Chapter 83: Cruel Warmth
Bai Yi crossed his hands behind his back silently. Mavis looked at Bai Yi’s small but fidgety actions and couldn’t be feel a bit relieved in her heart, Bai Yi was still worried about Momo after all. In this world now, it was true that those who abandoned everything, even their humanity, would find it easier to survive. However, Mavis did not wish to see Bai Yi become somebody like that.
It had already been 5 minutes!
Even without looking at the clock, Bai Yi knew the time very clearly. During this period, nobody spoke at all, but all silently listened to the monotonous Yeye giving warnings to Momo, while the other cheerier Yeye told Momo where to go.
It was very strange, yet also very logical.
But, so quick!
Momo was stuck in the first turn for 10 minutes, but she didn’t even seem to stop for the next few turns. Moreover, her speed also seemed to be getting faster and faster, in just five minutes, they could tell from Yeye’s voice that she had reached the last turn. However, this was also the smallest turn.
At this time, Momo crawled forward just like a caterpillar. There wasn’t even a need to talk about stretching her limbs, even just her body almost got stuck inside the shaft. One could imagine just how tight the space was. With the obstruction of the anti-poison mask, and the feeling of being squeezed endlessly by her surroundings with no space to move, Momo started to breathe a lot heavier.
The reason why solitary confinement became a unique punishment measure was that humans felt a natural fear and pressure from being in small enclosed spaces. That was also a solitary cell that could easily fit a person, but in this tight passageway that could get somebody completely stuck, the feeling it gave was just like the world collapsing and pressing on you, almost as if trying to bury you in this place.
Momo’s body slowly stopped at the beginning of the corner, and the four sides pressed against her body, leaving almost no gap at all for her to maneuver. Moreover, she gradually stopped moving, almost as if she lost all signs of life. Momo didn’t move a single muscle, and Yeye didn’t say anything either. There was only a heavy silence, so heavy that everyone felt a pressure weighing on their heart.
1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes…Bai Yi’s hands uncontrollably started to tremble slightly.
Mavis looked at Bai Yi… This man, if something really happened to Momo, will he be able to bear with the pain?
Momo felt extremely tired inside the shaft, and she didn’t even want to move anymore. The intense pressure and fear she felt caused Momo’s young and immature heart to panic and be unable to withstand the stress. Slowly, Momo’s heartbeat became faster and faster, her body starting to tense up, and even her eyes began to slacken. After an unknown period of time, just when Momo’s dazed consciousness started to disappear, Sara’s smile suddenly surfaced in her mind… That last smile.
That was a blood-filled yet gentle smile, a smile carrying infinite strength and encouragement!
Momo suddenly jolted awake, her eyes that didn’t have any irises anymore contracted, and her body tensed. Momo’s mind was very pure, and she couldn’t understand many things as well as the adults. Like this time, her daddy asked her to go and that’s why she followed. Momo thought that she had already finished her preparations, but in reality, it wasn’t as easy as her simple mind imagined.
But, but… Momo understood the reason why everyone was struggling, and the hope behind Sara’s last dying smile as she used her body to block that monster.
“AHHH…. AHHHHHHH!” Momo suddenly screamed, her small face revealing the malevolent look that she had when she entered the berserk state.
Momo fiercely squeezed herself forward, and her shoulder immediately got stuck at the beginning of the turn. Just a bit more, a bit more! Momo started screaming savagely and viciously pushed herself, forcing herself through the turn. ‘Kacha!’, Momo herself could hear the sound of bones breaking, but at this time she didn’t have any worry or fear left in her, but only felt from the bottom of her heart a burning excitement and… cruelty to herself.
She fiercely pushed with her left shoulder, and her left arm immediately went limp, but she finally went past that spot and crawled towards the very last stretch.
“You got through, good job Momo!” Yeye’s voice was filled with delight. When the rest of them heard Yeye’s voice as well, all of them involuntarily showed a smile on their faces. However, only Bai Yi stared at the wall, seemingly able to stare through the thick and sturdy wall and see Momo inside. The ventilation shaft was only the first step, the next was the most important. Within the 10 seconds after the laser web passed by, she had to enter the bottom of the passageway and destroy the laser firing device.
“Momo, are you ready? I will now countdown 3, 2, 1, with every 10 seconds being a cycle. When the count hits 1, the laser web will pass by directly below you, you must grab hold of the timing yourself. After entering the passageway, you must destroy the laser firing device within the next 10 seconds before the next set of laser web gets fired. Be careful, as you only have 10 seconds.” Yeye’s voice was seemingly also affected by this hard to describe nervousness.
“En!” Momo replied, her heart beating rapidly. Although Momo now descended into a strange cruelty and excitement, she still hadn’t lost her rationality.
“3, 2, 1!” On the first countdown, Momo didn’t jump down.
“3, 2… 1!” On the second countdown, when the count had only reached 2 Momo jumped down into the passageway. Her shirt and hair flapped in the air, and the laser web that hadn’t passed through completely yet sliced off a portion of it. However, Momo did not pay attention to this at all, while she was still free-falling in the air she had already turned her head to look at the laser firing device.
There!
Yeye had already briefed them on the position of the laser firing device and the level of its defenses before. In truth, Momo had already went through a few trials at other similar locations, because although this looked like an exciting and fun game, there was no room for failure like in video games. Yes, absolutely no allowance for failure, this was something that people would never be able to feel in games.
Momo rolled on the floor and drew her specially made short knife at the same time, stabbing it viciously into the wall.
‘Clang!’, sparks flew where the knife and wall collided at. Momo’s movements did not pause at all, her right hand continuously pounding on the wall. However, with her broken left shoulder Momo couldn’t use all her strength like how she did in the trials. At this time, there couldn’t possibly be any time for Momo to get herself to the best condition.
10, 9, 8…… Everyone could hear the continuous sounds of banging of the knife on the wall from Momo.
5, 4, 3……Even in the last few seconds, Momo had not managed to break through that area like she did in the trials and destroy the laser firing device. One must know, even if it was Momo, her strength was already many times greater than a normal adult, and that knife was also specially made, it was even harder than Bai Yi’s broadsword.
Everyone held their breaths subconsciously, and colored patterns automatically appeared in Bai Yi’s eyes.
2, 1……Momo knew what this meant more than anyone else, and her eyes involuntarily contracted, her body reaching a limit. At this moment, the laser web materialised in front of Momo’s eyes.
“AHHH!!” Momo screamed brutally and she smashed down with extreme force in her small right hand.
‘DANG!’, the short knife pierced all the way in, and at this instant a line of blood appeared on Momo’s forehead from the laser beam. However, the most important thing was that Momo’s actions only ruined one of the beams of the laser web, creating a small but barely passable gap for her.
Momo jumped and twisted her body in an instant, slipping through that small gap formed. Due to her left arm being injured, her movements had some deviation from how her body usually moved during practices. The lasers passed through her left arm, and soundlessly sliced off a chunk of flesh from it.
After landing again, Momo clenched down on her teeth tightly, almost bleeding from the gums. Momo then started to frenziedly smash the laser firing device. At this time, nobody said anything and there was only the sound of Momo continuously banging on the device.
Only after half an hour later did Momo finally execute the initial plan, entering Yeye’s main computer room inside, and switching off all of the defense sequences manually.
The sealed passageway slowly opened, and Bai Yi, who had been standing still all the while, instantly dashed in the moment the door opened with shocking speed. Reaching the main computer room, Bai Yi immediately saw the haggard Momo with her left arm hanging limply by the side, slowly dripping blood onto the floor.
Seeing Bai Yi, Momo immediately revealed a pure and innocent smile at him.
Bai Yi immediately rushed to Momo’s side and kneeled down, fiercely bringing her into his arms. Momo got surprised by Bai Yi’s actions for a moment, but she then slowly enjoyed her daddy’s warm hug and put her small hands on his back.
Mavis and Heloise came in behind Bai Yi, and the first thing they saw was this cruel yet heart-warming scene. Even Heloise who was still quite dissatisfied with Bai Yi being so cruel to let Momo carry out this extremely risky mission, couldn’t help but feel moved seeing this scene. Cold and ruthless, yet he had so much warmth at the bottom of his heart.
A man with this level of resolution, and with such a warm heart, wasn’t he somebody that everyone could entrust their life to?
This contradictory appearance, on the contrary, made him so much more authentic and real!
“Are you guys ready? Next, you guys can switch off my main computer now.” Yeye appeared in a hologram in the middle of the room. This time, she really appeared in space, while she was just an image on a screen before.
Bai Yi looked at the people who had followed him here, and on everyone’s face were calmness and resolution.
“Yes, we are ready!”
A simple phrase, yet it carried their incredibly pervasive resoluteness.