Rubber Limbs and the Roar of an Enraged Tiger

Just as Lin Mo was worrying about his own situation and that of the others that day, the sealed gate of the cell suddenly swung open.

Immediately following this, the piercing alarm was cut off, the factory gates roared open, and medical personnel in white protective suits with red crosses on their arms, along with solemn-faced family guards in the uniforms of the Wang Family and Li Family, swarmed in.

"Quick! Over here!"

"Miss! Young Master! Are you alright?"

"Medical team! Prioritize the wounded!"

The once deathly silent and desperate factory instantly became "busy" and "orderly." The iron cages were quickly opened, and the terrified young scions were carefully helped out, wrapped in thermal blankets, and placed onto stretchers. The battle pets that had shown aggression during the tests were controlled by professionals using gentler methods, sedated, and taken away.

Everything proceeded with such efficiency and professionalism that it felt like a rescue drill that had been rehearsed countless times.

"The staff said they have been rescued, and the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group has been driven away."

Wang Keke was also gently helped up by a female medic; her face remained pale, but the luster of survival began to return to her eyes. "Mimi!" She turned back immediately to look for Lin Mo.

Lin Mo followed her out of the iron cage that had trapped him for several days, his massive white body appearing somewhat abrupt amidst the busy crowd. He shook his head, shedding the slight dizziness brought on by hunger and the previous beatings, his amber eyes acting like the most precise scanners as he began to calmly survey everything around him.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

Those vicious and cruel Blood Wolf mercenaries had retreated too cleanly and neatly, without even a trace of resistance or delay. It was as if... their mission had been successfully completed, and they had withdrawn with merit.

Inside the factory, apart from the traces of struggle left by them, the "captives," and some trash from the mercenaries' activities, there were no signs of intense combat at all. No bullet holes, no scorch marks from energy weapons, no bloodstains (except for those on the captives and the fake...), and no damaged facilities.

Wait, bloodstains?

Lin Mo's gaze snapped toward the corner of the open space—the place where three human heads had once been stacked in a pyramid, surrounded by countless severed limbs!

At this moment, that spot was completely empty.

No, not entirely empty. Amidst the hurried footsteps of the rescue workers, Lin Mo's sharp eyes caught something that seemed to have been overlooked under the shadow of a discarded tire—a piece of what looked like bloody, mangled flesh, still attached to bits of "skin" and "bone"... a lower leg?

A strong, absurd premonition surged through Lin Mo's spine like an electric current. He let out a low growl, signaling Wang Keke to wait, then moved his four limbs and walked over quickly.

Under the puzzled gazes of Wang Keke and several rescue workers, Lin Mo lowered his head and carefully sniffed the "severed limb" with his nose.

There was no intense scent of blood or decay as expected; instead... there was a faint, chemical smell similar to a mixture of rubber and paint?

He extended a claw and touched it lightly with the tip.

The texture... was very elastic and unusually tough, not at all like real flesh and bone!

He applied a little force and scratched it with his claw.

"Screech—"

A slight sound, like tearing through thick rubber, rang out. He had sliced an opening in the "lower leg," and what was revealed inside was not muscle fibers or bone at all, but some kind of dark red, elastic filler! Even the "bone," which looked bone-white, was just high-strength plastic painted with white lacquer!

Fake!

It was all fucking fake!

Those three human heads with their twisted expressions and eyes wide open in death! The mess all over the floor, the limbs chopped into countless pieces! They were all props realistic enough to pass for the real thing!

An indescribable rage, like a volcanic eruption, instantly shattered Lin Mo's reason!

"ROAR—!!!!!!"

A violent tiger roar, containing endless humiliation, anger, and the feeling of being played for a fool, erupted from the depths of Lin Mo's throat! The sound waves rolled out, making the entire factory building seem to hum, instantly drowning out all the noise of the rescue!

He understood! He understood everything!

What Blood Wolf Mercenary Group! What cruel slaughter! What life-and-death trial!

It was all a fucking act!

It was a large-scale live-action drama performed for them, these "little cubs"!

And they, including him, Lin Mo, were the fools who had been spun around and invested their genuine emotions into this play!

No wonder the communication signals were jammed!

No wonder the "mercenaries" were professional but never actually went for the kill!

No wonder those tests were so targeted!

No wonder the rescue came so "timely"!

This whole thing was simply a "Loyalty Trial" jointly directed by the base city's top brass, the various families, and the military!

They had watched them from behind the screens like they were observing lab mice—watching them fear, struggle, betray, and despair! Watching the battle pets expose their true natures under extreme pressure! And he and Wang Keke, because of his "outstanding" performance, had even become some bullshit "S-Class Core Seeds"!

Thinking about how he had previously been genuinely furious, protective of his master, and even worried sick about Wang Keke's safety, Lin Mo felt his face burning, though it couldn't be seen on his tiger face.

"Mimi? What's wrong?" Wang Keke was startled by the sudden roar and ran over, worriedly stroking his fur, which was standing on end due to his anger.

Lin Mo panted heavily, his tiger eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the rubber fake leg he had sliced open, his internal monologue flowing like a torrential river:

'Damn it! A bunch of old schemers! They actually dared to plot against me!'

'Trying to scare me with fake heads and fake arms? I didn't even blink when I watched horror movies in the theater back in the day!'

'And the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group? Over-the-top acting, shoddy props, zero stars!'

'I actually felt like I was going to die a hero! And it was just this? Just this?!'

"S-rank seed? Seed my foot! Are you treating me like a monkey?"

He felt that his dignity as a transmigrator and his status as a future Starry Sky Behemoth were being ground into the dirt by this group of unscrupulous "directors"!

However, anger was just anger; deep down, Lin Mo felt a chill. To test so-called "loyalty," these superiors could actually orchestrate such a realistic and cruel deception, placing the mental states and lives of hundreds of young people in such an extreme environment...

This level of scheming and these methods made him shudder.

He looked at the young disciples around him who were still lingering in fear, crying, or standing there in a daze, watching the expressions of relief they wore because they had "survived the ordeal," and an absurd feeling of being the only sober person among the intoxicated welled up within him.

Damn it, I can't stay in this place! These old foxes are too calculating! Lin Mo's internal alarm bells rang wildly. I have to find a way to help Wang Keke improve her strength quickly, then find a chance to slip away! Otherwise, sooner or later, they'll sell me out and I'll be the one helping them count the money!

He suppressed his burning rage, nudged the confused Wang Keke with his head, and transmitted a complex thought through their mental link, mixing emotions of "it's okay," "we were played," and "we need to get out of this hellhole."

Although Wang Keke didn't quite understand why Lin Mo was suddenly so furious, she nodded obediently and stayed close to his side.

Man and tiger, guided by the rescue personnel, walked out of the abandoned factory filled with deception and acting. The sunlight was a bit blinding; Lin Mo narrowed his amber tiger eyes and glanced back at the gloomy factory building.

He had noted this debt down.

Those old schemers hiding behind the screens had better watch out. The day he devoured the Swallowed Star and his roar shook the universe, he would definitely return to settle the score for the price of this "play"!