The researchers tirelessly pressed the power-on button every five seconds.
Although each connection lasted only five seconds, the unbearable pain remained intensely within his body, offering no respite even during the brief power outages.
It was a raw, unbearable pain, constantly pushing him to the limits of human endurance.
This repetitive cycle continued for an unknown amount of time, until Mu Yiran was drenched in sweat, beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead. Suddenly, a few drops landed on his eyelashes, blurring his vision.
Mu Yiran blinked, but to no avail; the sweat seemed to deliberately obstruct his view of the phone screen.
He closed one eye and tried to see with the other, but unfortunately, after a while, the sweat also clouded that eye. He
couldn't see anything clearly; no matter how much he blinked, the sweat remained firmly stuck.
A mere second's delay would mean certain death for either him or Ke Xun.
Ke Xun… he was trying so hard to live on with him.
Mu Yiran took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, release.
Pause.
Would the power come back on? It definitely would, it had to.
The moment the current coursed through his body, it seemed to bring a sense of relief for the first time.
Mu Yiran kept his eyes closed, dancing on the edge of a knife, silently counting to dangerously sustain their lives together.
The sweat on his eyelashes became sticky and uncomfortable. Mu Yiran opened his eyes, trying to move his eyelids. The phone screen unexpectedly became clear again, but the next moment he saw a low battery warning.
The battery was down to 4%.
And there was still a very, very long time until dawn.
What would happen to Ke Xun if the phone ran out of battery and shut down automatically?
Ke Xun couldn't possibly have imagined that he had been silently counting the time, so he couldn't possibly use the same method to release the phone on time with him. Even if Ke Xun had, he wasn't sure if Mu Yiran would stop counting silently if he wasn't sure if Mu Yiran would use this method.
3% battery remaining.
They couldn't make a sound, couldn't exchange signals, and the moment the phone screen went black, there could only be one outcome.
What to do? Was it really over?
2% battery remaining.
In all the life-and-death situations they'd faced, people had been leaving along the way.
Mu Yiran thought he was used to separation and indifferent to death, but at this moment he realized he still couldn't accept it.
1% battery remaining.
What would Ke Xun do?
He would say "goodbye" to him.
This guy… he had expected this.
The phone screen flashed the shutdown screen, and in less than three seconds, the entire C-zone laboratory was plunged into endless darkness.
Mu Yiran didn't continue counting silently; he just gripped the wire tightly in his hand.
The excruciating pain, pushing one to the brink of death, crashed down like a tidal wave, each millisecond feeling like being in the deepest hell, shattering one's heart and soul, breaking one's nerves.
The release was simple: just let go, just a gentle release, and one could be free, one could live.
Sweat poured from his body like a burst dam. Mu Yiran looked up into the dark void, sweat stinging his eyes, but this pain paled in comparison to the agony he was enduring.
Time seemed to slow down cruelly at times like this, each second stretched infinitely, viscously and slowly slipping by.
Throughout the ordeal, Mu Yiran repeatedly hoped, even longed for, even yearned for Ke Xun to let go.
Even death would be better than this pain.
But Ke Xun, that stubborn fool, just clung to him, silent and unyielding, refusing to let go even in death.
Even without being gagged or silenced, that guy would still have remained silent, stubbornly fighting to the death.
Suddenly, the forced fight turned into a contest of wills, a battle to see who would give in first, a battle to see who was the stronger one.
Mu Yiran suddenly realized that this kid had probably wanted to take him down for a long time.
But ironically, in taking him down, he also died at his hands.
Time continued to flow slowly, the intense pain persisted, and continued to accumulate.
In the deathly darkness, the two, unable to see or feel each other, relied on the death current that connected their lives, to face the inferno together in a strange way.
As if countless cycles of life and death had passed, in exhaustion and weak breathing, the death current finally broke.
Footsteps clattered away, the leather straps binding his body loosened instantly, and suddenly, he could hear his own faint breathing in the silence.
Li Yaqing's sobs suddenly erupted, a hoarse, incoherent cry: "I didn't mean to... I didn't want to kill anyone... Why, why did I have to encounter this..."
No one could answer her.
Mu Yiran had never felt so weak, even reaching into his pocket for his phone was incredibly difficult. His entire hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the phone when he pulled it out.
He swiped the screen, turned the light to Ke Xun on the other side of the screen. Ke
Xun was trying to yawn, but seemingly too exhausted, he only opened his mouth before giving up, tears welling in his eyes as he laboriously turned his head to look at him. He
didn't even have the strength to smile; he only managed a slight smile, moved his lips, then closed his eyes and slumped completely into the chair.
Who could imagine the pain they had endured all night, and the sheer willpower with which they had managed to get through it all?
Mu Yiran put down her phone and closed her eyes.
The darkness was still there, the lab was still there, the painting was still the same painting.
But something, or someone, seemed different now.
Mu Yiran was awakened by a loud banging on the door. Outside, Wei Dong's panicked, anxious, even pitiful cries echoed: "Ke'er! Ke'er! Don't scare me! Open the door! Open the door, Ke'er! You're alright, I know you're alright, open the door, Ke'er!"
Mu Yiran turned on her phone again, shining the light beside her. She saw Ke Xun still asleep, slumped in the chair like a sleeping husky.
Mu Yiran struggled to her feet. The intense pain from last night was real, and its lingering effects remained.
She took a few unsteady steps, slowly walked to the door, and with great effort, opened it.
Wei Dong, Qin Ci, and Zhu Haowen stood outside the door. Their expressions relaxed at first glance upon seeing Mu Yiran, but they were immediately stunned by his appearance. Qin Ci hurriedly asked, "What happened? Where is the others?"
Wei Dong had already rushed into the room without a care. The moment he saw Ke Xun on the chair, Wei Dong roared and lunged forward, his legs giving way as he knelt beside Ke Xun, wailing, "Ke'er—Ke'er, wake up—don't scare me—I know you're not dead, you won't die—Ke'er—Ke'er, tell me you're just asleep—you must be asleep—wake up, Ke'er—"
"I fucking…I'm just asleep…get off me, you're crushing me…" Ke Xun's weak voice rang out from above Wei Dong's head.
"..." Wei Dong looked up at him in astonishment, then grabbed his face and pulled it from side to side. "You're not dead?! You're not dead?! I'll fucking kill you! That's great—that's great—waaaaah, I'll fucking kill you—"
Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen, who came in afterward,
were speechless. "Stop crying...you're all over me with your snot..." Ke Xun struggled to sit up, his hands trembling as he tried to push away Wei Dong, who was still clinging to him.
"You're fucking stinky and you're complaining about my snot..." Wei Dong wiped his face and stood up, shining a flashlight on Ke Xun. "Why are you so wet? Did you pee your pants?"
"...You can pee all over yourself like that?" Ke Xun leaned back in his chair, not wanting to get up, propping his forehead with one hand and looking up at Mu Yiran, who was standing against the doorframe.
He couldn't help but laugh. If they were going to be weak, they would be weak together. That was good.
If they were going to live, they would live together.
Li Yaqing had fainted from crying. Beside her lay the lifeless Cai Xiaoyan. After two consecutive nights of such pain, fear, and moral upheaval, the girl was likely completely broken.
"Where's Zhang Hanrui?" Ke Xun asked Qin Ci. The two of them had been in Experiment Area D last night.
Qin Ci was silent for a moment before speaking: "Let's leave here and go upstairs. We'll find out when we get there."
Seeing Ke Xun trembling as he stood up, Zhu Haowen helped him up before Wei Dong could. Qin Ci supported Mu Yiran, and Wei Dong carried the unconscious Li Yaqing on his back. The group left the underground experimental area, exited through a small iron gate, and went to the cafeteria on the first floor. There,
they found Qi Qiang, Huang Pi, and Xu Zhen, who had been in Experiment Area A last night. However, Qi Qiang had a laceration on his head, his face covered in blood, and he was washing his wounds with water. Xu Zhen's elbows, knees, and legs were also covered in bruises.
"What happened?" Wei Dong asked in surprise. "You guys were beaten? That shouldn't be the case. Isn't Experiment Area A just noise?"
Xu Zhen's face was extremely pale. "It is just noise, but this noise is just too unbearable..." She glanced at Qi Qiang as she spoke. "His head injury is from hitting his head against the wall because he couldn't stand the noise."
She didn't say how she got her injury, but it was obviously the same as Qi Qiang's.
"Looks like Haowen and I are lucky," Wei Dong said with a look of relief. "Luckily, Ke'er had a good idea; once you faint, you won't know anything. Ke'er, what about you guys? How did you get through last night?"
Ke Xun didn't have the strength to answer. She slumped onto the table, closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep. She heard Mu Yiran sitting next to her briefly recount what happened last night, leaving everyone shocked and silent.
"What about the girl who shared a room with you?" Xu Zhen asked Qin Ci.
Qin Ci's voice was low as he answered with only one sentence: "She underwent a lobotomy."
Another long silence fell over everyone.
It seemed that Zhang Hanrui hadn't been lucky; she had woken up from her unconsciousness halfway through.
"Is she still alive?" Ke Xun suddenly looked up and asked.
"Alive," Qin Ci paused, "but... she's lost her speech and most of her bodily functions, and she's lost the ability to think." She's
practically a vegetable.
"Dongzi, go down and carry her up," Ke Xun said to Wei Dong. "She's still alive."
Qin Ci said, "I'll go. I just put her on the bed in the lab temporarily. She... she's a little incontinent."
When Qin Ci carried Zhang Hanrui up, her clothes were covered in filth. However, among the remaining people, only Xu Zhen and Li Yaqing were women. Li Yaqing was still unconscious, and the men couldn't help clean her up, so they looked at Xu Zhen.
"I'm almost dead myself, why should I care about someone who's half-dead?!" Xu Zhen refused expressionlessly.
"Now, let's decide the order for taking numbers tonight." A hoarse voice suddenly rang out; it was Huang Pi, who had never spoken before.