Chapter 209: Pandora

   The sea of stars was boundless.

　An old starship with a beaten surface slowly sailed away from the central galaxy.

　Its cargo had been unloaded by the ship’s crew, whom having received their due payment, begun partying in the crew room and soon got dead drunk.

　A young crew member opened his drunken eyes and fumbled for the key of the cabin, groping with his hand:

　”… Strange, strange, where did it go?”

　Inside the cargo cabin.

　The empty cabin was pitch black with no lights and no soul in sight. After all, no one would guard the unloaded cabin. In the huge space, only some garbage left after the cargo was scattered on the ground.

　On the lowest level of the cargo hold, there was a dead corner that was hidden from all intelligent monitoring. It was a narrow space caused by error in designing, covertly hidden in the connection of the ship’s corridors, so dark that it felt like no light could enter it.

　A teenager was curled up quietly inside.

　No one knew when the stowaway boarded the ship, how he evaded all the security equipment, and how he escaped the screening of the customs.

　The teenager was extremely thin, wearing a set of dirty clothes, covered with dried blood, the original colour could hardly be seen. These clothes were torn and tattered, hanging on him like strips of cloth.

　In the gaps, many, both large and small, wounds on his body caught attention, some of which were very old and the brown scars were very regular in shape, as if deliberately created, and some already healed scars were overlapped with brand new wounds. The torn wounds were bloody and gaping, in some cases, deep until they showed bone.

　The rolled-out flesh was pale with excessive blood loss and from time to time, with the shaking of the cabin, it rubbed against the wall. Then, the wound that was no longer bleeding was torn again, and blood dripped slowly.

　But the owner of the wound didn’t seem to notice it at all, not even twitching.

　He buried his face in his knees, and seemed to have fallen asleep, or fallen into a coma from blood loss.

　During this long journey, he was completely motionless, like a sculpture lurking in the darkness, as if he had merged with the wall, becoming something between the living and the dead.

　However, in the gap between the fabrics, the boy’s eyes were calm and clear, without any sleepiness, staring firmly at the solid darkness in front of him.

　Those pitch-black eyes were bottomless, hiding freezing fire in the pupils, surging and blazing.

　Like a wounded beast, silently and hatefully staring at the darkness in front of him, ready to tear apart whatever appeared in front of him in the next second into pieces, roaring and baring teeth against the whole world.

　As if masochistic, he recalled over and over in his mind what happened only a dozen hours ago.

　Sirens, shouting and panicked begging for mercy, mixed into a huge noisy landscape, resounding in the Research Institute. The Institute, which was in a complete blockade, was thrown into a mess. 98 percent of the defense systems was disrupted and could not function. The sent distress signal was blocked by the strong spiritual power of the experimental subjects and the gap before the arrival of the army was their chance to escape.

　The two teenagers ran away with all their strength, the sound of chaotic and broken footsteps hit the metal floor, reverberating in hollow echoes.

　Freedom was just ahead.

　The unknown world was waiting to be explored. For the first time, the word “future” had a special meaning.

　The door stood wide open.

　Countless possibilities called out to them.

　However, at this moment, the taller boy stopped suddenly without warning.

　The other boy was slightly taken aback, turned his head to look at him and urgently shouted: “Run! We’ll be there soon!”

　Unexpectedly, U2625 shook his head slowly: “…I can only send up to there.”

　”My brain has been implanted with a chip.” His voice was rational and calm, as he spelled out cruel words smoothly: “Once we both escape, we’ll both get caught in less than ten minutes without a doubt.”

　The experimental subject was startled and looked at the other party in disbelief, as if he had heard a child’s excuse.

　How could it be?

　It is impossible for them to get implanted with a chip because of their spiritual power, even in a coma, this behavior will trigger their self-protection awareness, unless…

　he voluntarily remove the spiritual power barrier and allowed the operation to proceed .

　And throughout the process, maintained absolute sobriety.

　As if thinking of something, he suddenly widened his eyes.

　… The few words he had heard when he was in a coma as a child flooded into his mind again.

　In the darkness, the boy’s voice came from a distant place, it sounded hoarse and emotionless: “…we can make a deal.”

　The past and reality, the two voices overlapped in his mind.

　At this moment, a tall and straight young man stood in front of him, staring at him with the same deep and dark eyes, the footsteps of pursuing soldiers sounded at the end of the corridor.

　”You… what did you do?” For the first time, panic-like emotion surged in the eyes of the experimental subject.

　He subconsciously leaned out, as if he wanted to catch something, but the other party took a step back and avoided it.

　The boy’s palm stayed in mid-air blankly.

　U2625 forced himself to keep his voice steady:

　”The laboratory must confirm that I no longer have the ability to resist.”

　His eyes filled with extremely deep sorrow: “…I’m sorry.”

　”You’re dreaming.” The boy’s eyes ignited with furious fire, showing sharp canine teeth like some kind of wild animal, murderous intent surged in his eyes: “If you don’t go, I won’t go. Since you can’t run away, I will slaughter the entire laboratory and then burn it, so that no one can analyze the chip in your head, it doesn’t matter if you have it, we will kill them all…”

　”The army is already on the way.” U2625 interrupted him.

　Even for them, it is impossible to defeat the most elite permanent army in the entire Federation— this was tantamounts to suicide.

　He sighed silently and slowly slipped out a gun from his lowered palm—it was left behind when he broke through the guards’ defense just now.

　The experimental subject sneered:

　”What? If I don’t leave, are you going to kill me?”

　”No.” The young man shook his head calmly, turned his wrist, and the gun muzzle instantly turned around, hitting his chin.

　The teenager yelled in panic: “…Wait!”

　”Go, leave here.” The other’s voice was as soft as a sigh, “leave the rest of the pursuers to me.”

      In the corridor, in midst of the blaring sirens, the two faced each other from a distance, their swords were on edge and the strong smell of blood wafted in the frozen air.

　The boy gritted his teeth tightly, he could almost taste the blood in his own mouth.

　His dark eyes stared fixedly at the other.

　The young man standing face to face with him looked back at him silently, like a mountain that cannot be moved, calmly putting his life on the corner of the gambling table, waiting for his decision.

　He lost his sight, turned around and plunged into the night outside the door.

　·

　In the silence, the curled up boy finally moved slightly.

　His long eyelashes blinked, a big tear rolled down, and then quickly disappeared into the darkness— as fleeting as if it had never appeared before.

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Ge Xiu hiding motionlessly in the crack of a wall actually reminds me of the rescue cat I am currently fostering. It’s hidden in a cartoon box in the bathroom and doesn’t leave the small secure space,,, QAAQ poor babies

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