Chapter 59, The Prison Arc, Final Chapter! The vast and boundless stars…
In the vast and boundless sea of stars, a fleet is sailing.
Almost simultaneously, all the transport starships received communications from their superiors.
The communication connected, and a superior's cold voice came through: "I heard the fleet was hijacked a few days ago?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. We have already urgently transported another batch of supplies to the research institute." The fleet commander nervously wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
"Since this happened so suddenly, I won't hold it against you this time. I hope you can get to the research institute ahead of time."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The person in charge didn't recklessly ask for the reason; she knew her superiors had their reasons. Some things were beyond the purview of someone as insignificant as her; she only needed to obey orders.
In a conference room of the Supervisory Council on the capital planet, a young man sat in the seat of honor, his expression haughty and his face cold.
The others sat on either side of him, their faces full of fawning and infatuation, completely oblivious to the young man's indifference.
If a politician were to come here, he would find that all those sitting below are officials of high status and wielding great power.
But now, those high-ranking officials sit here obediently, their eyes filled with utter infatuation, like dogs waiting for their master's charity.
The young man had black hair and black eyes, a handsome face, and upturned phoenix eyes. A small mole was below his left eye, giving him an air of cold indifference and allure.
He didn't even glance at the infatuated and admiring gazes of the officials below, and continued speaking to himself, "That Linka is indeed dishonest. If it weren't for the people I planted here today coming to inform me, I wouldn't have known that she had secretly destroyed almost all the core data and installed self-destruct devices in all the core laboratories."
"What are you guys good for? You're all useless. You didn't even notice this little trick in time, and I had to find someone to handle it myself."
The young man reprimanded them without any politeness, and the people below silently accepted it. Despite being high-ranking officials without exception, not one of them argued back; they all cowered like quails, accepting the accusations.
“You’re all so useless, what’s the point of you living? You can’t even handle the smallest things, you might as well just die.” The young man’s tone was vicious. “This month’s favor is canceled.”
"..."
Some wanted to argue, some wanted to plead, but when they looked up into the young man's abyss-like eyes, they were all captivated, their mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.
The young man lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes like black raven feathers, concealing all his emotions. After a moment, he seemed to get impatient and said indifferently, "Get lost."
No one dared to breathe loudly. One by one, they spontaneously formed a line and quietly left.
After everyone left, the young man sat alone in a chair, covering his face with his hands. His cheeks were flushed, and his pupils gradually turned into an inorganic silver-gray, gleaming with a strange light.
Her full lips parted slightly, and a plaintive, poignant voice echoed in the empty room.
"How long... will it be before you come to my side...?"
"I can't wait to see you... Ah..."
A day passed in the blink of an eye. Unlike his previous experience of secretly making portable bombs, Turansen could now freely use various experimental materials, greatly increasing his efficiency and, of course, his power.
They took the timer and the fixation device and headed to the eighth basement level to find Lina, but when they opened her office door, they found that she wasn't there.
Feng Qi suspected that she had been called away by Linka, so he didn't linger and left after taking his things.
"How could this happen? We didn't receive any prior notice?! What are we going to do now?"
In the head office, Lina looked anxious, while Linka calmly sipped her tea.
"What else can we do? Let's wait until they arrive. Have you copied all the keys I gave you before?" Linka continued, not even glancing at her anxious expression.
"And those data, those are the most important ones. They could save your life in a critical moment, so don't lose them."
"You... you know everything?" Lina murmured, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes with her hands.
"Sigh, what could happen in this research institute that I don't know? Besides, you and your friends didn't hide it very well either."
Linka smiled and patted her sister's head. Her sister was as innocent and adorable as ever.
Over the years, Lina has been constantly making small moves. If it weren't for Linka always cleaning up her messes, she probably would have been discovered by the capital planet countless times by now. She even thought she was hiding it very well.
"Since that's the case... since you already know, sister! Then come with us!" Lina's tone became even more anxious, and she rarely called her sister.
"You actually invited me to come with you? I thought you, you heartless little thing, would abandon your sister."
Seeing this, Lina panicked and tried to explain, but was gently stopped by Linka with a cup of tea.
"Don't worry, I know I've always been part of your plan, it's just that I still have things to finish. Besides, if I went with you, wouldn't your friends be furious and want to tear me to pieces?" Linka teased casually.
"No way!" Lina suddenly raised her voice, which became somewhat shrill.
Linka looked at her sister in surprise, her eyes filled with complex emotions, as if she had gained some new insights.
She lowered her head, her shoulders shaking with laughter. This wasn't the ending she had envisioned; it was too heartwarming, too tender.
She had envisioned a scenario where the sisters turned against each other, hoping to make Linka's departure more decisive. However, she forgot that she herself couldn't bring herself to be cruel to her sister.
How could her younger sister, who had always been by her side, truly be heartless towards her? Perhaps the initial concealment was already a huge mistake for her.
Linka thought that if she had more time, she might have done better, but... there was nothing she could do.
Fate loves to play tricks on people; she underestimated the one on the capital planet and overestimated herself. Since it's a gamble, she will bear the consequences of defeat.
Besides, who said that guy really won? He just didn't lose. The things Linka left behind will keep him troubled for a long time.
Even if Linka dies, he won't be allowed to stay comfortably.
That air of shrewdness she exuded was infuriating every time I saw it. She took another sip of tea, a smile playing on her lips.
"Sister, are we just going to do nothing and wait?"
"Don't worry, since they don't intend to let me go, I naturally won't let them get away with it either. Although it's a short time, it'll be enough."
Linka glanced at the surveillance footage, where Feng Qi and his companion appeared to be in a hurry. She smiled and said, "Aren't you going to look for your friends? They seem to be heading somewhere."
Lina jumped up, then turned around abruptly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she didn't say a word, closed the door, and left.
She was still just a child, always hesitant before doing anything. Linka put down her teacup.
Turanson stood solemnly beside the pile of rubble, holding a bunch of bombs in his hands. As he placed timers on them, he looked up and asked, "Are you sure this will really work? Should we try a larger dose first? What if it doesn't work because the dose is too small? This is our only chance to experiment."
"Let's use as little as possible. It's better than accidentally blowing Pei Qing up with too much."
"Alright, alright, whatever you say." Although Turansen thought that the tough guy couldn't possibly be killed by such a small bomb.
She had just placed all the experimental bombs and retreated to a safe position, and was about to detonate them, when she heard a hurried shout from behind her.
"Wait a moment!"
It was Lina, who came running up breathlessly and stopped them.
"What's wrong? We're about to do an experiment."
“…Wait, wait a minute…something’s happened,” Lina gasped for breath, and after a while, she slowly spoke, “Our plan has to be moved up. The transport team will arrive around 3 a.m. tomorrow.”
"Three in the morning? So urgent? Then we only have four hours!" Turansen scratched his hair in frustration.
"Have you brought enough bombs?"
"We only brought one-third of it because we were afraid of being discovered."
“I knew it was urgent. I only had time to bring over some of the bombs that were in the lab before I came to inform you.”
"We can't continue the experiment! If we don't have enough samples by the end, we're doomed!"
"But what if there are too many bombs? If we don't conduct experiments, we can't guarantee that Pei Qing's life won't be threatened." Feng Qi frowned.
"There's no other way but to take a gamble."
"There's one more thing. The transport route is about to open, and the two of you must blend in with the laboratory's accompanying personnel. You need to wear protective gear."
"Okay, we'll allow time."
Turansen set up the small signal base station and started it up. Feng Qi nodded, quickly picked up the communication device, and Pei Qing, who had been waiting eagerly across the pile of rubble for a long time, answered it impatiently.
"Pei Qing! The situation has changed! Listen to me now! We can no longer conduct bomb experiments, and the transport team's arrival time has been moved up! We can only use all the remaining bombs and take a gamble!"
"Run as far away as possible! We've already set a timer, it'll open in an hour! Try to get to a safe location. The transport tunnel will open in two hours, and you'll be with the other experimental personnel then!"
"Okay, don't worry! I'll take good care of myself!"
Upon learning that the bomb test could not be conducted, Pei Qing was somewhat nervous. However, the incident was sudden, and there was no way to be perfect in every aspect. She could only fight to the death.
"……you&*!……"
A hissing sound came from the air, turning all the spoken words into a jumble of gibberish. Neither side could understand what they were saying, so Feng Qi had no choice but to hang up.
"What's going on?" She was about to give some more instructions, such as not to be reckless, but the communicator suddenly stopped working.
Turansen examined it carefully and concluded, "There's nothing wrong with the signal base station; it must be due to interference from external conditions."
Lina suddenly stood up abruptly, her expression one of astonishment. "The transport team has arrived! They've activated the magnetic field shielding! This isn't what I was told!"
Feng Qi and Tulansen exchanged a glance. It seemed this was truly a spy within a spy, a trap within a trap, a scheme within a scheme. Neither side trusted the other in this transaction.
Just then, Lina received two messages on her communicator. She looked at them closely and her expression instantly turned out of control.
"Damn it, someone has opened a transport route without permission! And they're armed! What are they trying to do?! We have to get up there right now!"
With a loud "boom," the earth shook violently, and the three of them were thrown to the ground by the sudden tremor, with rubble falling from above.
"They're bombing the research institute's defensive gate!"
"No, if this continues, the underground area is very likely to collapse! We must go up and unlock the key as soon as possible to free all the imprisoned experimental subjects!"
"good!"
"The control devices for each area are different, so we'll head out in batches!" Lina shouted as she ran.
"I have the unlocking commands for the other doors here. After you free up the experimental subjects' confinement area, you two hurry up and unlock the doors there, otherwise none of us will be able to escape!"
Pei Qing was also stunned by the sudden explosion. She quickly rolled over to avoid the falling boulder. "What's going on? What happened? Wasn't there a timer? Why is it exploding now?!"
No! She felt it carefully and realized that the ground beneath her feet was shaking so much that she could only lie on the ground and could not walk normally.
"Beep! Beep! Beep!"
The bombing raids outside continued, and Pei Qing vaguely heard the warning sound of the timer device about to be triggered.
She looked up and saw that Xiao Hei was still foolishly moving forward! Pei Qing quickly shouted, "Xiao Hei, get out of there! It's dangerous!"
The little black snake's tail swayed at an extremely fast frequency, constantly slapping the ground, clearly in a state of stress, completely ignoring her commands!
Damn it, how could this be! At this moment... it actually happened!
Pei Qing slammed her fist on the ground, released her tentacles to stabilize her body, and quickly crawled forward. She reached out and grabbed Xiao Hei's tail, pulling it back. The guy even turned around and tried to bite her!
This really put Pei in a bind. She grabbed the snake-man's tail with one hand, pulling him back, and with the other, she gripped his neck to prevent him from biting her. If she had more hands, she would have slapped him a few times!
"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Countdown is over! Explosion is imminent!"
Pei Qing quickened her crawling speed, but the explosion had already occurred.
At this point, they were less than 100 meters from the pile of rubble; there was no way to escape.
She instinctively raised her hand to block, though it was of little use.
"Boom!"
The massive shockwave sent her flying. Pei Qing covered her head with her hands and closed her eyes tightly, unable to see anything.
"It's over, I'm really going to die..." At this moment, Pei Qing had only one thought in her mind.
In that moment of crisis, she felt someone pull her into their arms, the snake's tail tightly wrapped around her body, leaving no gap.
Pei Qian was slammed to the ground, but the expected pain did not come; a strong cushion of flesh beneath her firmly protected her.
The transport fleet's relentless bombardment of the defensive gates affected the institute's other defensive structures, rendering them extremely vulnerable.
Pei Qing was buried under several stone slabs. Through the gaps between the slabs, she could see the gloomy, pale sky outside.
She struggled with all her might to move the stone slab and dragged Xiao Hei out. The snake-man's current condition could only be described as tragic. Its originally glossy black scales were blown off and flying everywhere, its skin was torn open, and even the blood-red veins inside were clearly visible.
His back and abdomen were ripped open with several large gashes, and blood gushed out uncontrollably, quickly staining the ground red.
Pei Qian turned the man over and dragged him to a flat place. She carefully examined his injuries. Fortunately, the snake's body was strong and he still had a faint breath. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Pei Qing! Is that you?!" A familiar voice called out from afar.
It was Feng Qi. At this moment, she was fighting bare-handed against a group of heavily armed guards.
Dozens of meters away was Turansen, who was desperately trying to dodge. She was a technician and not good at fighting, and it was lucky that she managed to avoid several attacks. Seeing the sharp blade aimed straight at her face, she closed her eyes in fear.
"Clang!"
The blade was blocked by something hard, and Turansen cautiously opened her eyes. The next second, warm blood splattered onto her face, her vision turning crimson, and she stood there, stunned.
Are you alright?
Pei Qing tossed aside the lifeless body of the guard and asked expressionlessly.
"No,...it's nothing."
Turansen swallowed hard and spoke weakly; it was the first time she had ever seen Pei Qing so ruthless.
"It's good that you're alright. Take this for self-defense and follow behind me." Pei Qing tossed her a laser gun.
"good……"
Along the way, Pei Qing was terrifyingly ferocious. His black tentacles danced incessantly, like the scythe of death, leaving corpses strewn everywhere in their wake. Blood gushed out like a fountain, mercilessly reaping the lives of every invader.
They fought their way through the impenetrable encirclement and arrived at a starship.
Pei Qing swiftly ended the guard's life in two quick movements, pushed Turansen inside, and they made their way to the control room without any hindrance.
"With your skills, unlocking the security devices on this starship shouldn't be difficult, right?"
Turansen sat trembling in the control chair, carefully wiping the blood smeared all over her face. In this situation, how could she dare say no? Pei Qing would practically dissect her alive, even though her skills certainly allowed her.
After a flurry of dazzling maneuvers, the starship's control room had been successfully taken over.
Turanson activated the starship, and she then realized that this starship was the fleet's mothership, and the control center could control the other subsidiary ships. It seemed that Pei Qing hadn't just randomly picked a starship to bring her aboard.
"Shall I unlock the remaining sub-ships now?"
"Um."
"Insufficient permissions. We can only unlock 1/3 of the sub-ships at most. There are too many experimental subjects. Some people might not be able to get on. What should we do, Pei Qing?"
“One-third is already a lot. We have given them a chance to escape. The outcome of the rest is beyond our control.”
Pei Qing stood at the entrance of the mothership, her tendrils outstretched to fend off wave after wave of invaders, and spoke without turning her head.
"But--"
Turansen was about to say that if she had more time, she should be able to unlock most of the starships, but before she could finish speaking, she was stunned by Pei Qing's cold gaze.
“We can’t risk our own lives to save others; you’ve already done enough.”
They have done all they could, and that is enough.
Explosions erupted beneath the starship, smoke filled the air, gunfire rang out continuously, and clusters of blood splattered among the crowd.
As the starship gradually ascended, Pei Qing suddenly bent down and jumped down.
"Pei Qing!"
"Don't worry about me! Fly directly to Feng Qi's sky to meet her, I have things to do!" Her voice faded into the air.
The wind whistled past her ears. Pei Qing stretched out all her tendrils to slow her descent, and the pile of corpses on the ground cushioned her fall.
After landing, she quickly got up, dragged the unconscious snake-man out of his hiding place, and ran towards Feng Qi's direction.
Feng Qi was surrounded by fallen corpses. She was agile and her imposing gray wolf spirit guarded her side, letting out low, hoarse roars at every intruder.
"Feng Qi! Help me—"
Pei Qing escorted the snake-man to a safe place. Just as she opened her mouth, a sudden, sharp pain shot through her head, as if it were about to split her in two.
"Pei Qing! Are you alright?" Feng Qi quickly helped her up.
"...No, it's nothing..."
She forced herself to wave, her eyes involuntarily looking in a certain direction, her legs moving uncontrollably in that direction as well.
Having taken just one step, Pei Qing quickly realized that she seemed to be affected by something unknown. Her mind was surging, and her consciousness told her that she had to obtain that thing.
Her soul seemed to have split apart; one soul was frantically pulling at her, while the other stubbornly battled against this inexplicable desire.
The roar of starships echoed overhead; Turanson had arrived. She lowered the ladder and hovered, waiting. Explosions continued to rumble from the nearby research institute; another explosion could happen at any moment.
"You, hiss... help me take him to a safe place, then we'll contact each other using the communicator!" Pei Qing reached out and pushed Feng Qi toward the starship, his voice low and hoarse.
"Where are you going?!" Feng Qi freed one hand and grabbed her tightly.
"...Me? I, I have to go there and see..." Pei Qing shook off her hand, clutched her throbbing head, and staggered toward a certain direction.
Inside the research institute's main control room, Linka stared intently at the base's self-destruct button, which was just inches away, and slowly raised her hand.
"don't want!"
The door was violently forced open, and Lina, whose usual neat and tidy appearance was gone, rushed in with disheveled hair.
"Nana? How did you get here? I didn't ask someone to..."
"Sister, I beg you, I beg you, please come with me..."
Lina rushed over and grabbed her hand tightly, kneeling on the ground and pleading desperately.
Two panting lab technicians followed behind, noticing Linka's surprised look, and explained helplessly, "Doctor, she was running too fast, we couldn't stop her..."
Linka sighed, bent down, and gently picked up Lina, who was squatting on the ground, just like when she was a child, and held her in her arms.
"Nana, listen to your sister, she will come with you, but she still has some things to do right now. Once everything is settled, she will come with you, okay?"
Lina clutched her clothes, tears streaming down her face, her voice choked with sobs, "No, that's not true, I know everything... You're lying to me, you're just lying to me..."
While she was wavering, Linka gave a wink to the lab technicians standing at the door. The two immediately understood and quietly came up behind Lina.
"How could that be? How could your sister lie to you? Be good, Nana, okay? How could your sister abandon you?"
"Really? Really?"
Lina looked up through teary eyes, and just then, the two people behind her quickly restrained her and pulled her toward the door.
"No! Let me go, let me go!"
Lina struggled desperately, and just as she was about to break free, she saw that Linka had somehow pulled out a dagger and held it to her neck, drawing blood with a slight slash.
Lina stopped struggling and stared at her in a daze. Linka smiled faintly and said, "I know you don't care about your own life, but what about mine?"
“…No, don’t…” Lina stretched out her hand in vain.
With each step she took forward, Linka's dagger plunged deeper into her neck.
As the wounds deepened, Lina finally stopped moving, frozen in place.
"I won't go... I won't go, please put the dagger down... I really won't go, sister, please..." Lina's eyes were red and swollen, and her face was covered with tears.
Linka did not put down the dagger. He stood up and pressed a button on the side, and a hidden door opened, revealing a small starship inside.
"Take her upstairs."
As Lina passed by Linka, she suddenly reached out, trying to snatch the dagger. However, Linka nimbly dodged it, and Lina, her neck contorted with resentment, stared intently at her beloved.
From a certain perspective, the two are equally stubborn.
Just as the hatch was about to close, Linka tore off the necklace from her neck and threw it inside.
The hatch slowly closed, and Lina finally broke free from the two people holding her back. She frantically pounded on the hatch and pressed the buttons next to it, trying to open it.
However, it was all in vain. She slid to the ground in a sorry state, and could only watch helplessly as her sister's figure grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared from sight.
The small starship quickly took off, and after ensuring her sister's safety, Linka pressed the self-destruct button with a sigh of relief.
In an instant, a huge explosion rang out, and brilliant flames shot straight into the sky.
In just a few minutes, this research base, which bore countless sins and darkness, vanished forever into the vast universe along with its controller.
Exhausted, Lina collapsed to the ground, clutching the last keepsake her sister had left her tightly in her hand, oblivious to the sharp metal cutting her skin.
Salty tears mingled with blood, flowing freely like a river. The most vital part of the heart had been brutally ripped out, leaving only a similarly mutilated body, barely clinging to life.
For many years, an invisible bloodline has bound the two sisters together.
Their joy, their pain, all their emotions are closely intertwined.
Many years have passed, and this chain has long since penetrated to the bone marrow and into every piece of flesh.
Companionship is a form of constraint, and constraint is also a form of companionship.
From the day Lina chose to keep it a secret, their destinies were intertwined, destined to never be separated.
The older, dominant figure in the relationship ultimately chose to end it all with such a grand, solitary fireworks display, attempting to erase all past memories.
That's not fair.
That's not fair.
That's not fair at all, Linka, you big liar.
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