Chapter 87: She and it are both “her.”
“Is Cheng Ming really your daughter?”
When she asked this, Qu Ying was sitting next to Cheng Ran. Red dots were flashing in the four corners of the room, and they were surrounded by a large number of surveillance systems.
The latter took a tool that looked like a medical needle forceps, and with a flick at her neck, click, the restriction ring was removed and placed on the control panel on the side.
There were mottled bloodstains on the inner circle of the silver-white metal, and some white, fascia-like threads were trailing, and they were still twitching slightly as if they were alive.
It was embedded in the cervical spine nerves.
The pain could be imagined, but she lowered her head, and only the fingertips on the armrest were slightly clenched. Her expression did not change much, and her tone was also steady when she spoke.
The restriction ring needed to be further debugged and replaced with a stronger inhibitor. It was not necessary for Cheng Ran to do it, but only when Cheng Ran did it would she be obedient enough.
She was her elder, her benefactor, her great researcher and her mother of rebirth… there was no doubt.
Even though she had gradually understood that she was actually just her “daughter’s” experimental subject and a safety catch.
That’s right, she was also Cheng Ming’s safety catch, a human-shaped lock. When there was a problem with MM1, she was the most capable of solving it.
In 2159, she was sent to Cheng Ran as one of the countless test subjects. It was an inevitable accident, and she had become one of the few successful products, and it could be said to be the most successful one.
The failure rate of the experiment had been extremely high before. From her, the fusion project had truly gotten on the right track.
In ’61, she had met Cheng Ming and had known the meaning of her existence. Cheng Ran had privately used the research results to save her daughter from the brink of death, leaving behind too many hidden dangers. She had intentionally cultivated an assistant to help and cover up. The other had saved her, but who knew how much of it was for this daughter.
However, at that time, she had no resentment. For the little one who had indirectly saved her, she had infinite goodwill and love.
Like a projection of a certain lack of emotion, she always hoped that she would be well, and that they would be well.
But her personal wishes could not reverse the reality of going in the opposite direction. In ’68, Cheng Ming had lost her family and her most important mother. She was worried about her and accompanied her, but she was also drawing warmth from her.
In ’74, Cheng Ming was determined to have died in a tsunami, just before she had finished her mission and had returned to the Defense Center. Like the last straw that had broken the camel’s back, without any worries, there were no more shackles.
On October 11th of the same year, the evolution department had finally passed Chen Ke’s proposal, and so after six years, she had seen Cheng Ran again.
Just as she had saved her body, at a moment when her spirit was precarious, the other had pulled her back from the void and the dark world to the human world.
The matter did not end here, and there were too many unresolved cases.
What was more absurd was that, then on June 2nd, ’75, Cheng Ming had also appeared in front of her again.
She had thought that her little one’s body was weak because she was hosting another monster. She had had a high fever several times and had been sent to the hospital on the brink of death. She had asked Cheng Ran to clean up the mess for her, and it had never been unrelated to that Fish-Fungus.
However, such a life-and-death relationship between a host and a parasite, they were actually one. Cheng Ming was MM1, a complete experimental subject that existed on both the human and monster sides, and was born even earlier than her.
The dead were resurrected one by one.
Should she be happy?
She should have been ecstatic.
But this joy was mixed with too much unexpected horror, an absurd truth, and a logical loophole that could not be explained.
This person in front of her, was she really the Professor Cheng she was familiar with?
Was Cheng Ming really her daughter?
Qu Ying’s question was actually very simple.
She could say yes, she could say no, and she could even say yes and no.
But she had said, “You’re asking the wrong person.”
What a floating and indifferent sentence. Qu Ying turned her head and saw Cheng Ran’s calm eyes looking at her.
Her hand was still on the metal ring on the control panel, and she was preparing to adjust it and put it back on her according to the regulations. But very suddenly, smack! a loud bang, and the glass cover directly above her head shattered, and the lights all went out.
Sparks flew, and darkness replaced the bright day. Before the restriction facilities could take effect, Qu Ying had suddenly gone berserk like a beast out of a cage. Her sharp claws were on the distracted breeder, and her hand was on Cheng Ran’s neck, and thump! she had pressed her against the sharp edge of the control panel.
The long-imprisoned tentacles had long since defected and had gushed out, crushing the devices that had been monitoring her at all times. The wound on the back of her neck had not yet healed, and the blood was like a medal of freedom.
With such a heavy force, a normal person should have reacted. Whether it was scratching and struggling, her breathing becoming rapid, or her face turning red from lack of oxygen, at least there should have been a reaction.
However, the latter had none.
Her excellent vision made her fearless in a lightless environment, so Qu Ying could clearly see the eyes that were looking down at her.
Those still-quiet, gray and white, god-like, lofty eyes.
The curve of Qu Ying’s lips slowly widened, it was unclear if it was more disbelief, or more absurdity. In the alarm sound that was ringing throughout the building, she asked politely and softly:
“Professor Cheng Ran, can I dig open your brain and see what’s inside?”
…
An unknown building, an unknown time and space.
The mirrors formed a unique and fresh cage. Cheng Ming was in it, her body stiff, and her gaze was fixed on the strange lady.
She was not calling Cheng Ming, but Xiao Ming.
What was more terrifying than being kidnapped after waking up was that the other had seen through her true identity. What was even more terrifying than being inexplicably kidnapped was that the other knew that there were two consciousnesses in her body.
“I’m so glad you’ve grown so quickly.”
She got closer and looked at her with a satisfied and appreciative gaze. Her whole person brought a warm temperature and a light fragrance.
Cheng Ming couldn’t tell if it was from an expensive human perfume, or from some substance that was not good for her. She really wanted to step back, but in this strange space, she couldn’t move rashly at all.
“I only have one mother, and her name is Cheng Ran.”
Even her breathing had become light, and she stared at the other without moving.
She didn’t know if the other was good or bad, and every muscle in her body was quietly tensing up.
“It’s not a conflict. She is hers, and I am yours,” this lady laughed and pointed to her chest. “If you don’t believe me, take it out and have a look.”
She asked, “Have you never thought of opening it?”
Before she could understand her roundabout explanation, Cheng Ming followed her action and subconsciously raised her hand to touch it.
Under the soft fabric that had been changed, a small, hard object was pressing against her fingertips, and she was stunned.
Wasn’t this… given to her by Cheng Ran?
In front of this woman who called herself “mother,” she seemed to have no secrets at all.
A buzzing sound came from her ears, and her central nervous system seemed to be about to lose its function, and she could not think effectively.
Meeting the other’s expectant gaze, and surrounded by panic, Cheng Ming slowly took out the seashell.
Looking at this small thing that could indeed store things, she found the crack and pried it open with force.
Crack. The seashell was opened.
Her fingernails had been under too much force, and the nail bed was probably injured. It was hot and numb, but she didn’t feel much, and just stared at the thing inside the shell.
Perhaps a little seawater had gotten in, and the inside was a mess—dark and murky. Two slightly damaged hard shells clamped onto a shimmering, oval-shaped substance.
A fish scale.
It was wrapped in a material like resin or beeswax, like a piece of amber, which had sealed time, and also sealed more and deeper things.
The pendant that had been on her chest for many years, not only was the outer shell inlaid with the symbol of the monster organization, but there was also a universe inside.
In such a strange scene, in a flash of insight, she actually understood Cheng Ran’s intention.
This scale had come from her other biological mother, and it proved her identity.
Although she really wanted to remain calm, the reality did not give her any room to be calm.
She looked up, a little dazed, and saw the latter’s smile, which was like a spring breeze.
“Do you want to do a genetic test?” Chu Lanying asked considerately.
“You’ve seen me, do you still remember?” she let out a short laugh, and her tone was doting. “You’ve seen it, the specimen from laboratory 40, right?”
Her words were more bewitching than a siren’s song, and it shook a person’s three souls and seven spirits so much that they could not be attached to the body.
“You are—” Cheng Ming didn’t want to be so impolite, but the reality was so beyond her imagination that she could only stare at her with wide eyes, with a look of horror and disbelief.
She was experimental subject No. 1 of the human-Jiao fusion experiment. The human part came from Cheng Ran, and the Jiao part came from the woman in front of her, so she had said that she was her mother, and she was also that specimen…
But the mermaid in laboratory 40 had clearly been dead for a long time. Was the one in front of her a human or a ghost?
She was suddenly startled by her own wild thoughts. But after all, she was a researcher who had once been in the biological sciences. Cheng Ming quickly reined in her thoughts that were drifting towards the theory of ghosts and gods, and following her past understanding of this mysterious species, she finally found a barely scientific explanation—
Or, this was the way a mermaid shed its skin.
Leaving an egg after death, and parasitizing a human body, could it continue its life?
Her heart was pounding with effort. She held her breath and did not want her voice to reveal any trembling, “What do you want me to do?”
She didn’t believe that this monster would talk about mother-daughter affection with her. And now, Cheng Ran’s position was also becoming more and more confusing.
What were they planning, and for what purpose had they let her be until now?
The other’s hand was on her forehead, and the gesture of fiddling with her mycelia was as gentle as a real, loving mother. Then it paused slightly.
Cheng Ming only saw her eyes narrow slightly, as if she had suddenly realized something. She lowered her head, and her pupils were close at hand. The depths were a bottomless gloom, and the surface was floating with a translucent, faint light, like an observation lens that could see through all the subtleties.
Her expression gradually became helpless and dangerous.
“Xiao Ming, why are you not being obedient?” she was looking through her, and was talking to the other “her.” “Didn’t we agree?”
Agree? Agree on what?
In a corner that she didn’t know, at a time that she didn’t know, had Xiao Ming contacted her, and had they reached a certain consensus?
As if she had foreseen a signal of derailment, an unease jumped up in her heart, and along with the other’s words, it took shape and gradually evolved into a reality.
Without any warning, this conversation had turned in a strange direction—
“I know you love her, but by eating her, you can have her forever. By killing her, you can truly be free, can’t you?”
She was teaching her “daughter” patiently and guiding her.
It took almost half of her brain cells for Cheng Ming to receive and understand that the “her” that the other was talking about was herself—
This person in front of her, this lady who had been observing and paying attention to her from the dark, was not concerned about her, but her “other half” who was skillfully controlling and using all her body’s abilities.
She hoped that Xiao Ming would swallow her, and that in this long-standing battle for her body, a final winner would be decided.
And her other half of her brain cells were in a daze. After the huge impact, they had loosely captured some other facts—
Was she necessarily the master of this body? Who had made that rule?
Clearly, she and it were both “her.”
