Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Wen Yishu turned around stiffly. A man was standing behind her. She barely managed to control her hand, which was itching to draw her blade, and instead gave her shoulder a shrug, wordlessly shaking the man’s hand off her.

“What application?” she asked tentatively.

The man pointed at the flyer in her hand: “This one.”

After speaking, he looked at her with a peculiar expression. Wen Yishu looked down and discovered there was text on the back; it was a recruitment ad for human subjects, ages 15-55, open to both men and women, with handsome rewards.

Wen Yishu nearly laughed out loud. What kind of person pastes a recruitment ad face-down? No wonder she thought it was just a blank piece of paper. Originally, she had assumed the text had faded over time, but she hadn’t checked carefully enough and ended up making this blunder.

She could only respond vaguely: “Oh, right. That’s why I’m here.”

“Are you the person in charge here?” Wen Yishu sized up the man. He was extremely thin, his white lab coat draped over him as if it were hanging on a drying rack; it looked as though a strong wind would blow him away.

The man let out a huff and adjusted the blue surgical mask on his face. His deep-set eyes scrutinized Wen Yishu: “Come in.”

The politeness from moments ago vanished instantly. Those who came to do human experimentation were from the bottom of society; he didn’t feel the need to show much respect, as that would only lead to them taking advantage of him.

Wen Yishu cursed him as a lunatic in her mind. Just as she was about to walk away, she heard him say: “Once the physical exam is done, you can report to the central area.”

Wen Yishu froze and re-examined the recruitment flyer, filtering for useful information among the dense, small print. Finally, she found what she wanted.

The ultimate right of interpretation for this experiment belongs to the Memory Brokers.

The small print wasn’t very prominent, which was why she had missed it entirely at first. It was such a coincidence that Wen Yishu no longer cared about the man’s attitude.

She followed the man honestly. The disinfection vent at the entrance sprayed a fine mist over her; she smelled the scent of disinfectant, and her body felt damp until a blast of strong air quickly dried her. The dim entrance gave way to a bright interior.

Wen Yishu’s blurred reflection appeared on the metal walls. This place looked quite like a proper laboratory; though the exterior was dilapidated, the inside was quite professional. The man walked ahead, passed through security, and greeted the front desk.

Although there was only one floor, the space inside this shady clinic was vast. Lady Luck had finally smiled upon her once, allowing her to find an opportunity to enter the Memory Brokers without any effort.

She stopped at the front desk and filled out a registration form, then put the cap back on the pen without entering any electronic information. The man found this normal; most people coming here were unwilling to reveal their names. Of course, dying here was also a common occurrence. Their fates were mostly to become a string of experimental data and a serial number, or to survive with hemiplegia.

“Take your equipment and number tag and go straight to the center.”

After the man did a simple scan with an instrument to confirm Wen Yishu had no physical issues, he tossed her a pack. Inside were basic medical tools and several Federal bills. Wen Yishu looked down and realized her “entry fee” had just been earned back.

The man pulled a light-screen toward her. Several options appeared: Targeted Drug Experiment, Neural-Link Access, Organ Flora, and a new project: Human Extraordinary Function Testing.

It was likely added temporarily. Wen Yishu felt a surge of excitement, her fingers curling slightly over the light-screen; this was definitely the right place. Each project had a corresponding high payout. The man folded his arms, checked his watch, and asked: “Which one?”

Without hesitation, Wen Yishu tapped the highest-paying one: Human Extraordinary Function Testing.

The man started to explain, but the words got stuck in his throat. He looked at Wen Yishu in shock, wondering if this greenhorn was new to this work and hadn’t researched the field at all. The higher the payout, the greater the danger. She had picked the most dangerous one right off the bat—a project that was brand new.

There was an 80% chance she wouldn’t come back alive. He didn’t know what this unlucky person was thinking, coming in wide-eyed just because of the money without even bringing a shroud. However, “drug humans” who came for experiments were usually at a dead end. The man sighed, pinning Wen Yishu as someone who valued money over her life, stuffed two more Federal bills into her bag, and waved her away.

The remaining balance would only be settled after the experiment. Wen Yishu slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the clinic. The gazes that had been surreptitiously sizing her up earlier turned into looks of sympathy and pity as she emerged.

Wen Yishu whispered into her headset: “Today is my lucky day.”

Bai Mi was silent on the other end, not knowing whether to praise her. Wen Yishu had rushed to become a lab rat and actually succeeded.

The initial screening was that crude. Wen Yishu hopped on her hoverboard, wove through the crowd, and quickly arrived at the Memory Brokers’ location.

The entrance to the gang’s headquarters was a matte black metal door with no markings, save for a nearly invisible blue-light scanning line embedded in the frame. It was minimalist, cold, and oppressive—just like its owner.

Wen Yishu stood before the door, her fingertips pinching the clinic advertisement she had just torn from the wall, which still had traces of low-quality glue on it. Recruiting drug humans, 10,000 Federal coins paid daily, painless with no side effects.

She let out a cold laugh, crumpled the ad into a ball, and tossed it into a trash disintegrator in the corner. The machine hummed, and the paper was instantly ground into fine strips for recycling. She picked up her hoverboard and walked inside boldly.

The scanner at the side of the door lit up, a red light sweeping from the top of her head to her toes. Normally, there would be identity verification, pupil recognition, or even DNA testing, but Wen Yishu simply took the medical pack from the clinic off her waist and tossed it onto the scanning platform. The system gave a “beep,” and the door slid open slowly.

The guards standing at the door glanced at her and wordlessly looked away. Just another one coming to die for money. They had seen it all before.

“Welcome, Medical Delivery Personnel,” a mechanical female voice announced calmly. Sure enough, the guards stepped aside to let Wen Yishu in.

Compared to typical mob hideouts, this place was decorated more like a legitimate corporation. Behind the door was a straight corridor with matte black metal walls and a cold white LED strip on the ceiling, the light as piercing as a surgical lamp. There was no extra decoration, no graffiti or trophy displays; only the occasional holographic projection of their logo: a simplified gear surrounding a brain.

Wen Yishu squinted, keenly aware that this logo was unusual. She had always wondered why Rhine had a branch here and could take root so stubbornly under Warp Speed’s pressure. It seemed they had an undisclosed “black glove” operation.

At the end of the corridor was a high-ceilinged circular hall. In the center floated a giant holographic screen playing a livestream replay. It was Zhan Xiaofan!

Wen Yishu followed a robot butler through several laboratories and rooms. She entered a locker room to change clothes. The robot butler waited quietly outside. She set down her bag and looked for a ventilation duct, intending to use the String-of-Pearls to repeat her old tricks. But she had clearly underestimated the security here; the ventilation ducts at the top were integrated into the walls.

Wen Yishu’s mouth twitched. Seriously? They’re making it this hard? Still not giving up, she controlled the String-of-Pearls to try and pull the vent cover down. A dejected voice came from the plant: “Master, this is reinforced concrete. I’ve hurt my vines pulling it.”

Wen Yishu finally gave up and looked around. All the lockers were locked. A bold idea occurred to her.

Three minutes later, a woman in a white lab coat walked out of the locker room. She didn’t even give the robot butler a glance as she walked firmly toward the exit. The robot butler’s gaze followed her back until she disappeared around the corner, then it retracted its gaze. The set time for changing clothes was about ten minutes; her programming hadn’t issued an alarm, so it waited faithfully in place.

Wen Yishu shifted the flamethrower hidden under her oversized lab coat to her side and tucked a handgun into her waistband—the one she had acquired from killing You Zhi. She had very few bullets left and needed to save them.

She brazenly inspected the surrounding labs, searching for any sign of Zhan Xiaofan. She felt he wasn’t likely to be on the first floor. There were two floors of labs here. Fortunately, she didn’t have to pass through the main entrance to go upstairs, so she wasn’t worried about the corridor guards seeing through her.

Wen Yishu pinched her mask tighter, stuffed her hands in her pockets, and tried to appear relaxed. There were even more labs upstairs, with a complex network of passages. She swiped the card that the String-of-Pearls had swiped from the robot butler, and a curved security door slid open instantly.

Wen Yishu stepped inside, the cold blue light hitting the surface of her grey boots. The layout here was strikingly similar to Rhine’s; she even had the illusion of being back there. Familiar with the routine, she walked up to the main control room. The door here wouldn’t open even with the card.

She stood outside, looking through the thick glass. Today was exceptionally lucky: in the center of the light-screen was a familiar face. Zhan Xiaofan was strapped to a metal chair, his head covered in electrode patches. His irises had turned an abnormal silver-white, and there were dried chemical stains at the corners of his mouth. It seemed they had used a type of adhesive to keep his eyes protected.

Two researchers in white coats stood by, recording data. “Subject 07. Ability type: Evolutionary Foresight to X-ray Vision. Tolerance: 72%. Side effect: Slight dissolution of brain tissue.”

Wen Yishu’s breathing hitched. Does this mean he wasn’t the only ability user discovered so far? She wanted to know the exact data here, but the problem wasn’t whether she could get in. The risk of exposure was high. She watched for a moment and immediately withdrew her gaze. The soundproofing inside was too good; by the time she heard footsteps outside, it was too late.

The entrance door swiped open, and two women walked in from the outside, bumping directly into Wen Yishu.

Support Apocalyptic Island