Dotti was thrown back into her dormitory, and today the guards didn't lock her to the bed.
But in the crimson room, Dotti just curled up into a ball, staring blankly at the lamp on the table.
She didn't know what to do, the door was guarded by fully armed soldiers, and there were many more troops outside, fully armed, even with tanks and military dogs.
Beyond the electrified fence of the wall, there were endless snowfields stretching for hundreds of kilometers.
No one could escape from here.
When they were very young, the instructor once said, "Secrets and a sense of ritual are always necessary, they help you find your place in human society."
At the time, some older students responded, "Yes, instructor, we have no place in the world."
The instructor smiled, which was one of the few times the Old Witch instructor smiled.
But Dotti didn't see what happened next, as the younger students were taken away.
After the little girls left, the instructor smiled while sending the older students into the Gladiatorial Arena, telling them,
"Absolutely correct answer, now let's start the ritual, only one of you can survive."
After a silent slaughter, only one person survived, stepping out drenched in blood on the corpses of her companions, that was the last generation's Black Widow...
.........
However, the ruthless elites cultivated in this way, although very strong and useful, all the risks were concentrated on one person.
There would always be accidents, especially when encountering any leader of Hydra, the Black Widow couldn't escape unscathed.
Which is more poisonous, the Spider or the Snake? And the opponent has nine heads.
Both being female Elite Warriors, Hydra's Viper is even more lethal than the Black Widow.
Now Hydra's claws have also reached into this vast country, constantly probing Leviathan's other secret research, the Winter Soldier project.
Hydra wants the Winter Soldier project.
Their weapons are more advanced, their Special Agents more elite, and at least two leader-level figures have secretly entered the Soviet Union.
On the secret battlefront, Leviathan is now retreating step by step.
In short, the situation now is that the last generation's Black Widow has lost contact, probably dead, yet no one knows who she encountered.
Afterwards, the top ranks of Leviathan pressed the Red House to produce the next generation of Black Widow, and after discussion between the Professor and the instructor, they decided to graduate Dotti's cohort early.
Actually, it wasn't that early. After injecting the Leech Potion, there's no difference between teens and decades.
..........
It's unclear how much time had passed when Dotti, groggy, heard the sound of the door; her roommate and good friend Anya had returned.
"Are you okay, Dotti?" Anya's hands still had the scent of blood, but her face carried a smile as she sat gently on the edge of Dotti's bed: "To take care of you, they didn't lock us today, just stood guard outside the door. I think the instructor still quite likes you."
But when Anya sat down, Dotti uncomfortably shrank inward; she didn't know if Anya was pretending, if she'd snap her neck in the next second.
However, Anya seemed not to notice, fidgeting with her braid, stealing glances at the guards outside.
Seeing the guards outside weren't paying much attention, she lifted her clothes and took out a piece of bread from her belly.
"I hid a piece of bread, you haven't eaten yet, quickly hide under the blanket to eat."
She whispered to Dotti.
Dotti hesitated a little, unsure if the bread was poisoned, or if hiding under the blanket would suffocate her. Each of them mastered countless ways to kill; they could use a handful of snow outside to kill.
Although she previously thought it was okay for a friend to kill her, now...
If a friend acted so eagerly just to kill her, she felt it wouldn't be worth it.
"Did Anya not act upon entering because she wasn't confident? Planning to suddenly snap my neck from behind? A camouflage tactic?"
Dotti thought to herself, her injuries making her feel weak and her mind fuzzy, but she wanted to live.
She took the bread, feeling Anya's warmth on it; it was warm, the rough bread felt even softer.
Dotti hid the bread under her blanket.
"Thank you, Anya, I'll eat it after lights out."
"Hmm, okay." Anya thought for a moment, realizing it might be easier to be discovered with lights on, smuggling food was a serious crime, the food here was very precious, everyone often went hungry.
The red walls made both their faces look flushed. The room only had two steel-framed beds and a simple table.
Dotti didn't know what to say, just staring at Anya, the atmosphere in the room fell into a strange silence.
Unknowing Anya simply thought Dotti's injuries were severe, she too didn't think much about it, she got up to turn off the lights.
"Let's go to sleep then, goodnight."
Dotti's heart tightened, was turning off the lights a plan to act?
Attacking during the bright to dark transition, when human eyes are adjusting, is indeed a fundamental tactic.
The correct way to break the code is to close your eyes before the lights go out, and then open them in the darkness. This way, your eyesight will recover about two seconds faster.
But now, if I close my eyes, Anya might take the opportunity to make a move, and the weakened Dotti is no match for Anya.
The little girl with two braids may look weak and shy, but she can effortlessly break a prisoner's spine from a certain angle.
Women's fighting techniques are never about overpowering with force, but by using flexibility and skill to attack the weaknesses of bones and internal organs, thereby silently defeating the enemy in a single move.
Just like injecting venom.
At this moment, Dotti found herself in a dilemma, and finally decided to keep her eyes open. After all, that might give her a few more seconds to live.
'Click.'
The table lamp was switched off, and Anya approached in the darkness, bending down.
Dotti clenched her fists under the quilt.
But Anya merely brought her face close to Dotti's, kissed her forehead, and then returned to her own bed.
Dotti breathed rapidly; she thought she was about to die just now.
But Anya clearly had no intention of killing her. She was wrong before; her good friend was still her good friend, that lovable girl.
The instructor surely didn't give Anya the same task; she was lying.
However...
The problem was, the instructor said that by tomorrow morning, only one person could walk out of the room alive.
But if neither of them made a move to kill the other, then without a doubt, both of them would die tomorrow.
People who do not follow orders are worthless, and in the Red House, worthless individuals have no value; perhaps being thrown into the boiler to provide heat for others would be their final destination.
The instructor wouldn't lie about that.
Dotti fell into contemplation, pondering the solution. The door was locked, and they were clearly too underfed to break it open.
And if by tomorrow the guard opened the door to find them both alive, they would immediately be shot dead.
"I must entice Anya to kill me..." Dotti devised a plan. She silently sat up from bed, quietly eating some bread.
But the bread was just a thin slice, and even if she stalled, she finished it quickly.
Dotti wiped away her tears, replaced them with a fierce and cold expression, and quietly headed toward Anya's bed.
This place was all underground, and Dotti didn't even know how much time had passed or how long until dawn, but she couldn't delay any longer; she wanted Anya to survive.
Anya lay with her hair down, sucking on her fingers as she slept soundly. In truth, she also lacked a sense of security; nearly every girl here slept curled up.
Dotti gripped Anya's neck and gradually applied force.
Anya awoke; they were trained to be very alert. She struggled for a moment, noticing it was Dotti strangling her, then calmed down instead.
"Dotti? Cough, cough, this isn't funny at all; I can't breathe." She pried at Dotti's hands.
"Shut up! Bitch! Even hearing my name from you makes me sick. I'm under orders to kill you." Dotti applied more pressure, but she was too weak to hold much strength.
"Then you should unscrew part of the handcuffs from the headboard, cut my artery, or jab it into my heart when I'm asleep. Strangling isn't suitable for your current physical state."
Anya was now fully awake; she not only didn't struggle at all, but even let go of Dotti's hand.
She had realized that this was the instructor's order for Dotti, and she had already been classified as 'nourishment,' with a destiny to die at the hands of others.
If so, she'd rather be killed by her good friend than be humiliated by a stranger or beast.
"Ugh....." Dotti was seen through, but she still slapped Anya: "Fight back, kill me."
"No, you're the one who's been ordered; you have to survive, live to the very end." Anya remained unmoved, lying calmly and watching Dotti.
"If you kill me, you can live on." Dotti released her grip, placing Anya's hand on her own neck.
Anya shook her head, sat up from the bed, and hugged Dotti.
"I won't make it to the end, Dotti. I discovered a secret long ago; in every generation of girls, only one person can survive to the end. Someone is destined to kill all the others. I knew long ago I would die and decided early on that I'd die at your hands..."
"No, that's impossible."
"Think calmly, Dotti. Our skirts have never fit, right? Where do they get so many ill-fitting old skirts?"
Anya smiled sadly and revealed her evidence.
These red dresses were stripped from the bodies of those who came before.
Dotti was thunderstruck; she didn't know what to do. If only one person could survive, did it mean she really had to kill everyone?
They all grew up here, spending more than ten years together; could she really kill them all?
However, if the instructor's plan succeeded, after she killed her best friend, she could surely kill everyone else...
The instructor indeed favored her, but this kind of affection wasn't what ordinary people would understand; it was simply that he deemed her the most suitable weapon.
Dotti hugged Anya and began to cry.