Chapter 57 Pei Qing's hands and feet...
Pei Qing used both her hands and feet, extending all her tendrils to support herself against the wall, while Xiao Hei's snake tail lifted her high, sending her up.
After struggling to get up, Pei Qing finally saw a partially collapsed passage not far from the pit she had fallen into, which seemed to lead to some area.
With Xiao Hei's help, and most importantly, her own hard work, Pei Qing cleared the passage, only to discover, to her dismay, that the passage led directly to the pipe she had just fallen into.
No wonder it was so hard to get up there; there was a proper path right next to it. Who knew I'd be so unlucky as to fall into a pit?
Pei Qian rubbed her head a few times, feeling a headache coming on, and staggered back to rest. After a short rest, she moved her temporary lodging to the side of the passageway, keeping a close watch in case she missed any important information that might hinder her escape.
On the other side, Turansen had accurately pinpointed Pei Qing's location and was whispering in Feng Qi's ear while holding a miniature detector.
"She's right beneath our feet. Just now, for some reason, her life activity intensified, and her mental energy fluctuations increased. I've now pinpointed her exact location, but..."
"But what? It's very likely she's been locked up in a lab; there are many underground labs."
“But this location is very strange.” Turansen looked at the detector, carefully choosing his words. “I have marked all the locations based on the map I obtained before, and roughly mapped out the architectural structure of this wicked research institute, but her location does not appear in any of the marked locations.”
"Instead, we need to go even deeper underground. If it weren't for the constant fluctuations in mental energy, I would have thought she was already dead and buried."
As soon as Turansen finished speaking, she realized that she seemed to have made an inappropriate joke. She nervously pursed her lips and carefully observed Feng Qi's increasingly ugly expression.
"I'm sorry, you know, I sometimes speak without thinking. I didn't mean it, really..."
Feng Qi realized he had frightened the man, so he looked up and patted Turansen on the shoulder, comforting him, "It's not your fault. Although you did say something unpleasant, you're just stubborn but soft-hearted. You don't mean any harm. Just be more careful next time."
Turansen then perked up, snuggling closer to her and tilting his head to ask, "I know, I know, it's my fault, it's my fault. You arrived in this godforsaken place about a year before me, did you remember something I don't know?"
“Yes, there is something,” Feng Qi nodded, then continued, “I suspect Pei Qing might be on the eighth underground level.”
"Eight floors? But there are only seven underground floors, right? Could it be... that they lied to us?"
"It shouldn't be. We're all in the same boat, there's no reason for us to lie to them. It just means that this news was kept very well hidden."
This completely piqued Turansen's curiosity. She quickly moved closer, shaking her head back and forth, "Tell me, tell me, stop keeping me in suspense, I'm getting so impatient."
"Um, I—"
"Beep—Beep—Beep—Attention all personnel in the rest area—Rest time is over—Physical training is about to begin—Beep—"
Feng Qi had just opened her mouth when she was interrupted by the urgent broadcast. Helpless, she got up and shrugged at Turansen.
Turansen was absolutely furious. Her gossip-loving spirit, which had just been ignited, was mercilessly extinguished. She stood up angrily, waving her fists and shouting, "Damn it! I'll smash that damn artificial idiot one of these days!"
"Don't be angry, I'll tell you when we go to the cafeteria tonight."
"It's settled! If you keep stringing me along, I'll... I'll... forget it..."
"Hahaha, don't worry."
Amidst laughter and chatter, the two figures gradually disappeared into the distance.
"Little Black, open your mouth."
"Sweetie~ Let me take a look, I'll make you some canned soup later~"
"Why not? Don't run away! I'm just a little curious and want to take a look. I really don't mean anything by it, believe me!"
"Add a roasted rat too!"
"I can't add any more, I really can't add any more! Rubbing against me won't work, and my sweet talk won't work either~"
After going through countless hardships and using various forms of coercion and enticement, Pei Qing finally managed to pin Xiao Hei to the ground and pry open his mouth.
The snake's tail patted Pei Qing's back lightly, but she ignored it completely, pressing it against her chest and staring intently at it.
She had been interested in the thin membrane crack at the corner of Xiao Hei's mouth and its fangs for a long time, but had been too busy to observe them. Today, she finally got her chance!
Pei Qing was incredibly excited and couldn't wait to cup the snake-man's cheeks, squeezing his cheeks together slightly to make his pale pink mouth pout. The snake-man flicked his tongue uneasily, his tail swishing back and forth on the ground, but he didn't stop Ms. A's actions.
"They're quite cute."
Pei Qing's fingertips slid along the two thin slits at the corners of his mouth, pinching his chin to observe carefully. The thin membrane of the slits was folded inward, somewhat like a smooth, flesh-colored leather bag, very thin and tough, which allowed the snake-man to swallow larger prey.
She pried open the snake-man's mouth, revealing sharp, venomous fangs growing from the upper part of his mouth. Pei Qing felt she should be afraid, but in fact, she suddenly felt a strange excitement.
"Fangs... so this is what they look like..."
Pei Qing had heard that fangs were very sensitive, covered with tiny nerves and venom glands. Thinking this, she slowly stroked the snake-man's soft lips with her fingers, touching the tip of the fang.
"Little Black, please don't bite me! I'm very fragile. Even a little bit of your venom will kill me."
Xiao Hei could understand most of what Pei Qing said and clearly understood its meaning: die, if he died, would he be like those mutated rats?
He lay there stiff and lifeless, blinking nervously. Even as waves of tingling pain shot through the base of his fangs, he dared not relax for a moment, fearing he might unconsciously inject the venom.
Pei Qing took everything in, her eyes narrowing slightly. Before she spoke, the snake-man's tongue kept brushing against her fingers, leaving a warm mark. However, after she finished speaking, even the tongue obediently retreated and softly rested to the side.
Clear saliva dripped continuously, wetting Pei Qing's fingers. She rubbed the tips of the fangs, feeling the snake-man's muscles trembling. "So obedient," she thought.
The snake-man's chest and abdomen rose and fell, the familiar curves and skin color reminding Pei Qing of that dream. If they were all snake-men, would their structures be the same?
Although she spoke with a questioning tone, she was certain that it was the same. Her hand, restless, reached up to the large tail hanging by her side and stroked it, touching the tip of the tail.
The snake-man's body suddenly twitched twice uncontrollably. He felt like he was sick. Why did his face suddenly become so hot? His face turned red and his ears turned red and purple, but unfortunately, they were hidden in the darkness and Pei Qing did not see them.
She picked up the tail and stroked it for a long time, but couldn't find any familiar structures.
She touched it again in disbelief, but there was nothing there. This was something she had just learned! Could it be that every snake is different? Pei Qing fell into deep doubt.
With a "splash!" she accidentally fell into the water and floated up, looking utterly hopeless.
The cold water jolted Pei Qing back to her senses, and she began to reflect on her behavior. She covered her face, unable to bear looking at herself. What had she just done? She had actually flirted with an idiot!
Speaking of which, isn't her mental state a bit too excited? It seems like she's been in a strange mental state ever since she woke up from that dream. Oh no, is she really going to fall into depravity?
She refused to submit at all costs back then, but now she's actively pursuing him. Isn't that a bit... But then again, it doesn't seem like it's impossible, since... she didn't refuse, did she?
Heh, her moral standards are getting lower and lower, Pei Qian cursed herself in her heart.
"Hold on, Pei Qing," Pei Qing told herself. "Persistence is victory."
That dream had a huge impact on her, to the point that she now gets a conditioned agitation whenever she sees a snake's tail. You can't blame her for that; she's a victim too.
When Xiao Hei saw that she hadn't come up for a long time, it thought there was some danger, so it used its long tail to pull her up.
Pei Qing was pulled out of the water, soaking wet. Looking at the snake-man with a worried expression, she felt very comforted.
In fact, Xiao Hei's expression seemed almost completely unchanged; it's too difficult to get a snake to have an expression. But she could sense subtle emotional fluctuations, and Xiao Hei was very worried about her.
Sigh, what a good child. Xiao Hei's IQ is probably not even ten years old yet, right? No, no, I have to hold back. Persistence is key. At worst, she can just stay in the water today and wait until the swelling completely subsides.
Haha, actually it's not bad, it's cool, Pei Qing thought with a wry smile.
Little Black didn't know what had happened. Thinking it had upset someone, it cautiously approached and gently wrapped its tail around Pei Qing's leg, then nestled into her arms.
"Here, take the tail."
Pei Qing liked to rub the big tail whenever she had nothing to do. Over time, Xiao Hei would often stuff the tail into her arms.
She casually pinched the tip of the tail; it was cool, soft, and supple—a great stress reliever. It felt like a fully inflated balloon that wouldn't burst.
Sigh, what am I going to do?
"Nolan?"
Inside the cafeteria, Turansen shouted while holding his tray, only lowering his voice when he noticed the subtle glances from those around him.
"You mean General Nolan, who resigned nine years ago due to the failed operation?"
“Yes, that’s the general.” Feng Qi put down his plate and sat in the corner.
"He disappeared shortly after resigning from his position."
"It's normal for him to disappear; he might have just retreated to the countryside due to too much pressure."
"No, I suspect he came here as well, and is very likely one of the earliest test subjects."
"Why do you think that? And what does this have to do with Pei Qing?"
"Because once when I was rummaging through things in ...'s office, I saw his name followed by a string of codes. Before I could even read the contents carefully, I was discovered and got a good beating."
"That doesn't necessarily mean he's here. It could also be some secret mission being carried out by the military."
"Have you forgotten why we were sent here?" Feng Qi retorted.
“Of course I remember,” Turanson’s emotions subsided. “Wasn’t it because those lunatics wanted to know just how far the gene serum could modify a person? Plus, our mental strength is pretty good, but it’s not important within the family…”
“Mental strength…” As he was speaking, Turansen suddenly realized something and looked sharply at the person next to him.
“Yes, it’s mental strength and physical constitution.” Feng Qi nodded in affirmation.
"Have you ever wondered where the initial research data came from? The stable development of gene-based drugs requires repeated experiments. Due to the uncertainty of gene-based drugs, the mental strength and physical condition of the test subjects must be higher than the drug's threshold for the experiment to succeed. And I have S-level mental strength, which makes the gene-based drugs very stable."
Intelligent people often communicate with just a few words; a glance is enough for them to understand each other without saying a word.
“Yes, what you said makes a lot of sense… People with high mental strength levels are mostly within the military, all of them are registered. Besides, the people behind this shady research institute are complicated. The person who sent you here… must have been involved long ago…” Turansen muttered to himself.
"That's right. There's no way that coincidence could happen in the world. When coincidences reach a certain point, they're no longer coincidences. If I remember correctly, Admiral Nolan not only has a high level of mental strength, but he's also an O. From any perspective, his experimental value is extremely high."
Feng Qi continued.
“I suspected from the beginning that there might be another space underground, and now it has been confirmed by a twist of fate. Pei Qing’s constitution is extremely special, and Linka will not let her die. We need to find someone to help us.”
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