Chapter 101: Ascension Society |
Shi Rang woke up.
His entire body felt stiff, and a black cloth covered his eyes. He sat on a chair that creaked whenever he moved his limbs. His hands were handcuffed to the chair. He did his best to stretch his fingers, but he could only touch the hollowed-out sections of the backrest and the wall just inches away. Merely performing these small movements brought on a severe wave of dizziness.
Rapid Regeneration had completely drained his energy. He felt as though his skin were stretched tightly over his bones, and with every breath he took, the outline of his ribs became distinctly visible—he could only hope that was just his imagination.
His fragmented memories returned to him. Most were just disconnected words and phrases he had overheard while half-conscious, difficult to piece together due to his muffled hearing.
He had failed, so this place must be...
A door opened not too far away. The slow, steady sound of a human voice—clearly a woman's—drew closer alongside the tapping of footsteps.
"You took excellent care of those little ones. We originally assumed the remaining ones were either recaptured by the Management Bureau or met a tragic end. We never expected a group of them to actually receive help. The little ones we rescued asked me to pass along their gratitude. You saved their friends and family from the town.
"You have been unconscious for about an hour. As for your little friends, they are completely fine right now."
There was a slight gap in the blindfold near Shi Rang's nose, but it was not enough to let him see his surroundings when he shook his head.
"Let me go."
"Not until you calm down. You completely disfigured Heart Fist, and Ring Worm still cannot walk straight. Your little friends refuse to explain the situation, but I know this was a botched murder attempt. It is impossible for you to be close with the Management Bureau, otherwise you would have thrown the Mini-Humans into a cage long ago, set up an ambush with the Field Agents, and captured the three of them—so, why?"
'Why?' Shi Rang sneered inwardly.
The personality of his beloved wife had been replaced due to an Anomalous Effect, a complete stranger who had faithfully performed his duties had died right in front of him, and these people had instigated Director Bjorn's betrayal, which resulted in the deaths of many inside Facility 031. Now, the main culprits had kidnapped him and brought him here. The sheer weight of all this piled together was more than enough to rob him of his sanity.
What he could not understand was why this woman was wasting her breath talking to him.
Could it be that they already knew he had typed "Omnipotent" on his file and was just waiting to hit save?
The woman dragged over a stool and sat down opposite Shi Rang. "I do not plan to ask you directly about the data. Instead, I want to know where Director Bjorn went. If you do not know who he is—he was the previous owner of that Suitcase, and he would absolutely never abandon such a massive bargaining chip. When we arrived at the scene, there was nothing but a pool of blood and a thick sludge of unknown composition on the ground. A trail of your blood stretched all the way outside the factory. You killed him."
"Do not try to pin that on me."
"So you acted in self-defense... Let me guess, you two crossed paths by accident, and a conflict broke out?"
Shi Rang fell silent.
However, the woman continued with her analysis.
"Director Bjorn was a former high-ranking official of the Management Bureau, and the data inside that Suitcase was part of our deal. We created an opportunity for him to escape the Bureau, but I never expected him to use his position to anger the Bureau members of an entire district, bypass our people, and orchestrate a spontaneous second defection. You stopped him, and then you tried to kill our members. That makes us even.
"The Alliance is currently making massive moves across the city. You will be perfectly safe here at our Stronghold, giving us plenty of time to chat.
"Your attempt to infiltrate Sector 257 was no different from walking right into a trap. There are many people in the Ascension Society with Anomalous Effects just like yours. We provide them with sanctuary and a future. The problem staring me in the face is this—your behavior is not simply a misunderstanding born of fear. You despise us.
"Even though Ring Worm wanted me to punish you, and Heart Fist was itching to tear your arms off, I stopped them.
"I have a proposal for you: Give me answers, and I will let you walk away."
With his hands restrained behind his back, Shi Rang tugged hard against the hollowed wooden slats of the chair, but they remained motionless. "Why the hell should I believe you?"
The woman stood up with a squeak of her stool and left the room.
As the door opened and closed, it kicked up a cloud of floating dust mixed with the pungent scent of disinfectant, carrying in a distant hum of noisy voices.
She returned quickly, approaching Shi Rang, and immediately after, something dropped onto his shoulder.
A tiny, somewhat panicked yet pleasantly surprised voice rang out.
"Shi Rang!"
It was Jack.
The boy steadied himself on his shoulder, letting out a low gasp of dismay. He stepped onto Shi Rang's ear and tried to yank off the blindfold. Realizing he lacked the strength, he immediately shouted, "Let him go!"
"Not right now," the woman replied.
Shi Rang understood this was a psychological tactic, an implicit threat warning him that 'we have your people,' but with a child present, his tone softened.
"I am fine, Jack. Where is everyone else?"
"Out in the box. There are a lot of other people with us. I told them they were not captured and brought back... There are several Big Guys there, all adults, and now none of them will listen to me. Can we still go back? I can leave with you by myself..."
Relieved to confirm that the Mini-Humans were safe, Shi Rang finally relaxed. He fell silent for a moment before lifting his head in the woman's direction. "Let us talk in private."
As soon as the woman took Jack away, Shi Rang made his move.
Ring Worm had unintentionally mentioned earlier that this place housed a machine capable of digging information directly out of a person's brain. The fact that the woman was still willing to waste breath on him proved that the machine was either an empty threat or had critical flaws, making it far less reliable than him volunteering the truth.
He could still do something. He could still access the Management Bureau Main Station.
The map in the Main Station indicated that he was currently in a wasteland between Yunling City and Sector 257. From what he remembered, this area was a sparse, man-made forest littered with abandoned structures. Shi Rang also found a "Security Alert" email sent by the regional director to the Field Department's Tenth District branch—the bodies of the patrol Field Agents had already been discovered.
He could easily sabotage them by sending out his coordinates to draw in the search teams, but since he could not move an inch right now, there was a high probability he would be wiped out alongside the members of the Ascension Society.
He also could not contact the Alliance at the moment, making it impossible to leverage his identity as the Deer Hunter to gain the upper hand.
The woman had not mentioned his secret status as a spy for the Alliance. Perhaps The Sheriff had ordered the townspeople to keep it a secret, but there was no telling how long they could hide it. Secrets have a way of leaking out—especially when there are over three hundred mouths involved.
However, the woman had just mentioned that the Alliance forces were roaming all over the place. His plan had worked.
But how long would it take for the Alliance to find this place? How would they deal with the Ascension Society?
Did they even know Shi Rang had been captured? Perhaps he could reveal his identity the moment the Alliance stormed in...
No matter how he was going to escape, he had to regain his mobility first, then stall for time, or—someone tapped him on the shoulder. He jerked his head up, sensing someone standing right in front of him.
"I thought you had passed out." The woman sat back down opposite him, shutting the outside noise firmly behind the door. "It is just the two of us now. What do you want to talk about?"
Shi Rang took a deep breath and shifted his posture. The cold wood of the chair, not yet warmed by his body heat, pressed against his skin. "I want an answer. Did you send people to Yunling City's Central Park in April, two years ago? A shootout broke out in the park that day."
"Two years ago... Yes, that day was an absolute disaster. Our people were originally sent there for reconnaissance, but for some reason, the Alliance was at the scene, and so was the Management Bureau—they should have finished their work and left long before. We lost many comrades that day."
The third party involved that day really was the Ascension Society.
Shi Rang clenched his fists behind his back.
Instantly, a possibility crossed his mind, rekindling his hope.
The detailed appendix for the Class F Amnesia Agent mentioned that some test subjects could recall their original identities and memories if properly guided. If he could just figure out the exact type of harm Ying Shang had suffered, perhaps he could extract the cure directly from the culprits!
It was a long shot, but he refused to let go of this sliver of hope.
"What kind of weapon did you deploy there?"
"Weapon?" the woman asked in return.
"A Mental Attack weapon, called... called—whatever the hell it is called, something like that! You opened fire on the Management Bureau, and you hit my wife! She was right on the sidelines!"
Shi Rang's chest heaved violently. The metal handcuffs dug painfully into his raw, blistered skin, but his fury completely overpowered the pain.
A heavy silence fell over the chair opposite him. After a few seconds, the woman stood up and walked out of the room once more.
As soon as she left, Shi Rang rocked his body violently, trying to throw his weight to the side. However, he quickly discovered that the legs of the chair were bolted to the floor. The chair was far sturdier than he had imagined; there was no way to shatter it by falling over like in the movies.
Footsteps returned at exactly that moment, catching his desperate attempts red-handed.
He gave one final, furious struggle before freezing in place. His wrists were chafed raw, sending sharp bursts of stinging pain up his arms.
The woman sat back down opposite him. She did not fly into a rage, nor did she interrogate him.
"Whether you believe it or not, Shi Rang...
"We do not possess anything like that at all."