Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Eleven woke up, it was already night time.
The moonlight that shone on the island was pure, and Su Man had somebody rest Eleven on a waterside pavilion where the white moonlight poured down serenely amidst the calm surroundings. The little wind chime outside the waterside pavilion rang freely, lifting people’s moods.
The moonlight reflected off the water surface, leaping onto the ground of the house, lighting up the ground sporadically. When she woke up, she felt a little blurred and did not know where she was. She felt as though she had been asleep for a very long time.
Eleven slowly gathered her memories and frowned uncomfortably. Her heart ached as though millions of silk threads tightly wrapped themselves around her. She felt so uncomfortable that her breath was stuck at her throat.
She had never felt like this in a long time.
Several parts of her body were aching. Her wrist and back were aching the most. The house was extremely quiet. Eleven closed her eyes and listened to the surroundings. She knew she was on the water, and she could only hear somebody else walking around the waterside pavilion carefully lest she be startled.
She calmed her heart, knowing that the person had no malicious intent. Even though she was hardier than many others, her body could no longer endure further battering. She had had enough. She most wanted to rest now and recuperate.
She knew her constitution and the changes to her body extremely well. She did not hope to recover her regular self and only wanted to hold out as long as she could. If she was lucky enough, she would live for a few more years. As she had forcibly gained her newfound body, going back to her past self would mean losing her shocking strength and her inherent skills. These were things she was unwilling to lose.
She slowly gathered her memories. They surged back and she was stuck at the moment she encountered the tornado at sea. Her memory of what later happened was extremely scrambled and she could not recall their faces but knew that they seemed to be extremely hostile. She was then moved. Where did she end up again?
Eleven mocked herself as she thought about how anybody would have been shocked at how she looked, as if she had jumped out of a coffin.
She opened her eyes and felt that everything around her was weird. Her clothes had been changed, and she was in a white shirt and skirt. The wounds on her wrists had been wrapped, and a fragrance wafted toward her. She curiously turned around and noticed that her hair was black, soft as silk, and had a gentle fragrance to it. She was even more curious about how she felt much more comfortable. Obviously, somebody had cleaned her up.
Eleven could not help but laugh at herself. She should really thank the person who cleaned her up as said person would have taken much thought to endure her dirty and unkempt self who had never cleaned up in more than ten days. It was afraid that she would never be thoroughly clean after cleaning up once.
Who had saved her?
Eleven tried to prop herself up and suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Eleven was alert but then saw a familiar face.
“Anya…”
“Eleven, thank goodness you are finally awake…” Cheng Anya quickly walked over and held Eleven’s hands tightly. “What happened to you?” she asked in a choked voice. Her eyes reddened as she touched her bone-dry hands.
She almost could not recognize Eleven in this state. When Su Man came over to tell her about Eleven, she was still elated to hear about it. She, however, encountered Eleven under a strange combination of circumstances and wished she did not encounter Eleven. She could not recognize Eleven from how skinny her face was, and she seemed especially terrible as her large eyes did not quite match her huge face.
Little did she expect Eleven to turn out like this someday. In her opinion, Eleven and Ye Wei were people who were nigh-unbeatable. This sudden scene left her scrambling to make sense of it.
“Anya, what are you doing here?” Eleven exclaimed in shock. “Where am I?”
Cheng Anya gently smiled as she comforted Eleven who seemed to be in a slight panic. “Don’t panic. We seem to be on an island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Ocean, but I’m not particularly certain. Don’t panic. All is safe here. Su Man is here, and you will be here.”
“Su Man?”
“Yes. You looked terrible yesterday, and Su Man used the soul-soothing grass to suppress the virus in your body. It took quite some effort.” Cheng Anya went on to describe her journey to Eleven while gently holding her shoulders. “You’re still injured, so don’t hasten to speak. Rest well, and we can talk about the rest when you wake up. Relax. Nobody will be able to hurt you.”
Eleven gently smiled and nodded. “Where’s Su Man?”
“He’s making your medicine,” Cheng Anya said. As she noticed Eleven’s hoarse voice, she went over and poured a glass of throat-soothing tea for her. “Have some tea. Sister Beautiful said that it will make you feel much better.”
Eleven, not insisting, had the tea and finished it all. Cheng Anya poured another cup and Eleven gulped it down as though she had just endured a drought. Eleven felt more comfortable. Her long eyelashes covered her pitch-black eyes. Eleven’s body suddenly ached and she endured for her dear life lest she go berserk. She was afraid of herself going berserk and not recognizing anybody. She hence said, “Anya, you’re pregnant. Don’t hang around here lest I injure you and your child.”
Anya’s heart ached and she shook her head. “It’s okay. Everything will be fine. Su Man will be able to treat you.”
Eleven shook her head and did not want to say much. Cheng Anya did not understand her condition and what she had experienced. Today’s Eleven did not want to go back to her previous self and would rather remain the same. Even if the Mo brothers both took her on at once, she would not lose to them. To her, with might comes right.
She, however, would not tell anybody how she felt. The past ten-over days felt like a lifetime to her, and she seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. Cheng Anya could also sense the change, and she seemed to have an intense melancholy in her.
“Eleven, who messed you up this badly? Was it the Mo brothers?” Cheng Anya asked. She could not bear to see Eleven this bone-thin. She would need a lot of time to recuperate from it.
“It’s my own undoing!” Eleven coldly laughed.
Cheng Anya felt a chill run down her spine. While Eleven typically sounded cold, her words did not seem to inspire coldness. When she heard Eleven speak, there seemed to be a shard of indignation in her voice.
She did not dare guess what happened, and it was definitely something bad. Su Man mentioned that she was already extremely lucky to be able to endure what had happened to her. The normal man would have died many times over.
When Su Man said this, he had an extremely solemn look on his face.
She asked him what happened to Eleven, and he said that Eleven was different from the rest of them. Cheng Anya struggled to understand how Eleven was different from them as Eleven still looked like the Eleven of before.
“It’s okay,” Cheng Anya glibly and quickly replied. She did not know how she could best console her.
“Where’s Su Man? I want to see him,” Eleven flatly said.
Cheng Anya comforted her. “Eleven, don’t panic. The questions can wait until you are much better. Look at pale you are. Your face is utterly devoid of blood.”
“Anya, is she awake?” A flat and calm voice entered the room as Su Ruhua entered. Eleven looked to the door, and her eyes suddenly grew wide…
“What’s happened? Is there something on my face?” Su Ruhua waved her hand before Eleven’s eyes and interrupted Eleven’s lost gaze. Eleven gathered her senses and quickly turned back. She shook her head and then took a few more glances before looking at Cheng Anya.
“She’s Su Man’s sister. If it weren’t for her saving you, Su Man and I would not have encountered you,” Cheng Anya said.
Eleven nodded at her and replied hoarsely but coldly, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’re Man Man’s friend after all.” Su Ruhua smiled and looked toward Eleven. “Did you see me before?”
“No.” Eleven shook her head.
Su Ruhua raised her eyebrows and did not seem to respond in a corresponding manner. Since she was not a curious person, the question baffled her for a moment before she did not give it further thought. She looked at Eleven and said, “If Anya and Man Man did not tell me who you were, I would not have expected it to be the top killer herself. Your name has a really nice ring to it too.”
Eleven did not speak a word and looked down at her own hand. Cheng Anya was afraid that Su Ruhua did not like her and explained. “Sister Beautiful, it’s in Eleven’s character to simply remain quiet.”
Su Ruhua smiled. “It’s okay. Her character really resembles…”
She paused and did not mention the person. She instead smiled and looked at Eleven kindly. Eleven remained silent, then Su Ruhua spoke. “Anya, do not interrupt her rest. The conversation can continue tomorrow.”
“Okay!” Cheng Anya nodded, sat by the bed, and said to Eleven, “Eleven, you can ring the bell if you need help. We will be able to hear you from the other side.”
Eleven nodded, and Su Ruhua and Cheng Anya left the waterside pavilion. Eleven only looked up at Su Ruhua’s silhouette in a daze after they had left. How could this be?
Su Ruhua and Cheng Anya left the waterside pavilion. The former then held Cheng Anya and asked, “Did she really escape from Mo Ye and Mo Jue?”
“Eleven and Ye Wei were missing in action in London. Wei Wei is definitely with Mo Jue, and we are guessing that Eleven was likely to be detained by them as well.”
“Did you ask her?”
“She did not mention anything,” Cheng Anya looked at Su Ruhua and honestly replied. She hesitated for a moment before gathering her guts and said, “I’m more than certain that it’s definitely Mo Ye and Mo Jue.”
Su Ruhua seemed beautiful and harmless, and her eyes had an extremely gentle look to them. She, however, had a very special temperament. It was a dominance that was hidden. One would feel that they should not offend her when talking to her, as though offending her was a heinous sin.
“Ah, I know.” Su Ruhua nodded. “It’s late. Go rest.”
Cheng Anya bade her goodnight and returned to her room to rest.
Su Ruhua looked up to the moon and gave a long sigh. Her face blackened, and she gritted her teeth. ‘You rascals, why did you just have to cross Man Man’s friends out of all people?’
She stood in the courtyard for a moment before heading for Su Man’s courtyard. Su Man was in his bedroom, reading information on his laptop. Several specialist books on his table were about genes and viruses.
“What’s up?” Su Ruhua walked over and leaned on Su Man while taking a quick look at his computer screen. “Cracking your head over Eleven’s problem?”
As conditions on the island were not the best, Su Ruhua had bought the place as a temporary foothold rather than a residence. There was no internet connection and Su Man was hence unable to access a lot of information. He could only access the information and case studies on his laptop and was having an uneasy time as said information was by and large incomplete.
“Your sons’ good deeds.” Su Man coldly harrumphed as he looked back from the books to her. “I long expected something to happen.”
“Let’s get this clear. Do not pin the blame for the sons’ actions on the mother.” Su Ruhua was the first to clarify her stand. She could choose not to bother herself with anything, and she had no idea about what happened.
Su Man despised her, and she then jabbed his beautiful face. “What’s exactly going on with her?”
“I’m not too optimistic about it,” Su Man honestly replied and leaned back tiredly. He had not rested since yesterday afternoon since he was always studying Eleven’s body. All his conclusions were not optimistic.
“Did the viruses completely integrate into the cells?”
“If the virus had completely integrated into the cells, all would be good and she would become superman with no hope of becoming her old self. That would have had little effect on her body and would have been much better. The worse thing now is how part of the virus has integrated itself into the cellular layer whilst the other part is roaming around the body. Given the special environment the virus is in, these roaming viruses are in an unstable state and could easily mutate. If the mutation is adverse, she is toast,” Su Man replied, describing Eleven’s predicament.
“Could you figure out which virus it is?”
“There are insufficient instruments on the island, and we’ll have to return to Riyadh to run detailed tests on her blood and other bodily parameters. I can’t make of anything now, but I’m guessing that it’s a hybrid virus. The a**hats on the island were vicious enough to treat her like some guinea pig. They simply did not control the dosage and intensities of the viruses, and their haphazard use created this mess we’re in. Her constitution, thankfully, is not altered. If her constitution had indeed been altered, she would only have less than two years left to live.”
When Su Ruhua heard it, her heart sank and she cursed her ingrate sons in her heart. Su Man’s reply sounded calm, but she could not tell whether he was calm or angry.
“Will her bouts of madness carry on?”
“We’ll have to first use the soul-soothing grass to suppress the virus in her. Once that virus in her has been stabilized, we’ll have to crack our heads further when we get back to Riyadh. I’m not confident.” Su Man murmured. “Anya is carrying a child laden with toxins, and that child, if carried to term, will very likely not be normal. While that’s inherent, the child can live like a normal child as long as there is good control of the toxins in the child. Eleven was created to be one, and I am afraid that there won’t be a complete integration of the virus into the cells. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Su Ruhua pondered for a moment. “If you are able to find Su Ruyu, that would be good. She’s slightly stronger than you in this field.”