45: Chapter 17 Heart-to-Heart Bond

The air in the laboratory seemed to freeze. Lei Kun's muzzle lowered slightly, but he didn't put his weapon down completely; his sharp gaze scrutinized the girl who had suddenly appeared like a scanner. Ling Yue was even more shocked. Her mechanical prosthetic eye quickly analyzed the girl's vital signs and energy readings, but the results were full of contradictions—the girl appeared weak, but she was surrounded by an extremely faint yet exceptionally pure energy field, starkly different from the chaotic and violent atmosphere remaining in the laboratory.

The girl—Xiao Qi—didn't seem afraid of the gun pointed at her. A hint of confusion merely flashed in her overly clear, large eyes, as if she didn't understand the reason for such wariness. Her attention quickly returned to the unconscious Lin Feng, her small brow furrowing even tighter.

"He... is very messy... so many voices... so many colors... fighting..." she said softly and haltingly, as if describing something obvious. She cautiously took another small step forward and reached out a slender finger, seemingly wanting to touch Lin Feng's forehead, but then hesitated.

"Don't move!" Ling Yue barked in a low voice, instinctively trying to stop her. This girl was too strange—appearing in a place like this and possessing incomprehensible abilities.

But Lei Kun raised his hand to stop Ling Yue. He stared intently into Xiao Qi's eyes. In those eyes, he saw no malice, only a near-instinctive worry and a... deep-seated confusion and loneliness that didn't match her age. He had seen this kind of look on the faces of some survivors on the battlefield.

"Can you help him?" Lei Kun's voice was deep, but it had softened slightly.

Xiao Qi looked up, glanced at Lei Kun, then at the wary Ling Yue, and nodded gently. "I... I can try... to make those voices... a little quieter..." She pointed to her temple. "I... often do this... to make myself quiet down."

Often do this? In this hellhole? Doubts filled Ling Yue and Lei Kun's minds, but Lin Feng's current state was indeed critical; any possible method was worth a try.

"Let her try," Lei Kun decided, his tone brook no argument. He moved his gun away, but his body remained tense, ready to act at any moment.

Ling Yue gritted her teeth and didn't object further, though she closely monitored Xiao Qi's every move.

Having received tacit permission, Xiao Qi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. She knelt beside Lin Feng, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She extended both hands, hovering them on either side of Lin Feng's forehead without making direct contact. An extremely soft, almost imperceptible energy fluctuation radiated from her palms.

Lin Feng's violent trembling gradually subsided, and his tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly. Although still unconscious, his breathing became much steadier. The faint, dark patterns on the surface of his skin also slowly receded like a tide.

>> External Interference Detected: Psionic Waveform - Calming, Harmonizing.

>> "Source" Core Instability Reduced. Rogue Data Streams Being Quarantined.

>> Cognitive Stress Levels Decreasing.

The feedback from "Source" confirmed that Xiao Qi's ability was indeed having a soothing effect!

Ling Yue's eyes widened in shock as she watched Lin Feng's data stabilize on the sensors. This kind of soothing ability that acted directly on the mental and energy levels was simply unheard of! This girl's value... or rather, her danger, was likely far beyond imagination.

A few minutes later, fine beads of sweat broke out on Xiao Qi's forehead, and her face grew even paler; the exertion was clearly significant. She withdrew her hands and said weakly, "Better... a little better... but he... needs to sleep... to sort it out himself..."

Looking at Lin Feng, whose breathing had steadied, the weight in Lei Kun's heart partially lifted. He looked at Xiao Qi with a complex gaze: "Thank you. What is your name? Why are you here?"

Xiao Qi hugged her knees and curled up, her eyes darting away. "My name is Xiao Qi... I have always... been here..." Her words were vague. "The 'outside' is very noisy... very scary... here... it's quiet..."

Always been here? Living in such a terrifying ruin of an underground laboratory? Both Ling Yue and Lei Kun found it hard to believe.

"How have you survived? Are there... others?" Ling Yue pressed, trying to gather more information.

Xiao Qi shook her head, her eyes becoming even more bewildered. "Sometimes... I fall asleep... when I wake up... there is food... at the door... no one... only me..." She pointed to a relatively clean corner of the hall covered with some tattered fabric; that seemed to be her "home." "I can... feel things... to avoid dangerous places..."

Telepathic abilities allowed her to foresee danger, while some unknown presence (perhaps an automated system?) provided survival supplies regularly? This sounded more like a carefully designed... cage? Or a sanctuary?

Just then, Lin Feng let out a slight moan, his eyelids flickered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Lin Feng! How do you feel?" Ling Yue immediately knelt down and asked.

Lin Feng's gaze was initially vacant before regaining clarity, though it carried a deep exhaustion and... a hint of sharpness different from before. He touched his still-stinging forehead and looked at the three people surrounding him, his gaze finally landing on the unfamiliar Xiao Qi.

"I'm... fine now." His voice was raspy but much more stable than before. "Just now... it felt like I had a very long nightmare..." He paused and looked at Xiao Qi. "Was it you... who helped me?"

Xiao Qi nodded shyly and shrank back a bit.

Lin Feng looked at her, a strange light flashing in his eyes. In his current perception, Xiao Qi was no longer just a thin little girl, but a "presence" emitting a soft, warm light, forming a subtle balance with the originally violent "Source" energy within him. He could even vaguely "feel" Xiao Qi's slight nervousness and curiosity at this moment.

>> "Source" Core Stabilized. Integration of Foreign Data: 7.2%. New Connection Detected: [Psionic Resonance Link - Low Bandwidth] with Subject "Xiao Qi".

>> Analysis: Subject "Xiao Qi" possesses innate high-level psionic abilities (Telepathy, Empathy, limited Precognition). Her presence acts as a stabilizing agent against reality-altering corruption.

The analysis from "Source" verified his feeling. Xiao Qi's ability was perfectly suited to counter the mental pollution and reality-warping tendencies brought by the initial protocol fragments!

"Thank you, Xiao Qi," Lin Feng thanked her sincerely, trying to offer a gentle smile.

Xiao Qi seemed to sense his goodwill and timidly returned a faint smile.

The team dynamic quietly shifted with Xiao Qi's inclusion.

While Lin Feng recovered his strength, Lei Kun and Ling Yue began to search the hall more carefully, hoping to find more clues about this laboratory and The Key. Xiao Qi quietly followed Lin Feng, as if treating him as her new reliance.

Ling Yue knelt before a relatively less damaged console and tried to interface with her tools. "Maybe I can find some logs or structural diagrams..."

Just then, Xiao Qi suddenly tugged at Lin Feng's sleeve and pointed to an inconspicuous metal plate on one side of the hall's wall, engraved with blurred symbols. "There... behind it... something is 'speaking'... it's very sad..."

Lin Feng looked in the direction she pointed. In his "Reality Perception," there was indeed a faint, abnormal energy fluctuation behind that metal plate. Unlike the chaotic violence elsewhere in the laboratory, this was... a sorrowful and pure resonance.

Lei Kun also noticed their actions and walked over. He inspected the metal plate and found a thin gap at the edge. "It's hollow behind here."

With Ling Yue's technical support and Xiao Qi's "intuition" guiding them, they carefully opened the metal plate. Behind it was a small hidden compartment containing no experimental equipment, only a small, withered potted plant and something wrapped in waterproof material that looked like a private diary.

On the title page of the diary, a name was written along with a line of scrawled words:

"...If The Key is destined to bring destruction, then I would rather bury my 'heart' here. May those who come after not repeat the same mistakes. —Dr. Lin"

Dr. Lin?!

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat! This surname, and that sense of predestined connection...

He took a deep breath and opened the diary. What was recorded inside were not cold experimental data, but the struggles of a father (or mother?) during the process of participating in this mad project, the longing for a young daughter at home, and the fear and reflection regarding the power of The Key. The last few pages of the diary were written in a hurried and desperate hand, mentioning the project spiraling out of control and how he (or she) had secretly implanted the project's only "Pure Sample" (which seemed to share the same origin as The Key but with opposite properties) into his young daughter's body, hoping to win her a chance at survival, then hiding her away while he himself walked toward the final purification...

The diary ended abruptly there.

Lin Feng closed the diary, his heart heavy. He looked at the quiet Xiao Qi beside him as a terrifying hypothesis surfaced in his mind.

Xiao Qi... was very likely the daughter of that Dr. Lin! And the "Pure Sample" implanted in her body was likely the source of her powerful psychic abilities and her ability to soothe the influence of the protocol fragments! The tragedy of this laboratory was far more complex and cruel than they had imagined.

"We have to leave here." Lin Feng looked up at Lei Kun and Ling Yue, his gaze resolute. "Not just to escape our pursuers, but we might... have gained an extra responsibility."

He looked at Xiao Qi. This girl was not just the team's life-saving straw, but the bearer of a massive secret.

A new goal was quietly established: protect Xiao Qi and uncover the secret of her origins, which might be closely linked to the truth of the initial protocol.

Above them, through the large hole blasted open by Lin Feng, new, unofficial energy scanning signals faintly drifted down—it seemed other factions had also been attracted by the commotion just now.

Beneath the abyss, the brief peace was about to end.