Chapter 6: The Edge of Madness
Three months. Ninety days. Countless trials.
Number Four, Surya, had been pushed to limits most humans couldn't endure. Heat, cold, chemical burns, gravitational forces, nerve shocks—every day was a new torment. He had learned to endure, to absorb, and to grow stronger—but the cost was severe. His body bore scars, burns, and bruises, and his mind teetered on the edge of madness.
System Announcement:[Total Stamina Lost: 86%][Pain Tolerance Increased: +7][Absorption Experience +45]
Lin Weixian had lost most of his scientific curiosity. Number Four had proven predictable: he endured, absorbed, and grew. There was no thrill in studying pure survival statistics.
"Boring…" Lin Weixian muttered under his breath. His eyes scanned the monitors. "Perhaps a week of… entertainment trials."
And so, for the next seven days, Surya faced a new type of trial. These weren't about growth—they were designed purely for Lin Weixian's amusement. Extreme temperature swings, sudden pressure inversions, nerve shocks, and sensory deprivation became his daily hell.
Surya's mind began to fray. Each scream became sharper, each twitch more uncontrollable. The chamber walls, the machines, even the sterile air—they all felt like they were closing in on him. He clawed at the restraints, his shouts echoing down the corridors like a caged beast.
System Announcement:[Randomized Entertainment Trials — Difficulty: Sadistic][Stamina Loss: 30% per trial][Pain Detected: 100%][Absorption Experience +12]
Through the haze of pain, his mind still observed. He noticed something others didn't—the guards, the patterns of their rotations, and the slight lapses in surveillance. Most importantly, he remembered whispers he had overheard in the past weeks about Number Zero.
Zero—the "useless" test subject—was planning something. Surya pieced together the hints: locked doors, brief unattended moments, and subtle manipulations of his environment. The escape plan was slow, careful, deliberate… and it had been forming while the researchers ignored him.
Surya's lips curled into a faint smirk, despite the pain. Even at the brink of madness, clarity struck him. Number Zero had a plan, and I can use it.
He focused, absorbing the energy of his torment, forcing his mind to strategize. Once this week of "entertainment trials" ends, I will coordinate with Zero. Together, we can escape this base.
Lin Weixian, observing from the control room, noticed Surya's behavior but didn't fully understand the calculation behind it. To him, the subject still screamed, thrashed, and endured. That he might be plotting, thinking strategically—it amused Lin Weixian only slightly.
Surya, Number Four, felt his sanity stretching but not snapping. The edge of madness sharpened his perception. He could endure pain, absorb energy, and think several steps ahead.
Through the haze, his gaze eventually fell on Hela, the Red Serpent, supervising multiple chambers. The sight pulled at him—curiosity, fascination, even desire—but he pushed it aside. There was no time for distractions. Focus. Survive. Escape.
System Announcement:[Environmental Trials Completed — Total Stamina Lost: 45%][Pain Tolerance Increased: +3][Absorption Experience +8]
Three months of torment had forged him into something more than a test subject. Number Four knew he was no longer merely surviving—he was planning, observing, and preparing.
And in the shadows, Number Zero's escape plan quietly ticked forward, waiting for the right moment. Surya, Number Four, silently promised himself: pain is temporary, survival is permanent, and escape is inevitable.