Is it really normal to contain these anomalies?

Benjamin who keeps calling Ain "teacher", Kali who looks strict but is gentle at heart, and Daniel who behaves elegantly but is addicted to coffee.

It's just that time passed so quickly that X didn't even have time to memorize their faces and memories.

But... in the dark.

He always felt that this was the happiest time for Ain...

Everyone at the institute is very friendly. Even though the experiment is just moving forward with difficulty, everyone is full of hope...

'Wouldn't it be nice if days like this could last forever?'

X couldn't help but have this thought in his mind.

But this is just X's wishful thinking...

The world's time never stops, and in the joyful atmosphere, Karmen's research soon encountered a bottleneck.

Now, they have extracted a small amount of Cogito, a liquid extracted from the 'river' that is the embodiment of the spirit, the liquid form of life and death.

Therefore, Carmen believes that if you want to heal the soul, you need something that also has the concept of the soul to be successful, and Cogito may be what you need.

As people studied Cogito, they discovered how to obtain it.

You need the most suitable person to act as a "bucket" so that you can get a large amount of Cogito from the "river".

Everyone started testing each other in the research institute...

But finally a dramatic scene happened.

According to biological tests, Carmen herself is the most suitable person to be a "bucket".

But Carmen is the leader of the entire research, and such an experiment is too dangerous...

Just when everyone was at a loss, Enoch stepped forward. This ten-year-old boy decided to conduct the 'experiment' on behalf of Carmen.

But the first human experiment undoubtedly carries the greatest risk.

On the operating table, Enoch stopped breathing.

The first victim appeared...

"Why! Why wasn't it you who died? Give my brother back to me!!"

The little girl's excited and desperate curses came from the surrounding darkness.

But no one present had the right to stop her from venting.

Enoch is dead.

Because of their experiments...

"But there is hope for the future..."

Almost everyone thought so, even Ain.

But they all ignored the most optimistic initiator...

Sometimes, only a child's thoughtless and careless words can truly open a person's heart...

Chapter 138 Unforgivable Betrayal

Carmen wants to use Cogito to save the hearts of all urban residents, but she herself cannot accept the sacrifice of her companions on this road.

not to mention....

She didn't know whether this path would lead to success.

What if her plan failed? Would she be worthy of all the sacrifices she had made along the way? Could she live up to the trust her companions had placed in her?

She didn't dare to escape, but she didn't want to face it either. She could only let these heavy thoughts gradually accumulate in her heart.

Until finally...the burden overwhelmed her.

-----------------

No one can forget this scene.

The blood from her wrist dyed the bathtub red, and Carmen sank her own hope and everyone else's hope into this red blood.

Carmen is dead.

She became the second victim.

And when Carmen, who had always been a shining light for everyone in the institute, died, the darkness of the city finally caught up with us...

The experiment could no longer be stopped, as most people in the institute still believed in Karman's theory.

Senior Ain inherited her last wish.

He has always loved Carmen, and everyone in the institute can see it. Now, fulfilling Carmen's dream has become his obsession for the rest of his life.

Just like when he questioned me the first time he saw me, Senior Ain is so completely rational that he seems cold-blooded and heartless...

And when he made up his mind to advance Karmen's experiment by any means necessary.

I began to feel scared.

I saw it—Ilia-senpai, eager to join Ain-senpai's experiment, secretly injected Cogito into herself.

Soon, her nails and teeth began to fall out, and her skin began to ulcerate.

"Kill me...Please kill me!"

She cried out to her companions who were right beside her on the laboratory floor. She was in so much pain that a momentary death seemed like a relief to her.

But in the face of Illya's death wish, Senior Ain stopped all of us who were about to go forward.

"This is precious in vivo research data. Start recording it."

His tone was calm, completely ignoring Illya-senpai's cries of pain.

It was not until her dissolved blood spread throughout the institute and the sounds of her struggle became weaker and weaker that I came to my senses in this hell, dropped the pen in my hand, and ran out of the institute.

The sun is shining outside, but the world will never return to the afternoon when I first arrived...

In the following days, Senior Gabriel finally went crazy.

He witnessed the tragic death of Senior Ilia just like the rest of us, but the scene had a more severe impact on him than any of us. He developed severe paranoia and believed that his skin had begun to rot and fester.

He began to wrap himself up, but it was no use. He began to scratch his intact skin uncontrollably with his hands, not stopping even if it was bleeding.

Senior Ain forced him to undergo a checkup, but in the end there were no physical results.

To prevent him from hurting himself further, we put him in a straitjacket.

Is Senior Gabriel feeling better?

I do not know.

Mr. Ain and I continued to devote our energy to the experiment.

Apart from three meals a day, we rarely see him....

His end came one morning.

As usual, I opened the restraints that bound his hands, but this time, the tranquilizer I prepared was useless, and he didn't get up and scratch his skin again.

He collapsed beyond recognition and eventually died in agony, alone and mad.

But the experiment still needs to continue...

We still need a lot of human experimental data.

Yes, the research needs new volunteers.

But Enoch's death is still on our minds.

Just when I thought no one else would raise their hand...Mr. Giovanni stood up.

His reason was simple, because he liked Carmen.

He believed that such an experiment on the human soul would definitely have the possibility of resurrecting Carmen.

"I will defeat that bastard with the truth and save everyone..."

That's what Mr. Giovanni always said when I gave him the Cogito injection.

But when Mr. Giovanni, I, or anyone else asked Ain whether Carmen could be resurrected after the experiment was successful, he did not give a positive or negative answer.

Perhaps, in fact, we all know that it is a predetermined answer.

It's just that we are all running away, being careful not to let that fragile hope be completely shattered...

We still gave him Cogito injections day after day.

But finding a suitable dosage was not an easy task. Before we succeeded, Giovanni's consciousness began to become increasingly blurred, and the long-term injection caused irreversible damage to his brain tissue.

"Carmen..."

He often muttered to himself at night. Yes, he couldn't even sleep peacefully in his hospital bed.

And during this endless injection process, Giovanni also passed away.

I stood behind Senior Ain and watched his electrocardiogram slowly calm down.

And my fear finally reached its peak when I heard the piercing sound of the electrocardiogram detecting cardiac arrest.

I looked around as if waking from a dream, and all the seniors who had smiled at me had disappeared...

Sister Carmen who brought me here is dead, Ilia who always comforted me gently is dead, Gabriel who was rational and serious but gentle to others is dead, and Giovanni who was unmotivated but loved to bring smiles to our faces is also dead now!

'So, who's going to die next?'

My mind couldn’t help but think about it.

It has been too long since Sister Carmen's light shone on me. I can no longer see the beautiful vision she described for me....

Yes, maybe at this moment, I had already given up Sister Carmen’s dream and thought that Sister Carmen’s dream would never come true!

I no longer think about the little things I spent with my predecessors. My mind is full of what we got after paying so much, but in the end I didn’t get any answers.

I couldn't help wanting to escape...abandon everything related to everyone, return to the nest and be the good girl that my parents called me!

But I have gone too far down this road...

My name is printed on the wanted posters issued by the leader to various nests and associations.

'I can't leave the protection of this institute, I can't go back! 'Just as I was thinking this desperately.

One night during this time, fate played a little joke on me.

I heard from my parents again.

As always, they expressed their anxious love for me in their letters and their prayers for me to return to the nest and study.

This shouldn't be a big deal, after all, everyone living in the nest will occasionally receive letters from home.

But this time it's different.

I gently stroked the letter...

They also included a number at the end of the letter.

No....

Perhaps this number has always existed, but it was not until this moment that I truly understood its meaning.

Chapter 139 She Thought She Was Taking Another Path

Now, Michelle was trembling in the corner, holding the letter in her hand.

She realized in the next second how sinful her thoughts were.

Yes...actually she knows it in her heart.

Once she dialed the number, she betrayed everything here, not just Carmen's dream, but also the sacrifices made by her predecessors.

This is an absolutely unforgivable betrayal!

But she was really scared.

She knew that she could not convince Senior Ain, and the cruel experiments would only continue under his leadership, and she might become the next victim in Carmen's memory.

She also knew that she couldn't escape. As long as the leader's wanted order was not revoked, she would never have a place to stay in this city.