The hand was beautiful. It seemed to glow in the darkness like the moon shone in the sky. It made Elara think of ice and things that were purer than it.

She realized that she shouldn't be there. She should've been on the bed in the research base's treatment zone. She was supposed to be sleeping.

It was odd—she knew very well that she was dreaming, yet she couldn't wake up.

The feeling of the cold, wet arm around her waist felt too real—it was as if a powerful, unknown force had trapped her soul there.

Where was she?

She looked around dazedly, wanting to turn around. However, her body was stiff, and she couldn't move. It seemed whoever was behind her didn't want to show their face and was deliberately avoiding being in her line of sight. They'd even imprisoned her in their embrace to keep her from moving.

Elara opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. A sense of confinement gripp

"Beats me. The sea level needs to stop rising—mankind is already running out of space for survival as it is," someone said.

According to legend, the heavens had devised a clever linguistic rule to thwart Aether Spire. They'd made people from different places speak different languages.

In this world, the heavens had failed. Mankind had overcome the language barrier, and basic technology had advanced to an era where language was no longer an issue. Three universal languages had remained—Meranian, Aldenian, and body language.

And so, the heavens had shifted their hands elsewhere to turn the wheel of misfortune—the relentless, surging sea was their weapon of choice.

A ship patrolling the nearby sea region searched for suspicious creatures in the darkness, thinking that the choppy waters were possibly caused by a large carnivore hunting. Suddenly, someone heard a person calling for help i

"Thank you," Elara said sincerely. She wiped away the remnants of blue-colored blood that had spattered across No.17's eyelids. His chiseled features seemed hauntingly beautiful underneath the cold-colored veins.

"You saved me, No.17. It's all thanks to you that I'm here." Otherwise, she would already be dead.

He blinked slowly, his damp lashes curving elegantly from the action. She was thanking him so gently; he loved it—so much that his mind went blank, and he was unable to react.

"Be with you. Can I…" he stammered.

"You can." Elara touched his tentacles, making them curl up shyly and wrap around her fingers, seemingly being coquettish with her. "You can be with me again, No.17."

His face was devoid of emotion, but he had to try hard to suppress the joy threatening to brim over in his eyes. He slowly but surely curled his tentacles around her before stopping when something occurred to him.

He looked at her expectantly, like a child waiting for candy. "Call… me…"

He wanted to hear her call him that name.

Elara immediately got what he meant when she looked into his eyes. She smiled and said, "I'll bring you candy tomorrow, Alphino."

…

Elara was finally carried away on a stretcher after bidding No.17 goodbye. It had been a heartwrenching affair, almost as if they were parting forever.

After showering, she wrapped a blanket around herself and curled up pitifully on a bed in the monitoring zone. Someone checked her thoroughly to prevent unknown toxins or wounds from being left unattended.

Meanwhile, she stared dazedly at a fish scale. While changing, someone noticed a bullet hole in her clothing, near where her heart had been. There'd also been a steel casing tucked in the seam of her undergarments—it was probably a stray bullet from the barrage of attacks earlier that had gotten through No.17's shield of tentacles.

The bullet hadn't killed her, though. The medic had been surprised by the bullet hole and her unscathed skin. "It's amazing—this is practically a miracle. The bullet could've easily pierced your heart, but this item blocked it. Can I analyze what it's made of?"

He held the fan-shaped, iridescent scale. It had come from Eryndor, the gorgeous merman Elara had seen deep inside Zone S.

She shook her head and turned the medic down politely. "Sorry, but this is a personal object."

He returned the scale to her, looking regretful. "Splitting weapons can easily pierce tanks and heavy mechs. It's a miracle that this scale protected you—it must be made of something incredibly refined. Look at how the bullet didn't even damage it."

Elara observed the thin, iridescent scale shimmering with light. As the medic had said, it didn't have so much as a scratch on it.

She was sure she'd tucked it into her coat pocket, though. There was no way it could've mysteriously appeared before the skin near her heart. When had it inexplicably slipped into place and saved her life?

Ashley arrived with supper, looking angry as she placed the things on the table beside Elara's bed. She snarled, "Professor Shore tried to kill you!"

To be accurate, he hadn't even cared about Elara's life.

Elara didn't say anything. She'd never witnessed any of the experiments conducted on the creatures before; she only knew they were cruel. Now, she was mentally exhausted after going through it herself and being dragged back from the brink of death. She felt paralyzed—an aftereffect of the shock.

"He ran off in the end—literally! He looked terrified," Ashley muttered. "What could scare that block of ice? Could it be…"

Elara was curious. "He's capable of feeling scared?"

"I swear that's what I saw. You should've seen how he looked when he hurried off—it seemed to me that he was even breaking out in a cold sweat."

Zone S was a brand-new, highly perilous zone. Nobody knew what dangers were hidden within. Something catastrophic had probably happened if even someone like Stephen was scared.

Ashley couldn't help lamenting Elara's situation after complaining about Stephen. "Don't you think your test subjects cling to you too much? Other test subjects want nothing more than to kill their keepers, but yours all just want to be glued to your side."

They were all beautiful and obedient, too. Of course, they were still terrifying weapons to other people.

Elara couldn't help laughing. "No.17's still young. He was just worried about me."

"Young? Him?" Ashley raised her voice. After some thought, she nodded. "Well, that makes sense. He only hatched a little over two years ago—I suppose that does make him young."

Elara had a ravioli and crinkled her eyes in satisfaction. "This tastes pretty good. Where's it from?"

"A newly opened shop that's pretty popular online. I made a special trip to the city center to get it for you," Ashley answered.

"It's good. I'll buy some for Nos.11 and 17 to try when I have the time."

Ashley fell silent. Then, she analyzed the situation rationally. "Your precious No.17 was savage earlier. Several batches of people tried and failed to take you away from him, sustaining significant injuries in the process.

"I'm guessing he didn't just kill them because he didn't want to cause too much of a ruckus and wake you up. I bet he would've turned the research base to rubble if Professor Shore really killed you."

Elara continued eating without saying anything.

"Yet he still did as you said and let you go when you told him to. That kinda makes me want to have an experimental subject of my own to see whether it works for me," Ashley said.

Elara didn't respond. She rationally extricated herself from the situation and analyzed it from an outsider's point of view. She would've died if No.17 hadn't evolved then.

Even now, her hands still trembled slightly as she ate—she was still dazed that she'd had such a close call. Anyone would've been terrified in that situation. Being on the brink of death was scary, after all.

Ashley rubbed her head and soothed her. "Don't worry, okay? Get some rest. You'll see No.17 when you wake up tomorrow."

She continued chatting with Elara as the latter ate, only reluctantly leaving when the medic asked her to.

Elara had to remain at the research base's treatment zone to be observed for a few more days. The medics wanted to ensure she hadn't been affected by the powerful weapons and radiation.

That was the reason they gave her, but she knew the truth—the bioengineers wanted to see whether she would mutate after getting No.17's blood on her.

She pushed that out of her mind and went about her things as usual—she ate, showered, passed the time with her phone, and slept. She didn't let anything affect her.

As night fell, the stark lights in the treatment zone flickered slightly. The area suddenly became rather eerie and dim. The iridescent scale glimmered oddly in the darkness.

Elara suddenly fell into a nightmare where she lay in bed. Her brows subconsciously furrowed, and beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

In her dream, her consciousness became linked with another. She was taken back to that cold, dark space, which was pitch-black, expansive, and eerily silent.

With every step she took, she heard the sound of sloshing water. She dazedly tried to remember where she was—the place was familiar, but the answer didn't come to her.

Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation behind her. A slender, flawless arm wrapped around her waist.

The hand was beautiful. It seemed to glow in the darkness like the moon shone in the sky. It made Elara think of ice and things that were purer than it.

She realized that she shouldn't be there. She should've been on the bed in the research base's treatment zone. She was supposed to be sleeping.

It was odd—she knew very well that she was dreaming, yet she couldn't wake up.

The feeling of the cold, wet arm around her waist felt too real—it was as if a powerful, unknown force had trapped her soul there.

Where was she?

She looked around dazedly, wanting to turn around. However, her body was stiff, and she couldn't move. It seemed whoever was behind her didn't want to show their face and was deliberately avoiding being in her line of sight. They'd even imprisoned her in their embrace to keep her from moving.

Elara opened her mouth but couldn't make a sound. A sense of confinement gripped her, and a chill spread through her body. The icy arm around her waist remained firmly there; she

Chapter 16