TIC Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"I never knew you could be so blindly optimistic," Major General Gordon said, pressing the corners of his eyes.

"Because Jane Wallis won't let that happen. Where is the Witch, Claire?"

"Ha..." Major General Gordon clutched his head. "Don't tell me you intend to interrogate her *mind*! That woman is formidable; three elites from the Interrogation Unit have already suffered neuronal damage after entering her mind. You know exactly what I mean, don't you?"

"Claire killed them—all of them—inside her own mind."

"So..."

"So I am going to enter her subconscious. Arrange it immediately."

The commanding tone of that order made Major General Gordon pause for a moment.

"She is Claire—*the Witch*! Her subconscious isn't as unguarded as Xiao Yan's! Do you not remember everything you and Shen Bing had to face inside Lieutenant General Renodin's subconscious? Shen Bing's damaged neurons still haven't recovered to this day!"

"Please make the preparations, Major General." Hein finally leaned forward; beneath the office lights, his golden-brown hair appeared both icy and dazzling. The contours of his eyes were already so exquisitely defined that they seemed to push the very limits of human aesthetic perfection—and for the first time, Major General Gordon found himself locking eyes with his subordinate from such close proximity.

"You're insane... Just think of the price Lieutenant Xiao Yan paid to keep you alive!"

"Sir," Hein said, turning slightly to the side. With his fingers, he extracted a micro-disk from the flesh of his own shoulder; his movements were swift and decisive, executed without the slightest hint of the gruesome discomfort one might expect from such a bloody act. "These are Lieutenant Xiao Yan's research data. No matter what happens to me, nothing will halt Char's continued research into X-2; more and more special forces soldiers will be liberated from the shackles of the X-Virus."

Major General Gordon gripped the micro-disk tightly, his expression turning grave. "To whom should I entrust this?"

"To someone you trust."

"Someone I trust? I no longer trust anyone I once did. Jane Wallis was a high-ranking spy from the 'Tide'; the President has already been apprised of the situation, and I am currently awaiting my formal demotion."

"But at this moment, you remain the commander of the Special Task Force." ”

“Now, I am left with only one curiosity: whom exactly will Admiral Sharif send to replace me?”

An hour later, within the dark, isolated cells of the Interrogation Unit, a stunningly beautiful woman slowly opened her eyes.

The instant Hein Burton stepped into the cell, Claire’s pupils involuntarily constricted—a visceral reaction signaling her refusal to believe the reality unfolding before her eyes.

Her hands were bound by high-density titanium restraints, and her legs were encased in fused titanium—a prison from which she could not escape without sacrificing her limbs. A specialized device fitted around her neck stood ready to automatically snap her spine the moment the Interrogation Unit issued the command. Furthermore, the lower half of her face was covered by a titanium muzzle, rendering her unable to attack anyone or even take her own life. Within the Tide organization, she was a master assassin; she would never have given a second thought to someone like Mark—a large, physically imposing figure whose movements lacked agility. Yet, she had underestimated Liv. Liv was not only agile and adaptable, but she also worked in flawless, seamless tandem with Mark. That was precisely why Hein Burton had felt confident enough to leave them to it earlier.

“I don’t need you to tell me anything, because I will find the answers myself.”

Claire’s gaze—usually so disdainful of everything—finally betrayed a flicker of panic in that moment.

Hein produced a terminal connector; like a Reaper on a rampage, his silent scythe sliced ​​through the outer perimeter of Claire’s mind, severing every neural connection with an unstoppable, overwhelming force.

This was not merely an intrusion; it was a slaughter.

Claire began to tremble uncontrollably. Hein had not even delved into the deeper layers of her consciousness yet, but Claire was already on the verge of breaking.

“I possess millions of methods to subject your neurons to torments ten thousand times more cruel than anything those interrogation specialists could ever devise. I have neither the patience nor the time.” ”

Hein’s voice rang out in Claire’s mind—devoid of all warmth, as if seeping up from the very depths of hell. Yet, this stubborn woman refused to utter a single word. Her mental defenses were strained to the breaking point, cracking under the pressure; Hein surged through the fissures in an instant. Within the boundless darkness of her subconscious, an invisible storm of violence erupted—but to Hein, it was utterly meaningless.

He was like a deep-seated, ineradicable phantom; no matter how treacherous the landscape of Claire’s subconscious became, it could not lay a single finger on this man.

He dropped to one knee and slammed his fist down with explosive force.

Something was violently ripped to the surface, and the entire world seemed to shatter and collapse around them.

“Alert! Alert! Subject’s heart rate is critically elevated!”

“Alert! Alert! Subject’s neural network has sustained damage!”

“Alert! Alert! Subject’s level of consciousness is plummeting!”

The observers from the Interrogation Unit were utterly astonished. They had been under strict orders to safeguard Colonel Burton’s brain at all costs—specifically, to sever his neural link with Claire the moment any anomaly was detected. But now, the situation appeared to be the exact opposite: it was *Claire* who was in mortal danger?

What were they supposed to do?

Good God!

Hein Burton’s eyes snapped open, and he abruptly severed the neural link.

Across from him, Claire hung her head, appearing battered and frail; she lacked even the strength to open her eyes.

Hein walked over to the observers and casually entered a few lines of code into the console. Inside the containment cell, Claire gasped—as if she had finally been granted a breath of oxygen.

Her heart rate was slowly stabilizing, yet her conscious awareness remained at a critically low level.

Every observer in the Interrogation Unit turned their gaze toward Hein.

“Did he... did he actually succeed in extracting the information from the Witch, Claire’s, mind?”

“...Or did he simply kill her while he was inside her head?”

“Will the Witch, Claire, ever wake up again? How are we supposed to report this to our superiors?” ”

At this moment, Xiao Yan lay flat on a stretch of white sand; the shadows of palm trees danced overhead, a wide-brimmed beach hat shielded his face, and countless paper books lay scattered beside him.

Jian slowly approached and sat down beside him.

The cries of seagulls and the murmur of the waves blended together, while the sky and sea stretched out in boundless, infinite expanse.

Jian smiled softly, his fingertips lifting the brim of the hat as he slowly leaned in. Just as his breath brushed against the corner of Xiao Yan’s lips, Xiao Yan—whose eyes had remained closed—finally spoke.

“If you dare do that...”

“And what exactly would you do about it?”

The kiss fell nonetheless.

Xiao Yan clamped his lips shut tight, but the tip of Jian’s tongue was forceful and insistent. Yet, the kiss held no hint of coercion; having gained entry, it offered only a brief, teasing caress before withdrawing.

“I shouldn’t have shown you mercy that night. I should have taken you hard—thrust deep inside you. Even if you tore open and bled, as long as I injected the X-virus into your system, you would have healed in no time. And the pain I inflicted upon you—that, you would have remembered forever.”

Jian’s fingers gently toyed with strands of Xiao Yan’s black hair; pure-blooded Asians were a rare sight these days, and his soft, dark hair possessed a unique allure.

“If you had actually done that, I would have smashed my head against the coral reefs.”

“Don’t do that; the reefs hold a special significance for me.” Jian’s fingers continued to toy with Xiao Yan’s hair, tracing the strands over and over again with tireless patience.

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and turned his head away, but the other man’s hand—exerting a subtle yet firm pressure—held his forehead firmly in place.

“I never heard a single fairy tale growing up. The first time I ever encountered one was after a mission, when my unit was resting in an abandoned library. I stumbled upon a book of fairy tales. It was a story about a mermaid.”

Jian’s voice was distinctive—a sound that drifted and blurred amidst the rhythmic rise and fall of the tides and the breath of the sea breeze.

“Mermaids use their songs to bewitch fishermen sailing through their waters, dragging them down into the deep sea. But once, a little mermaid—moved by a sudden surge of compassion—saved a young boy from a fishing boat.” Day after day, the young man would take his fishing boat back to that stretch of sea, searching for the little mermaid; yet, she remained elusive, refusing to show herself. Finally, one day, the little mermaid could hold back no longer. She asked him, "I can grant you one wish. Please—once that wish is fulfilled—stop following me."

Jian paused.

"What was the young man's wish?"

"I thought you weren't listening."

"Have you run out of story to tell?"

"...The young man's wish was to be transformed into a reef in the sea. He said that this stretch of ocean was too vast and empty—devoid of islands or reefs—leaving the little mermaid with nowhere to rest. He wanted there to be a place where she could stop and stay whenever she grew weary."

"So, the little mermaid turned the young man into a reef?" Xiao Yan asked in an indifferent tone.

"I don't know."

"You really were just messing with me," Xiao Yan sighed.

"...The final pages of that fairy tale book were missing."

"Didn't you try looking elsewhere?"

"There was no need. Not every fairy tale comes with the perfect ending that everyone dreams of. And I, too, have spent my entire life searching for *my own* reef."

Xiao Yan furrowed his brows; instinctively, he began to ponder the significance behind Jian telling him this particular fairy tale. Perhaps the story itself was merely a fabrication of Jian's own making—but if so, what exactly was this "reef" he spoke of?

"I know you didn't care for my story, but did you like the books I gave you?" Jian's words successfully cut short Xiao Yan's train of thought.

"How did you find them? Paper is such a fragile medium; after more than two hundred years, they should have long since crumbled away from exposure."

"In the libraries of two centuries past, many books were preserved in vacuum-sealed environments. They remained undamaged."

"So you just pried them out? That will only hasten their deterioration!"

Xiao Yan wore an expression of utter dismay—as if witnessing a priceless treasure being recklessly squandered. No wonder the pages had yellowed so severely; bringing them to the seaside, of all places, was a particularly egregious error—the humidity carried on the sea breeze would only inflict further damage upon them.

"Nothing lasts forever. At the very least, you possess them now." ”

Jan’s smile seemed almost to melt into the wind.

He rose slowly and walked toward a palm frond stuck in the gravel a short distance away.

“You still haven’t given up on trying to escape from here, have you?”

Xiao Yan’s fingers tightened; had the other man discovered something?

“Using the tree’s shadow to roughly estimate latitude and longitude—it’s a very old method, but undeniably a very clever one, too. The direction where the shadow is shortest marks the meridian line. And at high noon, when the sun is at its zenith, comparing the length of the shadow to the height of the tree allows you to calculate the latitude. In any case, you don’t need to know the exact coordinates; you just want to know where the nearest Shire base is located.”

A chill ran down Xiao Yan’s spine; Jan had actually seen right through him!

“Did you think I wouldn’t know about these little tricks?” Jan’s fingers toyed with the tip of the frond, the sea breeze tugging at his hair. “Like you, I also enjoy reading about things from the past. But don’t worry—I won’t do anything to you.”

Just then, the communicator in Jan’s hand sprang to life, projecting a holographic image: it was Jerry.

“Hey, Boss—Hein Burton is still alive.”

Upon hearing this news, a slight tremor ran through Xiao Yan’s spine.

He’s alive! He’s alive!

His heart pounded with emotion; every single cell in his body was leaping with joy.

Yet Xiao Yan exerted every ounce of his will to remain outwardly calm; his eyes remained closed, though the corners of his lips curled upward in a smile he could not suppress.

X-2 was not a virus that could be applied universally; it required precise calibration based on each individual’s unique constitution and the cellular carrying capacity of their body. And the substance Xiao Yan had injected into Hein was precisely that—an X-2 variant formulated specifically for Hein, derived from an analysis of his very own blood samples!

Jan turned around to look at Xiao Yan. The brim of his straw hat cast a shadow over his face, obscuring his expression.

“He has already destroyed three of our bases.”

“Mm.” Jan nodded. “He must have extracted that information from Claire’s mind.”

“Fortunately, our landing site was decided at the last minute; Claire didn’t know where we would be returning to. But sooner or later, he will find his way here.”

“He is already on his way. All three of those bases were situated by the sea. He knows that Xiao Yan loves the ocean.” "We’re preparing to relocate."

Jerry raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected that the preferences of such an unassuming researcher could dictate so many details.

Having spoken, Jane returned to Xiao Yan’s side, his fingers gently tracing the contours of the young man's ear.

"Do you like it here?"

"I absolutely love it. Can I stay here forever?"

"Request denied."

Xiao Yan used his hat to brush the sand from his clothes, then lazily rose to his feet.

Jane plucked a frond from a nearby palm tree. "You can keep this as a souvenir."

The aircraft hovered overhead, kicking up clouds of sand that swirled in the sunlight like a storm of diamonds.

Xiao Yan raised a hand to shield his eyes; Jane grasped his wrist and guided him into the cabin.

They gradually pulled away from the island, watching as it shrank into a mere speck drifting in the center of the vast blue ocean.

Xiao Yan pressed his forehead against the glass; as the aircraft climbed higher and higher, his vision was filled with nothing but the boundless azure—no other colors remained.

There were only four people seated inside the cabin: Xiao Yan, Jane, Jerry, and the special forces operative who had previously infiltrated the Shire.

Casey and another crew member were piloting the craft.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere special." Casey sat directly across from Xiao Yan, his eyes holding a rare look of caution. "And there, you will meet a very special person—someone who will decide whether your brain remains inside your skull or is to be extracted. Don't do anything impulsive, Xiao Yan."

Xiao Yan admitted that the mention of a "special person" had piqued his interest in the journey; as for the latter half of Casey’s warning, however, he paid it no mind.

He had already steeled himself for the worst. If his brain were ultimately to be extracted, it would mean he would finally have the opportunity to interface with the central terminal—and with his very last reserves of strength, he would do whatever he could, starting with infiltrating their main control system.

Observing Xiao Yan’s pensive expression, Casey realized his warning had fallen on deaf ears and could only let out a helpless sigh.

Jane flicked a finger lightly against Xiao Yan’s cheek.

"Don't listen to this guy's nonsense. The person I'm taking you to meet... is our father."

"Your father?" ”

Jane’s expression was somewhat complex, even tinged with wariness.

“You and he will surely have plenty to talk about.”

An hour later, the Special Task Force arrived at the island.

Wynn’s squad opened the doors to the underground research laboratory; when they beheld the sight of hundreds—perhaps thousands—of brains suspended in nutrient tanks, they were so stunned they could not utter a single word.

Ten minutes later, Wynn made his way to the beach. Hein stood amidst the pristine white sand, bending down to gather the books scattered across the ground.

“Colonel… the Tide Organization personnel have all evacuated. We discovered a great number of brains in the underground lab… Shouldn’t we verify whether Lieutenant Xiao Yan’s brain is among them?”

“There is no need. Jane Wallis has already taken him away.”

Hein’s fingers turned the pages; the yellowed traces of time carried with them the faint, distinct scent of paper.

Wynn could not fathom how Hein could be so certain.

“These books. Ordinary people wouldn’t read things like this—except for Xiao Yan.”

“Huh?” Wynn wore a look of utter bewilderment.

“If I were Jane Wallis, I would use this very method to please him.”

“What?” Wynn’s expression remained blankly dumbfounded. “Who exactly are you trying to please?”

Hein offered no reply; instead, he simply gathered the books and walked toward the aircraft. Amidst the fierce sea breeze, Hein closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against the pages in his hands—as if his touch were meeting the warm fingertips of the man who lived only in his mind.

“All aircraft: disperse in every direction! Activate search protocols!”

Mark and Liv sat inside the cabin; Mark’s face wore a grim, troubled look.

“Hey, what’s the matter with you?” Liv lifted her leg and gave him a kick.

“I heard Xiao Yan was right here! Jane Wallis even had him confined inside a glass chamber! But we arrived one step too late… Now, just looking at the Boss’s face gives me the absolute creeps.”

“How do you know Xiao Yan was being held in a glass chamber by Jane Wallis?”

“…The Boss said so. He knew the moment he walked into that room.” ”

Mark still remembered following Hein into that glass room; at the sight of the white bed—so vast it seemed almost absurd—Mark felt his face flush and his heart pound.

Good heavens—was all this really necessary just to imprison one lowly researcher? Did it have to be... so excessive?

Hein’s eyelids lowered, as if their weight alone could crush the entire world. He tilted his head back slightly, his jawline appearing strikingly sharp and forceful beneath the dazzling sunlight. He then dropped to one knee...

Kneeling by the bedside, his palms rested upon the bedding—precisely where the covers had been thrown back—and with his head bowed, he seemed to be sensing something.

Just as Mark attempted to shift his angle to get a clear look at Hein’s expression, the aloof colonel rose to his feet and issued him a command to give chase.

"If that’s the case, I reckon the Boss might actually be breathing a sigh of relief right about now!"

"Why?"

"At the very least, Xiao Yan is still alive. That matters more than anything else, doesn't it?"

It was a long flight for Xiao Yan; with nothing but the endless sea stretching before his eyes, it wasn't long before drowsiness began to set in.

He forced himself to stay awake, attempting to commit any potential landmarks to memory.

But in the end, he drifted off to sleep.

Jane reached out a hand and gently drew him into his embrace.

Casey let out a breath. "That guy really held out for a long time. The craft circled around three whole times—I was so bored I nearly threw up."

At that very moment, the craft surged forward at full speed and descended into a desolate stretch of open water.

Holding Xiao Yan, Jane slowly lowered himself down as a submarine rose to the surface.

They sailed through the deep ocean. Countless strange marine creatures glided past them.

Casey leisurely poured himself a cup of black tea, pairing it with some freshly baked pastries—looking every bit the aristocrat savoring a quiet afternoon.

"Hey, Jane. If Father decides to extract Xiao Yan’s brain... what do you intend to do?"

Jerry, standing nearby, turned to look as well.

Jane stroked his chin. "Then I’ll simply make Xiao Yan one of his children, too."

"Hah—" Casey gave a cold sneer. "That would be an even harder feat to pull off than achieving immortality."

Xiao Yan’s body continued to plummet through the darkness until a powerful pair of arms caught him, holding him in a tight, unyielding grip—a force so intense it felt as though it might crush him.

The other man pressed gentle kisses against his neck, whispering into his ear:

*No matter what happens, you must endure. You must survive.*

Xiao Yan knew that, deep within the recesses of his subconscious, Hein would exist forever. Suddenly opening his eyes, Xiao Yan beheld a magnificent set of bed curtains; their deep yet stately hues left him staring in stunned silence for a long moment.

He abruptly sat upright, thinking, *This is bad! How did I fall asleep again?*

As he threw back the covers and swung his legs off the bed, he noticed a faint, undulating blue glow cast upon the wall—as if something were slowly gliding past.

Xiao Yan whipped his head around, only to discover with a start that beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the boundless, deep ocean! Marine creatures—the kind he had seen only in academic texts—were passing by right before his eyes in schools. Instinctively, Xiao Yan walked over to the window; looking upward, he could trace the paths where sunlight converged. It was still daytime!

*Where on earth am I?*

"Child, do you like your room?"

A low voice rang out, sounding as if it drifted from a rift in time itself. Xiao Yan gasped and spun around.

Standing before him was a man dressed in a loose-fitting sweater, exuding an air of utter leisure as he sat sideways on the edge of the bed.

He appeared to be roughly the same age as Lieutenant General Averell, possessing a temperament that blended intellect with rationality. With his fair skin, a noble nose as finely chiseled as a cathedral sculpture from the history books, and eyes that were both elegant and profound—it was the mole at the corner of his eye that made Xiao Yan’s shoulders give a sudden jolt.

"Jan..."

This wasn't Jan; Jan was only in his twenties!

"Give it another twenty years, and the Jan you know will look exactly like I do now. Are you hungry, child?"

The man before him was impeccably polite; his lowered, gentle tone effectively soothed Xiao Yan's frayed nerves.

Xiao Yan shook his head; he didn't have the slightest appetite.

"I told Casey ages ago not to go around using neuro-anesthetics so casually. No matter how much they claim the drugs are harmless to the human body, they inevitably produce side effects in the end."

*No wonder I fell asleep! So it was Casey who pulled a fast one on me!*

"Is this... the bottom of the ocean?"

"That shouldn't be your question. What you really want to ask is: 'Who on earth is this guy standing in front of me?'" The man’s smile was utterly charming—a stark contrast to Jan’s flirtatious audacity—possessing a depth that compelled one to linger on it, savoring its nuance.

"Alright then... who are you?"