A Glimmer of Light in Despair

Skye had always felt that her luck was terrible. She had been an orphan since she was little, and though she had been adopted several times, she never quite fit in with her new "parents."

Later, she suddenly discovered that her past was a blank slate; she couldn't find any information about her life trajectory online. Even information regarding her biological parents seemed to have been deliberately erased.

There had to be some unknown secret hidden within this. Perhaps her parents hadn't abandoned her, but had gone missing due to some unavoidable circumstances.

Every orphan harbors fantasies about their biological parents, and most of the time, these images are quite positive.

Because of this, Skye ran away from the orphanage before she was even an adult, intending to use her own strength to unravel this mystery.

It was just a pity that for a young girl to live independently in a place like New York, the hardships were imaginable. That was why she ended up living in the sewers, neighbors with rats and cockroaches.

She just hadn't expected her luck to be this bad. The moment she made up her mind to leave the sewers, she was kidnapped and sent to this bizarre laboratory.

Watching the charred corpse being dragged away before her eyes, Skye knew she would soon follow in that person's footsteps.

The second human test subject struggled frantically, only to be knocked unconscious and thrown into the sleep pod.

Through the outer glass cover, Skye could see the person being injected with some unknown chemical while unconscious, followed by a flash of electric light, as if they were being bombarded.

When the glare faded, the person inside emitted a wisp of blue smoke, their entire body burned to a crisp.

"Damn it, another failure. Move on to the next!" A cold, ruthless voice was transmitted into the laboratory via electronic speakers. She couldn't see the face of the devil controlling everything behind the scenes, but that final sentence alone was enough to make one feel his coldness and malice.

Having watched the entire hellish performance, the fear in Skye's heart grew wildly, almost causing her to faint.

"Save me, someone save me..." Skye's eyes had become hollow, leaving only this single belief in her heart.

Unfortunately, miracles didn't seem to happen. By the time the test subjects before Skye had all turned into charcoal, she was shoved into that chamber without any ability to resist.

When the hatch closed, Skye smelled the charred stench of burning corpses inside and finally closed her eyes in despair. In a little while, she would become a charred corpse too, wouldn't she?

Just as Skye waited for that intense light to descend, her vision suddenly went black. Skye thought it was because her eyes had lost their sight due to the glare.

But why was there no pain at all?

Immediately after, a roar echoed through the laboratory: "Why did the power cut out? Go fix it immediately!"

"What's out there? It looks like someone has broken in!"

"Go check it out!"

Following the chaotic voices, a series of hurried footsteps rang out, as if people were rushing out in a panic.

"Is this... luck?" Skye found it hard to believe.

She had just been despairing, thinking she was about to die a miserable, tortured death, but then a power outage happened by accident?

By the time Skye's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized the hatch had opened silently, though she didn't know if it was because of the power outage.

In the near-total darkness, a point of fluorescence suddenly flickered in front of Skye, like a tiny firefly, circling in a figure-eight pattern.

As if guided by some divine force, Skye felt this firefly was signaling to her. She crawled out of the chamber cautiously and followed the firefly. It felt like a ray of light guiding her through the depths of despair.

It was only a faint glimmer, but it was enough for Skye to barely see the path. She walked all the way until she passed through two doors, seemingly arriving in a room used for storing cleaning supplies.

The firefly floated up and landed on a mirror.

Skye leaned in to look, only to find that the firefly had transformed into a three-dimensional projection of Luo Xia's upper body.

"Skye, are you alright?" Luo Xia's voice came from the phantom, sounding slightly distorted as if by electromagnetic interference.

Hearing those words, Skye almost burst into tears. But the strong-willed girl held it back and said in a trembling voice, "I'm okay. How did you find me?"

Luo Xia didn't explain much, only comforting her: "Stay here and don't worry. By tomorrow, everything should be fine. Once you've safely left this place, I'll explain everything to you slowly."

Skye nodded vigorously and curled up in the corner of the room. Luo Xia's holographic image vanished, and the room plunged back into darkness, with even that tiny glimmer of light disappearing completely.

But this time, Skye no longer felt afraid.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but Skye was so tired that she fell asleep right on the floor. She wasn't woken up until bright light hit her, and that was when she realized it was already the next morning.

And this light was coming from the room's doorway.

Skye looked nervously at the person opening the door; it was a strange man with black hair. Thinking she was still in danger, she grabbed a mop from nearby and swung it at him.

To her surprise, the man easily caught the other end of the mop and made a shushing gesture at her.

Just as she was confused, the man's face shifted, revealing the face of Luo Xia.

"Don't be nervous, I'm here to take you away," Luo Xia said to Skye with a smile.

The fear she had been forcibly suppressing finally erupted at this moment, gushing out along with her tears. Skye threw herself into Luo Xia's arms and sobbed.

Luo Xia was held tightly by Skye, feeling so awkward he didn't know where to put his hands. How could this girl suddenly become so fragile?

When they met in the sewer, she had been playing mind games with him, and during their video call last night, she had appeared calm, but now...

However, Luo Xia had no choice but to pat Skye on the shoulder and comfort her: "Alright, it's all over now."

After a good while, Skye finally calmed down.

Luo Xia reverted to his disguised appearance and led Skye out of the room. Following silently behind him, Skye felt her mind was a bit chaotic; she really couldn't understand how Luo Xia had found her, or why he would risk his life to save a stranger who had once deceived him.

Just as she was lost in thought, she saw Luo Xia leading her to meet up with a large group of people, all of whom were wearing the same prison garb as her.

A man wearing sunglasses and holding a white cane asked Luo Xia: "Is everyone here?"

"Mm, that's the last one," Luo Xia replied.

The blind man then turned around to face a man in military uniform: "Now, Mr. Blonsky, since everyone is here, let us sign the non-disclosure agreements."

The soldier, who appeared somewhat short in stature, took the documents from the blind man's hands, signed his name with a sour expression, and turned to leave.

Then, Luo Xia said happily: "Alright, you are all free now."

Although Luo Xia said this to everyone, Skye felt as though his eyes were fixed solely on her.