Anger

The next day.

When Ba Di saw Doctor Jenny replacing the middle-aged Wen Di to teach him English, he knew freedom was within reach, and he chuckled coldly to himself.

No matter how tight the imprisonment, it could not overcome the human heart.

As long as people still had desires, how could this kind of confinement—being researched like a lab rat—truly hold him?

They craved alien spacecraft technology, and Ba Di would naturally reveal it to them bit by bit over time. He only feared they would not live long enough to witness the rise of that technology.

At first, Doctor Jenny was still like the middle-aged Wen Di, holding up cards with pictures and English words for him to see. Then, in a cool voice beside him, she read them aloud for Ba Di to commit to memory.

Every time Doctor Jenny read a word, Ba Di would make a slight response, as though her voice had stirred him and drawn out emotion.

Sometimes his gaze was gentle, sometimes a trace of grief flashed through it; sometimes he seemed lost in memories and reflection, sometimes as though all things had changed.

Of course, it was all fake.

But it was not entirely fake. After all, he had once loved deeply and been ruthless in love. Everything he performed in his eyes had a basis, moving enough to feel real.

Jenny began her lessons with a proper, aloof demeanor, but when she saw the emotions revealed by the alien before her—the one who had made her so curious—she could not help feeling an itch to understand everything.

She had always been a biology expert with a fervent passion for studying the physical genes of aliens and humans. On top of that, this alien was expressing unusual emotions toward her with such depth of feeling that she unconsciously sank into the fabricated emotions Ba Di had built for her—moved by his gentleness and warmth, his pain and sorrow, his memories and anguish.

She had developed an interest in biology as a child and plunged headlong into the ocean of wondrous life. Whether in high school, university, or research work, she had devoted herself wholly to it and had never experienced any romance.

Even now, she was still the doctor her university classmates said had never had sex, the target of deliberate jokes.

In Western countries, where sex was so open, someone who had never had sex was an object of ridicule.

With little experience in matters of the heart, she was being drawn in by Ba Di as an alien life-form. Her research gradually turned into step-by-step efforts to understand the blueprint Ba Di had carefully constructed for her, and she slowly sank deeper.

Even with her exceptionally high intelligence, she had no way of seeing through the fact that Ba Di was playing hard to get, weaving a vast net to capture her heart while devising countless ways to use her feelings.

Beyond the one-way glass.

Dean Bo Li, the old man in a white coat, stood with a smile at the corner of his mouth and his hands in his pockets. He nodded in satisfaction, as though he could already see Ba Di helping him overcome one scientific obstacle after another and leading Earth into a new field of science.

He was very pleased with Jenny's recent progress in teaching the alien. The alien had finally accepted reality, accepted Jenny's instruction, and learned quite a few English words, grammar rules, and so on. He would likely be able to communicate within a month or two.

Colonel Slade, standing beside him and observing Ba Di through the one-way glass, kept his eyes fixed on the expressions that occasionally surfaced on Ba Di's face. They made him narrow his eyes warily from time to time.

His sharp instincts always told him that Ba Di was a proud, cunning, cruel, and violently enraged beast, unwilling to submit. It was the danger sense that had allowed him to survive countless bullets on the battlefield.

This alien was dangerous! "Doctor Jenny truly loves researching alien life-forms."

Colonel Slade shifted his gaze from Ba Di to Doctor Jenny's figure.

Ever since Doctor Jenny had come to this Underground Base, she had devoted herself entirely to biological research. Most of the time, she faced others with a cold expression and treated no one warmly. But the Doctor Jenny inside now had expectant, gentle eyes on her coolly beautiful face. Each time she held up a card to teach Ba Di an English sentence, if he reacted, a faint smile would ripple across her lips. If he did not, she would eagerly draw out the next card, anticipating his response.

Doctor Jenny loved alien life-forms... far too much.

"Isn't that a good thing? We need his cooperation. It creates a bond and gives us something to use as leverage. One move, many gains."

Dean Bo Li stood with both hands in his white coat pockets, smiling as he watched Jenny and Ba Di interact.

"I am only concerned that the alien may cause an accident," Colonel Slade said coldly, glancing sideways at Dean Bo Li beside him and feeling a chill.

This was a researcher who only knew how to research, only wanted to research—someone so single-minded that he did not care whether his own student lived or died.

If Doctor Jenny and the alien formed a certain emotional bond, then once the alien stopped cooperating, Doctor Jenny would likely be tortured to coerce him.

Did he truly feel no affection at all for his student? A real researcher was indeed heartless, heartless for the sake of science.

"Aren't you the one who arranged the defenses here? We trust you."

Dean Bo Li spoke and took the lead toward the depths of the corridor.

Colonel Slade said nothing. His eyes flickered as they swept over Ba Di's face. Then he followed Dean Bo Li away, leaving Doctor Jenny inside the one-way glass room to continue teaching with her cards, unaware that she had already become the middle ground in a battle of wits between two sides.

After five months of contact with Jenny and nine months of imprisonment, Ba Di's game of playing hard to get had completely captured her heart.

As his apparent exchanges with Jenny gradually became richer, Ba Di deliberately, almost casually, began asking about Jenny's past. Based on the information Jenny let slip, he confirmed quite a bit about the Underground Base.

For example, he learned that after studying the stable magnetic-field direction converter left behind by that half of the spacecraft, the Underground Base had produced some semi-finished magnetic pulse devices before reaching an impasse.

Their genetic research was also gradually progressing.

From Jenny, he also learned that it was now 1980, along with some news of the outside world.

Ba Di estimated that he had arrived on Earth before Superman. Now, it seemed he had only arrived a year or two earlier. Fortunately, Superman would arrive as an infant, while he was already an adult. But time would not leave him much room. What he wanted to do was not simply become some hero who casually saved people like Superman.

Ba Di suppressed his restless thoughts. When he felt the time was nearly right, he deliberately and subtly guided Jenny into believing that all he wanted was a peaceful life: to walk hand in hand with her beneath the moon and bask in the warmth of the sun.

For her sake, he could provide the Underground Base with certain research directions and knowledge, thereby earning greater freedom.

Chained to the wall, able to rely only on Jenny's feelings and his own acting, he was far too passive.

"Ba Di is willing to provide and assist with our technological research."

When Jenny brought this information to Dean Bo Li, the old man was overjoyed. At last, he had succeeded in making the alien offer up the knowledge in his head for Jenny's sake.

Scientific knowledge that spanned the ages of the stars naturally had to be firmly kept in his hands.

One day, nine months after his imprisonment in the Underground Base.

Jenny entered the stark white room with an indignant expression. She looked sorrowfully at Ba Di, her high heels striking the floor with heavy, hurried steps. Tears filled her eyes as she rose onto her toes, her slender hands clasping Ba Di's large hand. She pressed her body against his shoulder, full of tender love, and said hoarsely, "I won't let them do this to you, Ba Di..."

After saying that, large tears fell from her face onto Ba Di's body. They seeped into the white fiber clothing, cold against him.

Ba Di's heart sank. Had some sudden accident occurred? He had fully met their expectations. Perhaps they had deliberately allowed Jenny and him to develop feelings so they could control him.

In the end, all they wanted was technology. Had he missed something? Ba Di showed nothing on the surface and asked with gentle concern, "What is it, Jenny?"

Jenny sobbed for a while, then gritted her teeth. "Slade wants to cut your Hand and Foot Tendons before he will allow you to leave this room."

Ba Di's face stiffened. His heart turned icy, and rage surged within him like an erupting volcano.