41: Doki Doki Literature Club? No, it's Doki Doki Disco Club!

The night was as black as ink, and the lights of Tianqiong War God Academy flickered through the clouds like a floating isolated island.

Inside Dormitory 404, the atmosphere was thick with the excitement of being on the verge of a subtle "scientific experiment."

Gu Fan tossed the slightly throbbing mechanical heart in his hand as if he were playing with a stress-relief toy.

Dark red biological tissue was perfectly integrated with cold metal gears, and every pulse emitted a heart-pounding frequency.

“System, if I don't plug this thing back in, wouldn't it be a bit of a waste?”

Gu Fan asked in his mind with a wicked grin, “Since those people from Eden love remote control so much, let's give them some 'reverse remote teaching.'”

【Ding! The System has responded to the host's request.】

【Karma lines are being traced in reverse... Target locked: Eden Sector Seven Underground Secret Base.】

【Connection Mode: 100% Pain and Rhythm Sharing (In this mode, any physical state the host applies to the heart will be synchronized to all Eden members connected to this heart's frequency).】

“Perfect.”

Gu Fan snapped his fingers, a flash of excitement in his eyes... Meanwhile, three thousand meters beneath Tianqiong City.

This was a massive underground base filled with futuristic technology, where cold white light illuminated countless precision instruments. On a giant holographic screen, various data from that mechanical heart were being displayed in real-time.

The Branch Manager of Eden's Sector Seven, codenamed "Viper," was holding a glass of crimson wine, sitting elegantly in his command chair. He was a semi-mechanical cyborg, with his left face covered by a silver metal mask and a prosthetic eye glowing with a faint red light.

“Has that idiot put on the heart yet?” Viper swirled his wine glass, his voice raspy and cold.

“Reporting to the Manager, the signal source is stable. Although no implantation reaction has been detected, the heart is in a highly active state and seems to be... being played with by the target?” the nearby researcher reported with some hesitation.

“Played with?” Viper sneered, “Ignorance is bliss. That heart is implanted with Nano-neurotoxins and a High-frequency Oscillator. As soon as I press this button...”

Viper's finger hovered over a red button on the console, a cruel smile appearing on his face, “He will experience the pleasure of his heart beating three hundred times per second—that wonderful sensation of blood boiling until the vessels burst.”

“The Manager is brilliant! Once we control Gu Fan, we can parse that mysterious power through his Bloodline genes. When that happens...”

The surrounding researchers chimed in one after another. This group of lunatics in white coats had most of their bodies mechanically modified, either with prosthetic limbs or artificial organs. They firmly believed that the flesh was weak and in mechanical Ascension.

However, just a second before Viper was about to press the button.

Back in Dormitory 404.

Gu Fan suddenly felt that this heart was beating a bit too slowly; it wasn't exciting enough.

“This frequency is too healthy; I need to give them some intensity.”

Gu Fan gripped the fist-sized heart with both hands, as if warming up before a chest expansion exercise. His palms began to squeeze inward, then release, squeeze, and release again.

The rhythm was incredibly strong—boom-chack-boom-chack.

Inside the underground base.

“Ugh!”

One of the researchers who was rambling suddenly clutched his chest, let out a short muffled groan, and his whole body jerked forward before snapping back upright.

Then came a second one, and a third.

Even Viper, sitting in his chair, had the hand holding his wine glass suddenly twitch uncontrollably, spilling red wine all over his crotch.

“What's going on?!” Viper roared in anger. He tried to stand up but found that his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by someone, undergoing a roller-coaster-like torture.

Thump! Contraction!

Thump! Dilation!

That wasn't a normal heartbeat; it was being squeezed like a grip-strength ball!

“Warning! Warning! All implants are experiencing resonance! Frequency abnormality! Forced synchronization in progress!” the base's AI blared a piercing alarm.

But this was only the beginning.

Gu Fan squeezed it a few times and felt that while the texture was nice, it was a bit tiring for his hands.

“This is too much effort. Is there an automatic way?”

Gu Fan's gaze swept around the dorm, finally landing on that old top-loading washing machine in the corner that had supposedly been in service for twenty years.

It was an antique left behind by previous seniors. Although the casing was rusty, it had powerful motor strength—especially that "Power Spin Dry" function. When it started spinning, it could practically vibrate through the floorboards.

“Got it.”

Gu Fan's eyes lit up. He found a waterproof bag to put the mechanical heart in and then tossed it into the washing machine's stainless steel drum.

“Vice President Xiao, I'm borrowing your dirty socks to give this heart some padding—and throw in some biochemical attack while I'm at it.”

Gu Fan casually picked up two of Xiao Fan's smelly socks from the floor and tossed them in as well.

Xiao Fan, who was meditating, snapped his eyes open, his eyelid twitching: “Gu Fan! What are you doing? Those are my limited edition sports socks! And you're putting that heart in the washing machine... aren't you afraid it'll explode?”

“Relax, this is called a scientific experiment. I'm testing the waterproof performance of this thing.”

Gu Fan closed the lid with a smile and tapped a few times on the control panel.

“Mode: Heavy Duty Stain Removal.”

“Spin Speed: Berserk Level.”

“Duration: 30 minutes.”

“Start!”

“Rumble—!!!”

The old washing machine let out a roar like a tractor starting up. The entire machine began to shake violently, and the drum started spinning frantically.

Inside, the mechanical heart, following the high-speed rotation of the drum, began to undergo centrifugal motion at dozens of revolutions per second, occasionally slamming against the drum wall with a crisp "clack-clack-clack."

At the underground base.

Disaster had struck.

The researchers, who were only twitching occasionally before, suddenly fell into a collective state of bizarre frenzy.

Their bodies began to shake violently to the rhythm of the washing machine. The frequency was so fast that afterimages even appeared.

“Aaaaaah—!!!”

Screams rose and fell, only to be shredded into vibratos by the shaking voices.

“I can't... My heart... is dancing the tango...”

One researcher foamed at the mouth, his limbs flailing wildly like he was being electrocuted. Finally, he was forced to perform an extremely abstract robot dance to that "boom-chack-boom-chack" rhythm.

It wasn't that he wanted to dance; it was the mechanical organs inside him that were making him do it.

Viper was in even worse shape.

His body's mechanical modification rate was as high as 70%, making him a major disaster zone. He bounced off his chair and started crashing around the command room like a broken electric doll.

“Turn it off... turn it off quickly... my kidneys... are about to be spun out...”

Viper's prosthetic eye flashed red frantically, foam sprayed from his mouth, and his hands waved uncontrollably in the air as if conducting a non-existent symphony.

The entire base was in utter chaos.

All the precision instruments were knocked over by this group of people who had suddenly gone mad with disco, sending sparks flying everywhere. Coffee cups, folders, and active experimental test tubes flew through the air.

It was a forced disco party that no one wanted to attend but no one could stop.

“Boom-chack-boom-chack! Boom-chack-boom-chack!”

The roar of the washing machine seemed to penetrate space, becoming the death beat of this underground base.

Back in Dormitory 404.

Xiao Fan watched the washing machine as it vibrated across the floor, nearly dancing out the dorm door, and then looked at Gu Fan beside it, who was happily munching on a bag of potato chips. He felt a chill run down his spine.

“Gu Fan... what on earth are you doing?” Xiao Fan couldn't help but ask, his voice trembling slightly.

“Washing clothes,” Gu Fan blinked innocently. “And helping some old friends stretch their limbs to prevent osteoporosis. Look at how powerful this washing machine is; this vibration is just incredible.”

【Ding! Detected 'Xiao Fan' producing the emotion: 'I don't understand but I'm deeply shocked.' malice points +200.】

【Detected all members of 'Eden' producing emotions: 'Extreme physiological discomfort and Soul trembling.' malice points +150!】

【Detected 'Viper' producing the emotion: 'Killing intent shattered by vibration' resulting in a breakdown. malice points +500!】

Gu Fan nodded as he watched the malice points steadily rise.

Thirty minutes later.

The washing machine finally let out a relieved "beep—" and stopped spinning.

In the underground base, silence fell instantly.

Everyone was slumped on the floor like puddles of mud, bodies smoking, eyes unfocused, and drool leaking from their mouths.

Viper lay on the ground. His proud metal mask had been shaken crooked, and one of his prosthetic eyes had gone dark, making him look utterly exhausted.

“A devil... that Gu Fan... is a devil...”

Viper struggled, his finger trembling as he pressed a communication key. His voice was as weak as a mosquito's:

“Initiate... initiate the 'Succubus' plan...”

“Stop with the technological sanctions... physical means don't work on him... send a woman... you must... gently... kill him...”

After saying this, Viper fainted.

And in the dorm room.

Gu Fan opened the washing machine lid and used two fingers to fish out the mechanical heart, which was now washed sparkling clean and even smelled a bit fragrant.

“Tsk, the quality is pretty good; it didn't even fall apart.”

Gu Fan shook his head regretfully, “A pity. I actually wanted to try the dehydration mode; that's the joy of a thousand revolutions per minute.”

He casually tossed the heart to the bewildered Xiao Fan.

“It's yours, Vice President. This is a high-tech product that has passed rigorous testing. Use it as a night light or a vibrating alarm clock; it should be quite good.”

Xiao Fan held the heart that looked as if it had survived a catastrophe. Seeing its frequency—which was still beating but clearly "weak in the knees"—he somehow felt a sliver of sympathy for this inanimate object.

That night, every member of Eden's Sector Seven suffered from insomnia.

As for Gu Fan, he slept exceptionally soundly.