"Waaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
A shrill, girlish scream mingled with the deafening "clatter-clatter" of a mine cart scraping wildly against old rails, echoing intensely through the narrow, steep, and winding tunnel.
Stella [Hook] felt like she was no longer sitting in a mine cart, but had been stuffed into a high-speed tumble dryer, while simultaneously experiencing an extreme roller coaster ride without a seatbelt!
The scenery before her eyes spun, stretched, and blurred into a twisted mess of light, shadow, and stone walls! The sensations of weightlessness and heavy G-force alternated, ravaging her small, level 1 body.
"Which drunk engineer designed these tracks?! Did they draw them based on my brain's neural pathways?! Why are there spiral descents and right-angle turns?! Sampo! I am not done with you—!!!"
She screamed frantically in her mind, gripping the cold, damp edge of the mine cart so hard her knuckles turned white, feeling as if her internal organs were about to be flung out.
She didn't know how long it had been, and just as Stella felt she was about to pass out—
Screeeech—!!! Clang!
After a piercing screech of brakes, the mine cart jolted violently and finally came to a stop.
Stella [Hook] collapsed in the mine cart, her eyes turned into standard mosquito coils, her little face deathly pale, her mouth slightly agape, emitting weak whimpers.
The world was still spinning before her eyes.
"Hmm? What was that sound? Where did that scream come from? Did the mine tunnel collapse?"
Seele, who had just been patrolling nearby, was startled by the sudden commotion. She immediately tightened her grip on her scythe in vigilance and quickly approached the source of the sound.
She cautiously poked her head out to look at the usually abandoned mine cart loading point, only to see a dilapidated mine cart still swaying slightly, and a small figure slumped inside, looking as if her "soul had left her body."
"Hook?!"
A flash of surprise and worry crossed Seele's sharp purple eyes.
She immediately put away her weapon, hurried forward, leaned over to lift the limp Stella [Hook] out of the mine cart, and gently patted her little face.
"Hook? Hook! Wake up! Why are you here? And riding in this piece of junk? What happened?"
Stella [Hook]'s eyes were unfocused, her lips quivering as she spat out a few words in a voice as thin as a mosquito's buzzing, filled with resentment: "Sam... po... I... hate... you..."
Seele: "..."
She understood instantly.
It was that blue-haired jerk Sampo Koski again, up to no good! It must have been his doing!
"That guy, even playing tricks on a child!"
Seele frowned, but then her gaze swept over the mine cart, and following the direction it had come from, she looked toward the deep, steep track leading upward.
A more terrifying suspicion surfaced in her mind.
She looked down sharply at "Hook," whose eyes were still spinning in her arms, and said with disbelief, "Wait... Hook, don't tell me... you came down from up there?!"
She pointed at the track leading to the Upper District, her voice slightly strained.
"You went to the Upper District?! How did you get up there?! No, wait, why did that guy Sampo take you up there?!"
Realizing the severity of the problem, Seele dared not delay.
A child from the Lower District inexplicably appearing in a dangerous mine tunnel leading to the upper level was definitely not a small matter!
"Hold on tight!"
She said this to Stella [Hook] in her arms, though the other might not have heard, then she took off with long strides, sprinting as fast as she could toward Doctor Natasha's clinic!
She had to have Natasha check if the child was injured immediately, and then ask clearly what exactly had happened!
——————
Inside Natasha's clinic, the scent of disinfectant mixed with herbs permeated the air.
"Ugh... finally... starting to feel a little better..."
Stella [Hook] shook her still dizzy little head, feeling the spinning mosquito coils slowly turn into double images, then barely coalesced into a clear field of vision.
She found herself lying on a hospital bed covered with a clean white sheet, with a thin blanket over her.
She carefully propped herself up and looked around.
The clinic was simple but cozy, with neat medicine cabinets and quiet instruments.
It looked like a safe place... for now.
"Hook, you're awake."
A voice so gentle it could drip water, like a spring breeze brushing over an ice field, sounded softly from behind and to the side of the hospital bed.
However, as this voice reached Stella [Hook]'s ears, it instantly made her feel like she had fallen into an ice cave! Every hair on her body stood at attention in a salute! Her body seemed instantly frozen, becoming incredibly stiff.
Her neck, like a rusty gear, turned with stiff, jerky, extremely slow movements.
She saw Doctor Natasha standing by the bed, slightly bent over, wearing her usual gentle and warm smile, looking at her with concerned eyes.
But for some reason, Stella always felt that behind that gentle smile, there seemed to be black shadows silently spreading.
"Do you feel better? Is your head still spinning?"
Natasha asked softly, reaching out as if to touch her forehead.
Stella [Hook] subconsciously shrank her neck.
Natasha's hand stopped in mid-air, her smile unchanged, but her tone now carried a trace of imperceptible, scalp-tingling inquiry that made Stella shudder: "So, Hook, can you tell Sister Natasha now... why were you riding that abandoned mine cart leading to the Upper District, and appearing there all dizzy?"
Her voice remained soft, but every word struck Stella's heart like a small hammer.
"It was Sampo! It was all Sampo's doing!"
At this life-or-death moment, Stella [Hook] unhesitatingly and decisively cast the blame away, pointing her little finger at the ceiling, her tone excited as she tried to increase her credibility.
"That blue-haired villain! He stuffed me into the mine cart! Then he pushed me down! I don't know anything! I'm a victim!"
"Sampo, huh..."
Natasha repeated the name, the smile on her face seeming to deepen, and becoming even more "gentle."
She straightened up, turned around, and walked to the instrument cabinet nearby, opening the cabinet door as if looking for something.
Stella [Hook] just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had managed to bluff her way through.
Then, she saw Doctor Natasha take out from the cabinet... a metal needle that was absurdly long, terrifyingly thick, and gleaming with a cold, icy light under the lamp!
The tip was sharp, and the needle body had strange spiral patterns!
"!!!"
Stella [Hook]'s eyes widened larger than brass bells, her mouth opened into an "O" shape, and she completely petrified on the hospital bed.
Natasha held the "murder weapon," turned around, waved it at Stella [Hook], still wearing that impeccable, gentle smile, and said in a conversational tone:
"So it was Sampo. He always loves to 'help' so much. It seems that next time I see him, I'll have to use this newly arrived 'Python Needle' to give him a proper 'full-body adjustment.' I hear this technique is particularly effective for unblocking certain people's overly 'active' meridians and 'excessive' thoughts... It's my first time using it, so it's a perfect opportunity to practice."
Her words were as soft as a feather, but the content made Stella [Hook] feel as if she saw a future vision of Sampo being needled into a python, screaming and begging for mercy.
She was too scared to move, even softening her breathing, fearing she might attract the attention of this "gentle" doctor.
However, Natasha's attention quickly returned from the future "Sampo Acupuncture Experience" to the present.
"Oh, that's right, Hook."
She seemed to suddenly remember, refocusing her gaze on the trembling Stella [Hook], her smile becoming even more "kind and approachable."
"Since you're at the clinic, it's perfect timing, you should get a shot too. There's a bit of a minor flu in the Lower District recently, it's better to get vaccinated."
As she spoke, under Stella [Hook]'s terrified gaze, she put down the terrifying "Python Needle" and picked up a huge syringe the size of a small grenade launcher, with a thick, sturdy needle tip, filled with an unknown, murky purple liquid!
"Come now, be a good girl, don't be afraid, just a little prick, it'll be over soon..."
Natasha held up the huge syringe, walking closer step by step. The smile on her face magnified infinitely in Stella [Hook]'s eyes, twisting, and finally turning into a demonic smile with black bat wings seemingly spreading out behind her!
Stella [Hook] was stiff all over, like a frog stared at by a snake.
She watched the thick needle tip, gleaming with cold light, drawing closer and closer, along with the suspicious, seemingly bubbling purple liquid in the syringe, and a silent, desperate scream erupted in her heart:
Exposed! She must have long realized I'm not the real Hook!
This shot is definitely on purpose! This liquid doesn't look like any proper vaccine! It's a solvent! Or maybe a transformation potion!
My life is over!!!
Help!!!
Sampo! I hate you!
Teacher Dan Heng! March 7th! Sister Himeko! Anyone! Save me!!!
However, her body was completely unresponsive due to excessive fear, and she could only watch helplessly as that demonic smile and the terrifying syringe obscured her entire field of vision...