Time rewinds to a few hours before Vivian rushed to the Chamber of Transference.

  The solar shield above Leo’s head retracted with the soft hum of a motor.

  The sun, which had baked the lunar surface for fourteen Earth days, finally rotated beyond the Tycho Crater.

  The light dimmed. The blue-white Earth hung in his field of vision like a colossal teardrop.

  A spaceship, trailing a long plume of plasma, cut across the edge of the Earth, flashing brilliantly in the sunset's afterglow.

  Like a silver needle, piercing through his hardened mental fortress.

  The storm in his cerebral cortex paused temporarily, and a wave of tranquility flooded his heart.

  Memories flashed uncontrollably.

  His family had lived on an interstellar mining ship. His father was from a mining clan, his mother from Earth.

  Whenever she could, she would hold him as a child, pointing to the distant Earth: "There are waves there... whoosh, whoosh... wind blowing through treetops... rustle, rustle..."

  Perhaps it was this genetic conflict—half cold ore, half warm seawater—that caused his hypersensitive nerves and that damned Xeno-Limb Pain.

  The spaceship vanished at the end of the sky.

  Leo closed his eyes, and logical thinking immediately retook command of his brain.

  He pulled up the medical pod's engineering interface, converting the data into scientific terms.

  [ SEDATIVE: 0% ] [ DOPAMINE INHIBITOR: 0% ] [ GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION: +20% ]

  The interrogation is about to begin.

  Increasing energy supply avoids the brain's protective mechanism—shock!

  He took a deep breath and immediately began his seventeenth combat simulation.

  Violent coercion is only the first step; exchange of interests builds a stable contract.

  I want a ticket, not that woman's life.

  The follow-up plan is to leverage my identity as Morrison's former personal assistant. These people must know the name Morrison.

  Specifically, the Fire Keeper's lead skin may block radiation, but the cobalt ion coolant will cause heavy metal poisoning.

  Without targeted separation technology, the Fire Keeper will sooner or later turn into a zombie.

  "I am one of the only ten doctors in the solar system who understands this dialysis technique. Hmph."

  Leo recited his opening line in his heart.

  This is the power of medicine. It is ten thousand times more reliable than faith.

  Just then, the door opened and closed. It was that bodyguard called Crow.

  A black box appeared in his field of vision. Bearing a yellow biohazard warning label.

  Huh? A C9-Type Biological Sample Transport Case!?

  Leo almost screamed aloud!

  In the basements of the Silver Order's hospitals, he had seen many such boxes.

  He clearly remembered the unwritten iron rule of the trade: Only "Organ-Humans" without self-awareness, or low-functioning subjects with lobotomized brains, can be stuffed into this box.

  And me—a genius doctor with an IQ of 160, nominated by the Prometheus Association—even a madman like Morrison would never swing a scalpel at a brain like this.

  You intend to categorize me in the recycling bin for "Discarded Protein"?

  These charlatans have reached the point of being anti-human.

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  Do you have any idea how valuable this head is?

  Madness. Madness. I cannot sit and wait for death! I must strike first!

  The only way is to attack the Fire Keeper! Mere hostage-taking cannot demonstrate the ruthlessness of a desperado.

  This woman... her parents are obviously high-ranking officials of the Ring.

  Leo continued his analysis.

  To perpetuate family power, they treated their own daughter as a lab rat. Cutting out mediocre, perhaps even human genetic fragments, to manufacture a perfect body. Then draping her in the mantle of "Fire Keeper," paving a road of ascension to the altar.

  In fact, not just the Moon. Earth, Mars, and those theocratic branches entrenched in the asteroid belt all follow the same playbook.

  They wear silk robes while nuking each other across the solar system. Their so-called orthodoxy is nothing but a struggle for power.

  Such a woman deserves no sympathy. She is part of this evil system!

  I must not be deceived by her beauty!

  I must strike hard, strike to kill, beat her until she cries for her daddy!

  Yes. Look at the lecherous way she stares at me. She intends to use obscene methods to destroy a scientist's dignity, then throw me into a protein recycling bin.

  That settles it. Leo stamped a red "APPROVED" seal on this surgical plan.

  At that moment, the door opened.

  The Fire Keeper strode in.

  She was not wearing that moon-white ceremonial robe. Instead, she was barefoot, wrapped only in a thin dress. Her hair was messy, scattered over her shoulders. Her chest heaved, as if she had just woken from a nightmare.

  She... what is she doing?

  Leo’s gaze fell on her hand. It held a gleaming stainless steel table knife.

  A serrated bread knife? You intend to saw open my skin? Slice my meat piece by piece like a chef?

  Oh god, death by a thousand cuts? Just because I waved my hand? Or... is she going to cut something else? Pervert!

  He forced his eyes wide open, locking his entire field of vision on the Fire Keeper.

  The Fire Keeper did not act immediately. She knelt before the medical pod, clasping the knife in both hands, and began to chant.

  At first, it was mumbled, but soon it became clear.

  "...Exchange sacrifice for redemption... Offer the Crimson Dew to patience... Here I swear... strip away my flesh..."

  Strip away flesh? Another psychological game of "killing to save."

  Wait. Not killing. Eating...

  Leo's brow twitched violently.

  He had run out of vocabulary.

  Only a repetitive: Pervert. Fucking pervert!

  The prayer ended. The Fire Keeper stood up.

  Suddenly, the transparent cover of the medical pod popped open.

  The table knife traced a cold arc, aiming straight for his face.

  Opportunity!

  Leo's brain issued a command in microseconds.

  I just need to contract my core muscles violently. Leverage will accelerate my head, smashing it into the Fire Keeper's jaw. 400 Newtons of force. Brainstem concussion. Temporary shock.

  Execute!

  But suddenly, the originally soft gel became harder than steel.

  Fuck!

  They changed the formula? Non-Newtonian fluid? Shear thickening effect? You hid a physics variable in here too!?

  He was locked dead in the gel, unable to move a finger, forced to watch the table knife descend.

  However—

  The blade did not cut him. Instead, it turned in an arc, slicing viciously into the Fire Keeper's own left wrist!

  Leo's brain redlined in idle for a full second.

  She's trying to scare me to death?

  The knife sawed through the skin, but no blood flowed.

  Within two short seconds, the cut skin closed up again. Not even a red mark remained, let alone a drop of blood.

  Haha. She has nanite repair bots inside her.

  The Fire Keeper clearly hadn't expected this either.

  Her brow furrowed tight. She raised the knife again, sawing back and forth on her wrist with even more force.

  Slice open. Heal. Slice open. Heal.

  Leo watched this scene, the absurdity in his heart reaching its peak. He almost laughed out loud.

  She knows nothing about her own implants?

  Ridiculous. Insane.

  This is your so-called "Idol"? This is the idiot you manufactured?

  The hint of laughter seemed to trigger Vivian.

  Leo saw her stop the knife. Her cheeks were flushed red. She closed her eyes again, long lashes trembling violently, her chest heaving like a volcano about to erupt.

  Clearly, her nervous system was in an extremely unstable state.

  The next second, she snapped her eyes open.

  There was no compassion in those eyes anymore, only a resolve bordering on madness.

  Clang. The table knife was thrown viciously onto the floor.

  She plunged her hands into the gel, cupping the back of Leo’s bare head.

  Before Leo could make any reaction.

  That exquisitely inhuman face suddenly magnified infinitely in his vision.

  Immediately after, a soft, warm, wet organ known as lips, carrying undeniable force, sealed deadly tight over his own.

  Leo’s pupils constricted instantly. His body began to tremble violently.

  But the non-Newtonian fluid locked him into a statue of despair once again.

  A rusty taste, laced with a bizarre sweetness, brutally forced open his teeth.

  It was the taste of blood.

  Hot.

  Metallic.

  Carrying countless heavy metal ions and unknown compounds.

  ...She's completely insane... This crazy woman actually bit through her own tongue...

  She was using a primitive, savage method to pour blood mixed with nanobots, saliva, and metabolic toxins directly into his mouth!

  The liquid slid down his throat. Like a ball of fire, scorching his esophagus; like a ball of ice, freezing his thoughts.

  Leo’s cerebral cortex screamed in waves.

  [ WARNING! UNKNOWN BIO-AGENT INTRUSION! ] [ WARNING! NANITE INVASION! NEURAL HIJACKING IN PROGRESS! ]

  His body paralyzed under this absurd biological attack.

  This method of execution did not belong to any interrogation manual, nor did it conform to any medical law.

  Too alien. Too bizarre. Too aggressive.

  You... what gives you the right to do this to me?

  Two lines of tears surged from the corners of Leo's eyes.

  This was a dual assault, both physiological and psychological.

  Yes. The scientific logical fortress he had built with endless care over countless days and nights... amidst this unreasonable, primitive savagery, crumpled like over-kneaded draft paper, and shattered completely.