Inside the underground base, the air was thick with a pungent smell.
Ji Tianxing's eyes were bloodshot, his old face twisted by extreme resentment and madness.
His entire gaze was fixed on the massive life-support pod before him.
Within the life-support pod, a girl of near-perfect beauty was suspended in the culture fluid, her eyes closed, like a work of art yet to be unveiled.
"P1, that is, Ji Yao's betrayal, was because I gave her emotions she shouldn't have had."
"I gave her laughable freedom..."
Ji Tianxing muttered maniacally, his voice filled with suppressed rage.
"But you are different."
His gaze was incredibly fervent as he looked at the girl's perfect face, as if trying to melt the glass of the life-support pod.
"You, P2, are the ultimate weapon born for slaughter!"
"I bestow upon you the name, Ji Ling!"
"Your soul is my hatred!"
As his words fell, he connected a thick data cable to the life-support pod's port.
The screen beside the life-support pod lit up, countless data points flashing wildly.
It was all of Lu Cheng's information.
Every photo of him, every public appearance, every combat footage record.
There was also data analysis based on the previous battle with the puppet on the yacht.
Having stolen his most prized and outstanding 'daughter,' Ji Yao, and then running to Paris to beat him up on his own turf... Ji Tianxing poured all of his hatred and killing intent for Lu Cheng into Ji Ling through the data.
Core instruction: [Annihilate Lu Cheng].
Instruction injection complete.
The culture fluid within the life-support pod began to drain rapidly, making gurgling sounds.
The girl named "Ji Ling" slowly opened her eyes.
They were a pair of glass-like pupils devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
Cold, empty.
It merely captured everything within its field of vision objectively, without any subjective color.
Her naked body was exposed to the cold air, her skin almost translucently white.
In the next second, countless silver nanites, like living streams, converged from the bottom of the life-support pod upwards, rapidly covering her entire body.
In an instant, a streamlined combat suit that perfectly conformed to the curves of her body had taken shape.
She had awakened... At the same time, at the Lu Estate.
Inside the dining room, Lu Cheng was enjoying treatment fit for a human emperor.
Anya, the internationally renowned pianist, was peeling fruit and gently offering it to his lips with her slender fingers.
On the other side, Mu Xing was also gently massaging his shoulders with just the right amount of pressure, her face filled with complete trust and adoration, serving her savior.
Only Dongfang Yue still maintained a slight distance, sitting alone on a single sofa slightly further away.
She held a cup of black tea in her hand, her brow furrowed tightly, her gaze complex as she looked at the man surrounded by her two sisters.
The atmosphere in the dining room was warm and inviting, yet she felt out of place.
Even though her affection for Lu Cheng had gradually increased, she still couldn't resist the effects of the Love-Binding Gu.
But in her heart, there were still too many questions... After a long while, Anya and Mu Xing seemed to feel that it was time for Lu Cheng to rest, so they got up to prepare some new refreshments.
"Lu Cheng, you rest for a while, I'll go prepare some snacks for you."
"Brother Cheng, I'll go with Big Sister."
After the two left, the room instantly quieted down.
Dongfang Yue finally couldn't bear the torment in her heart any longer.
She put down her teacup, stood up, and walked to Lu Cheng.
Her voice, deliberately suppressed, sounded particularly cold.
"What exactly did you do to Jiang Chen?"
She stared intently into Lu Cheng's eyes, trying to find the answer.
"When he went crazy and tried to hurt Little Xing, I felt a power..."
"That power was very strong, but it suddenly disappeared."
"It was you who took it away, wasn't it?"
Lu Cheng leisurely wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, a playful smile appearing on his face.
"Oh? Your perception is quite sharp."
"Want to know the truth?"
This smile made Dongfang Yue's heart sink.
Before she could open her mouth, before she could even step back,
Lu Cheng had already acted, grabbing her wrist and pulling her whole body into his arms.
Dongfang Yue let out a cry of surprise, instinctively struggling.
But Lu Cheng's strength was like iron tongs, rendering all her resistance pale and futile.
Ignoring her struggles, he picked her up horizontally and strode towards the study.
With a "bang," the study door was closed with his foot and then locked.
Dongfang Yue was roughly pressed onto the cold desk.
Lu Cheng leaned down, his warm breath ghosting across her ear, his voice low and mocking.
"Words are pale, the truth..."
"Needs to be experienced personally."
Lu Cheng's thoughts flickered slightly, and the Love-Binding Gu was activated!
Dongfang Yue's delicate body trembled violently, stiffening.
This time, what Lu Cheng shared with her... was a searing pain originating from the depths of the soul, forcibly stripped away!
And an indescribable despair!
This emotion did not belong to Lu Cheng, nor did it belong to herself.
It was ethereal yet terrifyingly real, as if countless invisible needles were piercing her spirit madly.
A sharp, childish voice mixed with fear and incomprehension screamed frantically in her mind.
It was Jiang Chen's voice!
"My system! My [Shock System]!"
"No! You can't take it away! Give it back to me!"
Dongfang Yue's vision began to blur, and the world before her eyes shook and twisted violently.
She seemed to "see."
She "saw" a sphere radiating brilliant golden light being forcibly, inch by inch, pulled out from the body of a child by an invisible hand!
She "saw" the "spirit," "wisdom," and "aura" in the child's eyes rapidly dimming and dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye as the golden sphere left the body.
In the end, those eyes that had once sparkled with the light of genius completely returned to a dead, empty void.
Just then, Lu Cheng's murmur rang in her chaotic mind.
"Do you feel it? Yue'er."
"This is the moment your genius brother fell."
"And I am that..."
"Executioner."
Dongfang Yue's pupils suddenly contracted to the extreme.
The color drained from her face in an instant, turning as pale as paper.
The last bit of strength supporting her body was also emptied, and her whole person softly collapsed into Lu Cheng's arms.
She finally understood what Lu Cheng had done to Jiang Chen.
It was far more cruel than any torture she could have imagined.
It was ten thousand times more terrifying than death itself.
It was a... complete plunder!