Zhou Hanxiang held Zhou Tianming tightly in her arms, squeezing him until he could barely breathe.
The gunshot wounds on his body were pulled by the movement, causing his handsome face to contort in pain.
"Mom... hurts... wounds..."
His tongue was stiff, his speech still slightly slurred with an odd pronunciation.
Zhou Hanxiang quickly released him, her heart aching when she saw Zhou Tianming's bloodstained rabbit mascot costume. Tears streamed down uncontrollably.
Gently laying him flat, Zhou Hanxiang tried to stand but swayed unsteadily, crashing into a nearby lab table.
Clutching her head where she'd hit the ground earlier, the swollen lump throbbed with dizziness and imbalance.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up using the table and staggered forward.
The ten-meter distance took several minutes as she retrieved the white first-aid kit with a red cross from the cabinet by the wall.
Stumbling back, she collapsed onto the floor, the dizziness subsiding slightly after sitting.
Ignoring her own condition, Zhou Hanxiang began treating Zhou Tianming's gunshot wounds.
Removing the mascot costume revealed four or five bloody holes in his chest, with wounds covering vital organs like his heart and lungs.
Zhou Hanxiang's heart sank at the sight, her hands trembling uncertainly.
Fortunately, Zhou Tianming knew his own condition—[Unyielding] had already blocked the fatal injuries. The wounds only looked terrifying.
"It's... okay."
Zhou Hanxiang wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded.
Opening the medical kit, she first injected anesthesia into Zhou Tianming before extracting the bullets.
As a professor of bio-genetic engineering, her years of side jobs hadn't dulled her professional skills. Instead, the extensive practical experience had honed her expertise.
A minor surgical procedure like bullet extraction was nothing to her, though she might have been less hesitant if it weren't Zhou Tianming.
After removing the first two bullets, Zhou Hanxiang's spirits lifted. She discovered the bullets hadn't penetrated as deeply as expected—in fact, their shallow depth was almost unbelievable.
The extracted bullets had crumpled from impact, yet they hadn't damaged any organs or even reached bone. The terrifying-looking holes were merely skin-deep.
Faced with this clearly supernatural phenomenon, Zhou Tianming just glanced at Zhou Hanxiang before focusing entirely on her task.
The anesthesia left Zhou Tianming feeling nothing, only watching as Zhou Hanxiang used tweezers to pluck bullets from his body and discard them.
The sight was unsettling enough that Zhou Tianming closed his eyes. Whether from the anesthesia or exhaustion, he soon fell into deep sleep.
The simple procedure lasted only minutes. When the last bullet was removed, Zhou Hanxiang exhaled in relief, smiling as she looked at Zhou Tianming's peaceful, sleeping face.
She carefully bandaged his wounds and redressed the initial gunshot injury, biting her lip with a face full of guilt.
After finishing, Zhou Hanxiang pulled Zhou Tianming into her embrace, letting him rest against her chest as she gently kissed his hair. "Rest well. Mommy will protect you."
With that, she reloaded Zhou Tianming's gun with a fresh magazine and gripped it firmly, her eyes alertly fixed on the door.
...
Time passed indeterminably before Zhou Tianming gradually regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the significantly enlarged golden sphere.
Upon closer inspection, he realized his Mental Power Limit had increased substantially. With a thought, a stream of information flowed into his mind.
Mental Command [Trust] — Activates when both parties trust each other unconditionally. Your minds become closely linked, granting you one-fourth of the other's total Mindpower value.
Zhou Tianming exhaled in relief—finally, he understood how to increase his Mental Power Limit.
If [Trust] worked this way, then a similar command like [Friendship] should have comparable effects.
[Friendship] — Activates when both parties are willing to sacrifice for each other without hesitation and acknowledge each other as close friends. Grants half of the other's Mental Power Limit and plants a SEED Seed in their mind.
Startled, Zhou Tianming looked at the black seed within the golden sphere.
So this really was a SEED.
And it could even be planted in someone else's mind...
Why did it feel like he was being NTR'd?
Examining the 18 Mental Command imprints, he discovered another with a similar effect—[Love].
[Love] — Activates when both parties acknowledge their love for each other. Grants the full Mental Power Limit of the other party, while the other gains one Mental Command imprint. The user's consumption for the same Mental Command is converted into Mindpower.
He jolted awake in shock—the effect of [Love] was such a massive surprise that it startled him into full consciousness.
As soon as he woke, he felt himself nestled in a warm, soft embrace. Lifting his head—
Zhou Hanxiang, sensing movement, looked down at him. Their eyes met.
A faint smile curved her lips as she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "You're awake. Does it still hurt?"
A blush spread across his handsome face. Zhou Tianming shifted slightly, but the bandages restricted his movements. The wounds still ached, though not severely.
"I-it's... fine. I'm... okay."
Zhou Hanxiang tightened her embrace, burying her face in his hair, her voice trembling. "Thank goodness... thank goodness..."
Zhou Tianming patted her arm reassuringly.
Both knew their surroundings weren't safe. After a brief moment of tenderness, they began exchanging information.
They skimmed over their individual experiences—what mattered most now was their next move.
"We leave this place." Through continuous conversation, Zhou Tianming's stiff tongue loosened. Though his words were still slightly slurred, he could now speak normally. "I don't trust the people in this research facility. Waking up after five years—someone will definitely want to study the reason."
"Okay." Zhou Hanxiang nodded without hesitation. "We'll leave."
Recalling the scenes he had scanned earlier using [Sense], Zhou Tianming added, "There are still many Blue Cosmos members inside the facility. We can't afford to engage them—we need to end this quickly."
Hearing his intent to take the offensive, Zhou Hanxiang frowned in concern. "This attack has been going on for a while. If we wait a little longer, security forces might arrive."
Chapter
"No." Zhou Tianming shook his head. "The security team must have connections with the research institute. I'm afraid they might detain me—after all, I'm technically an undocumented person. If they delay until the institute's people arrive, they definitely won't let me go."
There were things Zhou Tianming couldn't say outright because they involved plot details. With Kira already taken away and the Hibiki couple dead, if a perfectly healthy [Ultimate Coordinator] specimen appeared before them, those researchers would probably devour him alive.
Zhou Hanxiang considered it and agreed with his reasoning. "What should we do? At the very least, Mom can handle simple gunfire."
Suddenly, Zhou Tianming thought of something—why weren't the Blue Cosmos members using surveillance to track them down instead of relying on manual searches? "Mom, do you think Blue Cosmos could have taken over the institute's surveillance room?"
Zhou Hanxiang pondered for a moment. "Unlikely. That room is completely isolated. Unless someone inside opens the door, the only way in is by blowing it up with explosives."
"Have there been any explosions since the attack started?"
"No, only gunfire."
He exhaled in relief. If Blue Cosmos had control of the surveillance room, the two of them would have no chance of escape. Zhou Tianming couldn't help but feel grateful that the Blue Cosmos members attacking the institute this time were just religious fanatics rather than trained soldiers.
Just as he was about to voice his plan, a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire research facility.
In the next instant, thick steel plates descended over every window in the corridors and rooms, sealing off the entire institute in the blink of an eye.
"This…"
Before Zhou Tianming could process what was happening, Zhou Hanxiang's face paled with urgency. She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the exit.
"That's the biohazard containment alarm!"
!!!!