Although the surroundings had plunged into total darkness where he could barely see his hand in front of his face, in Wei Tianyang's field of vision, the hallway was immersed in a thick dark gray, with white lines outlining doors, corners, surveillance cameras, and the shapes of guard corpses.
He couldn't see clearly, but it was much better than not seeing at all.
Suddenly, a long electronic hum emanated from a corner in the darkness, followed by a familiar female voice entering Wei Tianyang's ears.
"Wei Tianyang? Are you... still Wei Tianyang?"
It was Ruan Yu, she was somewhere, watching him through the surveillance cameras.
"I don't know. Why don't you come down and see for yourself?" Wei Tianyang said.
"You've become humorous." Ruan Yu said.
"I want my money," Wei Tianyang said.
"Of course, I said we still have one last step to go, right? It looks like you now…" Ruan Yu said.
Wei Tianyang interrupted her, "I've taken twelve steps, but I haven't reached Yin Country yet. I'm increasingly feeling that the country is too far away from me."
"I know it hasn't been easy for you, and I really wanted to help you. After that injection that day, you fell into a coma, and I spent a lot of money this year to save you, otherwise you wouldn't have woken up," Ruan Yu said.
"One year…I…was in a coma for a year…?" Wei Tianyang muttered.
A year had passed…
Mother…she must be worried?
To raise me, mother became a Medicine Person, sold her blood, worked odd jobs everywhere, and had long broken down her body…
Without me, how did she survive this year…
Wei Tianyang became agitated.
He needed to go back quickly, back to his mother.
"You've woken up now, haven't you?" Ruan Yu said.
"You spent a lot of money to save me but locked me up with others in the morgue," Wei Tianyang said.
"The others… I… I'm very sorry, Wei Tianyang. You have great potential, and even though you killed so many guards, Tiantai Pharmaceutical won't blame you, as long as you are willing to continue cooperating with us in the research…" Ruan Yu said.
"I am a wolf, not a dog," Wei Tianyang said.
Ruan Yu was silent for a while before saying, "Were you…awake at that time?"
"You killed me," Wei Tianyang said coldly.
"Then we can kill you again," Ruan Yu's tone changed.
Or rather, she stopped pretending.
"I've seen many out-of-control prototypes like you. We have many ways to deal with you. With better options clearly available, why choose death?" Ruan Yu said.
"Count the steps," Wei Tianyang looked at the corner where the surveillance camera was.
"Count what?" Ruan Yu asked.
"How many steps I am away from you," Wei Tianyang said.
As soon as his words fell, the Medicine People behind him rushed towards the corner, forming a human wall, and forcibly ripped the surveillance camera off its mount.
"That woman is angry, but we are angrier, let's go find her!" Glasses Beast said eerily.
Kill her, kill Ruan Yu, and Hans, and take back my own money.
Wei Tianyang reached the fire escape and punched a hole through the fire door. The Medicine People followed closely, ascending the stairs that led to the upper floors.
When they reached the illuminated ground, the scenery around was unfamiliar to Wei Tianyang.
This place was not the abandoned park, but rather a more open and secluded area.
It was an open-air massive structure, with dozens of writing-building-thick black steel columns lifting a dark steel platform hundreds of meters into the air.
Looking around, there were rolling grey mountains and earthen-grey wilderness.
The sky was cloudless and vast, the scorching sun baked the earth, and wind carrying sand swept through every gap of this massive structure, wailing mournfully.
Dozens of massive chains wrapped around a grey-white iron sphere, suspending it mid-air around the steel columns as an axis.
Near the iron sphere, several large and small glass houses were also suspended, all interconnected by glass tubing, resembling airborne pagodas.
In the center of the platform was a huge round hole, just big enough to let a metal cage through to above the platform.
Wei Tianyang was just beneath this iron sphere, he looked up and saw inside a rectangular glass room to the right of the sphere, a man and a woman the size of rice grains, and several black-clothed guards.
Ruan Yu was also looking at Wei Tianyang at that moment.
He was standing by the entrance of the base, looking up at himself.
This building was specially constructed for "Subject 091", divided into three major structures—upper, middle, and lower; the top platform served as a helipad and guard tower, the middle void section served as a space for observing falling objects, inside the sphere, were the remains of "091".
And at the very bottom of the base were the garbage landfill, morgue, and the prototype's cells.
Ruan Yu had never imagined that Wei Tianyang could wake up again a year after his biological death.
If he could cooperate with further tests, then the "Black King" project could continue...
But that was no longer possible. Ruan Yu was aware that Wei Tianyang now only wanted revenge.
However, he was no longer important, because in the year of Wei Tianyang's death, the data on his body's mutations and various strength tests had all been recorded.
Hans had already improved the formula for extracting flesh from the remains of "091" and turning it into Black Medicine; all they needed were more test subjects, to derive a prototype stronger and more perfect than Wei Tianyang.
"Release the beast," Ruan Yu said.
"Can that half-finished product defeat him?" Hans was uncertain.
"He lacks combat experience and won't live long; he doesn't understand what the cost of that power is," Ruan Yu sneered.
As he finished speaking, a black-clothed guard said, "The transport helicopter is arriving."
"Good, execute the chain release program, and transfer '091' to the next site," Ruan Yu replied.
Ruan Yu turned, leading Hans and the guards into the glass elevator, heading through the tubing toward the rooftop helipad.
Wei Tianyang was searching the base platform at that moment, but could not find a way to the suspended glass rooms; standing at the edge of the platform and looking down, he realized he had not been underground.
The base itself was over ten stories tall; the building resembled a huge hourglass. To leave the place, one had to either fly or go to the very bottom of the base.
He noticed a dark, murky river stretching from the south side of the base toward the mountains, confirming that there indeed was a way out beneath the base, likely through the waste drainage pipes of the entire facility.
In the grey sky appeared four black dots—Wei Tianyang instantly recognized them as heavy helicopters with double rotors.
He looked up again at the grey iron sphere suspended mid-air, then understood what Ruan Yu was planning.
Inside that sphere were things she valued.
As long as he could bring the iron sphere to the ground, Ruan Yu would have no choice but to come down as well...
Thinking so, Wei Tianyang moved toward a nearby steel column. As he approached, he realized how massive the column supporting the platform was; facing it was like facing a large building.
He had never tested how much his fists could annihilate; now, was the opportunity.
Thus, he swung his fist towards the colossal object in front of him.