"Oh my! What wind blows you here!!"
Zhan Huo Wei, who rarely visited the research institute,
encountered an even rarer woman within its walls!!
Hui Ye Ai Li.
Ai Li covered her mouth and giggled charmingly, "Little Wei, the last time I saw you, you were just a little girl. Look, you've grown taller than me."
Zhan Huo Wei hooked her arm around Hui Ye Ai Li's, acting as if they were sisters reunited after years apart,
and said with a friendly smile, "Compared to you, what am I? Look at you, still young and beautiful after all these years. Hey, honestly, what's your secret?"
"I'll teach you later, hehe!" Hui Ye Ai Li chuckled.
"Auntie Ai Li, why are you at our institute?" Zhan Huo Wei asked.
Hui Ye Ai Li's expression gradually calmed, saying, "Hui Ye's Head of External Technology is missing. Intelligence indicates he was last seen in the research institute. I'm here to investigate."
Suddenly, both women fell silent,
a short distance ahead, an even more stunning woman was approaching.
Ye Ying's expression was extremely cold,
it was evident she seemed to have gone through something terrible, exuding an aura of anger and sorrow.
Even so, Ye Ying's beauty surpassed either of them.
Ye Ying cast a sideways glance at the two unfamiliar women and continued walking.
Zhan Huo Wei suddenly exclaimed, "Subject 37!!"
Ye Ying paused, turning to look at Zhan Huo Wei, calmly stating, "What are you talking about? I am a researcher here."
"Don't mess around!" Zhan Huo Wei quickly ran to Ye Ying's side, gripping her shoulders tightly, excitement flooding her voice, "I personally treated your injuries, I couldn't possibly be mistaken!"
"A perfect physique, exquisite features, superhuman physical abilities! An ideal specimen for human augmentation experiments!!"
Zhan Huo Wei shouted excitedly, wishing she could dissect Ye Ying right then and there!
"Let go!" Ye Ying's fury ignited. She grabbed Zhan Huo Wei's wrist with one hand, and as her fingers tightened, Zhan Huo Wei felt a slight sensation of suffocation.
If Ye Ying exerted a little more force, Zhan Huo Wei would have suffocated completely.
But Zhan Huo Wei became even more ecstatic, holding her breath, her face turning red, she managed to gasp, "Yes! Yes! Superhuman strength! That's it! It's you!"
"If you let me augment you, I will sculpt you into something even more perfect!!!"
"It won't take long, just ten minutes!!"
Ye Ying's face darkened further with anger. Just as she was about to twist Zhan Huo Wei's neck,
Hui Ye Ai Li appeared in time, grasping Ye Ying's wrist and smiling kindly, "Little lady, she's an important figure, number three, within the institute. Show some restraint."
Ye Ying gnashed her teeth in anger, quickly released Zhan Huo Wei, and turned to walk away.
Watching Ye Ying's retreating back,
Zhan Huo Wei's emotions remained turbulent. Gasping for breath, she said, "Auntie Ai Li, do you know? She's a once-in-a-century talent!!"
"Oh?" Hui Ye Ai Li's interest was slightly piqued. "Since Little Wei says so, she must be good material. It's making me a bit excited too."
"Right!" Zhan Huo Wei exclaimed excitedly, "Let's team up and capture her. With Auntie Ai Li's help, we can fully augment her tonight!"
"No, it will only take an hour," Hui Ye Ai Li said with a happy smile.
Suddenly, all the lights in the Consciousness Lifeform Research Institute went out!!
Darkness instantly engulfed the light!
"Boom—!"
A powerful explosive sound shattered all the doors and windows!
Following that, dozens of dark figures flew in from outside the windows,
these figures moved with speed and agility, scattering around the institute.
Soon, sporadic gunshots rang out, followed by more and more gunshots.
The institute's personnel scrambled for cover, but couldn't escape the bullets, falling to the ground one after another.
Hui Ye Ai Li and Zhan Huo Wei quickly hid in a laboratory.
"Invaders? Who would be so daring?" Zhan Huo Wei exclaimed in panic, quickly trying to contact Huang Li and the Director.
Ai Li stood guard at the door.
But no matter how many times Zhan Huo Wei tried, all communications were jammed!
"The intruders are professional combat personnel! They've cut off all communications and power!"
Zhan Huo Wei said, then rushed to the laboratory's control panel, opening it to inspect, "Fortunately, the backup power hasn't been compromised!"
Ai Li calmly remarked, "Your institute has been quite lively recently!"
"The Grand Mentor disappeared here, and now there are unidentified intruders. Heh. Truly interesting."
Meanwhile,
Ye Ying hid in a dark corridor, listening intently to the gunfire outside.
A burst of neat, rapid footsteps approached,
Ye Ying's nerves instantly tensed, and she quickly retreated further into the darkness.
In the pitch-black darkness, Ye Ying groped as much as possible by feel, eventually reaching a high wall.
"This is a dead end, with no doors or windows. It will be troublesome if I get cornered."
Ye Ying quickly returned to the entrance, peered out, and assessed the situation ahead and behind.
Listening carefully to the location of the gunshots, she confirmed no one was nearby.
Ye Ying dashed out of the dark corridor and ran towards her quarters.
That's where Gu Ya's body was kept!!
It was still uncertain who the intruders were,
but they were killing indiscriminately. If they saw Gu Ya's body, they would surely shoot it immediately!
Fortunately, Ye Ying, guided by memory, reached her quarters without obstruction.
She retrieved Gu Ya's body from the cryogenic chamber, slung it over her shoulder, and rushed out.
Suddenly, a bullet pierced the darkness, flying directly into Ye Ying's left arm!
"Ah!!" Ye Ying cried out softly in the darkness,
but she had no time to attend to it, enduring the intense pain and continuing to run!
However, the enemy seemed capable of seeing in the dark, and two more bullets were fired.
To protect Gu Ya's body,
Ye Ying quickly ducked and dodged, but was shot in the right arm by another bullet!
Warm blood flowed from the wound, dripping onto the floor along her elbow.
Ye Ying panted, continuing to run forward by memory,
if she didn't run now, both she and Gu Ya's body would be killed!
Ning Yu, Liang Yu Wei, and Wang Shang Meng were all out on missions!
Yoda was nowhere to be found.
Now, only she had the ability to protect Gu Ya!
Neat footsteps echoed around her, approaching rapidly from a distance!
Ye Ying's breathing grew heavier, and Gu Ya on her back felt heavier too.
"Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!"
Three more fatal bullets pierced the darkness,
Ye Ying quickly ducked, the bullets grazing her left forehead, leaving a long bloody gash!
"Gu Ya!" Ye Ying endured the pain, feeling Gu Ya's body temperature, and whispered,
"My dear, I won't let you get hurt either."
The footsteps on both sides grew louder,
and with the loss of blood, Ye Ying grew weaker and weaker.
She was forced to a position outside a metal blast door, with no way forward or back. She had no choice but to push open the door and enter.
The moment the door was sealed,
the lights in the room instantly turned on.
Ye Ying startled, quickly turning to look behind her.
Inside the room, Hui Ye Ai Li and Zhan Huo Wei looked at Ye Ying in surprise.
Ye Ying glared at the two women with fierce coldness, her voice sharp, "Touch Gu Ya, and I'll kill you!"
"Gu Ya?"
Hui Ye Ai Li was even more surprised, quickly leaning closer, her expression instantly becoming playful.
"Oh dear, oh dear!" Hui Ye Ai Li shook her head and smiled, saying, "We've caused a misunderstanding. It's you, Miss Ye Ying."
"Who? Who is it?" Zhan Huo Wei, still not fully understanding, also came over to see.
"Isn't she my Subject 37? Who is Gu Ya? Ye Ying?" Zhan Huo Wei was bewildered.
Hui Ye Ai Li looked at the gunshot wounds on Ye Ying's arms.
The appearance of the wounds was highly abnormal, showing a spiral, twisted pattern, and the wounds were green!
Ai Li's expression immediately turned grave.
"Poisonous bullets! The fragments exploded inside your arms, damaging nerves and blood vessels, and the blood-activating factors prevented self-healing. Tissue necrosis has already occurred."
Ye Ying also gradually felt her arms losing strength,
but she still refused to put down Gu Ya, leaning against the blast door, her eyes fixed menacingly on the two women.
Ai Li quickly said, "Don't worry, Gu Ya and I are acquaintances. We won't harm him, quite the opposite, in the near future, I will need his help!"
"Why should I trust you!" Ye Ying asked calmly.
"Because you have no choice!" Ai Li said calmly. "If I wanted to kill you, you and Gu Ya would have been corpses by now."
Zhan Huo Wei chimed in, "That's right, that's right! I won't hurt you, but I do want... to make you even more perfect..."
Ye Ying looked at the two women.
Her lips had started to turn pale,
large beads of sweat formed on her scalp, dampening her hair, and trickling down her strands and cheeks.
She was in great pain!
But to protect Gu Ya, she had no other choice but to endure.
Ai Li continued, "The toxic fragments have destroyed the tissue in your arms. If not treated promptly, you will truly die!"
Ye Ying began to pant uncontrollably, her vision starting to blur.
After a long while,
Ye Ying gave up resisting, slowly lowering Gu Ya from her shoulder,
she collapsed beside Gu Ya, cradling Gu Ya's head in her arms,
and remained silent for a long time.
"Don't hesitate, little sister. What you should do now is to promptly accept our... 'augmentative treatment'," Ai Li said quickly.
Zhan Huo Wei exclaimed joyfully, "Yes!"
Ye Ying's expression was solemn as she asked, "Can you... really treat it?"
Ai Li and Wei exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously.
"Of course. Ten minutes... no, if it's just your arms, it will only take three minutes~"