The radiation faded, but the fog still clung to the sky, sealing away the sunlight in a blanket of gray-white.
The lead-black cable chain began to tremble, the cable car’s coupling letting out a piercing squeal.
The cable car, laden with black cable gold, shook off the snow from its roof and, under the pull of its motor, began to glide slowly toward the opposite side. At the same time, another cable car, packed with armed guards, slid over from the Loracity Icefield.
The two cable cars crossed paths in midair above the cliffs, while the churning sea below battered the rocks, sending up plumes of white spray.
Samp Town’s residents crowded at the border, watching as the cable car’s doors swung open and over a dozen armed guards stepped out. Asmodeus lifted his brown left eye, flashing a mocking smile at the angry, watching townsfolk.
That smile, paired with the empty, blood-red socket of his right eye, was chilling. The crowd murmured uneasily—
“My god, he’s only got one eye. So creepy.”
“What kind of people has the Federation stationed here?”
“He looks like he wants to kill us. I don’t even dare look at him.”
“What’s there to be afraid of? This time it’s the Federation who owes us!”
Asmodeus folded his hands in front of him, tilting his head as he asked with a smile, “Which two are the researchers from the Polar Glacier Organization?”
Lan Pingjing and Tira hefted their toolboxes and stepped forward, the ability-user squad fanning out behind them.
“That would be us.”
Asmodeus’s gaze lingered on their faces, as if he wanted to see straight through them.
Tira shrank back under his stare, eyes darting away, but Lan Pingjing spoke up, “Let’s hurry. The townsfolk are still waiting for answers.”
Asmodeus’s voice was rough and gravelly, as if his throat were lined with sandpaper. “Only the two of you may enter.”
Tira, nervous and voice trembling from the cold, tried to argue, “It’d be best if two team members could come with us.” After all, neither of them were Awakened.
“No can do. I haven’t received such orders.” Asmodeus refused flatly, his gaze shifting to Lan Pingjing with a cryptic look. “Besides, I don’t think you’ll need them.”
Tira looked baffled, but Lan Pingjing’s expression didn’t change.
Lance and the others, bundled in thick winter coats and scarves, left only their eyes exposed.
Their winter disguises helped them blend into the crowd, waiting for the right moment.
Lance leaned close to Zhan Pingchuan and whispered, “What’s his rank?”
Zhan Pingchuan shielded Lance from the wind and replied in a low voice, “S-level.”
He could feel the oppressive aura of a fellow S-level—Asmodeus’s rank was definitely high.
Just then, they heard Lan Pingjing say, “All right.”
Tira: “Ah… ”
Asmodeus rolled his neck and ordered the guards, “Let them on the cable car.”
The guards instantly parted, making way.
Lan Pingjing walked forward without a glance to either side, while Tira hesitantly tugged his sleeve.
The captain of the ability-user squad stepped up. “When will our researchers return?”
Asmodeus grinned, showing a row of yellowed teeth. “I want them back even more than you do.”
“You—!” The captain’s brows shot up in anger.
Asmodeus’s smile vanished. He turned and barked, “Move.”
The cable car doors slammed shut with a bang, the cable chain shuddered, and the screeching noise rang out again.
Lance’s hand, tucked into Zhan Pingchuan’s pocket, squeezed hard. “Now’s our chance!”
The engine whirred, the cable chain slid, and the cable car swayed as it moved through the wind.
Soon, the cable car vanished into the fog, leaving the hopeful townsfolk far behind.
Inside, the warmth of the heater made Asmodeus’s rough skin bead with sweat. He pulled two black cloth strips from his pocket and commanded, “Here—”
He hadn’t finished speaking when the cable chain suddenly lurched, a sharp drop making every guard leap to their feet, nerves stretched taut.
A fall from here was no joke. With these winds, currents, and temperatures, no one would survive.
Asmodeus gripped the black cloth, peering out the reinforced glass, but the fog was too thick—he couldn’t see where the problem was.
The cable car soon stabilized, and the guards sat back down, one by one.
“Damn, scared the hell out of me. I thought—”
“Hush.” The man next to him jabbed his elbow, reminding him they had outsiders present.
Actually, not just the guards—even Asmodeus couldn’t help but suspect in that instant whether Benbu had sabotaged the cable car to kill them all along with the researchers.
Now it seemed Benbu wasn’t quite that deranged.
“Blindfold them,” Asmodeus commanded, then said to Lan Pingjing and Tira, “Sorry, but our prison entrance is classified. No outsiders are allowed to see it.”
His tone held not a trace of genuine remorse.
The guards unceremoniously blindfolded Lan Pingjing and Tira.
Tira whispered to Lan Pingjing, “Brother, are you scared?”
Lan Pingjing remained noncommittal.
Tira felt that Lan Pingjing was unusually serious today—something seemed off.
But then he thought, who wouldn’t be serious when sent to a place like this, tasked with exposing the Federation’s darkest secrets?
Tira turned back, hunching his shoulders and huddling obediently beside Lan Pingjing.
Maybe it was his imagination, but he vaguely felt Lan Pingjing’s coat pocket move, as if something alive was inside.
Tira had to adjust his sitting position again. He must be too nervous.
**AGW Special Dangerous Death Row Prison, Underground Level One**
The stench of blood mixed with heavy disinfectant. The half-open silver iron door bore the words “Medical Supply Room” in large characters, but the rust on the door made those words seem particularly ridiculous.
Black soot crawled across both ends of the fluorescent tube. The filament flickered twice before the voltage stabilized.
*Crack!*
With a crisp sound, an ampoule was broken, and a syringe with a thick needle drew out the clear liquid.
The guard in a white coat repeated the process, using three more needles to draw three more doses, arranging them in a row on a stainless steel tray.
The thick syringes were only one-third filled with clear liquid. What would fill the rest was obvious.
The white-coated guard stood up, using tweezers to extract a wad of alcohol-soaked cotton from a bottle.
His smoking colleague nearby scoffed, “You’re being way too careful. Do Black Lantern Society prisoners really need disinfection?”
The white coat pushed up his glasses, carefully wiping his hands with alcohol. “I’m worried about contaminating the pheromones. It’d be a waste if they spoiled.”
His colleague smacked his lips. “What’s that guy’s ability good for anyway?”
White coat: “Teleportation. See those fresh fruits and vegetables in the freezer? All transported directly from their origins using his ability.”
“Huh, no wonder that big shot from the restricted zone doesn’t want to kill him. His ability’s actually useful.”
“Yeah, looks like he’ll be a ‘pack mule’ for life.” The white coat picked up the stainless steel tray, brushed off the disinfectant smell, and headed out.
His colleague stubbed out his cigarette against the wall corner and sidled up. “Is he only marked?”
The white coat glanced at him. “No.”
His colleague’s heart itched. “After you’re done drawing blood, let me have some fun. The surveillance is off anyway—no one will see.”
The white coat shoved him away with a scolding tone. “Control your lower half. This is a high-priority prisoner. If you bite his glands and cause a fatal infection, ten lives wouldn’t be enough to pay for it.”
His colleague’s eyes gleamed with frustrated desire, but he could only watch the white coat disappear around the corner into the elevator.
**Clang!**
The cable car stopped on the Loracity Icefield, leaving deep marks in the accumulated snow.
Though separated by only a cliff, while Samp Town still supported human life, the Loracity Icefield was utterly unsuitable for any living creature.
The wind and snow here were nearly ten times stronger. Swirling snowflakes turned everything gray and hazy, with visibility under ten meters.
Footprints on the ground were covered by fresh snow almost instantly, leaving no trace.
Tira stepped off the cable car, his forehead immediately turning red from the wind. He hunched over, shivering violently.
“Too—ugh!” The gale nearly suffocated him, making speech impossible.
He finally understood why the Federation imprisoned criminals in the Loracity Icefield. Even if someone escaped, they’d never survive in this environment.
Lan Pingjing, still blindfolded, was helped off the cable car.
“This way.” Guards gripped his arms, deliberately leading him in circles through the wind and snow to disorient him.
Lan Pingjing moved his lips, coughing softly behind his scarf.
But his micro-earpiece remained silent—dead quiet.
The motor shut down, the cable chain stopped moving, leaving only howling wind in the deep ravine.
The wind battered the barrier-formed box, making it sway wildly. Silver threads and vines wrapped tightly around the cable chain, leaving deep indentations at the connection points.
Fortunately, they were now only fifty meters from the Loracity Icefield, still within range of Zhan Pingchuan and Oliver’s abilities.
Working together, they struggled to pull the barrier across.
The moment they landed, Oliver collapsed into exhausted coughing. Fata quickly stuffed a pill that looked like a chocolate candy into his mouth.
“Are you okay?” Fata asked with concern.
Oliver clutched his chest, fighting the urge to vomit, and gave Fata a weak smile. “…I’m fine.”
He forced himself to swallow, feeling like he’d used up ten years’ worth of appetite.
His strength had indeed recovered, but why did this taste even worse than the body-strengthening medicine?
Zhan Pingchuan collapsed face-first into the snow, his cotton coat soaked with sweat.
Except for that life-or-death battle with the Golden Parasite Human-Faced Owl, he’d never expended this much energy. Using barriers to carry over ten people eight hundred meters across a windy cliff had nearly burst his heart and lungs.
Fata offered him a pill too. “Quick, take one. My new-flavor super supplement pill.”
Oliver: “Wait!”
Zhan Pingchuan popped it in his mouth without thinking. Half a second later—
“Bleh!”
Oliver: “…”
Lance immediately knelt on one knee, leaning down to tenderly kiss his little wolf cub’s lips through the white scarf. “You worked hard.”
Zhan Pingchuan instantly swallowed the pill. Surprisingly, his mouth filled with sweetness.
He pulled the bundled-up fox ball into his arms for a hug, sighing softly, “Worth it.”
After the embrace, Zhan Pingchuan stood up, shaking snow off himself.
Everyone gathered at the cliff edge. Asmodeus and his group had completely vanished.
But they weren’t worried—after all, they weren’t without positioning now.
Lance covered his ears with cotton gloves to reduce noise and spoke into his earpiece. “Duma, tell me the direction.”
“Lan—” But Duma’s voice cut off abruptly, the signal completely lost!
Dream Witch, confused, pressed on. “Which way do we go?
We don’t even have that little Atiya now.”
Lance couldn’t answer. He lowered his hand, gazing grimly into the endless wind and snow.
—-
Lan Pingjing and Tira entered the elevator, descending for what felt like ages before it stopped. The black cloth over their eyes was removed.
Tira could barely handle the bright light, immediately squinting and turning his head away.
Lan Pingjing forced his eyes open, resisting the intense discomfort.
A middle-aged man in white robes approached. His status seemed extremely high—even Warden Asmodeus automatically stepped aside when he arrived.
Benbu’s appearance wasn’t particularly striking. He had dark skin, prominent cheekbones, a hooked nose that jutted high, and a healed scar across the bridge. His black pupils were tiny, most of his eyeballs showing white. When he stared directly at someone, it was deeply unsettling.
“We… we’re here to investigate the radiation incident,” Tira stammered nervously, practically hiding behind Lan Pingjing.
Benbu kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, his pupils contracting like a snake’s. “I know.”
“Then—”
“AHHHHH! NO!”
Suddenly, heart-rending screams echoed through the prison. The sound pierced like needles through skin, reaching bone, making everyone shudder instantly.
“It hurts!! Please, I’m begging you!” The ear-splitting cries were accompanied by the dull thuds of a skull repeatedly smashing against walls.
Tira suddenly felt as if he’d stepped into the real underworld. He heard his own teeth chattering and asked in a trembling voice, “What… is this?”
Benbu replied offhandedly, “Oh, today’s the day we extract pheromones from the prisoners.”
Lan Pingjing’s pupils contracted sharply.
**Basement Level 2**
The white-coated guard and his assistant exited the elevator, walking straight through what appeared to be a brick wall. As they passed through, the upright wall flattened into the floor beneath their feet.
He finally reached the cell door. The corpse that had been killed by a shattered arm bone was already crawling with rats, and congealed blood seeped out from under the bars.
The white coat looked toward the Mad Clown slumped in the corner, took a syringe from the tray, and flicked it lightly.
The assistant reached through the bars, grabbed Lucas’s dislocated right arm, and yanked him roughly. “Time to extract your pheromones!”
Lucas woke with a jolt of pain to see an Alpha’s large hand dragging him toward the cell door, a chain of rare lead ore clamped around his neck, forcing his back toward them.
“Get off! Let go!” Lucas struggled desperately, trying to crawl back into the cell.
He never wanted to experience the agony of having his pheromones drained again. The thick, long needle would pierce his fragile, sensitive gland, drawing out everything with ruthless force.
To make him secrete more pheromones, they’d even knead and squeeze his gland with rough fingers, stimulating it until it was raw.
Even when nothing more would come out, they wouldn’t stop. Instead, they’d pull out the needle and stab it in somewhere else, draining every last drop from every corner.
His gland would be riddled with needle holes, blood trickling from each one, the pain so intense he couldn’t sleep.
“Still trying to hide?” the assistant snarled, kicking him hard in the back and yanking the chain tight, wrenching his neck back.
Choked nearly breathless, Lucas’s dislocated arms were useless. His legs kicked weakly as he heard the snap of nails flicking the syringe and smelled the bitter tang of anticoagulant.
He felt his hair yanked up, baring his gland completely.
His body began to tremble uncontrollably. He felt cold—ice-cold—at the sensation of the needle lining up with his gland.
“Fuck you! I’ll kill you! Get off me! Get off!”
Lucas roared, his throat raw and mouth full of blood. But he couldn’t feel the pain—terror drowned out everything, numbing his nerves.
At some point, tears streamed down his face, blurring his deep blue eyes. The needle above him felt like the Sword of Damocles, grinding his spirit down bit by bit.
He couldn’t—he couldn’t let them take his pheromones!
Without his ability, he’d lose all power to resist. He’d become a burden to the Black Lantern Society. He’d get them all killed!
“Don’t—please, don’t stick it in…”
Lucas gritted his teeth, a pitiful plea leaking out from his suffocating nose.
Suddenly—
A dull thud. The assistant collapsed, the chain slackened and fell to the floor.
The icy needle left his skin, replaced by a warm palm, steady and protective, cupping his trembling nape.
“Don’t be afraid.”
—
**
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152