55: Chapter 51 Fallen If Thread

(Pre-reading notice, the content of this chapter is the branch story of Chapter 51 fallen route, and is not used as the main story plot, anyway everyone just reads it for fun, since this is the Chapter 51 branch story, tomorrow I will adjust it to after Chapter 51, and the main text plot will continue to update afterwards.)

(Oh right, this chapter might feature forced love, snow-white skin, and other plots, if you cannot accept it you can wait a little bit, thank you everyone for your understanding))

Cold.

This was the first word that popped into Kaiwen's mind after she regained consciousness.

The ground pressing against her back felt like a temperatureless stone slab, and the chill crept up her spine vertebra by vertebra.

She tried to open her eyes.

Above her head, only a small broken lamp emitted a dim yellow light, feeling like it would go out at any moment.

The ceiling was very high and made of concrete, and Kaiwen could even see the cracks on the ceiling.

There was an indescribable smell in the air—musty, metallic, and a hint of a strange odor like the evaporation residue of some chemical agent.

Kaiwen tried to turn her arms over, but she couldn't move.

She turned her head to look, and her two hands were locked together by a heavy pair of metal handcuffs, with the chain passing through an iron pillar embedded in the wall behind her, pulled very tight.

She wanted to turn her head to continue checking, but the strange sensation coming from her neck pulled her back.

It was ice-cold, clinging to her skin, neither too tight nor too loose, sitting right below her throat.

The cold and hard touch unique to metal slightly rubbed against her skin with the action of swallowing, and the precise seams could be sensed by the contour of her jaw.

She lowered her head slightly, catching a familiar blue light in her peripheral vision, flickering in and out from beneath her chin.

This is? Honkai Energy Inhibitor?!

Kaiwen's breathing stagnated, colloquially known as being scared silly.

Why did Raiden Mei's Honkai Energy Inhibitor end up on her body?

What happened? Why is my body so weak right now?

She tried to mobilize the power of the Stigma Space within her body.

But it was like squeezing a dry sponge, nothing could be squeezed out.

Kaiwen closed her eyes and sank her attention deep into her mind.

["Rin."]

There was no response.

["Rin, can you hear me?"]

The Stigma Space was like a dry well; her voice was thrown in without even an echo.

["Yae Sakura!"]

["Kallen?"]

The same dead silence.

Usually, even at her most silent times, Rin would at least respond to show she was still there, but now there was nothing, as if the door leading to the Stigma Space had been locked tightly by someone.

Kaiwen opened her eyes again, staring at the swaying lamp above her head, frantically recalling what had happened before.

Yesterday... should be yesterday.

After Friday's simulated exercise ended, Kiana was kept behind by Himeko because she failed one of her evaluations, and Bronya also stayed behind to accompany Kiana, leaving only her to drag her exhausted body back to the apartment.

Then she took a bite of the fried chicken handed over by Mei?

She still remembered the taste of the fried chicken, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the dipping sauce was very fragrant, completely lacking that greasy feeling.

And then?

Then it seemed she didn't remember anything anymore.

Sleepiness came too fast, as if someone gently pulled down a switch in her mind, with a click, and the world went dark.

Opening her eyes again, it was this basement.

Kaiwen leaned against the ice-cold iron pillar and slowly let out a breath.

A hint of strange salty fishy taste still lingered in her mouth, unsure whether it was the residue of the medicine or something else.

Just as she made her third attempt to contact the Stigma Space, footsteps came from the direction of the iron door.

Thump—thump—thump

From far to near.

Then, the sound of the lock core turning, and the iron door was pulled open from the outside.

In the dim light, a figure appeared at the doorway.

["Mei?"]

Raiden Mei stood in the doorframe, against the bit of light seeping in from the end of the corridor, her silhouette outlined into a graceful curve.

She wore a piece of clothing Kaiwen had never seen before.

Thin, very thin.

Like some kind of silk robe, the color close to milky white, hanging down to her ankles.

The material was so light it had almost no weight, following her stepping movements, pressing close and then swaying away, pressing close and then swaying away.

The waistline, the arc of the shoulder blades, and that large expanse of uncovered snow-white skin below the collarbone were all swaying faintly under that layer of thin gauze.

The dim yellow light of the explosion-proof lamp hit her body, making her exposed skin appear nearly transparent.

When Mei walked over, her pace was not fast, and the sound of her soles stepping on the ground was very light, as if afraid of waking someone up.

She squatted down in front of Kaiwen.

Looking at her with those purple eyes just like that, gentle and focused.

Exactly the same as the look in her eyes every morning when she stood in the kitchen scooping soup for Kaiwen.

["Are you awake?"]

Mei's voice was just like usual, gentle and with a hint of concern.

She put the soup bowl on the ground and reached out to test Kaiwen's forehead.

["Fortunately, no fever."]

Kaiwen stared at her, neither dodging that hand nor speaking.

Mei withdrew her hand, picked up the soup bowl, scooped a spoonful with a spoon, blew on it, and handed it to Kaiwen's mouth.

Kaiwen didn't look at the spoon, only staring at Mei's face.

["Where is this?"]

Mei's movement didn't stop, the spoon still raised near her mouth: ["This is Changkong City."]

Changkong City?

That city already destroyed into ruins by Honkai?

["How did we get here?"]

["I made a deal with Anti-Entropy, and they will guarantee our safety, food, and lodging."]

["On my body... What did you do to me?"]

["I gave you an injection of something."]

Mei tilted her head slightly, the soup in the spoon still emitting faint heat: ["Rest assured, it won't harm your body. You can still walk, eat, and sleep normally, it's just..."]

She paused, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.

["It's just that you've turned back into an ordinary person."]

Ordinary person?

Kaiwen moved her arm, and the iron chain of the handcuffs made a short collision sound, echoing in the empty basement.

She really couldn't muster any strength at all.

["Mei... Why on earth are you doing this?"]

But Mei did not answer.

She just pushed the spoon forward a bit more, tilting her head slightly: ["Drink the soup first, we'll talk after you finish."]

Kaiwen didn't open her mouth.

She stared at the bowl of soup, staring at the glossy dark brown soup in the spoon, but what flashed through her mind was the taste of last night's plate of fried chicken.

["I won't drink it."]

Mei's spoon stopped mid-air.

["Don't you trust me anymore?"]

Kaiwen didn't speak, but the meaning was already very clear.

Mei looked at her, the layer of gentle light in her eyes flickering.

She was not angry, nor did she explain, just quietly retracted the spoon, lowered her head, and drank that mouthful of soup herself.

Then she scooped another spoonful and put it in her mouth.

Then a third spoonful.

Kaiwen watched her drink without moving.

Mei raised her head, her lips still stained with a bit of oil gloss from the soup, and looked at Kaiwen for a few seconds.

Then she put down the bowl.

The action was very fast.

Mei pinched Kaiwen's chin with one hand, her fingertips forcefully pinching into the cheeks on both sides, forcibly prying open a crack in her mouth.

Before Kaiwen could react, Mei's lips had already pressed up against hers.

The warm soup liquid poured in along the gap between the two lips.

Carrying the taste of black-bone chicken and wolfberry, as well as the remaining temperature in Mei's mouth.

Kaiwen instinctively wanted to turn her head away, but her chin was pinched tightly, and the back of her head was pressed against the iron pillar, leaving her no way out at all.

She could only be forced to tilt her head back and swallow that mouthful of soup.

Mei released her hand, her thumb wiping a bit of soup stain overflowing from the corner of Kaiwen's mouth, and then licked it off.

["If you refuse to eat properly again in the future,"]

Mei's voice was still light, but inside it was an extra layer of something Kaiwen had never heard before.

["I will feed you like this every time."]

Kaiwen gasped for breath, her Adam's apple moving up and down, and the sound of the iron chain was particularly harsh in the quiet basement.

["Mei, you've lost your mind!!!"]