Chapter 10: Doing Good Deeds Without Seeking Recognition

The silhouette of an abandoned laboratory loomed faintly in the darkness. Behind shattered glass curtain walls, a cold, blue glow flickered, barely visible.

This, it seemed, was the squad’s intended destination.

The laboratory’s main door, long since corroded and warped, was opened with ease by the brown-haired girl. Blood had been dragged in smears across the floor—there was no time to clean it up. Their most urgent task was to save a comrade who was on the brink of death.

Ye Mi approached them in silence, black threads coursing over her skin, ready to respond to any eventuality.

She was a little excited.

She wondered what she might become after devouring the weapons this squad carried. After all, those were weapons manufactured by OC Corporation for the Defense Bureau’s expeditions into the Luminous Ruins—the materials would be nothing ordinary. Even if they didn’t grant her special abilities, they would surely enhance her combat prowess.

A stale, metallic tang of rust filled the air inside, mingled with the acrid residue of chemicals. The brown-haired girl and her teammates stepped through a field of broken glass, the sharp crackling underfoot echoing in the empty space. Two minutes later, Ye Mi appeared soundlessly on the ceiling behind them.

Fortunately, the ceiling was lined with rows of strip lights, which allowed her to shift her form and cling above without difficulty.

She took in the entire layout of the laboratory:

To the left, two rows of slanted lab benches, littered with shattered petri dishes and twisted instruments. The alloy wall on the right was marked with deep claw scratches, and a defense turret half-embedded in the wall still sputtered with sparks. In the center, a cylindrical transparent container stood quietly, its surface webbed with cracks.

Inevitably, her gaze was drawn to the container at the center.

Ye Mi crept to the middle of the ceiling. As she drew closer, she peered through the fractures and saw—

An empty vessel.

Scanning the container’s base, she noticed a conspicuous opening, the edges smooth as if something had melted its way out from within.

She paid no further attention to the now-empty relic.

Instead, her eyes turned to the three people in the corner.

“Vital signs unstable, massive blood loss...”

The teammate’s voice was hoarse and ragged. The brown-haired girl’s expression was grave as she tore open the dying man’s uniform, revealing a ghastly wound—shrapnel from an explosion had driven his ribs through his lungs, and every labored breath bubbled with blood.

The teammate opened a vial of coagulant gel, tending to each wound as best he could, but the injured man could only hang his head in exhaustion, slipping into unconsciousness.

When he was finished, the teammate collapsed to the ground in utter fatigue.

He brought up a holographic map. A pale-blue projection unfolded, highlighting a rhombus-shaped building in District Two—their original target for this mission.

“Alien ruins...” he said with a bitter smile and a shake of his head. “We thought we could tag along with District Two’s squad and get a look, but in this state, there’s no chance. We’ll only slow them down.”

Alien ruins?

Perched on the ceiling, Ye Mi listened quietly as they spoke, piecing together the story.

A previously unrecorded alien structure had appeared in District Two, and the Defense Bureau was urgently assembling teams to investigate. This squad’s mission had been to deliver military supplies to District Two’s team at a supply post. They’d hoped, through the brown-haired girl’s connections, to persuade her brother to order them along on the expedition.

But now, that hope was dashed.

The brown-haired girl leaned silently against the wall, her blood-matted hair sticking to a pale face. She stared down at her trembling hands—her palms torn, finger bones dislocated, unable even to grip a blade.

“My brother was right...” she finally whispered, her voice barely audible. “We nearly lost the whole team fighting just two Split-jawed Leopards. We’re not qualified to go to the ruins and throw our lives away.”

Her brother had opposed her plan from the start, flatly rejecting her request. She had intended to force her way into District Two, believing that once she was there, her brother would have no choice but to order the team to protect her.

She slid slowly to the floor, back pressed against the cold metal wall, and closed her eyes.

So, the sister of a powerful psychic.

Very interesting information. Ye Mi decided she might join in the fun, but for now, she needed to deal with the people before her.

Black threads crept silently through the shadows.

If prey walked right to her door, there was no reason to let them go.

Drip.

A droplet of black fluid fell from the ceiling, landing squarely on the teammate’s hand.

“What the—?”

His question died forever in his throat.

Ye Mi’s metallic blade pierced his skull from above, branching instantly into dozens of spikes that rained down on the brown-haired girl.

The girl’s pupils contracted sharply.

The metallic whine tore at her eardrums. She rolled instinctively to dodge, but her grievous wounds made her too slow.

With several wet, sickening sounds, three steel spikes drove into her thigh and side, blood seeping rapidly through her uniform.

She gritted her teeth and tried to rise, but her strength failed her. “Why... is the Rust Tide here...?”

No one would answer her question.

Perhaps realizing her fate was sealed, she began to tremble, words tumbling out in desperation: “Please... I beg you...”

Ye Mi tilted her head, her electronic eyes regarding the girl with cold indifference.

Beg? Beg for what?

She was the Rust Tide—she didn’t even understand human speech.

And besides, the girl was from OC Corporation.

She gave her no chance, ending her life swiftly and without hesitation.

As for the gravely wounded teammate lying on the ground, he slipped away in his sleep, unaware of anything. Of course, he had Ye Mi to thank for the swift mercy of a blade across his throat.

“I’ve done a good deed—countless citizens in Prism City would beg for such a gentle death,” Ye Mi thought.

She never left her name after doing a good deed.

Silence descended upon the laboratory, the three corpses strewn across the floor in twisted postures.

Ye Mi’s black threads wound around them, but she only harvested two items: a tendon prosthesis for accelerated jumping, and the expensive artificial eye from the brown-haired girl.

After purifying the materials, Ye Mi’s eyes became mismatched—one red, one white.

Still dissatisfied, she rifled through their belongings, and to her surprise, found something valuable.

Lying quietly in the brown-haired girl’s portable pack, cushioned in shock-absorbing gel, was an irregularly shaped, rhomboid energy crystal.

A faint, blood-red glow bathed Ye Mi’s face.

A Luminous Ruins energy crystal—the same kind of crimson core that had powered the aberrant weapons used in previous experiments.

How could something like this be carried around so casually?

Piecing things together—the girl’s mention of her brother, her possession of such a costly artificial eye—Ye Mi came to a rough conclusion.

Her brother was likely an extraordinary psychic, at the very least a squad leader for District Two’s exploration team. That meant his influence was at least Class C, possibly even Class B.

So, a classic “second-generation official.”

At this realization, Ye Mi grew a touch more cautious. Clearly, the brown-haired girl’s brother cared deeply for his sister. She would need to leave no loose ends behind.