The Protagonist and the Villain Both Kissed Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 44

“How did you get out?” Su Xi stood at the door, refusing to take another step forward. He needed to maintain a safe distance.

A04’s brow twitched. With a slight flick of his finger, a dark blue tentacle as thick as a man’s arm shot toward Su Xi’s feet. The visual impact was staggering as it wrapped around his waist and yanked him directly into A04’s lap.

Su Xi was pinned against A04’s chest with almost no power to resist. His hands immediately came away covered in slime. Pale-faced, he reached out and wiped the residue onto A04’s own clothes. “Talk properly. Let go of me first.”

His current position straddling A04 was far from dignified. Moreover, he could feel A04’s current thoughts with uncomfortable clarity.

“I’m afraid you’ll run away.”

To be honest, A04 felt that Su Xi possessed some kind of magical allure, yet the man was just a regular staff member the most ordinary of humans.

“I won’t run. Besides, can I even escape?” Facing A04, Su Xi clearly had no intention of offending him, but that didn’t mean he was going to go out of his way to flatter him. Between Mephisto and A04, he knew exactly who carried more weight.

Silence fell as time ticked by. It was unclear who would be the first to yield.

Once released, Su Xi immediately moved to the opposite sofa, putting as much distance as possible between them. He licked his dry lips, wanting a drink of water, but seeing the used glass on the table, the ingrained habits and settings of the original body’s host influenced him. He stayed his hand.

He lowered his eyes, his butterfly-wing lashes trembling. When he looked back at A04, his gaze was as calm and featureless as a still lake.

“All those rumors circulating in the Institute… they’re your doing, aren’t they? What are you actually trying to achieve?” Su Xi asked. The answers he couldn’t get from Mephisto might be found here.

“Achieve?” A04 sneered. “Destroying the Institute, of course.”

His tone was casual, as if he were talking about blowing up a dungeon in a video game. But the Institute was real. To any researcher, such words were terrifying.

Since Su Xi wasn’t from this world and had a System that told him what was coming, he merely pondered for a moment before asking: “Everyone?”

He only offered one word, but A04 understood the subtext. His eyes the same color as his tentacles burned with intensity as he countered: “Do you want to be the exception?”

“Can I be?” Su Xi’s red lips parted slightly as he asked.

“I have no objection. But the others… well, they all like you very much. They’ll probably agree.” A04’s gaze drifted down to the water droplets on Su Xi’s exposed neck; he could smell a familiar scent.

They? Who did he mean? Besides Mephisto and A04, was there a third?

December 20th. A day that was both mundane and momentous.

Before the blizzard descended silently, no one paid the snow much mind. It was winter, after all; a heavy snowfall was perfectly normal. In a facility as advanced as the Fuguang Institute, what could a little snow do?

The howling wind bent fragile branches until they snapped. Bare twigs fell onto the growing white drifts. Countless trees toppled one after another, buried under the white shroud. The bone-chilling wind swallowed every trace of warmth.

Inside the normally disciplined and rigorous Fuguang Institute, chaos had erupted. Angry curses, panicked screams, and various bizarre noises tangled together into a grotesque symphony.

In the once-empty corridors, the sound of hurried, desperate footsteps echoed. Disheveled researchers scrambled through the halls they once knew so well. Following closely behind was the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor so heavy that the very ground dented under its weight.

In his lounge, Su Xi hadn’t slept at all. He climbed out of bed, dressed as quickly as possible, packed a few essentials, and pulled open the door.

The scene was exactly as he had envisioned: terrified researchers and exhilarated experimental subjects. A complete reversal of status. Su Xi’s feelings were complicated. From the Institute’s perspective, even if they harmed the subjects, they were arguably protecting them; such bizarre creatures would be hunted as curiosities in the outside world.

But from the subjects’ perspective, they were beings with the will to survive, wanting nothing but freedom yet they were trapped in this cold laboratory, facing nothing but operating tables and blood vials.

“Xiao Ba, is Mephisto currently in the fourth-floor containment room?” Su Xi crouched low, moving slowly through the relatively safe stairwell. Fearing discovery, his footsteps were incredibly light.

System 1368’s voice rang out with a hint of cheer: “Yes! He’s staying obediently in the water tank. He looks a bit pitiful, actually he’s probably waiting for you to find him.”

“How does he know I’ll survive to find him?” Su Xi let out a silent chuckle. Many of the rioting subjects were being controlled by Mephisto, so the merman was certain Su Xi would make it.

“Host, A04 is heading toward your room!” 1368 gasped, quickly relaying the news.

Su Xi had expected this. Luckily, he hadn’t slept; otherwise, he’d still be in bed and caught red-handed. As for now… whether A04 would find him was a matter of luck.

He quickened his pace. Upon reaching the fourth floor, he was met with an overwhelming chill. The hallway was drenched in water, as if the floor had been flooded. He could hear the faint sound of splashing, but when he listened closer, the silence was eerie.

“Mephisto?” The Institute’s operating system seemed to have failed earlier than expected. Su Xi’s ID recognition no longer worked. The locked door before him wouldn’t budge, so he pressed himself against it and called out softly to the merman inside.

The creature inside heard him. Within two seconds, the reinforced door was violently pried open. Literally pried the metal was peeled back on both sides, bearing clear finger marks.

Such strength… he could snap my neck without trying.

Su Xi swallowed hard, feeling a prickle of fear. He stepped into the containment room and saw Mephisto in the tank. However, compared to usual, the water level had dropped by half. Squinting, he noticed a hole shattered through the glass at the back.

“You…” He started, but the words trailed off.

Mephisto dragged his fish tail out of the pool. In his merman form, he was nearly three meters tall. To look at his face, Su Xi had to crane his neck a posture so tiring he eventually just stopped looking up.

“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Mephisto smelled a faint scent of blood in the air. He frowned with concern, reaching out to touch Su Xi’s neck.

There was a thin red scratch there, likely from a stray branch or piece of debris. A small bead of blood had already scabbed over.

Su Xi hadn’t noticed it until Mephisto pointed it out. He touched his neck; it did sting slightly. When did I get this? I have no memory of it.

“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt.” He pursed his lips and stepped back to better see Mephisto’s expression. “Is there no way to change this? Even if the researchers were wrong, they don’t all deserve to die, do they?”

On his way here, he had seen many bloody scenes. Many of the subjects were either young and ignorant or cold-blooded, bloodthirsty monsters. The heart-wrenching screams still seemed to ring in his ears.

“Are you pleading for them?”

Mephisto’s tender expression turned abruptly cold. He let out a sneer, but then, as if thinking of something, he softened back into his harmless facade. “They did many things behind your back, Su Xi. You were always an outsider in this Institute, so it’s natural you wouldn’t know.”

“Things I didn’t know…” As a Group Leader, Su Xi thought he was privy to most information. Yet Mephisto claimed he had been kept in the dark.

The bright fluorescent lights flickered. Su Xi felt the moisture in the air grow heavier. His eyes reddened slightly as he looked at Mephisto with a hint of a plea.

“But I can’t just stand by and watch.” It was a second attempt at a plea after Mephisto had already refused to yield. With a Salvation Value of only 85, he expected the creature to find his persistence annoying.

Instead, he heard Mephisto let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

Su Xi’s expression froze, his heart racing. He waited tensely to see what the merman would say or do next. Through the glass of the tank, he saw Mephisto’s current expression: cold and indifferent, yet carrying a few hints of a helpless… compromise?

Wait, brother…

You’re the villain boss. You can’t just change your grand revenge plan because of one sentence from me, right?

Su Xi took a deep breath and pushed further to provoke a reaction. “Am I the last one on the list of people in the Institute who have to die?”

Perhaps the word “die” triggered Mephisto. His calm shattered; he moved in three strides, picked Su Xi up, and pinned him against the glass tank. “You will not die,” he said with terrifying intensity. “I will not allow it.”

Those emerald eyes stared at Su Xi, as if afraid the man might vanish into thin air the next second.

Su Xi was stunned by the sudden reaction. He blinked blankly, his long lashes casting shadows under his eyes. He bit his lip and remained silent. The water tank behind him was freezing; even through his clothes, he felt his back going numb from the cold.

After a long moment, he gathered his thoughts. “Okay. I believe you.”

Even though Su Xi said he believed him, Mephisto still felt a hollow ache in his heart. The word “die” felt like an invisible needle constantly pricking him. Bloody images flashed through his mind, images of Su Xi lying in a pool of blood.

But they had only met recently, and he had no such memories. What is happening?

Su Xi didn’t know what Mephisto was thinking; he only knew he had to hurry and finish the mission. The Salvation Value was stuck at 85. If it wasn’t increasing, there were two possibilities: either the portion of favorability in the value was saturated, or Mephisto didn’t fully love him yet. Given the merman’s recent behavior, Su Xi leaned toward the former.

So, what can I say to make him angry?

“Mephisto, the other subjects outside…” Su Xi hesitated before continuing: “Aside from you, do they listen to anyone else?”

“Higher-ranked ones control lower-ranked ones. As a researcher, you should know the subjects here better than I do.”

Mephisto’s body was pressed close to Su Xi’s. The wet droplets on the merman soaked through Su Xi’s clothes, making them cling to his body and outlining his silhouette like jade soaked in water.

“It’s cold. Put me down first.” Su Xi was freezing. He pressed his hands against Mephisto’s chest, trying to push him away.

His small struggle was insignificant to Mephisto, like a kitten scratching at someone. However, seeing how pale Su Xi looked and how his breath was coming out in white mists, the merman felt a pang of concern and set him on the ground. He glanced at the thermometer on the wall; the temperature had indeed dropped.

Unhappy that his question hadn’t been properly answered, Su Xi coughed lightly. “Go get me a glass of hot water.”

His tone was slightly bossy, but he looked so weak that Mephisto, who had been indoctrinated for a long time by Su Xi to be “good” and “obedient” didn’t hesitate. He walked over to the desk by the console and poured a glass of hot water.

Steam rose from the glass. Su Xi blew on it and took a few sips. The warmth eased the chill in his throat, but it wasn’t enough.

“Xiao Ba, let’s talk about something,” Su Xi said in his mind, striking up a conversation with the System.

“Wow, Xiao Xi, please speak! As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll satisfy you!”

Wait, where did this System learn the dialogue of an overbearing CEO novel?

Su Xi almost laughed. “A04 mentioned ‘them.’ Who was he referring to besides Mephisto? How many of them are there?”

The moment he finished, the previously excited System deflated. It answered haltingly: “It… it should be some of the monsters that were attracted to you, Host… just a few of them.”