the base of the elevator, and raised their guns to shoot. The bullets struck the metal panel beneath the elevator, causing sparks to scatter.
"That's a titanium-aluminum alloy bulletproof plate!" the doctor said.
"Damn! Where did he come from?"
"He came in with you," the doctor said. "The engineering tunnel you used has been abandoned. After we discovered the dragon's lair, we dug a new, more convenient passage, directly leading to the underground research lab of the port. No one could enter from that passage; it's equipped with the most advanced infrared warning system. But the original engineering tunnel doesn't have any alarm equipment. The mechanical password doors should have been enough, but you managed to break through both doors."
Bondarev shivered violently. He had also put on his infrared night vision goggles in the tunnel to ensure he wasn't being followed, but he hadn't seen any shadow. If this transparent man had indeed followed him in, the only explanation was that the intruder had been clinging tightly to Bondarev's back, like Bondarev's own shadow. When Bondarev turned, he turned too; when Bondarev entered the elevator, so did he. He would never enter the infrared field of view. At any point, he could have easily slit Bondarev's throat!
A deafening explosion came from above—apparently, the intruder had triggered the laser mines.
"Though they're small mines, their power is enough to sever the tracks of an armored vehicle. In a confined space, they're even more effective," Bondarev said.
The doctor nodded in approval—Bondarev was indeed a KGB elite, strictly adhering to the KGB doctrine of never leaving an escape route for those who come after.
A few minutes later, the two of them charged into the smoke-filled engineering tunnel, weapons in hand. All the laser mines had exploded, their crisscrossing blasts capable of blowing an elephant to pieces. Yet they found no blood or bodies, and there was no one in the infrared field of view either. The intruder had triggered the mines but had still managed to escape.
"That cannot be human," the doctor said.
"There's a hybrid in this port," Bondarev said, "someone who's been waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate the lair, and today they finally succeeded! We must immediately seal the port—no one is allowed to leave. There's no communication equipment here; all radio transmissions are monitored. If we enforce a complete lockdown, no information will leak!"
The doctor pulled out a remote and pressed the red button. Sirens blared, and warning lights bathed the ice field in a blood-red glow. Searchlights shot out blinding white beams, and the entire port awoke like a giant beast.
The alarm startled Renata, and then came a loud rumbling in the hallway. Iron bars dropped outside the doors and windows of each room. The security system was locking down the entire floor, with every exit and entrance secured, requiring an encrypted key to open. She was trapped inside Room Zero. Upstairs, there were hurried, clattering footsteps—fierce nurses abandoning their drinks and cards to rush out of the office. Within minutes, they would discover Renata's intrusion into the restricted area. No child who entered here ever came to a good end, and Renata was so panicked that she wanted to cry.
"Don't be afraid, I'll help you. After all, we're friends," Zero smiled.
"What should I do?" Renata asked.
She was already terrified—Zero was strapped to an iron chair in a restraint jacket, barely able to move a finger. How could he possibly help? But Zero's eyes were convincing—he didn't look like he was joking; he smiled earnestly. This self-proclaimed madman had a commanding presence when he was serious.
"It will require a bit of a price."
"Okay," Renata nodded. She was willing to pay whatever price necessary if it meant she could return to her room.
"Come closer to me," Zero said.
Renata stepped closer to the chair.
"Unfasten my wrist strap," Zero added.
Renata instinctively wanted to back away. She wasn't foolish—if Zero were harmless, the nurses wouldn't have strapped him in a restraint jacket and locked him in here. Opening the wrist strap would mean freeing his hands. Nobody knew if what would emerge was still the boy who wanted to be her friend, or perhaps a monster.
"How can I help you if I'm bound?" Zero kept smiling, but his voice suddenly changed—slow and solemn, full of majesty. "Woman, do you see the throne? Why do you not bow down?"
His pupils turned a deep, dark gold, illuminating the entire room. His breath mixed with heavy nasal sounds, like a god speaking from his throne in the clouds. With just one look, Renata found herself unable to look away. She was submerged—drowning in cold water, undergoing a baptism. The one holding her up, preventing her from sinking, was Zero, as imposing as a father or an older brother. She knelt beside the chair and obediently unfastened Zero's wrist strap.
"I like obedient girls," Zero's voice was icy, devoid of any emotion.
He flexed his stiff wrists, then grabbed Renata's shoulders, lifting the petite girl up and forcing her to straddle his legs. He tore open her nightgown. Her delicate, yet-to-develop body was white like goat's milk, and any touch seemed like a desecration. But Zero's hands cruelly squeezed her flesh, leaving purple bruises all over. Renata's mind went blank. She didn't understand what was happening. In an instant, Zero had changed. Moments ago, they had been friends; now Zero had transformed into a beast that wanted to devour her. Could all those pitiful looks have been just a way to lure her into a trap?
Zero paused his assault on her, rubbing his wrist strap against the iron corner of the chair. The strap was fraying, and so was his wrist. He wiped the blood onto Renata's small chest as if painting some kind of bloody totem on her body. The warning lights dyed Renata's skin a dangerous and tempting red, her blood-smeared, pale body beautiful in a dazzling yet grotesque way.
"Is this what's called 'rape'?" Renata had heard the word before, but she always thought it belonged to the adult world, something far away from her. Zero pulled off his mask and bit down hard on Renata's lips, drawing blood. Renata didn't know if Zero wanted to rape her or devour her. In extreme fear, she started to cry loudly.
"Restrain Zero!" The head nurse's roar was deafening.
The head nurse jammed an electric baton into Zero's mouth, while a stout nurse took the opportunity to pull Renata away from him. Several other strong nurses pounced on Zero, pressing him firmly onto the chair. Zero let out a hoarse scream, struggling with all his might, his blood staining the restraint jacket red.
"Sedative! Give him a high dose of sedative!" the head nurse shouted.
One nurse raised her leg, her booted foot stepping on Zero's wrist, and held a high-pressure air syringe, using it like a chisel to forcefully inject it into Zero's upper arm. The high-pressure air automatically pushed the sedative in, and the effect took hold instantly. Zero's struggling grew weaker, and after half a minute, he lay still like a corpse, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The head nurse slapped Renata hard across the face. "Look at what you've done! A girl like you, who no one likes, deserves to be eaten by the devil!"
Renata's gaze was vacant, not yet recovered from the fear of what had just happened.
"Should we give her a shot of sedative too? Almost getting raped by a madman can't feel good," a nurse suggested.
The head nurse glanced disdainfully at Renata's bloodstained body. "Maybe she likes the feeling of being raped, huh? The little girls are starting to develop, aren't they? They'll start wanting men too! Leave her be—getting raped is her own fault! I bet she's just pretending to be pitiful!"
"The doctor is on his way," another nurse came running in, shouting. "The other children are in their rooms, and there's nothing unusual."
"Chain Zero up, take 38 back to her room, and lock her in. Everyone, keep an eye on every room—no unnecessary movements! This entire floor is now under lockdown!" The head nurse removed her white coat and straightened her uniform skirt. "I'm going to report to the doctor!" The forty-something woman swayed her hips, her heels clicking sharply as she left.
Renata watched as the nurses brought in a thick iron chain, tightly binding Zero's arms and legs, fastening it with pliers. A nurse led Renata, almost naked, out of the room. Just before she left, she felt a warmth on her back, as if someone were watching her, bidding her farewell. Instinctively, she turned her head, and for a fleeting moment, she saw Zero—his expression still blank—suddenly blink. Only Renata saw this little movement. His eyes were still just as lively and mischievous.
His lips moved, mouthing the words: "Good night."