265: Cold surgery

Chapter 265: Cold Surgery. "No anesthesia."

Li Chunfeng put on a pair of strange goggles and picked up a sharp lancet.

"Your nervous system is already linked to the core. Anesthesia would cause signal delay or even a system crash. So, bear with it."

"Or scream. I don't mind."

After saying that, he didn't give Chen Mo any time to react.

Puchi.

The tip of the blade pierced directly into the scorched skin on Chen Mo's chest.

Pain!

It wasn't the pain of a typical flesh wound.

The blade didn't just slice through flesh; it felt as if his very soul was being cut open.

It was a brutal signal acting directly on the pain receptors, like countless red-hot needles stabbing into his brain marrow.

Chen Mo's waist suddenly arched up.

A beast-like low growl escaped his throat.

But he didn't struggle.

He just gritted his teeth so hard his gums bled.

"Interesting."

Li Chunfeng talked to himself as he cut away the necrotic tissue.

"Surface skin carbonization at ninety percent, subcutaneous muscle fibers dissolved, blood vessels... tsk tsk, all as brittle as crackers."

He sliced off a piece of still-smoking rotten flesh and tossed it casually into a nearby iron bucket.

"That idiot Wang Daoming."

Li Chunfeng suddenly cursed, "He doesn't understand the value of this heart at all. He just wanted to use you as a disposable bomb."

"And you..."

He stopped his knife, his cloudy eyes staring at Chen Mo, "You actually treated yourself as a bomb."

"Am I not?"

Chen Mo panted heavily, cold sweat flowing into his eyes from his forehead, stinging sharply. "Isn't this what you people created?"

"We?"

Li Chunfeng sneered.

He pressed a button.

A massive mechanical arm extended over, ending in an extremely fine needle filled with a deep blue liquid.

"This thing is called 'Coolant Type IV'."

Li Chunfeng pointed at the needle. "When it's injected, you'll feel like you've swallowed an entire iceberg. If your willpower isn't strong enough, your heart will stop instantly."

"Do it."

Chen Mo said only one word.

Li Chunfeng didn't hesitate.

Puchi.

The needle stabbed directly into the violently beating mechanical heart.

In that instant...

Chen Mo felt the world come to a standstill.

Cold.

A bone-chilling cold instantly spread through his entire body along his blood vessels.

It felt like being thrown naked into a tank of liquid nitrogen.

His blood froze, his thoughts stalled, and even the usually noisy Ruan Qiushui seemed to be frozen solid.

"Ah——!!!"

Chen Mo finally couldn't help but scream in agony.

His body convulsed violently on the operating table, his alloy left hand rattling the restraints, even bending the metal rods.

"Heart rate zero."

Li Chunfeng looked at the nearby monitor, his tone calm. "Restart countdown: ten, nine..."

Chen Mo's consciousness began to dissipate.

He saw some images.

It was on an operating table, before he had become what he was now.

Back then, he was still human.

Li Chunfeng stood before him, holding this still-beating mechanical heart.

"Why choose me?"

The 'self' in his memory asked.

"Because only you hate deeply enough."

The Li Chunfeng in his memory replied, "Only the ultimate hatred can drive this 'Heart of Vengeance'."

..."Three, two, one."

In reality, Li Chunfeng pressed the button on the defibrillator.

Boom!

A massive surge of electricity coursed through Chen Mo's body.

Thump!

The heart began to beat again.

This time, it was no longer a violent, chaotic beating, but steady and powerful, each throb carrying a certain rhythm unique to metal.

Huu——

Chen Mo snapped his eyes open, gasping for air.

His originally red vision returned to normal.

The constant burning sensation had vanished, replaced by a cold sense of control.

"Back from the dead?"

Li Chunfeng took off his goggles and wiped his hands with a filthy towel. "Tough life you've got."

Chen Mo checked his body.

Although his left arm was still crippled, his strength had returned.

"Why save me?"

Chen Mo sat up, tearing off the restraints on his body.

"Save you?"

Li Chunfeng turned around and took a metal box out of a cabinet. "You're overthinking it. I just didn't want my experimental data to be cut off so soon."

He threw the box onto the operating table.

Clang.

The box popped open.

Inside lay a brand-new mechanical arm.

Black matte coating, streamlined armor, and fingertips shimmering with a cold light.

"Second-generation 'Executioner' Prosthetic."

Li Chunfeng tapped the box. "Built-in high-frequency vibration blade, palm-mounted miniature electromagnetic cannon, and a grappling hook launcher. Ten times better than your old piece of junk."

"Is this free too?"

Chen Mo looked at the arm.

"Of course not."

Li Chunfeng grinned, a smile that was bone-chilling. "Once this goes on, I take no responsibility."

"This hand has a small gimmick. Once installed, your nervous system will transmit data to me in real-time. In other words, every person you kill and every move you use from now on, I'll see it."

"I need to collect combat data."

"To create more perfect... monsters."

Chen Mo fell silent.

It was a trade.

Selling privacy for power.

"What?" Li Chunfeng raised an eyebrow. "Don't dare?"

Chen Mo reached out and grabbed the mechanical arm.

Cold, heavy, yet full of violent aesthetics.

"Install it."

Chen Mo leaned his mangled left shoulder forward. "As long as I can kill Wang Daoming, forget data—you can have my life."

The light in Li Chunfeng's eyes grew brighter.

It was the look of a madman who had found a kindred spirit.

"Good."

He picked up the laser saw and electric drill again. "It might hurt a bit; this time we're connecting to the main nerve trunk."

Zzzzt——

The ear-piercing sound of drilling into bone echoed in the operating room once more.

Half an hour later.

Chen Mo stood before a mirror.

The new left arm fit perfectly and moved freely.

With a thought, a half-meter-long red laser blade popped out from the wrist.

Hum.

The air was sliced apart.

"Not bad."

Chen Mo retracted the blade.

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."

Li Chunfeng was packing his tools. "During the maintenance just now, I found something in your core's low-level code."

Chen Mo looked back. "What?"

"A hidden command."

Li Chunfeng pointed to a string of garbled code on the screen. "That old fox Wang Daoming really did leave a back door. The command was encrypted, but I've decrypted part of it."

"The content?"

"'When the target approaches Lab Zero, initiate self-destruct sequence'."

Li Chunfeng pushed up his glasses. "In other words, as soon as you get near that so-called core area, you'll go 'bang' and turn into fireworks."

Chen Mo's gaze turned cold.

"Where is Lab Zero?"

"No idea."

Li Chunfeng shrugged. "But there's one place that definitely has clues."

He tossed Chen Mo an electronic card.

"Jiangcheng Mental Hospital, basement level two. That's where Wang Daoming first made his fortune, and the starting point of all his evils."

"However..."

Li Chunfeng suddenly paused, his expression turning a bit strange. "If you're going, you'd better take that Rat with you."

"Why?"

"Because that place is currently occupied by a bunch of 'lunatics'."

Li Chunfeng pointed out the door to the small guy who was dozing off while hugging a shotgun. "And he's the only... normal person who can communicate with those lunatics."

Chen Mo gripped the card in his hand tight.

Psychiatric hospital.

Good.

That place sounded as welcoming as going home.

"Thanks."

Chen Mo turned and walked out.

"Chen Mo."

Li Chunfeng called out from behind him.

"Don't die too early. I haven't collected enough data yet."

Chen Mo didn't look back, only waving his brand-new mechanical left arm.

It was a middle finger.

Outside the airtight door, Rat was still snoring.

Chen Mo gave him a kick.

"Wake up."

"Huh? Is it time to eat?"

Rat jumped up, wiping his drool. "How is it? Fixed?"

He saw Chen Mo's new arm, and his eyes instantly bugged out. "Holy crap! Second-gen Executioner! The old man really went all out! This thing could be traded for half a city district on the black market!"

"Let's go."

Chen Mo ignored his fussing. "To Jiangcheng Mental Hospital."

Rat's face instantly turned green.

"Where?"

"The psychiatric hospital."

"Brother, dear brother."

Rat hugged Chen Mo's leg, about to kneel. "Is that a place for humans? The lunatics there even eat Rats! I'm not going! Not even if you kill me!"

Chen Mo grabbed him by the collar and lifted him like a chick.

The mechanical knuckles of his left hand made a clicking sound.

"Two choices."

Chen Mo looked at him. "One, take me there."

"Two, I'll stuff you into that meat grinder right now."

Rat looked at Chen Mo's emotionless eyes, then at the massive steel hand.

"I'll go."

He said with a long face, "But I have to go back and get some diapers first. That place... is really freaking scary."

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