Daziel's lips curved into a very faint arc, one that carried a playful air, yet was so cold that not a shred of warmth reached his eyes.
His gaze, like a tangible force, scraped over Ruan Mei, possessing a penetrating power that seemed to want to strip her soul bare for examination.
"Heh, it seems you're not too slow on the uptake."
He took the metal baseball bat, still stained with the blood of Skaracabaz the Star-Crushing Swarm King, from his shoulder and casually tossed it in his palm.
It felt light, as if it were not a weapon but a boring toy.
The metal bat refracted the pale light from the high platform, casting cold, piercing streams of light that made one's eyes blur.
"Barely… passable."
This assessment was less praise and more alms.
Ruan Mei's body trembled minutely, almost imperceptibly, as if struck by an invisible electric current.
She kept her eyelids firmly lowered, thick lashes casting a shadow, concealing the surging submission and fear in her eyes, not daring to meet the baseball bat that had just easily defeated the Star-Crushing Swarm King.
The sharp pain from her fingernails digging deeply into the tender flesh of her palm was the only proof that she was still awake and present.
"Th… Thank you for your… praise…"
Her voice was as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito, each syllable stained with an irremovable suffocation, squeezed out with difficulty from the depths of her throat.
Daziel seemed quite satisfied with her utter submission, her will to resist completely ground away.
The smile on his lips deepened a few degrees, carrying a joy of having everything under control.
Casually stowing the baseball bat, Daziel leisurely strolled towards the edge of the high platform.
The metallic heels of his shoes making crisp echoes as they struck the ground, sounding exceptionally piercing in the deathly still space.
Daziel's gaze once again locked onto Ruan Mei, the scrutiny in it even more intense, carrying an added, undeniable absolute command.
"Alright, idle chat is over. Now, it's time to talk about proper business."
His tone suddenly turned flat, as if the abuser from before was merely an illusion, but beneath that flatness lay a mountainous, irresistible power of command.
"According to our previous 'agreement,' shape an embryo for me. An… Emanator of Propagation embryo. Just use those 'reference materials' I gave you before."
"Yes! It should be done very quickly…"
Ruan Mei lifted her head.
Those eyes, which always carried a detached and intellectual light, now filled only with utter excitement, shock, and a deeply hidden eagerness.
After all, Daziel's materials had indeed shown her the hope of creating an Emanator out of thin air.
Daziel completely ignored the dramatic change in her expression, as if she were merely an emotionless tool, and continued to issue instructions.
"As for the specific form of the embryo…"
He paused slightly, relishing Ruan Mei's expression of a collapsing worldview with great interest.
"Scan a code, add me as a friend, I'll send you the 'model's photo' for reference."
A phone? Scan a code?
Is this how he transmits data? Isn't this a bit too much like child's play?
But she dared not resist.
Like a puppet on strings, Ruan Mei subconsciously, stiffly took out her phone, bringing up her personal identification code interface, the screen's faint light illuminating her slightly pale face.
Daziel casually scanned it, and the friend request was instantly accepted.
Immediately after, an image was sent over.
Ruan Mei's fingertips, trembling almost imperceptibly, tapped open the new message.
A high-definition photo slowly unfolded on her phone screen, occupying her entire field of vision.
The background of the photo seemed to be a magnificent but slightly ravaged outdoor scene.
Ruan Mei recognized it at a glance; this was not a physical scene, but an Aether Coding space.
The main subject was a woman, a woman with a breathtakingly beautiful face.
Although only her upper body was visible, she was tens of meters tall, and also seemed to be constructed from Aether Code.
Her face was flushed with an unnatural crimson, her eyes somewhat evasive.
Her makeup, which should have been filled with imposing majesty and destructive aura, now looked somewhat messy, and she even covered her face with her hand.
Emanator?
What made Ruan Mei's heart stop beating was that, in the photo, the tiny Daziel stood before this colossal figure, that signature smug smile on his face.
He was actually…
Actually holding that fiercely burning fire poker, looking down arrogantly at Phantylia.
Phantylia, however, had no ability to resist, forced to strike this… extremely unwilling and humiliating pose.
The woman's expression was dazed and fearful, her posture… extremely unnatural, filled with traces of forced obedience.
Ruan Mei's gaze, as if seared, her pupils instantly constricting to the size of pinpricks the moment she touched the image!
"This… this is…"
She recognized that face! Even if her current expression and temperament were worlds apart from the lofty, calamity-bringing existence in her cognition!
That was one of the most infamous Lords of Ravagers in the universe, one who made countless civilizations tremble in fear!
"Phantylia?!"
She cried out, her voice sharp and distorted, filled with utter disbelief and a sense of the absurd.
"Why… why do you want me… want me to use this image… to create that embryo?! This is just a segment of Aether Code, right?"
This appearance… this appearance of being wantonly played with, utterly devoid of dignity, where was even a hint of the majesty and terror of a Ravager Lord, a demigod creation?!
Daziel let out a low, soft chuckle, a chuckle filled with wicked amusement and undisguised showing off.
"What if I told you…"
He deliberately drew out his words, speaking slowly, savoring the appalled change in Ruan Mei's expression.
"This segment of Aether Code, is Phantylia herself. Her current actual situation, is not much different from yours right now, you know?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Ruan Mei almost reflexively shrieked in rebuttal, her reason and the cognitive system she had built over her entire life wildly screaming denial.
"Her last appearance was on the Xianzhou Luofu! She intended to seize the Ambrosial Arbor, ultimately failed, and by the power of the Xianzhou Alliance…"
Her voice grew softer and softer, weaker and weaker.
A terrifying thought that made her blood run cold, one she dared not contemplate deeply, coiled around her mind like a venomous vine.
"Could it be… could it be that… you have such heaven-defying means, to be able to, under the Xianzhou Alliance's tight encirclement and in full view of everyone, take her…"
Daziel waved his hand, interrupting her chaotic speculation, his tone light, as if speaking of a trivial matter.
"That time on the Xianzhou, I did indeed give her a beating, it was quite satisfying."
"But that was just taking advantage of the situation, joining in the fun, nothing to speak of."
His tone suddenly shifted, carrying an almost imperceptible self-satisfaction and arrogance.
"Truly subduing her, making her into the obedient appearance in the photo now, that was my own achievement, later on, all by myself."
"I don't believe it! I absolutely don't believe it!"
Ruan Mei blurted out again, her voice somewhat hysterical from excitement.
Her reason was wildly resisting. This completely violated her understanding of power levels.
Daziel's strength was indeed despairingly powerful, but to single-handedly confront and subdue an Emanator who wielded the dual powers of Destruction and Abundance, and possessed an almost immortal Ambrosial Arbor body…
This was no longer powerful, this was a myth, an absurdity beyond comprehension!
"Hmm?"
A very light hum escaped Daziel's nostrils, carrying obvious displeasure.
Merely this simple sound, yet it seemed to possess some magical power, causing the temperature of the surrounding air to plummet several degrees in an instant.
That icy, bone-piercing, pervasive pressure once again surged like a tide, heavily striking Ruan Mei's soul.
Ruan Mei's questioning, even if only out of rational judgment, had clearly angered this man who had just forced her to call him "Master."
Extreme fear, like a cold, venomous snake, once again tightly gripped her heart, making her almost suffocate.
She was terrified to see Daziel slowly raise his right hand.
His palm faced upwards, his movements elegant and unhurried.
A coin, peculiar in shape and emitting a faint light, appeared out of thin air in his palm without any warning.
The coin looked very ancient.
One side was engraved with complex patterns of star trajectories, while the other was entwined with distorted, ever-changing, seemingly living streams of Aether energy.
"It seems, all talk and no action is useless. It's time to give you a little, eye-opening proof."
Daziel's fingertips, seemingly casually, flicked lightly.
The Aether Coin let out a soft chime, spinning upwards, and hovered in mid-air.
Circles of soft yet immensely powerful light halos, like ripples from a stone thrown into a calm lake, emanated from the coin, rapidly expanding.
Light intertwined and condensed in the air, at a visible speed, outlining the graceful silhouette of a female figure.
That figure wore an extremely familiar Xianzhou Luofu attire, and a fluffy fox tail swayed gently behind her.
"This… isn't this a Foxian woman?"
Ruan Mei stared blankly at the lifelike figure formed by the light, her heart filled with confusion.
No, the aura is wrong!
Although her appearance and figure were clearly that of the Foxian women she occasionally saw on the Xianzhou, this aura… was too obscure, too vast!
Daziel looked at the "Tingyun-like" figure, his brows knitting almost imperceptibly, seeming somewhat dissatisfied with this image.
"Change your form."
His voice was not loud, even flat, but the command within it was as hard as steel, permitting no questioning.
"Revert to your original appearance, let our Ms. Ruan Mei get a good 'look' at you."
Phantylia, who had devoured the remnants of Heliobus and Hoolay, was no longer simple Aether Code. Her original form could now break through the Aether Coin's restraints and transform back.
That light-and-shadow figure with Tingyun's appearance clearly stiffened violently.
Her body seemed to tremble slightly, the light and shadow becoming somewhat unstable, revealing obvious hesitation, and even a fear and dread originating from the depths of her soul.
But under Daziel's cold, indifferent, emotionless gaze, she ultimately dared not defy him for even a moment.
"Yes… I obey… Benefactor."
A soft, charming voice, tinged with obvious trembling and fear, sounded. It was "Tingyun's" voice.
She slowly raised her hands, forming an extremely complex, ancient, and peculiar mudra before her chest.
In an instant, light flared!
The originally soft halo became incomparably violent, as dazzling as a supernova explosion!
The Foxian girl's figure was instantly torn apart, twisted, and then reshaped in an unbelievable way within this incomparably violent energy torrent!
An indescribable, vast to the point of suffocating, terrifying pressure, like a tsunami, descended upon this space!
It was a pure, extreme aura of destruction, as if the end of the universe had materialized, becoming almost tangible as it permeated, eroding everything around!
The originally bright lights on the high platform began to violently distort and flicker under the impact of this terrifying aura, becoming dim and dull, as if they would be extinguished at any moment.
The air congealed; time itself seemed to stop.
Finally, the light, so piercing it was impossible to look at directly, slowly dissipated.
A colossal, magnificent, intricately structured, yet constantly exuding an ominous and calamitous aura, monstrous figure replaced the previous Foxian girl, completely occupying Ruan Mei's entire field of vision.
That was Phantylia!
The Emanator under Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction, one of the Lords of Ravagers, who had once stirred up storms on the Xianzhou and brought boundless slaughter and destruction!
Her form was like a walking natural disaster, her power capable of overturning stars!
However, at this moment, Ruan Mei's gaze, as if nailed down, was fixed deadly on Phantylia's still exquisitely beautiful face, which had lost all its divine radiance.
This Lord of Ravagers, who had once brought endless headaches to the entire Xianzhou Alliance and whose might was renowned…
At this moment, in her hand, she actually held an extremely ornate and exquisite folding fan, completely out of sync with her overall style.
That fan was held by her in an almost subconscious, self-protective manner, half-covering her cheek, revealing only a pair of…
A pair of eyes filled with alarm, unease, and a thick timidity.
Her entire posture, no longer held the majesty of an Emanator looking down on all beings, but instead carried a kind of…
A kind of girlish shyness and timidity, like that of a frightened fawn?!
Yes, shyness and timidity!
Using these two words to describe Phantylia was simply the greatest joke in the universe, yet at this moment, it was incomparably real before Ruan Mei's eyes!
Where was even half a shred of the madness and pressure belonging to a Ravager Lord?
There was only a gentleness that had been completely crushed, its will ground away, tamed and transformed from the very depths of its soul.
And, that seemingly bone-deep, soul-branded, extreme fear of Daziel.
Ruan Mei was utterly dumbfounded.
Her brain, as if completely impacted by this subversive scene, turned into a blank slate, all her thinking abilities instantly ceasing.
This scene before her, completely overturning her cognition, impacting her worldview, was ruthlessly destroying all the common sense and logic she had built up in the past.
She opened her mouth, her throat dry and tight, yet unable to utter a single sound.
An icy, bone-piercing chill shot up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, making her feel as if she had instantly plunged into a bottomless, ice-sealed abyss.
A thought, an incomparably clear, incomparably cold, incomparably despairing thought, like a venomous snake hissing and flicking its tongue, drilled into the deepest part of her heart.
This thought was so terrifying, it made her whole body tremble uncontrollably, her teeth chattering.
In the future…
In the future… will I…
Will I also become… like Phantylia is now… like this?
"Alright, tone it down, don't scare our Ms. Ruan Mei."
Daziel's indifferent voice, like a cold blade, easily cut through the deathly silence in the laboratory.
His tone was as casual as if shooing away an obtrusive concubine, not a Ravager Lord who had once stirred up storms.
Phantylia, upon hearing this, as if receiving some kind of amnesty, her colossal figure suddenly becoming illusory, dissipating into nothingness as if she had never existed.
That suffocating pressure and calamitous aura also receded like a tide, leaving no trace.
The laboratory was left with only the low hum of instruments and the still uneasily flickering lights, illuminating a scene of desolate silence.
The corner of Ruan Mei's lips spasmed almost imperceptibly.
Her throat was dry, yet she couldn't make a sound, only silence.
Merely the Emanator herself, even an existence like Phantylia, would perhaps only make her highly vigilant and arouse her desire for research.
What truly froze her soul was Phantylia's absolute obedience when facing Daziel, an obedience that was bone-deep, as if branded into the deepest part of her soul.
That gentleness, that timidity, completely overturned her understanding of power levels.
As powerful as a Lord of Ravagers, could she actually be tamed, transformed to such an extent?
And, Daziel clearly didn't have Emanator-level strength…
This, more than any pure Path power, was more chilling, more despairing.
Daziel turned sideways. The end of the plain baseball bat in his hand, with a hint of impatience, lightly poked Ruan Mei's soft lower back.
"Hey, snap out of it. Don't just stand there like a wooden post, you bad woman who always disregards others' feelings. Time to work, my great scientist."
The force was light, yet it contained an irresistible command, coiling around her like an invisible chain.
Ruan Mei's body trembled violently, as if doused with cold water, forcibly awakened from that boundless abyss of fear.
She almost instinctively, in a low voice, replied: "…Oh."
The central operating table in the laboratory was cold and smooth, with various precision instruments scattered on it, flickering with a faint light.
The data Daziel had given her earlier materialized into a three-dimensional light screen, suspended in mid-air, azure data streams flowing slowly across it.
Ruan Mei took a deep breath of the icy air, forcing her chaotic thoughts to refocus.
With this blueprint, which could be called a creation plan, manufacturing a new Propagation Emanator embryo became almost insultingly simple for her.
The theoretical structure explained on the light screen was profound and abstruse, its depth and breadth far exceeding her current knowledge system.
Every step, every parameter, was precise to an unbelievable degree, as if it were a direct manifestation of cosmic law.
The subsequent procedure had almost nothing to do with her, this renowned life science master of the universe.
It no longer required her flash of genius, nor her creative thinking.
It only required a pair of sufficiently steady, untrembling hands, like the most basic laboratory assistant, to execute the instructions step by step.
Any "genius" with slightly better hands-on skills could perfectly replicate this process.
She, Ruan Mei, member #81 of the Genius Society, one of the most brilliant minds in the universe, had at this moment been thoroughly reduced to an assembly line worker.
An unprecedented, sharper, more bone-piercing sense of humiliation, wildly grew and spread from the darkest corner of her heart, far more intense than any previous physical or mental coercion.
Previously, being played with by Daziel, treated as a tool to satisfy his wicked amusement.
Though extremely embarrassing, it seemed to still fall within some vague, subconscious presupposition of hers about the cruel reality between the strong and the weak.
But now, in the field of scientific research she was most proud of, most confident in, the field she considered the meaning of her life, to be so thoroughly instrumentalized, proceduralized.
Her knowledge, her wisdom, the truth she had pursued her entire life, at this moment, became as light as a feather, worthless.
She only needed to passively, like a puppet on strings, rigidly follow the instructions of that data.
This absolute intellectual crushing and complete disregard brought a sense of humiliation like sulfuric acid, corroding her soul, making her almost unable to breathe.
This feeling, at this moment, would be forever engraved, becoming an indelible mark of shame in her life.
In the original plot, Ruan Mei had lightly told the protagonist that she didn't understand emotions, didn't understand love, which was why she had offended the protagonist.
What was even more infuriating was that her tone didn't seem to carry any hint of apology, but rather was merely stating a fact.
As if that were her natural barrier and arrogant excuse for disregarding life and purely pursuing knowledge.
But now, Daziel, in a brutal way she had never imagined, never experienced, had carved an indelible mark on her supposedly ice-hard heart.
Her supreme arrogance, prejudice, and indifference were being ruthlessly eroded and disintegrated by another, more primal, more powerful emotion—fear.
What was that? She dared not think deeply, fearing the answer would completely destroy her.
A genius in the absolute sense, and the loneliness born from it; the one to teach Ruan Mei love is…
It is Lord Daziel!
Chaotic thoughts, like runaway wild horses. Ruan Mei's hand, holding the precision pipette, unconsciously slowed and became clumsy.
The cell culture medium suspended in the petri dish rippled faintly with her almost imperceptible trembling.
Her gaze was somewhat unfocused, drifting, as if completely immersed in that boundless humiliation and bewilderment.
"Clack!"
A crisp tap suddenly sounded, not loud, yet like a thunderclap by Ruan Mei's ear, making her whole body jolt violently.
Daziel had silently approached at some point. The seemingly ordinary fire poker in his hand was lightly tapping the edge of the cold operating table.
The tip of the poker seemed to still retain a faint, almost imperceptible, yet heart-palpitatingly scorching dark red glow.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Daziel's voice was still flat, betraying no joy or anger, yet it carried an icy, chillingly dangerous aura.
"It seems the 'performance' earlier wasn't impressive enough for you?"
He leaned down slightly, his warm breath spraying onto Ruan Mei's sensitive ear, his words like whispers from the ninth circle of hell.
"Want to try the taste of being intimately contacted by this fire poker again, hmm?"
"How about I let you personally experience what's called… six strikes in one second?"
That scorching and terrifying threat rushed towards her, as if the surrounding air had been instantly ignited, carrying a destructive high temperature.
Ruan Mei's body instantly tensed like a fully drawn bowstring, her pupils suddenly constricting to the size of pinpricks.
She could almost clearly feel the intense pain of that fire poker landing on her body, that terrifying illusion of her spirit and flesh being simultaneously ignited and burned.
"…"
Faint, suppressed whimpers uncontrollably overflowed from the depths of her throat, filled with an uncontrollable, most primal fear.
"No… No! I understand! I'll continue right away! Immediately!"
She almost scrambled to answer, her voice trembling and distorted, her hands, as if electrocuted, immediately resuming high-speed, precise operation.
She dared not be distracted for a moment, dared not hesitate for a second.
Humiliation, bewilderment, whatever it was, before absolute fear capable of instantly destroying everything, could only humbly retreat, curling up into the deepest corner of her consciousness.
Nothing was more persuasive than that fire poker which had brought her profound pain.
Light and shadow on the operating table changed rapidly, and various precision instruments emitted low, rhythmic hums.
Ruan Mei was fully focused, like the most precise machine, strictly following every step in the data, meticulously proceeding.
Her movements were smooth and precise, perfectly demonstrating the unparalleled professional skill of a top life science scholar.
Only, those beautiful eyes, which once sparkled with the wisdom of exploring the mysteries of the universe, were now empty, numb, and filled with deeply hidden fear.
Soon, the embryo, fused with special gene fragments and mysterious data, gradually took shape in the specially made culture vessel.
It quietly floated in the pale golden nutrient solution, emitting a faint yet extremely pure, unignorable energy fluctuation.
That was part of the Propagation authority stolen from Skaracabaz the Star-Crushing Swarm King, a product of Ruan Mei's modifications.
Daziel gazed at the small, nascent life form in the vessel, a smile of almost creator-like satisfaction on his face, and nodded lightly.
He casually raised his hand. The void before him silently cracked open a narrow slit, and Phantylia's figure emerged from it once more.
This time, it was no longer a blurry light and shadow, but a condensed Aether Code body, directly transforming into a brilliant stream of light.
The stream of light, as if possessing its own consciousness, shot with incomparable precision towards the culture vessel, instantly merging into that newborn embryo.
The energy fluctuations within the vessel instantly surged wildly like a volcanic eruption!
The originally fingernail-sized embryo began to grow, differentiate, and shape itself at an astonishing, visible speed!
Flesh and blood derived, bones recast, energy meridians rapidly constructed!
This was no longer that fragile insect replica that could only exist for a mere 56 seconds.
But rather, under the perfect combination of the perfected life plan provided by Daziel, which surpassed current cosmic understanding, and Phantylia's own transformed Emanator-level power core, a truly physical, completely powerful Emanator-level physique was constructed!
A new Phantylia, possessing a sturdy physical body and true Emanator-level power, was born.
She slowly opened her eyes, feeling this brand new body, full of power yet completely unfamiliar.
After a moment of adaptation, she immediately turned to Daziel, bowed deeply, and performed an incomparably humble and respectful grand salute.
"Thank… thank you… Benefactor, for the grace of recreation."
Her voice still carried an ineradicable timidity and fear, but the surging power contained within it was enough to make any being below the level of an Aeon take notice.
Daziel, like appreciating a perfect work of art, looked at the newborn Phantylia and nodded with satisfaction.
Then, his gaze shifted to Ruan Mei, who stood silently to the side like a background prop.
"Not bad."
He spoke casually, in a tone like evaluating the performance of a tool.
"It seems you're still somewhat useful."
This sentence, to the proud Ruan Mei, was undoubtedly another blatant, public humiliation.
Reducing her top professional skills, her painstaking efforts, and the fear she had endured to a mere "somewhat useful."
Ruan Mei's long eyelashes drooped, concealing the complex emotions surging deep in her eyes.
She could only choose to obey, nodding slightly, indicating she had heard this "praise."
Resistance? Questioning? She had now lost even the courage to grumble silently in her heart.
Daziel raised his hand. The newborn Phantylia once again transformed into a soft stream of light, obediently merging into a seemingly ordinary coin between his fingers.
Although Phantylia now possessed a powerful physical body, she could still be easily stored within this peculiar Aether Coin.
After all, Daziel's Aether Coin had long surpassed the understanding of ordinary beings, more like a pocket dimension bound to his soul.
"This is much more convenient."
Daziel weighed the coin, feeling the Emanator-level power slumbering within.
"With a truly Emanator-level Aether Spirit…"
The corner of his mouth curved into an extremely confident, even somewhat arrogant arc.
"The so-called Aether Frontline? That's just child's play."
"I have long surpassed the upper limit that game can define."
"Only I, Daziel, am the true Aether Frontline Master! You all are not!"
This wild declaration, rather than being directed at Ruan Mei beside him, seemed more like a self-affirmation and announcement.
The atmosphere in the laboratory, because of his words, became even more dull and oppressive.
Daziel put away the coin carrying Phantylia, seeming to have completed his objective for this trip, and prepared to leave.
"Alright, the farce here should be about over."
"Next, a certain fellow with a plaster head should also jump out and finish his act according to the script."
"After dealing with the procedures on the space station side, it's time to prepare to head to Penacony… Let me think, Robin, Acheron, Black Swan… Tsk, it seems I'll be busy then."
He muttered to himself as if to no one in particular, seemingly planning some grand and complex chess game.
Ruan Mei stood in place. Hearing these unfamiliar nouns, a hint of undisguisable bewilderment appeared in her eyes, and she subconsciously looked up at him.
"Huh? You… What are you talking about?"
Who is Plaster Head?
Why is the next stop Penacony?
And who are those people mentioned later?
She completely couldn't keep up with Daziel's leaping thoughts, only feeling that everything was shrouded in mist.
Daziel glanced at her, that gaze like looking at an irrelevant object, without any intention of explaining to her.
"Nothing, none of your business."
He walked up to Ruan Mei, the pressure from his figure making Ruan Mei involuntarily take half a step back.
Daziel looked down at her from above, his gaze cold and sharp.
"Go back, and remember my words."
His voice was not loud, yet it was like the harshest law, carving itself word by word into the depths of Ruan Mei's mind.
"That child, give birth to it properly for me."
These few words, like a thunderbolt from the ninth heaven, exploded in Ruan Mei's consciousness, instantly draining all color from her face.
"Don't use your test tubes, culture vessels, or any of that stuff, understand what I mean?"
His gaze, with an undeniable, object-like scrutiny, slowly swept over her body.
"I want to see… photos of you with a big belly, understand?"
"This shouldn't be difficult for you, right? Great expert in the field of life research."
Every word was like an ice pick dipped in deadly poison, fiercely stabbing into the deepest part of Ruan Mei's heart, the pain making her almost spasm.
Make her… give birth?
In the most primitive, most natural way?
And take photos… as proof?
This had already surpassed the scope of humiliation; this was completely, utterly trampling her personality, dignity, and even the meaning of her existence underfoot, wantonly!
What did he take Ruan Mei for?
A cold experimental instrument?
A fertility vessel that could be arbitrarily manipulated to satisfy his strange needs?
Ruan Mei's slender body, like a withered leaf in the wind, trembled violently uncontrollably.
Coldness, a bone-chilling coldness, shot up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, freezing her blood, her thoughts.
She tightly gripped the corner of her pristine white lab coat, her knuckles losing all color from excessive force, appearing deathly pale.
Her teeth bit hard into her soft lower lip, the rusty taste of blood filling her mouth, yet that sharp pain was not even one ten-thousandth of the pain in her heart.
Her chest heaved violently, as if it would explode in the next second, each breath bringing a searing pain.
Humiliation! Anger! Fear! Despair!
Countless dark emotions, like turbulent ink, churned, roiled, and raged wildly in her heart.
They intertwined, collided, yet ultimately, could only powerlessly settle, transforming into a deathly still, suffocating abyss of despair.
The thought of resistance, like a snuffed-out spark, didn't even leave a trace of residual warmth.
She slowly lifted her head. Those eyes, which once sparkled with wisdom and proud brilliance, were now only empty and numb.
She was forced to meet Daziel's calm, waveless eyes, which yet seemed to penetrate her soul and crush everything.
The world seemed to stand still, leaving only the silent, absolute power struggle between the two.
Ruan Mei felt her throat as if tightly grasped by an invisible hand, each syllable requiring all her remaining strength to be laboriously squeezed out.
"Understood…"
Her voice was dry, hoarse, broken, each word carrying an uncontrollable, soul-deep tremor.
This voice was so light, as if it would dissipate into the air at any moment, yet it was as heavy as a mountain, shattering the last shred of her dignity.
She closed her eyes, then abruptly opened them. Tears, in the end, did not fall, only her eye sockets were terrifyingly red.
"I… will give you…
"A child."
___
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