As Charles listened to the Mihe's words, a whirlwind of thoughts raced through his mind. How could he suddenly understand their speech? What was the connection between the murmurs in his ears and their conversation? And what did "134" mean in his mouth?

  Richard, ever the impulsive one, didn’t ponder these questions long. He quickly interjected, “Wait, I don’t mean to resist. The misunderstanding earlier was just due to the communication barrier. And what do you mean by ‘uprising’? We’ve never met before!”

  Richard thought he had finally found a way to communicate with these creatures, but the white-robed Mihe remained indifferent, continuing to speak as if to itself.

  “You don’t need to pretend to be a pitiful little girl. Your disguise is completely ineffective. Do you know how many people died because of the project uprising you caused? It was because of you that the third laboratory went completely out of control and had to be abandoned.”

  “Dude, what is this guy talking about? We’re not crying! What pitiful little girl? We’re huge down here; can’t he see?”

  “Shh, quiet. He doesn’t seem to be communicating with us; it sounds like he’s stating something.” Charles sensed something was off from the Mihe's words.

  “134, your singing has a catalytic effect on flora and fauna and is very useful for genetic modification.”

  “If you agree to assist us, not only will you avoid the pain you just experienced, but the Foundation will provide you with everything you need, including the opportunity to see your parents again, along with plenty of toys and sweets.”

  “Rest assured, my authority within the Foundation is D3. As long as you cooperate with us, I can make good on my promises. There are many projects in collaboration with the Foundation; you’re not the first. Think it over; I’ll come back in a while.”

  With that, the white-robed Mihe slowly turned and left, leaving the stunned humans behind.

  “Dude, I feel like this ‘134’ sounds familiar. A little girl who can sing and has a catalytic effect on plants? Isn’t that the scheming little girl from Sodom? So all along, she was a relic of the Foundation! How old is she now?”

  “No, wait. This isn’t the time to think about that. The reactions of these Mihe are off.”

  “What’s off? Isn’t this what we suspected? You said they were transformed Foundation members, and now they’re just doing the Foundation's work.”

  “No, we guessed wrong.”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Charles furrowed his brow, looking at the Mihe behind the glass. They operated the machinery with practiced ease, and his frown deepened.

  “Look at that guy on the left. He seems to be operating something, but his actions are repetitive.”

  Richard focused his gaze, quickly realizing something was amiss. “Hey! You’re right! Those things aren’t even connected to any wires!”

  Recalling the various false items in the fake city and the Mihe that had fled in chaos earlier, a lightbulb went off in Charles's mind. He understood what kind of existence would need a fake city.

  “They’re not Foundation employees that have been altered; they’re simply imitating! Imitating tools, imitating houses, even imitating behaviors!”

  “That means…”

  “That means everything we thought was wrong! They weren’t trying to communicate with us! They weren’t experimenting on us; they were merely mimicking the conversations between Foundation members and relics from the previous era. To them, we’re just props for their little game of house!”

  The realization sent chills down Charles's spine. Thousands of monsters diligently mimicking humans from centuries ago in a fake city—why were they doing this? Were these creatures merely the playthings of some god?

  Just as Charles's thoughts spiraled into chaos, the white-robed Mihe returned.

  “134, your resistance is quite disappointing. I had no intention of letting the bugs from 704 gnaw at your flesh, but since you continue to refuse, I regret to inform you that it must happen.”

  The white-robed Mihe turned to the recording Mihe and commanded, “Take him to Experiment Site 42 for the interactive execution experiment between 134 and 704.”

  Two black-robed Mihe entered, dragging Charles off the frame and toward the door.

  Overwhelmed by nearly ten black-robed Mihe, Charles was thrown into a room.

  Lying on the ground, he ignored the pain in his body and quickly began to draw with his own blood.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Stop talking and help me recall the map information. I need to know our current location.”

  With the aid of his other persona, a rough map of the second laboratory appeared on the ground. “We’re here; this is where we were previously imprisoned.”

  Using the map, Charles quickly confirmed his current position.

  “The exit leads to their square, where there are many Mihe, regardless of what they’re doing. To escape, we must find another way out.”

  As Charles pondered his escape route, another door in the room swung open, revealing a shadowy figure.

  It was a bald man with a white triangle on his forehead—one of the Kede.

  Recalling previous information, Charles knew this one was likely impersonating the relic numbered 704.

  The bald man’s face lit up with surprise upon seeing Charles. He rushed over. “Captain Charles, what are you doing here?”

  In the next moment, his expression shifted from joy to concern. “Have you been captured too?”

  Seeing the bald man’s expression, a glimmer of joy crossed Charles’s face. It seemed the previous expedition crew hadn’t all perished, adding another potential ally to his escape plan.

  “How many of your crew are left?” Charles quickly inquired.

  “Not many. The others have already been taken away. They torture my crew with boiling water and fire; now only three of us remain.”

  Suddenly, the bald man seemed to remember something, clutching his throat and retching repeatedly.

  Charles quickly supported him. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  The bald man continued to retch until he finally expelled a piece of flesh with several holes in it.

  With a serious expression, he pointed at the holes. “Captain Charles, you must take this to the Holy Person. We found the map! Look, here’s the Supply Island, and here is the location of the Land of Light!!”