Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 25

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With the plan in place, the group agreed to meet here at nine o’clock that night.

The time in between was for preparation.

Yan Xianchuan was completely idle, she wasn’t needed to participate in planning or preparing weapons and tools. All she had to do was stay and listen to orders.

If the two of them were ordinary friends who were planning to go on a trip together, Lu Mingqiu would definitely be the one who booked the flights and hotels, planned the itinerary, and memorized all the sightseeing information, while Yan Xianchuan would be the one who didn’t have to do anything and just had to obediently pay and follow along.

They didn’t prepare many weapons, after all, as a “customer,” they shouldn’t carry guns.

And if the plan went smoothly, there wouldn’t be any violent conflict.

At the agreed time, the four of them met and drove together to the Warren Building.

There were four security guards standing at the entrance of the building, their guns were tucked into their waists, they immediately turned their gaze to the car when it stopped.

Atmore didn’t get out of the car, only the other three got out, Harper walked in the middle, the two of them walked on either side, following closely behind her.

They passed through a security gate and arrived at the front desk, a young man sitting there said loudly, “Please register.”

Harper reached out her hand, letting him scan her wrist, she casually said, “These are my guests.”

The front desk clerk glanced at them and joked, “Two at a time?”

Harper snorted, she was full of queenly pride and ease, she raised her hand and gently placed it on the clerk’s back, she slowly rubbed it with her fingertips, “You can join too.”

Her eyes were more alluring than the most ardent rose, the clerk blushed, he withdrew his hand as if he had been burned, he shook his head and said, “No, I can’t handle that kind of excitement.”

Yan Xianchuan and Lu Mingqiu came up one after the other to scan, the machine showed that they were two reputable third-class citizens. Neither of them spoke, but they followed Harper with a look of both fear and anticipation, like animals that had been tamed.

The clerk was amazed, he once again deeply felt Harper’s status and charm in this circle.

The elevator went straight up to the forty-second floor, Harper led the two of them to her residence. It was a space filled with black and red tones, full of pride and oppression.

Harper pointed to the lower left corner of the living room ceiling, “The vent is there.”

Lu Mingqiu took two silver, round buttons from her pocket, she tapped them twice, and suddenly eight thin legs extended from the edge of the buttons, supporting them as they stood up like spiders.

She controlled the two small robots, they crawled and ran along the vent, reaching the monitoring room on the fifth floor. The room wasn’t big, there were four people sitting inside.

One of the button spiders sprayed a colorless and odorless transparent gas, within two minutes, the four people fell one after another at their workstations.

The button spider jumped down from the vent, its eight legs tapped on the ground, it climbed onto the computer case, raised its two front legs, unscrewed the screws, and pried open a small gap in the shell, the next moment, Black’s voice appeared in their minds.

“Connected, I’m covering the footage, it will take about five minutes.”

“Where is Dr. Serra?” Lu Mingqiu asked.

“She’s on the sixty-ninth floor, Dongye Zhengqi has cleared the entire floor, only Serra lives there, the other rooms are for her bodyguards.”

“Her room doesn’t have surveillance, wait, I’m hacking into the TV.” After a while, Black continued, “Okay, I see, she’s in the living room talking on the phone, it’s a back view, she’s turning around, she’s talking to Dongye He.”

“You guys better listen to this.”

After he said this, the content of their conversation was transmitted.

Dongye He’s voice sounded angry, “What do you mean wait a while, he looks like he can live another twenty years, do I have to wait another twenty years?”

“I’ve said it many times, there’s absolutely no problem, you just need to do as I say, it’s a win-win situation for both of us, isn’t it?”

Another voice, an older woman’s voice, said, “The small family to be used as a scapegoat hasn’t been chosen yet, why are you in such a hurry? Wait until this weekend, when all the contracts are signed, I’ll have Dongye Zhengqi come to the lab and inject him with the potion, then the whole family will be under your control.”

“You’re right.” Dongye He took a deep breath, “I’m too excited, sorry Dr. Serra, I was a little rude just now.”

“It’s all trivial, as long as the lab is arranged, after all, it’s a win-win, you said so.”

The audio ended with a burst of laughter.

Yan Xianchuan: “Um… it sounds like a father-son relationship full of filial piety…”

Lu Mingqiu: “It’s as normal as it gets, if you count the history of power changes in the various chaebol families, you’ll find that almost every generation of family heads first kills their siblings, and then deals with the one above them.”

“Dongye He is already forty-six, in a few years, he would be classified as middle-aged in other regions, everyone in his generation has already taken over as family head, only he is still the second-in-command, it’s not surprising that he would have this kind of thought.”

It was quite surprising that he was collaborating with Dr. Serra though.

The Dongye family has always been dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry, which is linked to Dongye Zhengqi’s personal experience. He was also a young man who fought his way out of several competitors in his generation, he was poisoned, he got a mechanical liver, and as he got older, he had more and more problems with his organs, it was unavoidable, people age, old age and illness are something everyone experiences.

Even the best medical skills can’t make people live forever.

Dongye Zhengqi’s dream was exactly this, since flesh and blood will age, why not replace it with machinery? Metal has a much longer lifespan than the human body. It has to be said, this is almost exactly in line with the Mechanical Pure Land’s goal.

But replacing it with prosthetics brings another problem, consciousness disorder, so he was more eager than anyone else to get the final version of the consciousness separation potion. It was also with his strong support that Dr. Serra was able to successfully develop the consciousness separation potion.

He had experienced the feeling of being at the top of the world and having his word be law, he had fallen in love with it, he didn’t want to give it up, even if it was to his own son.

What about Dongye He, he watched his father have his word be law, while he stood at the bottom of the stairs, only one step away, he had been waiting for this step for countless years, and it seemed like he would have to continue waiting.

He didn’t snatch the wealth from other heirs to watch others give orders from above.

Even if it was his own father.

This was an opportunity, Lu Mingqiu suddenly grasped the fleeting inspiration.

Dongye Zhengqi’s downfall, Dongye He’s ascension, the change of power holders would inevitably cause the entire family to go through a period of upheaval, Dongye He would definitely not spare any of Dongye Zhengqi’s confidants.

Lu Mingqiu took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. She suppressed her fluctuating thoughts, she would think about this later, she couldn’t let herself be distracted.

“There’s only one bodyguard in Dr. Serra’s room, and six guards outside.” Black said, transmitting a live image.

“Can you tell who the psionic is?” Lu Mingqiu said.

“I can’t tell.” Black said, “Surveillance coverage is complete.”

“Good.” Lu Mingqiu said, “Let’s begin.”

Even though the people in the monitoring room were all unconscious from the anesthetic, they still had to cover the surveillance, to prevent the pursuers from catching their tails.

And they didn’t use the same method to knock out the guards in the corridor, because the space there was too large, the anesthetic gas would quickly dissipate and lose its effect.

The two of them took the elevator to the sixty-ninth floor, the moment the elevator door opened, before anyone inside could react, Lu Mingqiu’s psionic ability spread like invisible lightning, jumping from person to person with her gaze.

She only uttered a single syllable, and the guards standing outside the door all fell down, while Yan Xianchuan quickly rushed in front of them, blocking their bodies as they fell backwards, she gently laid them down on the ground, instead of letting them fall straight down and make a noise that would disturb the people inside.

Lu Mingqiu shook her head, meaning there were no psionics here.

That meant it was the one inside the room.

Yan Xianchuan received the signal and kicked open the door with her foot. Lu Mingqiu followed closely behind, about to use her psionic ability to knock out the two people inside.

The psionic bodyguard reacted quickly, he immediately stood in front of Dr. Serra, opened his mouth, and a silent shriek like a wave of water swept over them. The two psionic abilities interacted, and everyone except Dr. Serra in the room spat out blood.

“It’s ultrasound.” Lu Mingqiu said with difficulty, enduring the roar in her brain and the unnatural high-frequency tremors of her internal organs.

The psionic bodyguard was also dizzy and disoriented, he could only stand steady by holding onto the back of the sofa.

Dr. Serra’s face changed drastically, she ran towards the bedroom with unprecedented agility, sending out an alarm as she went.

Yan Xianchuan’s condition was much better than Lu Mingqiu’s, her physical fitness was much stronger than the other party’s. While Lu Mingqiu was coughing up blood and her face was flushed, Yan Xianchuan was like a normal person, she wiped the blood from her mouth, took out a few small knives from her waist, and threw them at the bodyguard’s head.

The bodyguard saw this and quickly bent down and lay on the ground, rolling behind the sofa. Yan Xianchuan released her grip on Lu Mingqiu, picked up a small knife and ran towards him like a whirlwind.

She lacked a weapon, but that didn’t mean others did. As the bodyguard recovered, he frantically drew his gun, but before he could fire, a sharp pain shot through his leg. Darkness claimed his vision, and his aim faltered.

He cried out in pain, he looked down and saw Yan Xianchuan’s foot on his leg, she twisted her toe, and a crisp sound of bone breaking rang out again.

The bodyguard broke out in a cold sweat, anger burned his eyes red, he opened his mouth and let out another silent shriek.

Yan Xianchuan was like a normal person, she leaped towards him, then used her weight to slam her elbow directly into his abdomen, then the small knife in her hand stabbed into the bodyguard’s wrist, where he was holding the gun, she flicked it upwards, blood immediately splattered out.

The bodyguard’s hand hung limply, blood gushing out, dripping onto the ground from his palm. After severing his tendons, she didn’t stop, she turned her hand and stabbed towards his neck, twisting counterclockwise.

She was too close. The gurgling sound of his windpipe being blocked filled the air. Blood erupted from his throat, like a severed water pipe, spraying across her head and face, like a crimson shower.

Yan Xianchuan wiped her face, she couldn’t tell for a moment whether the blood on her was his or hers.

Just as she was about to get up and find Dr. Serra, a gunshot rang out, the bullet grazed past her, she turned her head sharply, and saw Dr. Serra slowly falling to the ground, a pistol still in her hand.

Lu Mingqiu was leaning against the wall, her face was dark red, “Are you okay?”

Yan Xianchuan pulled the sofa cover and wiped her face roughly, ignoring the dull pain in her chest and the stinging pain in her head, “I’m fine.”

She walked over, grabbed Dr. Serra’s arm, and dragged her in front of Lu Mingqiu, “Are you okay?”

“I can still move, I’ll read her memories, three minutes.” Lu Mingqiu said, she squatted down and gently placed her hand on Dr. Serra’s forehead.

Dr. Serra’s memories flashed by quickly.

Her parents were fourth-class citizens, and she was naturally labeled as a fourth-class citizen after she was born, but Serra had been very ambitious since she was a child. She was smart, and her family also supported her studies, paying for her expensive tuition, Serra lived up to their expectations, as she often topped her classes.

The consciousness separation potion was her idea, during a final design project, her concept was eloquently presented, it was seen by Dongye Zhengqi, and he began to fund her research.

With the financial support, she could get her hands on many materials and equipment that she couldn’t afford before, that was the benefit of having money.

Serra would occasionally complain about her parents in her heart, she would complain about why she was born into such a family, because she had no status, no money, and she had excellent grades, she was seen as a thorn in the side by the rich kids.

She was ostracized by her classmates.

Serra never cared about these stupid tactics, but when she was repeatedly robbed of opportunities to enter the lab, she couldn’t help but resent them.

Although she knew that her parents had done everything they could to support her, she was also grateful, the expensive tuition had almost bankrupted the whole family, her parents didn’t complain, they just wanted her to succeed.

So Serra wanted to climb even higher, as long as she had money, she would have everything, the respect of others, social status, everything she wanted.

The consciousness separation potion was money.

Dongye Zhengqi was generous with his money, but he talked too much, and he had too many demands, he urged her, he yelled at her, he put endless pressure on her, making Serra feel extremely annoyed.

He was a stubborn person, he didn’t allow anyone to disobey him, he never gave Dongye He, his heir, a good face either.

Dongye He’s existence was a thorn in his eye, only when he died would the heir ascend, this son was here to urge him to die sooner.

So Dongye Zhengqi often reprimanded him, in front of his subordinates, he didn’t give him any face, making Dongye He look like a fool.

What a great partner, he wanted Dongye Zhengqi to die even more than she did.

Serra needed a sponsor who wouldn’t interfere, Dongye He needed a money-making machine that could lay golden eggs, the two of them hit it off and began to make plans to take Dongye Zhengqi’s life.

After reading her memories, Lu Mingqiu’s face was terrible, “What a beast, she’s doing illegal human experiments.”

Yan Xianchuan was about to raise her foot and kick the person aside, when she suddenly saw the skin behind her ear swell up, a sinister red light flickered beneath the skin, “Look at this…”

Lu Mingqiu turned her gaze, her pupils instantly locked, she pulled her hard, “Get down!”

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a bang, Dr. Serra’s head was like a watermelon falling from a high altitude, it shattered all over the place, some pieces of flesh even stuck to the ceiling, then they fell down sparsely.

Yan Xianchuan: “…My clothes.”

She only had time to turn around and shield herself, it was only bad in the front, now the back was also a mess, Lu Mingqiu was shielded behind her, she didn’t get anything on her.

Lu Mingqiu’s face was as bad as it could be, a familiar scene had happened not long ago, on the traitor Poison Sting.

This was the Holy Healing Church’s method, she should have been wary of this, the chaebols and the Church had an inextricable relationship, Dongye Zhengqi couldn’t have not put some insurance on her.

“Go!” she shouted, “Evacuate!”

Sure enough, as soon as Dr. Serra died, the alarm suddenly sounded, Black quickly said in the communication, “The search team has received the alarm and is rushing here, the security guards in the building are all moving.”

Harper’s communication immediately came through, her voice was filled with anxiety, “Get out, we’re waiting downstairs!”

Yan Xianchuan took the guns from the two people lying on the ground, she gave one to Lu Mingqiu.

Black was still constantly reporting the security guards’ movements in real time, Yan Xianchuan thought for a moment and said, “Actually, we can jump out the window.”

She wouldn’t die from that height.

Lu Mingqiu looked at her as if she were crazy, they weren’t wearing any protective gear.

“I’m much better now, they want to get here quickly, so they won’t cut off the power, we’ll take care of the enemies coming up from the elevator, we can just take the elevator down.”

“My psionic ability needs to see the target to use it, you cover me, take care of any stragglers.”

Yan Xianchuan was glared at, she swallowed her suggestion, but she was still muttering softly, things like jumping out the window is really fast, Lu Mingqiu glared at her again, and she shut her mouth.

She looked like she had just rolled around in a pool of blood and been pulled ashore, her hair was wet and stuck to her forehead, she brushed it back, the blood was wet and sticky, seeping through her clothes, her back was even worse, red and white mixed with bits of flesh were hanging on her clothes, the smell of blood was stronger than a slaughterhouse.

She blinked, a drop of blood rolled down her eyelashes.

“Ugh…” she said, “I want to take a bath.”

Lu Mingqiu decided to pretend she didn’t hear her.

Three elevators were almost simultaneously going up, because Dr. Serra lived there, the Dongye family had also sent more people, as soon as the elevator doors opened, more than ten people rushed out, all holding guns, aiming forward.

Yan Xianchuan rolled up the sofa cover, threw it hard at the corridor, a barrage of gunshots echoed through the hallway, Lu Mingqiu took advantage of this opportunity, she squatted down, quietly poked her head out, her mental power spread along the ripples of the air, the security guards fell to the ground one after another, like dominoes being pushed over.

“Taken care of, let’s go.”

Yan Xianchuan quickly stripped the bulletproof vests off the guards, she threw one to Lu Mingqiu, and grabbed a few bullets as well.

The elevator stopped on the second floor, and they ran out, Yan Xianchuan threw a bullet with the safety catch off down the stairs, the explosion sounded, the two of them rushed towards the window in the corridor, Yan Xianchuan smashed the window open in front, Lu Mingqiu followed closely behind.

There was a flower bed and bushes below, which acted as a buffer, according to their previous training, the height of two floors wouldn’t cause any harm to Lu Mingqiu, but she had been hit by the psionic bodyguard, her internal organs were damaged, the impact of the fall made her cough up another mouthful of blood.

Lu Mingqiu stumbled, she almost fell to the ground.

Yan Xianchuan grabbed her arm, stopping her from falling forward.

Atmore was honking the horn on the street, Yan Xianchuan threw Lu Mingqiu on her back and ran towards the side of the road, she even had the energy to complain, “Your legs are a little too long, look, we’re almost the same height, it’s very inconvenient at this time.”

“My back is covered in stuff, it’s all rubbing off on your clothes, do I have a phobia of dirt? I don’t think so, but it’s so dirty, I want to take a bath, her brain is smelly, I don’t want it on me, what if it infects me?”

Lu Mingqiu’s head was buzzing, for a moment, she didn’t know who to blame, she closed her eyes, “…Hold on a little longer, we’ll wash up when we get back, okay?”

At this moment, she missed the Yan Xianchuan who didn’t like to talk, instead of the talkative version who was getting more and more excited.

Carrying someone on her back, Yan Xianchuan’s speed didn’t decrease at all, she was even faster than when the two of them ran separately. The car door was already open, she threw Lu Mingqiu into the back seat, she got in too, her butt hadn’t settled before Atmore stepped on the gas, the tires spun rapidly, making a loud screeching sound.

The guards saw this and jumped into their cars to give chase, a line of cars rampaged through the streets, completely ignoring the traffic laws.

“We haven’t shaken them off, can you even drive!” Harper shouted from the passenger seat, looking at the black cars following them in the rearview mirror.

“I’m stepping on the gas all the way, their car is better than mine, there’s nothing I can do.” Atmore argued.

“Are there any guns in the car?” Yan Xianchuan asked.

“Yes, there are, under the back seat.” Atmore said, “You wouldn’t want to shoot back, would you? I don’t have that many bullets!”

Yan Xianchuan bent down and reached out to rummage around, she pulled out a pistol, rested it on the back of the seat and aimed at the cars behind them, her gaze was focused, her expression serious, she looked like a top sniper, the two people in the front shut their mouths at the same time.

Bang!

One shot, only one shot, Harper stared intently at the rearview mirror, afraid of missing the exciting scene, but nothing happened.

The chasing cars were still driving, the windows weren’t even broken.

Harper: ?

Yan Xianchuan pushed Lu Mingqiu, “You do it.”

She and the other party were both moving, and there were other vehicles blocking them, this kind of high-difficulty sniping was a little beyond her capabilities.

She aimed, but the car swayed, and the bullet went off target. With insufficient stock, she couldn’t fire a barrage, at this time, only Lu Mingqiu, who was well-trained, could do it.

Lu Mingqiu’s condition was really not good, her collar was dark red, it was all her own blood, she was leaning against the seat, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

Ever since she had her glands removed, her physical condition had been very poor, she should have been resting, but plans never went according to plan. She had been on missions, and she had been using her psionic ability intensively, which was undoubtedly adding insult to injury, even though she had taken the special medicine sent by headquarters, she still hadn’t fully recovered.

That psionic’s ultrasonic attack was like tearing off the scab that had just formed on a wound, undoing all the healing that had been done.

Lu Mingqiu took two deep breaths, she gathered her strength, gripped the gun handle, and said softly, “I don’t have much strength, you hold me.”

Her limbs were weak, but the hand that was on the trigger didn’t tremble, her eyes were as calm as a deep pool.

Yan Xianchuan put her arm around her from behind, her dislike of physical contact with others seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

This person’s eyelashes are so curly, she suddenly noticed.

They had looked at each other many times, and the two of them had been together for a while, but Yan Xianchuan had never paid attention to the details of the other party’s appearance.

She did often stare at Lu Mingqiu’s face, during the filming of the reality show, but the image only stopped at her eyes, it didn’t enter her brain.

She thought Lu Mingqiu was very interesting, very contradictory, there were many things worth exploring, Yan Xianchuan cared more about her inner self than her appearance. She also knew that Lu Mingqiu was very beautiful, but at this moment, Yan Xianchuan suddenly realized where her beauty lay.

Both of them were wearing masks, Lu Mingqiu’s bright blue eyes had also turned brown, only her curled eyelashes were like blooming petals, lying quietly on her face.

Lu Mingqiu pulled the trigger, the recoil sent her body crashing into Yan Xianchuan’s arms.

Amidst the chaos of the skidding vehicle, she adjusted her posture again, aiming.

Another shot, the bullet accurately pierced the driver’s head. The car was blocking the road, stopping the troops behind.

“Good shot!” Harper laughed loudly.

Lu Mingqiu put down her gun and stuffed herself back into her seat, “The search team is also on their way, we need to avoid the road surveillance.”

“No problem.” Atmore whistled, “Your aim is too good!”

“It’s okay.” Lu Mingqiu said, her brow furrowed in pain.

She turned her head and met Yan Xianchuan’s gaze, her gaze was so intense that it was impossible to ignore.

Her eyes were getting brighter, her lips parted.

Oh no… Lu Mingqiu thought, the next moment, Yan Xianchuan recited with intense emotion, “It waits for the day of frost, once the north wind blows, it will be draped in the vibrant Tyrian purple.”

“Creator! Can I bloom?”①

Lu Mingqiu closed her eyes tightly and leaned back in her seat.

The two in front exchanged a strange look. They opened their mouths to speak, then hesitated, a thick awkward silence hanging in the air.

She shouldn’t give up on herself, she shouldn’t let herself go, Lu Mingqiu thought, she reopened her eyes, seeing that the other party was about to say something, she immediately interrupted, “Do you want to eat pudding when we get back?”

Yan Xianchuan’s poem, which was about to be spoken, immediately changed its words, “Yes!”

The effect was significant, Yan Xianchuan stopped reciting poetry and started listing dishes, a string of desserts slipped out of her mouth, pudding, egg tarts, scones, mousse, cake…

Finally, she stared at Lu Mingqiu with a look of anticipation and smugness, Lu Mingqiu understood, she said, “Thanks to you, this operation went so smoothly, you can eat whatever you want, I’ll treat you.”

Yan Xianchuan happily sat back down, she no longer looked at her with a gaze that was so intense that it made her skin crawl.

Feedback, Lu Mingqiu had found another trick to getting along with this person.

The other party needed positive feedback, she needed praise and compliments, this could effectively stabilize her emotions. It was like an anchor, fixing her within the realm of normalcy.

From her previous observations, Yan Xianchuan was someone who didn’t care about other people’s opinions and views, if she did, she wouldn’t have so brazenly recited poetry and talked nonsense without regard for time or place, this behavior was also consistent with her condition.

She was a very self-centered person.

So what was the reason she wanted to get positive feedback?

The more Lu Mingqiu looked at her, the more she felt that there was a big mystery surrounding her, this inconsistency couldn’t be explained by a simple case of amnesia and psychopathy.

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