Chapter 191: Death is a Release
Night fell.
The lights in the laboratory were all turned off, plunging it into darkness.
*Plink.*
A small sound echoed, and the laboratory soon returned to silence.
Xia Chenge, who had been feigning death for nearly half a month, suddenly opened her eyes, which were bright and dazzling.
She glanced at the camera pointed at her, which had already tilted to the side. Stretching her limbs, she headed straight for the laboratory’s main computer.
One minute later, all the laboratory cameras froze, displaying a single frame.
Another minute passed, and she successfully hacked into the computer, copying all the information within.
Subsequently, she also took a copy of the Rende Hospital’s information.
After completing these tasks, Xia Chenge restored the computer to its original state.
She walked up to the person submerged in a glass tube. That person also stared at her, and they gazed at each other for a long time.
The person, already numb from torture, moved their lips slightly.
Kill me.
These three words alone seemed to exhaust all his strength.
Xia Chenge looked at him without speaking.
Kill me.
He silently repeated these three words once more.
This time, Xia Chenge clenched her fists.
He had been tortured to the point of having no will to live; even if she used her healing power to save him, he wouldn’t survive.
Ending his life was a release for him.
“What’s your name?” Xia Chenge asked softly.
The person had repeated “Kill me” twice, lacking the strength to even speak. He merely looked at Xia Chenge, his eyes filled only with a plea to die.
The Apocalypse turned humans into zombies, devoid of complex emotions and consciousness, unaware of what it means to wish for death. However, those who became experimental subjects endured torture comparable to purgatory daily, with death being their only desire.
In comparison, zombies were much happier than these people, as zombies did not suffer.
Hell is empty, and the devils are in the human world.
Xia Chenge opened the glass tube and carried the person out.
The person was emaciated, appearing like nothing more than a skeleton clad in human skin.
As soon as he left the glass tube, his breathing became rapid, as if he might stop breathing at any moment.
Xia Chenge quickly took his hand and gently, softly, channeled her healing power into him.
His breathing then slowly stabilized.
However, his vital signs were not optimistic; even if saved, he wouldn’t live for more than a few days.
For the first time, Xia Chenge felt how fragile life was, possessing healing power but feeling helpless.
“What’s your name?” Xia Chenge asked softly. “Before you leave, at least let those who miss you know how you departed.”
“I,” he opened his mouth, perhaps due to not speaking for too long, his language skills had severely regressed, only managing single syllables, “Xia, Ming, Xuan!”
Xia Chenge was struck as if by lightning, unable to believe what she had heard.
“Xia, Ming, Xuan,” he looked at her. “You, kill, me.”
He laboriously repeated those words again, and Xia Chenge heard him clearly.
She stood there, her mind a complete blank.
“Kill, me,” he said.
Xia Chenge stared intently at him. He was no longer recognizable as human; his face was indistinguishable, and she could only tell he was a person!
Xia Mingxuan.
The original owner’s father.
And her current father.
He, was, still, alive!
Evolved humans possessed the ability to instinctively sense blood relations. Upon hearing the name Xia Mingxuan, Xia Chenge instinctively sensed it, confirming a parent-child relationship between them.
Perhaps it was the lingering emotions of the original owner for her father within this body, but Xia Chenge became uncontrollably emotional, trembling slightly.
Dad!
She almost blurted it out.
Kill me!
His eyes were still pleading.
The torture of over a decade seemed to have made him forget all past events, his sole focus being to die.
“Do you remember you have a daughter?” Xia Chenge asked softly, her body tense.
His gaze flickered slightly, then quickly became numb again.
His will had collapsed; his survival depended entirely on Ling Zhongwen’s drugs. Perhaps the past was no longer important to him. Even if he had cherished it like his life, after enduring such a hellish purgatory, only death offered release.
“Xia Chenge, she’s grown up.”
“She always wanted a father to protect her.”
“She has longed for fatherly love for over a decade.”
“Why don’t you try to live, to reunite with your daughter?”
He remained unresponsive, as if nothing could stimulate him anymore except death.
Two lines of tears fell without warning. Xia Chenge dazedly raised her hand to wipe them away.
She hadn’t intended to cry, but the tears fell uncontrollably.
“I’ll save you. Will you try to live, okay?” Xia Chenge wiped her tears and said to Xia Mingxuan, “I’ll take you far away from here, and there will be no more suffering.”
Xia Mingxuan remained unmoved. If his eyes weren’t open and his heart wasn’t beating faintly, one might have thought he was dead.
Xia Chenge infused him with more healing power. Xia Mingxuan was lifeless and showed no further reaction.
Xia Mingxuan’s organs had likely been replaced countless times. Although his body appeared intact, his internal organs were either missing, failing, or decaying… in short, incomplete. Even his bones had been modified and replaced with unknown materials.
His acupoints were covered in a dense network of needle marks, a shocking sight.
The damage to his brain was particularly severe. Xia Chenge didn’t know what method Ling Zhongwen had used to keep Xia Mingxuan alive with such a damaged brain, and even retain his consciousness.
Discovering Xia Mingxuan’s condition, Xia Chenge felt immense sadness.
Although she didn’t have the same filial affection for Xia Mingxuan, she still desperately wanted to save him.
However, given Xia Mingxuan’s condition, it was unlikely that even exhausting all her healing power would allow him to survive.
This was because Xia Mingxuan could no longer be considered a complete person; he was assembled from countless disassembled parts.
“Are you truly unwilling to continue living?” Xia Chenge mustered great courage to ask this question.
Xia Mingxuan blinked, showing a slight reaction.
“If you had the chance to leave here, would you still want to die?” Xia Chenge’s nose felt very sore.
“Death, release,” Xia Mingxuan said with some agitation.
Xia Chenge felt heartbroken. “By living, you can see your daughter, see your parents.”
“No, see,” Xia Mingxuan said with difficulty. “Die.”
“Don’t you miss them?” Xia Chenge’s eyes welled up.
“Can’t, see,” Xia Mingxuan said rapidly.
“Ghost.”
“Scared.”
“Dignity.”
Xia Chenge understood his meaning. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see them, but that he was unwilling to.
He wished to remain in his family’s memory as he once was, not as he was now.
Perhaps his family was what sustained him through these years.
He only wanted to know if his family was well.
“Do you know who I am?” Xia Chenge asked him. “Can you recognize me?”
