But no matter how reluctant Bryce was, Lin Xi eventually got the pass to the solitary confinement room.

More people on the ship than Bryce, who was worried about Lin Xi, were hoping that Lin Xi could extract some valuable information from Shizuo Ando.

The corridor leading to the solitary confinement cell was as dark and damp as before, reminiscent of a dungeon in a 19th-century castle. To conserve energy, even the lighting along the way to the cell had been turned off, leaving it gloomy. Footsteps echoed loudly on the metal floor, and from the end of the corridor came nightmarish whispers and sobs.

"They're the people in the solitary confinement cell; they're all mentally unstable."

The mercenary who led Lin Xi to the solitary confinement room noticed Lin Xi's hesitation. He turned around, holding a searchlight that illuminated Lin Xi's face, turning his jawline a pale, bluish-white.

He explained to Lin Xi with a wry smile.

"Although I can understand that some people can't handle the pressure and eventually have a mental breakdown, there have been far too many people brought to the solitary confinement room recently. If this continues, I estimate that the solitary confinement room on this floor will soon be overloaded."

As he spoke, he turned around and continued leading Lin Xi down the dark corridor.

Finally, he stopped at the very end of the corridor.

"Waaaaah, I was wrong, Liz, I was wrong. I didn't expect things to turn out like this... I don't understand... Oh God, what did I do to you... But it's okay, you wouldn't want that kind of fate... Maybe you'll be glad..."

A beast-like howl emanated from the other side of the iron gate, the irrational sound mingling with the dark, damp corridor, creating something chilling...

Lin Xi and the mercenary exchanged a glance.

“Professor Ando is right here,” the mercenary said.

He then used his biometrics to open the door to the solitary confinement cell.

“The doctor is restrained, so I don’t think he’ll just jump up and tear you to pieces.” The mercenary made a not-so-funny joke (which definitely came from John Bronson), then gestured for Lin Xi to go into the solitary confinement cell, but he himself stood outside the cell with his weapon in hand. He didn’t seem to intend to follow the normal procedure and be in the same cell with Lin Xi and Ando Shizuo.

Lin Xi wouldn't blame him for this; the mercenary was well hidden, but Lin Xi could still clearly sense his fear from behind that thin, taut face.

But... what exactly is he afraid of?

With that thought in mind, Lin Xi strode directly into the solitary confinement room.

Thank goodness, the lights weren't turned off to save energy. The place was brightly lit, from the ceiling to the floor, every corner was illuminated by the bright light.

In this room, Dr. Ando, ​​who was firmly bound to a small bed by plastic shackles, became particularly conspicuous.

He didn't look as bad as Lin Xi had imagined; in fact, he looked better than some ordinary crew members who had overdosed on food bags. He was just as thin and pale as ever (but who on the Sun God wasn't like that now?).

Lin Xi pulled out the only chair in the closed room and sat down in a safe spot.

Since hearing Lin Xi's voice outside the door, Ando Shizuo has become quiet. At this moment, he is staring at the surveillance camera in the solitary confinement room with his bloodshot eyes wide open.

But his gaze seemed to go beyond the camera and towards a distant place.

"Dr. Lin Xi..."

After a brief silence, the first words spoken by Shizuo Ando revealed a level of madness that was hard to detect.

"Professor Ando, ​​hello."

Lin Xi replied dryly.

He kept his voice very low, and he had already entered the solitary confinement room, but Ando looked as if he had been startled when he heard his response.

"Aaaaaaah, you've arrived—Mother of Insects—King of Alien Species—"

Professor Ando struggled on the bed. His body was incredibly flexible. Lin Xi was shocked to see his shoulder twist to one side as if it had been dislocated, while Professor Ando himself remained in that terrifying position, staring straight at Lin Xi.

“I made a mistake, Doctor, a very serious mistake.”

Dr. Ando muttered.

“It wasn’t Liz’s fault…those were all my children…”

He continued.

Lin Xi turned around and saw the mercenary at the door looking at the two of them curiously.

"Please accept my condolences, Professor Ando."

Lin Xi didn't know what to say, so he could only say this to the madman in front of him.

"No, no, no, this isn't too bad. I know you all think I'm crazy, and well, maybe I am, but as I lie here, I realize that maybe I didn't do anything wrong..."

Dr. Ando spoke in a strange tone, his voice hoarse and shrill, as if nails were gliding across a blackboard.

"The problem is with the ground milk."

His words were incoherent and almost illogical, but with just this one sentence, Lin Xi's entire body suddenly froze.

He sensed the mercenary's gaze behind him; he was certain that person was also intently listening to his conversation with Ando.

He stared at Professor Ando suspiciously, trying to find a trace of madness in his eyes, but strangely enough, at that moment Ando Shizuo looked extremely calm.

“I didn’t do anything wrong by killing Liz and the children, because even if I hadn’t killed them, they would have turned into those disgusting things in the end… those worms… Everyone who has consumed Earth Milk will not escape it. We are thieves, we are robbers, we stole food that didn’t belong to us, so in the end, we paid the price.”

Dr. Ando's voice contained a strange intonation that, at first glance, sounded very similar to the Sunu people's accent.

"Dr. Ando... what's the price? What is the price?"

Lin Xi originally wanted to ask Ando Shizuo about the Star Butterfly's pupation process, but after hearing Dr. Ando's words, his attention was completely drawn to it.

But the last vestige of clarity in Dr. Ando's eyes had begun to fade. He seemed oblivious to Lin Xi's question, rambling on and on, his pupils losing focus: "Either death, or becoming those lowly insects. They don't like waste; they'll create more lowly puppets from waste and food for you and your children to use… It's terrible, Dr. Lin Xi. You're a good man, but I can't bear this. I can't watch my wife and my children become those disgusting things. When I cut open Liz's body and saw those children, I knew I hadn't done anything wrong…"

"Dr. Ando?"

Lin Xi frowned.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about... You mentioned before that you wanted to see me..."

“Oh, yes, I want to see you, of course I want to see you. I need to tell you something—” Dr. Ando chuckled, “You should die, Dr. Lin Xi. Your awakening has ruined everything… Those Sunu people have lived peacefully on Sunu for so many years, they have struggled to survive, but the moment you began to awaken, everything changed… Everyone on the planet felt that change, a change that started deep within their bodies… And I’m quite sure that those on Earth who have consumed Earth Milk must feel it too… We are all changing, Dr. Lin Xi. For your sake, we are turning into insects. Your children will become our kings, and we… we will lose everything…”

As he spoke, Dr. Ando suddenly let out a sob of extreme pain.

"In the millions of years before you awaken, we possessed human bodies, we developed our own intelligence, we cultivated civilization… But now all of that will vanish—we will be reborn as insects, forever dwelling in the dark, sunless earth and among corpses. Our minds will hold nothing but you… your children… We are your slaves, and your food… This is truly terrible, Dr. Lin Xi. I beg you, commit suicide, for the happiness of all of us. The next egg of the Alien Mother may not awaken for several more millions of years. By then, humanity may have progressed to the point where it can escape this fate, but until then, we need your death—"

“Dr. Ando, ​​I am just an ordinary Earthling, you should know that. We even worked together at university, you have seen my file. When I was selected to join the Apollo mission team, I underwent a long period of physical testing, and there was nothing abnormal about me.”

Lin Xi had to try her best to remind Ando.

He could feel the mercenary's piercing gaze beside him, which made him extremely uncomfortable. Moreover, he could somewhat understand why Bryce had opposed his meeting with Ando Shizuo.

Once this man's crazy words are leaked, the crazy comments on the ship will only escalate.

"...I came to see you only to ask about Star Butterfly."

Lin Xi forced himself to look at Ando.

“I hatched a star butterfly, and it has now pupated. I looked at your notes before, but you didn't mention this at all—”

"That's not a Star Butterfly."

Shizuo Ando interrupted Lin Xi directly.

Because the answer was so absurd, Lin Xi didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Lin Xi noticed that even under such crazy circumstances, Ando Shizuo still seemed nervous and fearful when mentioning the Star Butterfly.

“I made a mistake, Dr. Lin Xi. I should have reminded you sooner.”

Ando Shizuo even began to whisper to Lin Xi in a serious manner.

“What we found…is not a Star Butterfly egg at all…it’s your Queen Beetle…your most beloved child…it will kill everyone here for you…”

As Shizuo Ando continued speaking, his words became increasingly outrageous, causing Lin Xi to furrow her brows more and more deeply.

He could sense that Ando truly believed what he had said, which he found absurd—but at the same time, Lin Xi felt a chill run down his spine, as if someone had pulled out his spine and then immersed it in ice water.

He glanced at his personal terminal, then let out a long sigh. He stood up and prepared to leave.

However, when Lin Xi looked towards the doorway, she couldn't help but pause slightly in surprise.

The mercenary who was supposed to be there had somehow disappeared.

Outside the open, locked room, there was only a chaotic darkness.

In a daze, Lin Xi even had the illusion that the entire Apollo spaceship had lost power, and the place was empty and pitch black, with the only light coming from the solitary confinement room where Lin Xi and the crazed Professor Ando were.

"Dr. Lin Xi...you should go to hell..."

And Ando kept repeating it behind his back.

"For everyone's sake, for humanity's sake, you should commit suicide. You should also kill that Ohmu that was mistakenly hatched; it will do even more terrible things to monopolize your love—"

When Ando repeatedly mentioned killing "Number One," a faint anger slowly spread in Lin Xi's heart.

"Shut up—Dr. Ando, ​​you're just—you're just crazy."

Lin Xi couldn't stand it and whispered.

He felt flustered and his head began to throb.

“I don’t know if you’re just imagining things, or… if you’ve heard John Bronson’s nonsense like others have, but I’m just an ordinary human being. I don’t have the magic to turn people into insects, and of course, considering we’re on a godforsaken planet, I can’t possibly have any children. Everything you’re saying is just meaningless madness—”

Lin Xi yelled at Ando while straining to look out the door, trying to spot the mercenary.

The man had clearly been right behind him, but now he had vanished like smoke.

At this moment, this matter seemed almost more unsettling than the strange, rambling ravings of Shizuo Ando.

"No...I'm not crazy...Dr. Lin Xi...I'm not..."

Ando rolled around in agony on the bed, his body convulsing slightly as if he were enduring intense torture.

"For God's sake—"

Lin Xi looked at Ando helplessly.

"Professor, what's wrong?"

He was worried that Ando might bite off his tongue during the spasm, so he couldn't help but take a few more steps toward Ando's bedside.

At that moment, Ando's body suddenly trembled violently, then calmed down.

The muscles in his face gradually relaxed, and his tightly closed eyes slowly opened.

Lin Xi saw a pair of unfathomable eyes, like a bottomless abyss, or a black hole that could trap people forever.

There was no madness, no fear, no trace of humanity, yet these were nonetheless human eyes.

The moment Lin Xi met Professor Ando's eyes, his muscles tensed to the extreme. He jumped back several steps to distance himself from Ando Shizuo, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest.

He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he knew he was terrified when he saw Shizuo Ando at that moment.

“Dr. Lin Xi, what you heard is not a crazy delusion, but the truth.”

Shizuo Ando stared at her intently.

"I have been trying to save the people on your ship. I have been sending signals, but unfortunately only a few people can understand what I mean..."

"You? Who are you?"

Lin Xi's back was pressed against the wall as he asked.

He suspected that this was Shizuo Ando's second personality, or some ancient ghost, or more likely, that he himself had completely gone mad.

Otherwise, why would he talk to someone who is wearing the skin of Shizuo Ando but whose consciousness is clearly not Ando's?

"I am the captain of the Providence, I am—"

"Lin—Lin Xi—Dr.—"

Dr. Ando's words were interrupted by a stammering voice.

Lin Xi suddenly turned his head and found that the mercenary who had disappeared earlier had returned to the door at some point. However, his face was ashen, and even his lips were colorless, as if he had just been severely frightened by something.

At this very moment, he stood blankly at the door, weapon in hand, staring intently at Lin Xi and Ando Shizuo.

"Bang--"

Almost at the same moment Ando was interrupted, the man, whose behavior had suddenly become strange, went limp and fell heavily back onto the hard, narrow bed in the solitary confinement room like a corpse.

Everything happened in a very short time, so fast that Lin Xiwan didn't even have time to react.

"Professor Ando? What's wrong—"

He rushed over and checked Ando Shizuo's pulse, only to find that Ando seemed to have simply gone into shock.

Lin Xi's body went limp, and she almost knelt down.

"Dr. Ando has lost consciousness. We need to get the medical technician down."

Then Lin Xi turned to look at the mercenary.

"Where did you go?!"

The mercenary's expression was dull, and his eyes were vacant.

"I...I...went out...on patrol..."

Lin Xi suspected that Professor Ando's previous crazy talk had affected the mercenary, who appeared unusually unnatural when facing Lin Xi, even stuttering when he spoke.

"Damn it—"

Seeing his slow reaction, Lin Xi turned her head away in annoyance.

His mind was in complete chaos, and he had no time to pay attention to this strangely behaving mercenary.

While Lin Xi was using the communicator to notify the medical officer to come down and treat the unconscious Professor Ando, ​​she stood by the small, narrow bed with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty.

He kept staring at Shizuo Ando's face.

The scene that had just occurred struck Lin Xi as bizarre and absurd.

The captain of the Providence?

It has to be said that it was this identity that made Lin Xi suddenly realize how ridiculous her previous seriousness was.

The ghost from over three hundred years ago has now entered the body of a mad scientist, forcing him to kill his wife and urging Lin Xi to die so that all humans won't turn into insects because of Lin Xi.

Such an absurd thing is too exaggerated to even be used in absurdist fiction.