On level B4, a group of prisoners stared at the wide-open doors, peering left and right from the entrances, yet none dared step outside.
They had long since been conditioned into submission and lost the will to resist.
"Tap... tap..."
Suddenly, a man wearing a mask and a researcher's white coat descended the stairs, electricity flickering over his body, his presence intimidating.
His hair floated behind his head, tiny arcs of electricity dancing between the tips.
A pair of glasses hung from his coat pocket, while his eyes remained closed. He seemed able to step over every obstacle without needing to look.
It was Huang Ji. With everyone else gone from Santa Fe, he had changed clothes and altered his appearance by shifting his muscles and bones before coming down.
He made no attempt to conceal the surging electricity around him. The prisoners instantly fell silent.
One look at Huang Ji made it clear he was not someone to mess with.
"A researcher? I've never seen him before..."
"Is he one of the intruders?"
Their thoughts raced, but they huddled in their cells, afraid to come out, and shrank farther back.
Then Huang Ji spoke. "I'll ask one last time. Does anyone want to come with me?"
The human guinea pigs all looked at Huang Ji. His voice was steady and resonant.
Yet his words left them looking utterly miserable.
"Answer me!" Huang Ji shouted.
"Yes... yes..." they stammered in scattered replies, startled.
With electric arcs flashing all around Huang Ji like a thunder god, who dared say no?
But Huang Ji said calmly, "Please be honest."
"Wah..." The guinea pigs were on the verge of tears.
Leaving meant death, and staying meant death. What were they supposed to do?
Honestly, none of them dared escape. But could they say