In the bright corridor, the black Mihe pressed Charles forward, the captain of the Unicorn showing a calm expression tinged with sadness. He never expected that they would so ruthlessly kill Salin. What saddened him wasn’t Salin’s death, but rather the Mihe’s utter disregard for their lives.

  In a place like this, survival depended entirely on the outcome of the roles they played in the last era.

  “Phew~ Luckily, we got the script for 134. If we had gotten 704, we’d be the ones getting dismembered,” Richard’s voice echoed in Charles’s mind, relief evident in his tone.

  Charles smirked coldly. “You think that’s a good thing?”

  “What good could it be? We have to find a way out of here! If this continues, we’ll be dead for sure!”

  Charles glanced at the two black Mihe holding him. He could take them out, but that would only attract more trouble. He needed to find another way to escape.

  “Focus on remembering our location. I’ll determine where we are on the map and see if I can identify all the places where the Foundation holds the test subjects,” Charles instructed.

  If Salin could escape using this method, so could he. Unlike Salin, he had experience from visiting the third laboratory and now possessed the map of the second laboratory. This was his chance.

  “Got it, you do your thing.”

  One, two, three. Based on his memory of the map, Charles slowly confirmed the locations of the imprisoned subjects in his mind.

  He wanted to continue marking them, but reality didn’t give him the time. With a clang, his limbs were locked back onto the rack, cold iron chains wrapping around him once more.

  Watching the Mihe behind the glass, Charles sighed. Although he had a preliminary plan, he had no way to implement it now.

  At least for the short term, his life was not in immediate danger. Since the real 134 was in Sodom, and she had survived from the last era to now, the Foundation must not have killed her.

  A white-robed Mihe, stained with blood, entered the empty room and began rambling beside Charles.

  Without needing to guess, Charles knew these were threats directed at 134. He coldly observed the silent drama unfolding from the last era.

  “@*%&!!” It seemed 134 said something that angered him, and the white-robed Mihe’s tone suddenly became agitated as he spoke to his subordinate.

  Then, a Mihe wielding a whip charged toward Charles once more. Understanding what awaited him, Charles gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

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  “Crack!!” The whip, soaked in black liquid, struck Charles’s partially healed wounds, and crimson blood dripped anew.

  After dozens of lashes, Charles’s body was a bloody mess, barely recognizable as human. The ensuing pain made him involuntarily groan.

  The pain intensified, but after the first round, the second was slightly easier to bear.

  However, the white-robed Mihe seemed determined not to let Charles off so easily. Dazed and dizzy, Charles soon saw a black Mihe approaching with a giant worm, as thick as a forearm, covered in black fur.

  The worm was placed on Charles’s body, and as it began to crawl slowly, its fur fell onto his wounds. The moment the fur touched the blood, it seemed to come alive, writhing and trembling as it burrowed into the flesh.

  Charles felt what should have been excruciating pain morph into an unbearable itch. It started as a slight tingling but quickly escalated into an all-consuming itch that drove him to madness.

  “Ahhhh!!” Veins bulged on Charles’s face as he struggled desperately, trying to scratch at his body, but the chains held him fast. The itch was more unbearable than the pain, a sensation worse than death itself.

  At that moment, the surrounding Mihe suddenly staggered, clutching their ears as they collapsed to the ground.

  Suddenly, the white-robed Mihe shoved a ball into Charles’s mouth. As his screams turned into muffled sounds, they all froze in place.

  They showed no fear of Charles’s cries; they were merely mimicking the effects of 134’s song, all of them trapped in the last era.

  This maddening torment continued for two hours, leaving Charles’s mind and body in a state of utter devastation. His limbs were worn raw from struggling, exposing white bone.

  Even after such torture, the Mihe showed no signs of letting up. A capsule was shoved into Charles’s mouth, and his grotesque wounds began to heal rapidly.

  “Crack!” A new lash mark appeared on Charles’s body, and the cycle of torment began anew.

  Charles lost track of time, the pain and itching clouding his mind. The only thought that remained was his unwavering belief: he would not die here; he absolutely had to escape.

  After a day and a night, the white Mihe finally couldn’t take it anymore. With a reluctant wave of his hand, Charles was released. Another capsule was forced into his mouth, and he was dragged away by the black Mihe.

  In a daze, Charles was jolted awake by the sound of slapping.

  “Hey! Are you awake? Stop sleeping and get up; they’re not torturing us anymore!” Richard was slapping his own face to stay alert.

  “Where… is this…” Charles looked around, discovering he was lying on a soft, pink little bed surrounded by various fluffy toys.

  On a small table in front of him lay a brand-new little princess dress.

  “It seems they realized that beating 134 was useless and have started a policy of appeasement.”

  Charles touched his body, finding that the wounds had completely vanished. Clearly, the Mihe had healed him with some kind of substance.

  Despite the fact that 134 had once hunted them, for a brief moment, Charles felt a twinge of sympathy for the little girl. If he, as an adult, found it so hard to endure, what about her?

  Quickly gathering his thoughts, Charles sat up. “Do you know where we are now?”

  “I’ve already figured it out. I was awake the whole time they moved us. Look over here.”

  Richard yanked the bedspread, revealing a soft blanket that he tore aside, exposing a clear map of the second laboratory drawn underneath.

  “We’re here, not far from where we were previously held. If no one stops us, we can reach it in five minutes at full speed.” Richard pointed at a corner of the map.

  Charles scanned the map. He couldn’t wait any longer. Who knew what the white-robed Mihe had prepared to force 134 into submission? This temporary freedom was a rare opportunity.

  “Here, here, and here. According to the map, these points are where the test subjects are held. To escape, we must release them all.”