Ark Simulator, Don't I Have No Physical Form?

She smiled.

It wasn't that aristocratic, elegant smile, but rather a pure and bright smile, like a child receiving a gift.

"Really?" She gently clasped her hands together, fingertips touching her chin, her eyes sparkling as if stars were dancing in her eyes. "From now on, you'll be my tenant?"

Su Rui nodded. "If you don't mind."

"How could I mind!" Nightingale practically jumped to her feet, her skirt twirling lightly like a little bird that had finally found its companion. "I've always been all alone here. Shining comes occasionally, but she never keeps me company."

She jogged a few steps and pushed open a door in the Mental Garden —inside was a cozy little room with an illusory flame flickering in the fireplace, bookshelves filled with books, and even a small bed by the window.

"I've already prepared a guest room!" She turned to look at Su Rui, her cheeks flushed slightly with excitement. "Although I don't usually need it, I always feel... that one day someone will come to keep me company."

Su Rui looked around and found the room to be incredibly detailed—the ink on the desk was still wet, as if she had just been writing; a small nightlight sat by the bedside, its warm yellow glow gently enveloping the pillow; and even a pot of bluebells that would never wither sat on the windowsill.

"Have you been waiting for a guest?" he asked.

Nightingale nodded, her fingers gently tracing the edge of the bookshelf. "Yes, sometimes I fantasize, what if one day, someone gets lost and accidentally wanders into my world... and then never leaves again?"

Her voice was soft, carrying a hint of barely perceptible loneliness.

Su Rui paused for a moment, then walked to the window, reached out and pushed it open—the view outside was no longer the frozen greenhouse garden, but the blue sea and sky of Dossoles, with sunlight shining on the sea and breaking into thousands of golden light.

"How about this?" he asked. "If you like, I can change the scenery here to anywhere else."

Nightingale's eyes lit up. She trotted to the window, her hands gripping the frame, the sea breeze ruffling her golden hair.

"So beautiful..." she whispered, then turned to look at Su Rui, her smile gentle, "But you don't need to change."

"Um?"

"Because now, this isn't just my world anymore," she tilted her head, her eyes gentle, "It's our world."

Su Rui paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Then, please take care of me, landlady."

Nightingale chuckled, then, as if suddenly remembering something, took his hand. "Oh, right! I'll take you to see other places!"

She dragged Su Rui out of the room, across the garden corridor, and pushed open door after door—

"This is my study; I've saved so many stories here!"

"This is the tea room; we can have afternoon tea together!"

"This is the Observatory; the stars are especially bright at night!"

Her voice was light and cheerful, like a child who had finally found a playmate and couldn't wait to share everything she treasured.

Su Rui let her pull her around, watching her cheeks flush slightly with excitement, and suddenly felt—

Perhaps, this kind of life isn't so bad.

The Nightingale suddenly stopped and turned to look at him. "You'll always be here, won't you?"

Her eyes held a hint of cautious expectation, as if she were afraid of hearing a negative answer.

Su Rui reached out and gently ruffled her hair. "Yes, I'll be here for a long time."

The Nightingale's eyes curved into crescent moons.

"It's a promise!" she said, extending her little finger. "Pinky promise!"

Su Rui chuckled, but still obligingly hooked her fingers around hers.

"Pinky promise."

The gentle sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating their intertwined fingertips.

--From today onwards, this lonely garden finally has a second owner.

When Shining pushed open the metal door of the laboratory, Su Rui's consciousness was suspended in Nightingale's Mental Landscape, observing the real world through her eyes.

She is indeed a beauty.

Her long, silvery-white hair cascaded down to her waist, the ends loosely tied with a black ribbon that swayed gently with her steps. The Sarkaz's horns gleamed with a dark, glazed sheen in the cold light, making her skin appear even paler. She had an exceptionally good figure; beneath her white lab coat was a form-fitting black combat uniform with an extremely narrow waist, and her long legs moved with a rhythm that carried an almost dangerous quality.

But her eyes were cold.

Those pale purple pupils held no warmth, only the scrutiny of a precision instrument. She walked to the lab table, her fingers tracing Nightingale's forehead with a gentle touch, as if she were handling a fragile object, yet Su Rui could feel— Nightingale was trembling.

"Today we're testing your empathy threshold." Shining's voice was deep and pleasant, yet as precise as a scalpel. "Relax, don't resist."

The Nightingale gave a soft "hmm" and closed her eyes.

Su Rui's vision was instantly plunged into chaos--

pain.

It wasn't a physical pain, but a agonizing pain that felt like her spirit was being brutally torn apart. Shining's Originium Arts were like a red-hot steel needle, slowly piercing into the depths of Nightingale's consciousness, churning her memories, emotions, and even her most private thoughts.

Nightingale's fingernails dug into her palms, her knuckles turning white, but she didn't cry out; she simply endured it quietly, as if she were already familiar with and accustomed to this torment.

Su Rui couldn't stand it anymore.

His consciousness suddenly expanded, forcibly intervening in this "experiment," erecting a barrier within Nightingale's Mental Landscape. Shining's Originium Arts collided with this invisible wall, emitting a piercing buzz.

Shining's fingers paused.

"... Interesting." She narrowed her eyes slightly, a more intense purple light emanating from her fingertips. "There's something protecting you within your Mental Landscape."

The Nightingale's eyelashes trembled slightly; she dared not answer.

Shining didn't press the matter further; instead, she withdrew her hand. She turned and walked towards the recording table, the hem of her white lab coat tracing a clean arc. Only then did Su Rui notice that her waist-to-hip ratio was almost perfect, and the material of her black combat suit was even somewhat breathable under the high-intensity testing, outlining her full curves.

--If you ignore what she's doing, she is indeed a very charming woman.

"Ten-minute break," Shining said without turning around, "Then continue."

After the metal door closed, Nightingale let out a long breath and slumped onto the lab table.

"Has she always treated you like this?" Su Rui asked directly in her mind.

The Nightingale nodded gently, responding in her mind, "Hmm... but today was already considered gentle."

Volume 12, Chapter 676: Slipped Away and Took Her Staff

Her Mental Landscape rippled slightly, fragments of past memories surfacing—scenes of even more brutal experiments, the Shining's cold fingers, and those nights she spent alone, curled up in a corner.

Su Rui remained silent for a moment.

"Do I need to interfere with her?" His authority was sufficient to paralyze the entire laboratory's system, and even to infiltrate Shining's nervous system.

The Nightingale shook its head.

"No... if the experiment fails, she'll be even stricter." Her consciousness moved closer to Su Rui, like a little bird seeking shelter. "And... now you're here."

Su Rui sighed and reached out (though it was only a consciousness) to ruffle her hair.

Just then, the laboratory door opened again. Shining walked in, holding a new syringe.

"Continue." She only said one word.

Nightingale lay down obediently, but this time, her fingers secretly hooked onto Su Rui's consciousness projection.

--As if by doing so, I could steal a little warmth from that cold woman's hands.

"Nightingale, let's run away."

Su Rui's voice echoed in the Mental Landscape. Nightingale was sitting in her garden pruning a bluebell that never fades. Upon hearing this, her fingers trembled, and she almost dropped the scissors.

"... Escape?" She looked up, her golden eyelashes almost transparent in the sunlight, her eyes filled with confusion and a faint, almost imperceptible hope.

"Your legs can still run, your Mental Barrier can interfere with tracking, and my authority can hack all the surveillance cameras along the way." Su Rui's consciousness materialized before her, gently pressing her shoulder. "As long as you escape to the Babel, Theresa will protect you—as for Shining?" He sneered, "The Doctor will teach her what 'regret' truly means."

Nightingale's fingertips unconsciously tightened around her skirt, the fabric crumpling in her hands. Her gaze drifted to the edge of the garden—where an invisible barrier stood, a mental shackle set up by the Shining.

"I... I don't know." Her voice was as soft as a feather falling. "If we fail, the Shining will—"

"What will happen to her? Will it be worse than it is now?" Su Rui interrupted her, her virtual finger lifting her chin and forcing her to look at herself. "Nightingale, look at yourself—you can run and jump, yet you're stuck on the lab table like a guinea pig every day; your Mental Landscape is so beautiful, but in reality, there's not even a window to it!"

Nightingale's pupils trembled slightly; Su Rui's words cut through her long-held self-comfort like a knife.

"But... but..." Her fingers unconsciously touched her ankle—where she wore a restraining ring in reality—"I've never left here, I don't know what's outside..."

Su Rui sighed, then suddenly knelt down on one knee and took her hand.

"Listen," his voice softened, "it's 37 kilometers from here to the Babel. I'll plan the route, harass the pursuers, and even hack into the navigation systems of the Mobile City to clear the way for you. You only need to do one thing—"

He looked directly into her eyes.

"Believe me."

The Nightingale's breathing quickened, her chest heaving violently. Her Mental Landscape began to fluctuate; the flowers in the garden moved erratically without wind, and the fountain's water droplets hovered in mid-air—a manifestation of her intense emotional turmoil.

"I... I'm scared..." she finally admitted softly, her eyes reddening.

Su Rui chuckled softly and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"Of course I'm scared. Running away is a terrible thing." His tone was as casual as if he were discussing afternoon tea. "But rather than being a caged bird forever, why not take a gamble? At worst, we'll get caught and scolded together."

The Nightingale's lips curled slightly at his words, but she immediately bit her lower lip.

"If... if I really do run away..." She took a deep breath, her eyes hardening, "Will you stay with me? Until the Babel?"

Su Rui stood up and extended her hand to her.

"It's not just to the Babel." His smile shone brightly in the sunlight. "I paid 'rent,' landlady."

Nightingale looked at the hand, a warm feeling she had never experienced before welling up in her chest. She slowly raised her hand, but suddenly pulled it back just before touching it—

"Wait! My anklet--"

Su Rui raised an eyebrow and brought up a holographic screen, which displayed the structural diagram of the confinement ring.

"High-frequency vibration of 127.4 Hz, lasting 3 seconds," he chuckled, tilting his head. "Or do you want to see me hack directly into its system? Shining's password is like a child lock to me."

Nightingale opened her eyes wide, then suddenly burst into laughter—this was the first time Su Rui had ever heard her truly hearty laughter, as clear and crisp as the tinkling of wind chimes.

She finally reached out and firmly grasped Su Rui's virtual hand.

"Okay." Her eyes shone brightly. "Let's run away."

At that moment, a crack appeared in the garden's barrier, and the first ray of real sunlight pierced through.

The Nightingale's anklet made a very soft "click" sound, like a snowflake falling on ice.

"Alright," Su Rui's voice echoed in her mind, "Now it's just an ornament."

Nightingale looked down at her pale ankle—the restraining ring that had tormented her for months still shimmered faintly, but the core lock inside had completely fallen silent. She tried to move her toes; there was no electric current, no stinging pain, and the freedom almost brought her to tears.

"The route has been planned." Su Rui's holographic projection unfolded on her retina, revealing a clear 3D map of the entire laboratory. "Shift change in three minutes. You have 17 seconds to cross the corridor in Zone C."

Nightingale took a deep breath, her fingers gently tracing the metal rod at the head of the bed. The staff immediately disintegrated and reformed, transforming into a silver-white staff inlaid with Originium —a test piece left behind by Shining last week.

"Take it." Su Rui chuckled. "Consider it compensation for emotional distress."

The moment the alarm system went into routine hibernation, Nightingale slipped barefoot out of the ward. Her toes touched the cold metal floor like a nimble cat. Su Rui's navigation system flashed before her eyes, updating in real time, milliseconds, the unlock codes for each door and the location of every blind spot in the surveillance system.

Turn left and walk close to the wall.

Nightingale, her back pressed against the shadow of the pipe, overheard the conversation of two Absolver passing by: "Did the system flicker just now?" "It's the same old problem. Lord Shining said they're getting a new server next week—"

As soon as their footsteps faded, Nightingale rushed towards the ventilation shaft. Su Rui had already unlocked the cover, and her slender body was just big enough to squeeze inside.

"Go down three floors, then turn right," Su Rui said excitedly. "We're taking a shortcut."

The ventilation ducts reeked of the metallic smell of engine oil, and Nightingale's knees quickly bled, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent. As she crawled through the intricate pipes, her staff suddenly glowed, and Originium Arts automatically created a cushioning effect, making her descent gentle and silent.

"Beautiful!" Su Rui exclaimed. "This staff is yours."

Volume 12, Chapter 677: The Techniques of Good Dishes

The most dangerous checkpoint was the final biometric gate. Nightingale held her breath, watching the scanner's red light envelop her—then suddenly it turned green. Her image on the monitor screen was replaced by a dozing Absolver's support staff.

"A petty trick," Su Rui said smugly. "Their firewall is thinner than paper."

As Nightingale finally pushed open the last emergency exit, the night wind of Kazdel rushed in. Moonlight shone on her long golden hair, and the lights of the distant Mobile City resembled scattered stars.

"What's next?" she asked softly, the staff slightly warm in her hand.

Su Rui's projection solidified beside her, pointing towards the faintly visible giant ship silhouette on the horizon:

"See that Landship?" His smile gleamed in the moonlight. "Theresa's afternoon tea has just begun—we'll make it in time for dessert."