The Hand of Confession – Chapter 162

Volume 6: Days of Being Zapped in the Lab

Out of Control

The experimental subject is already out of control.

The first minute Lou-jie wasn’t here, miss her, miss her, miss her.

Shen Maomao huddled at the bottom of the box, being pushed forward the whole way. She didn’t dare breathe too loudly, her heart panicked and anxious.

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After separating from Lou Jingmo, she had wandered aimlessly through the laboratory. Along the way, apart from some guards who stared straight ahead, she hadn’t seen any other humans.

At first, she avoided the guards, but later discovered they paid her no attention at all.

Once she knew the guards wouldn’t bother her, Shen Maomao immediately relaxed, strolling around and inspecting the experimental base as if it were her own backyard garden.

Calling this place just a laboratory was no longer appropriate; it was composed of many different labs, covering a very large area—so large that Shen Maomao still hadn’t reached the end. She mentally updated her map of the experimental base’s layout, adding the previously unexplored areas, gradually piecing together the base’s internal structure—

Starting from the place where they were held, heading north first led to the spot where number cards were chosen, then three small paths leading to Labs A, B, and C. Exiting the labs and walking forward a bit further brought one to the cafeteria.

This was a very long distance; the cafeteria marked the end of this path. At both ends of the cafeteria were two U-shaped bends, one east and one west. The bends curved back in the original direction, though it was uncertain if they ran parallel to the central route.

Shen Maomao took the eastern U-shaped bend.

She didn’t know how long she walked—anyway, it probably didn’t take much time—before finally seeing a tightly shut large door after the turn, guarded by two people holding guns.

Shen Maomao shrank behind a cart piled with large empty boxes in the bend, stealthily sizing up this relatively heavily guarded laboratory.

The two guards at the entrance exchanged no words. If it weren’t for her good eyesight allowing her to see them blink, Shen Maomao might have suspected they were robots.

Not long after she started peeking, she heard footsteps approaching from behind, accompanied by the sounds of several people arguing. These sounds were nearing her at a steady pace; she believed they would reach her position very soon.

In her urgency, Shen Maomao climbed into a box, curling herself into a ball, waiting for the group to pass.

“I’ve been trying to stop you from doing this experiment from the very beginning! Now the experimental subject is already out of control, don’t you understand? Already out of control! Why can you still carry on with the experiment as if nothing happened?”

“I still say the same thing: if the experiment stops, what about the remaining experimental subjects?”

“Why do you care if they live or die? In this situation, do you still expect to use that damn experiment for universal salvation¹? Things are getting more and more critical. We are biologists, not heroes saving the world… Saving the world is something Superman should do!”

“I don’t care if they live or die, I care about our research data! We’ve risked our lives researching for so long, and we were just about to make a breakthrough. Asking me to leave directly now—I can’t accept this.”

“Is the research result more important than your life? If you die, you have nothing!”

“No need to say more. You go ahead with them first. I can’t leave yet.”

“You’re simply unreasonable!”

The two people stopped beside Shen Maomao, arguing loudly.

Shen Maomao covered her mouth, minimized her breathing, and pricked up her ears to listen to their conversation, feeling very dismissive inwardly.

Universal salvation, saving the world—did this bunch of white coats involved in human experimentation really think they were changing the world with their research?

However, she did glean quite a bit of information from their conversation—for example, an experimental subject was out of control, there was a split within the white coats, with one faction likely advocating abandoning the test products and escaping quickly, while the other, like one of the arguing white coats, was reluctant to give up the research results and wanted to risk continuing the experiment.

Anyway, regardless of whether it continued or not, the experimental subjects had no say. If the experiment continued—the subjects would be experimented on, and die; if the experiment didn’t continue—the subjects would be killed by other out-of-control subjects, and die.

Looked at this way, it seemed like a certain-death ending.

Shen Maomao felt she urgently needed to find Lou Jingmo and tell her these things. She prayed inwardly for these two arguing white coats to leave quickly.

But her prayers had no effect at all. Not only did the white coats not leave, they started pushing the cart!

Shen Maomao’s mind was spammed with “Holy crap.”

The two white coats stopped talking. The small wheels of the handcart turned with a rumble-rumble. The two guards reached out to stop them, and the small cart stopped trembling.

“Please show your identification.”

“Here.”

“What’s in the boxes?”

Shen Maomao’s heart instantly put on a ‘Fast & Furious’² show in her chest, the kind that would get a dozen speeding tickets.

“This isn’t your business,” the man advocating for a quick departure said coldly.

The other one said, “Why are you taking it out on others? This is some experimental waste, ready to be sent to the warehouse for disposal.”

Rustle, rustle sounds echoed beside her ear; it was the sound of the box next to hers being opened. Shen Maomao clenched her teeth, preparing herself for exposure.

After waiting for a long time, she wasn’t checked. Instead, she heard a beep.

The large door slid open to both sides with a shhh-shhh sound. A guard said, “Cleared.”

So they only checked one box! But Shen Maomao didn’t relax in the slightest—she had passed the human checkpoint, but who knew if there was some advanced scanning equipment on the door? One infrared scan, and they could probably count the bones in her body. Then red lights would flash, alarms would blare, she’d be dragged out of the box, and finished off with a laser gun, without even time to resist…

The cart moved forward again, passing over the threshold with a clang. Shen Maomao’s heart leaped into her throat. Every second felt exceptionally long as she awaited the arrival of the god of death…

Rumble-rumble, the cart moved away from the doorway. Nothing happened.

Shen Maomao’s whole body went limp. She covered her mouth, panting huff-huff. A layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.

Once safe, she began to ponder the identities of these two individuals.

Researchers, biologists, dared to yell at the guards, qualified to handle experimental waste… they seemed to have quite high status?

Looking at their relationship, perhaps because she had seen quite a few same-sex couples recently, Shen Maomao was seeing them through ‘rotten’ eyes³, always feeling there was something kinda gay⁴ between them.

A gay couple in a place that supposedly treated homosexuality? This was probably the biggest slap in the face to this experimental base, right?

Another long journey. She didn’t know where she was being taken, nor was she sure of the current route. So, could she still make it back to the cage before the bell rang?

The answer was certain—definitely not.

One, she didn’t remember the way; two, she didn’t have the card swiping device needed to open the main doors.

If she couldn’t go back… would she die?

That damn dog⁵ Lou Jingmo, why did she have to set up some flag? Now Shen Maomao probably really would find out where those who didn’t return on time ended up.

After some more time, the cart slowed down and gradually came to a halt.

The two men started talking again: “Just go do whatever you want! I’m not managing you anymore. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me!”

“Ge…”⁶

“I’ll just pretend I don’t have you as a younger brother!”⁷

So they were brothers… Shen Maomao silently apologized to them for her preconceived notions⁸.

The younger brother said helplessly, “Ge, you’re not a kid anymore. Can you stop being so childish?”

The older brother kicked the box: “Me, childish? I… Huh?”

The box was kicked over. Shen Maomao hadn’t expected exposure to come so suddenly. She sprawled amidst the cardboard, completely dumbfounded, and raised a hand to greet the two: “…Hi?”

The next second, one man shielded the other behind him: “How did an experimental subject get here?! What are you trying to do?!” This was the older brother’s voice.

Shen Maomao: “…Come on⁹, what could a little girl like me do to two grown men like you? Your expression is way too exaggerated, isn’t it?”

She had thought they would be a combination of a tall, mighty but childish older brother plus a delicate, handsome but mature younger brother. Unexpectedly, they were a pair of twins who looked almost exactly alike!

Hearing this, the older brother didn’t relax. Instead, he shielded his younger brother and took two steps back, fumbling for something in his jacket pocket.

Shen Maomao, afraid he might pull out a gun and shoot her, or worse, pull out a walkie-talkie to call for backup, quickly said, “Wait! I just found a box to sleep in, and woke up here? I was about to ask you where this is! Can you send me back from here before dark? I still need to find my friend!”

The older brother gave her a suspicious gaze.

Shen Maomao climbed up and took two steps back to prove she was harmless: “I really want to go back. Please, please, however you got me here, just get me back the same way?”

The older brother sneered, “You think I’ll fall for your trick?”

The next second, alarm bells resounded through the heavens. The entire corridor flashed with red light, the walls seemed covered in a layer of red gauze, appearing to foreshadow some ominous sign.

Shen Maomao flung aside a pile of cardboard and bolted down the corridor.

She could only go forward; behind her were all iron doors. Along the way in the box, she had heard countless door opening sounds. If she ran back, she would definitely be blocked by a large door.

The twin brothers were startled by her sudden action; for a moment, she actually succeeded in getting away.

Shen Maomao ran forward desperately. A line of armed guards was already chasing after her. Their footsteps were neat, their speed surprisingly fast. They fired continuously ahead without hesitation. For a moment, stray bullets ricocheted, sparks flew everywhere—what a lively scene!¹⁰

By the time they opened fire, Shen Maomao had already reached a right-angle bend. The moment the shots rang out, she was just turning the corner, but a laser blast had already grazed her arm, bringing an intense burning pain.

She let out a cry of agony, the huge impact sending her tumbling forward. Trickles of fresh blood flowed from the fingers clutching the wound, bringing with them a pungent metallic smell.

A single red eye appeared on the ground.

Followed by thousands upon thousands of eyes. The ground turned into a vast ocean of red.

And when the guards chasing from behind caught up, the corridor was already empty, with no abnormalities whatsoever.

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