"I’ll take the deal!" Joy finally announced her decision after hearing deia’s words.
The other young doctors imdiately nodded in agreent. deia’s words turned out to be effective in discouraging them from leaving.
deia clapped her hands once. "Great! Now I would like to give you the first test."
Joy held her breath. "Test? What kind of test? You didn’t ntion it before."
"Oh, don’t worry. I won’t kill you just because you failed the test." deia smiled, but her eyes said otherwise. "The test is simple. You just have to make sure that my friend Tian doesn’t die."
It wasn’t like she cared about him or anything, she just didn’t want to deal with Ren’s shenanigan if his brother really died just because he blasted so explosive bombs.
"What ... What about us?!" The older doctors began to question their fate.
’Can I kill them?’ asked deia to the system.
She didn’t want to see their faces again after knowing what they had done to dozens of children.
[No, you can’t, Host. They’re still just underlings, not the mastermind behind the experints.]
[Based on their backgrounds, they had no other choice either.]
[The system forbids you to kill them.]
deia looked at the older doctors with disdain. Their desperation annoyed her, but she took a deep breath to calm her anger.
"Lucky for you, I’ve decided not to deal with you permanently," she said coldly. "But don’t think for a second that you’re off the hook. You’re still responsible for what happened to those children."
One of the doctors, a man with tired eyes, stamred, "We ... we had no choice! They threatened us!"
"Oh, spare the excuses!" deia held up her hand, silencing him. "Your life is no better than the hundreds of children you killed. Just be thankful that I’m not in the mood to torture you as well."
Actually, deia was in the mood to beat all the doctors into the pulp, but the system’s warnings kept her in check.
She crossed her arms. "Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to give you ten minutes to pack all your belongings, and then you have to leave this base. I’ll let you live freely, but if you dare to co back here, I guarantee you’ll never see the sun again."
"But ..." another doctor started but stopped when deia gave him a sharp look.
She said in a low voice. "Leave now before I change my mind."
None of them dared to speak again and imdiately left the room, along with the young doctors who imdiately went to the infirmary to see Tian. But when the bespectacled doctor was about to leave the room, deia stopped him, "Wait."
"What?" He grimaced as he touched his head. "Didn’t you tell us to leave?"
"Yes, I did." She said, "But you ... you really pissed off before, so I can’t just let you go."
The doctor chuckled. "You want to kill ?"
"Kill you? Nah, that’s too rciful for you."
Among the other doctors, he was the one who seed to enjoy using the children as lab rats the most. So deia felt uneasy letting him go without punishnt.
But since the system did not give permission to kill the doctors, deia thought of sothing else.
"Lucian," deia spoke nonchalantly. "Can you break his leg?"
The doctor’s face imdiately turned white. "W-wait, you can’t be serious!"
deia tilted her head slightly. "Oh, I’m always serious."
The door suddenly slamd shut when the doctor wanted to run away. Lucian’s erald eyes followed his every move, like a wolf intent on devouring its prey. "Which leg?"
deia tapped her chin lightly, pretending to think. "Actually, I’ve changed my mind. It’ll be hard for him to leave this place if we break his legs." She smiled broadly. "Let’s break both his hands instead. It’s not like he’s going to use his hands to heal anyone anyway."
The doctor stumbled backward, his breath quickening as panic overca him. "No! Please! How can I survive if you break my hands?"
"That’s not my problem." deia shrugged.
Monts ago he hadn’t cared about the children he was using as lab rats, so why should deia care about him now?
Lucian stepped forward. He used his ability to force the doctor to kneel and stretch his hands forward. "Hands it is."
[Host, you can’t do that! The system warned you not to hurt the doctors!]
’Really? I rember you just told not to kill the doctors.’
[This ... that is the sa thing!]
’No, it’s not.’
[The system will reduce half of your C-points if you don’t listen to the system’s warning.]
’But I’m not hurting the doctor.’ deia leaned back in her chair. ’Lucian is the one who will break his hands.’
[You’re the one who asked him to!]
’No, I didn’t. I just asked him a question and he interpreted it in his own way.’ deia replied, ’Besides, Lucian is not my slave. He’s not going to break soone’s hands just because I want him to.’
In other words, deia wanted the system to know that Lucian would break the doctor’s hands because he wanted to.
[Host you’re clearly manipulating the situation!]
’But did I break the rule?’
The system suddenly didn’t answer, so deia asked twice, ’Did I break your rules?’
After a long silence, the system finally gave her an answer. [No, you haven’t, host].
The corner of her mouth turned up slightly. ’Then, we don’t have a problem.’
On the other side, Lucian looked down at him with a faint smile. "Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick."
"No ... no!"
Lucian pressed the sole of his boot against the doctor’s trembling hand, applying just enough pressure to make him whimper. With a quick motion, Lucian stomped down.
The sickening crunch of bone echoed through the room, followed by the doctor’s anguished scream.
Lucian lifted his boot, revealing the mangled hand beneath. "One down."
The doctor clutched his shattered hand, sobbing uncontrollably. "Please ... stop ... I’ll do anything!"
Lucian crouched beside him, his voice calm and deliberate. "Anything, you say? Would you undo all the pain you have caused? Bring those children back to life?"
The doctor could only shake his head, unable to answer through his cries.
Lucian sighed and stood up again. "Then you are useless." Without hesitation, he brought his boot down on the other hand, another sharp crack echoed in the room.
deia watched the scene from her seat without flinching. She rested her chin on her hand. "From now on, I hope you’ll rember that every word that cos out of your mouth has consequences."
If only he hadn’t pissed her off by saying there was nothing wrong with using the children as lab rats, maybe she wouldn’t be so cruel to him.
"Is that enough?" Lucian turned to her. "Is there anything else you want to do?"
[Host, he follows your words!]
[He is your slave!]
’What slave?!’ deia thought, rolling her eyes. She was growing tired of the system’s constant comntary. ’He only asks my opinion, not my orders.’
Actually, deia wasn’t sure about that either.
It really seed like Lucian would kill soone if she asked him to.
But whatever. If she could play this card right, the system would have no reason to punish her.
"No, that’s enough." deia said, "I think he’s learned his lesson already."
deia watched the doctor grimace in pain, her expression remaining cold. She took one last look at him before heading for the door, Lucian following close behind.
"Ten minutes," deia’s voice carried no trace of sympathy. "If you’re still here when that ti is up, you’ll regret it."
The doctor, still clutching his broken hands, remained silence. His forr arrogance had evaporated, leaving him cowering before the rciless couple.
As they left the room, deia’s posture suddenly changed. All of her energy was suddenly gone after she had passed through the dangerous situation. She leaned against Lucian, letting him support her as she stumbled slightly.
"Lucian, I’m dead tired," she murmured, her tone suddenly soft.
Lucian imdiately wrapped an arm around her, steadying her. "I know." he said, "Let’s find a comfortable room for you to rest."
deia leaned into him more heavily. "I don’t want to deal with anything right now ... Not even the new doctors."
Lucian nodded in understanding, guiding her through the corridors of the base. He could tell she needed to disconnect from all the pressure and chaos, even if just for a little while.
"I’ll take care of everything," Lucian reassured her, his voice calm and steady. "You don’t need to worry about anything right now."
deia didn’t respond imdiately, but the tension in her body slowly began to ease as she allowed herself to lean on him completely. She wasn’t used to showing any form of weakness, but she knew Lucian wouldn’t think any less of her.
As they reached a quarters, Lucian opened the door and helped her inside. He gently guided her to the bed, where she collapsed onto the soft sheets. "I want to sleep forever."
Lucian took off her shoes, chuckling. "No, you don’t."
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