The Villainous Female Side Character Pretends to Be an Omega in the Apocalypse and Raises a Cat - Chapter 22.2

At that moment, she casually hung the flashlight in a suitable spot, and the light instantly spread, illuminating the entire space.

Meng Qinghe peeked out from Chi Yingdong’s neck, her round eyes scanning the surroundings.

Chi Yingdong found a spot and hung up the flashlight, brightening the room in an instant.

Meng Qinghe could see everything more clearly now.

Although this place was located in the heart of the ant kingdom, it miraculously retained its pre-apocalyptic appearance, showing no signs of modification by the ants.

On the laboratory benches stood sophisticated instruments, constant temperature incubators, centrifuges, gene sequencers…

Each one was priceless, and these devices alone were enough to prove the massive funds invested back in the day.

Meng Qinghe couldn’t help but wonder who had funded the establishment of this laboratory and what it was meant to research.

From the moment she entered the lab, Xu Chuyao’s gaze had been fixed on the giant ant lying on the operating table.

“It hurts so much…”

Xu Chuyao’s voice trembled almost incoherently as her small hands clutched the fabric over her chest.

Chi Yingdong turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Just as Xu Chuyao was about to shake her head, an overwhelming wave of sorrow washed over her.

Though it wasn’t her own emotion, it felt so real that it made it hard for her to breathe.

Xu Chuyao strode quickly to the operating table and gently touched the glass cover.

“Is this your emotion?” she murmured softly.

The despair of being imprisoned and experimented on.

Chi Yingdong, holding the kitten, followed Xu Chuyao’s steps.

Meng Qinghe mustered her courage and moved closer to observe.

Inside the glass cover, the queen ant’s eyes were tightly shut. Her wings had been deliberately broken in the middle, the tips long gone, leaving only small remnants.

Specially designed chains dug deeply into her chitinous exoskeleton, securing her to the operating table in a posture most conducive to laying eggs.

A hole about ten fingers wide had been cut into the operating table. Every time a glistening ant egg was expelled from her body, it would fall precisely into the hole.

Where these eggs were sent for incubation remained unknown.

But was this truly a queen ant?

It was clearly an experimental subject transformed into a breeding machine.

Noticing Xu Chuyao’s unusual state, Chi Yingdong reached out to steady her trembling shoulder.

“Chuyao?” Chi Yingdong called softly, her voice echoing clearly in the empty laboratory. “Are you sensing something?”

Xu Chuyao’s pupils contracted slightly in the dim light.

As she gazed at the peacefully sleeping queen ant inside the glass cover, her heart felt as if gripped by an invisible hand.

The flashlight’s yellowish glow fell upon the queen ant’s carapace.

After lying on the operating table for so long, her shell had long lost its luster.

When Xu Chuyao turned to Chi Yingdong, her voice was noticeably choked. “Sister, can we save her? She’s in so much pain.”

She instinctively grabbed the hem of Chi Yingdong’s clothes, her fingertips turning white from the force.

Chi Yingdong’s gaze fell on the queen ant’s faintly twitching antennae.

Even in her slumber, those slender antennae trembled unconsciously, like the final struggles of a drowning person.

Chi Yingdong had already suspected that the worker ants were being controlled. Now, she was almost certain that the queen ant had awakened a psychic control ability.

There was just one piece missing.

And Xu Chuyao needed to help her confirm it.

“Can you feel the queen ant’s emotions?”

Chi Yingdong faintly detected another ripple of psychic energy emanating from Xu Chuyao.

Xu Chuyao nodded, tears uncontrollably streaming down her face.

As a psychic capable of communicating with animals, the ant queen’s mental energy washed over her consciousness like a tidal wave.

The emotions were overwhelmingly intense.

Despair surged like black waves, rage burned like blazing flames, and beneath it all lay a suffocating loneliness.

Her temples throbbed violently, as if someone were hammering against them.

“I can hear her crying,” Xu Chuyao said, tears falling as she spoke. She raised a hand to her temple, “She’s crying right here.”

Her trembling hand pressed against her throbbing temples as she spoke.

Xu Chuyao’s reaction further confirmed Chi Yingdong’s suspicion.

The ant queen not only possessed powerful psychic abilities but was actively establishing a connection with Xu Chuyao.

It was only because Xu Chuyao’s abilities were no match for the ant queen’s that she was so profoundly affected by the other’s emotions.

Xu Chuyao pleaded with Chi Yingdong, “Sister, please help her.”

Amid Xu Chuyao’s pleas, Meng Qinghe approached as well.

The kitten remained quiet, merely rubbing her head gently against the back of Chi Yingdong’s hand, her emerald eyes filled with entreaty.

Chi Yingdong couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation, the kitten’s demeanor clearly indicated she thought Chi Yingdong wouldn’t help and was joining in the plea.

With both little creatures begging her, how could she possibly refuse?

Moreover, the sight of the ant queen in such a state moved her deeply.

Though they were of different species, witnessing a living being confined to an operating table, forced to become a breeding machine, was something no one could remain indifferent to.

In the tubes connected to the ant queen’s abdomen, murky fluids continued to flow slowly, like some malevolent life-support system.

Thump, thump.

Chi Yingdong rapped her knuckles against the thick glass cover, the dull sound echoing through the space.

She estimated the thickness of the glass, wondering if freezing it with ice and then shattering it would be feasible.

Chi Yingdong pressed her palm against the cold glass.

In an instant, frost blossomed from her fingertips.

Delicate ice crystals spread across the glass surface as if alive, emitting faint cracking sounds.

The temperature in the laboratory plummeted, and even the white mist from Xu Chuyao’s breath condensed in the air.

The moment the ice layer completely covered the glass cover, Chi Yingdong clenched her fist abruptly.

With her action, a crisp sound shattered the laboratory’s silence.

The glass cover shattered in response, countless fragments cascading down like a rain of crystals.

Without the soundproof barrier, the ant queen’s agonized moans became clearly audible, the sound seeming to come from a great distance, trembling with an echo-like quality.

Xu Chuyao practically threw herself in front of the operating table.

She grabbed the iron chains and pulled with all her might, but the chains only shifted slightly, the parts securing the ant queen’s body remained immovable.

“Step aside.”

Chi Yingdong’s voice was calm and resolute.

Xu Chuyao immediately moved to the side.

Chi Yingdong seized one of the chains and yanked hard, her muscles tensing instantly.

The entire operating table groaned under the strain, shaking violently.

But these chains not only bound the ant queen, they were also connected to the laboratory’s foundation.

Just then, Meng Qinghe had finished circling the operating table.

She had discovered the chain locks, but they were located behind the operating table, which was why Chi Yingdong hadn’t noticed them.

Meng Qinghe leaped gracefully onto the operating table, her tail held high, tugging at Chi Yingdong’s pant leg to draw her attention to the locks.

Meow, meow, meow, meow.

You can unlock them here.

“Is there a lock?”

Chi Yingdong bent down to examine it and indeed found an old-fashioned mechanical lock at the junction of the chains.

If it had been a combination lock, there would have been a risk of it remaining locked after a power outage. But with an old mechanical lock, it could be opened as long as they had the key.

The two of them and the cat immediately split up to search.

Chi Yingdong pulled open a metal cabinet by the wall, and stacks of documents cascaded out noisily.

While sifting through them, a contract with gold foil lettering caught her attention.

“Qiao Group Biotechnology Project Investment Agreement”

The Qiao Group, was it the one she was thinking of?

Chi Yingdong flipped to the last page of the contract, and the two characters “Qiao Ying” on it made her pause for a moment.

She started reading from the first page, and her eyes immediately fell on the amount column with its long string of zeros.

This contract was actually worth hundreds of billions.

Qiao Ying had invested all of the Qiao Group’s liquid assets into this research.

Chi Yingdong opened the contract and quickly skimmed through its contents.

The contract specified the purpose of this billion-yuan investment: to study the communication methods and physical strength of the ant species.

Finally, Chi Yingdong remembered which branch of the company Qiao Ying had opened here.

A high-tech research company.

Chi Yingdong recalled asking her before what this company was researching. Qiao Ying had replied that it was for developing a cervical virus vaccine to benefit all Omegas.

Qiao Ying had lied.

Reflecting on her past life, Chi Yingdong belatedly realized many things that hadn’t added up.

Why, in such a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, had Qiao Ying been able to quickly assemble a group of capable individuals to work for her?

And even with severe flooding after the apocalypse, Qiao Ying had still managed to have fresh vegetables and meat delivered to her.

If not for the red moon on the day the apocalypse began, Chi Yingdong would have even suspected that Qiao Ying was connected to this apocalyptic world.

But at the very least, she could now confirm that Qiao Ying had known the apocalypse was coming long before it happened and had even begun researching genetics ahead of time.

Meanwhile, Xu Chuyao anxiously searched every corner but found no trace of the key.

She closed her eyes and tried to reconnect with the ant queen’s consciousness.

In a daze, she seemed to see countless glowing threads extending from the ant queen’s body, with one of them gently guiding her.

Xu Chuyao followed the thread’s guidance and stopped in front of the instrument controlling the surgical table.

She crouched down and felt along the bottom of the instrument, soon detecting an uneven spot.

She pressed down firmly.

After a crisp sound, a hidden compartment popped open.

A small brass key lay quietly inside.

“Sister, I found the key!”

Xu Chuyao grabbed the key and rushed over to Chi Yingdong, her voice trembling with excitement.

Chi Yingdong took the key and noticed deep imprints left on Xu Chuyao’s palm, evidence of how tightly she had been gripping it.

Chi Yingdong walked toward the surgical table with the key. The moment it slid into the keyhole, everyone held their breath.

Click.

The lock opened with a sound.

Xu Chuyao practically threw herself onto the surgical table to undo the chains.

Carefully, she removed the chains from the ant queen’s body, then angrily threw them to the ground. The heavy metal struck the white floor tiles with a dull thud.

Even after the chains were completely removed, the ant queen remained asleep, with only the faint rise and fall of her abdomen proving she was still alive.

Xu Chuyao gently stroked the ant queen’s cold exoskeleton, tears welling up in her eyes. “How can we wake you?”

The laboratory suddenly fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the dripping of liquid in the IV tube.

At that moment, the queen ant’s antennae trembled almost imperceptibly.