39: Do inmates shed tears?

“Do you like this name?”

Meng Yun, crouching on the ground, looked up at Vivian’s delicate face, a gentle and kind smile on his face.

Someone who had long forgotten the warmth of family, experienced love fleetingly through Wu Yinyao.

Now, he seemed to feel a sense of interdependent kinship, an illusion of family affection, through Vivian.

He felt that if he had a younger sister, she should be like Vivian.

Only Vivian made Meng Yun feel the identification of taking care of a younger sister.

So the question came to Vivian.

He wondered if she would mind a human like himself acting as her older brother?

Meng Yun extended his hand, making a solemn invitation to Vivian:

“Vivian, be my younger sister.”

Vivian looked at Meng Yun, who was kneeling on one knee, gentlemanly and elegant, and at his hand so close to her; a trace of panic appeared on her usually calm face.

Did a containment object, a mere tool, also have the right to become a human’s younger sister?

Moreover, this human was so dazzling, so warm.

Just the smile he showed her made Vivian feel at a loss and ashamed of herself.

She was merely a tool used to create slaughter and death.

“I… I am just an object…”

“Do you want to, Vivian?”

“I… I do.”

A voice filled with shyness and apprehension echoed in Meng Yun’s heart. This made him sigh with some relief.

In his heart, although he believed Vivian would no longer harm him, he was not sure if Vivian, whose strength already surpassed A-level and could rival an Arcane Envoy, would allow her pride and dignity to bow down and become his younger sister.

But fortunately, everything went incredibly smoothly.

Vivian’s eyes flickered, and she tentatively reached out her hand, gently clasping Meng Yun’s palm.

A golden light quietly streaked across the green gem on her chest, wrapped within her clothes.

“Vivian, my younger sister.”

Meng Yun stood up, holding her hand, and gently placed his other hand on her soft hair.

“From now on, I will be your monitor, and your older brother. We won’t live in this broken coffin anymore, okay?”

Vivian was stunned.

She seemed to smell the scent of sunshine.

But she was clearly in the underground of the containment facility, where no sunlight shone.

Moreover, sunshine had no smell.

“Okay.” Vivian looked at Meng Yun and nodded earnestly.

Although in terms of temporal dimension, Vivian’s actual age could be old enough to be Meng Yun’s great-grandmother.

But having been in a state of forced slumber, with no social interaction apart from combat and being researched, she was as clean as a blank slate on a social level.

Clear as a newborn infant.

In the past one hundred and twenty years, time for Vivian was merely an increase in age without meaning, like empty turning of tree rings.

Only when this day arrived did time regain meaning for Vivian.

Long-lived people face death at one hundred and twenty years old.

Vivian welcomed a new life at one hundred and twenty years old.

“Bro… brother… brother.”

She looked at Meng Yun, trying to open her mouth, and like a child learning to speak, she softly uttered the word from her small mouth.

Meng Yun’s face showed surprise, followed by joy and satisfaction.

He and his nurtured younger sister.

Observation Post.

Two A-level Personnel silently watched Meng Yun and Vivian’s interaction, their expressions obscure and difficult to discern.

“We are unsure whether giving the Calamity Witch emotions is good or bad. Record it truthfully.”

“Prepare new D-level Personnel. Begin the test immediately.”

Inside the containment chamber, an alarm began to sound.

Meng Yun knew this was the daily monitoring task his younger sister Vivian had to undergo.

Calling it monitoring was merely summarizing the changes in Vivian’s lethality towards humans through various ways D-level Personnel died.

The executioners, without shedding a drop of blood, chose the most innocent girl as their sharp blade.

This was the true face of the Foundation.

“Brother, I have to go up.

...I will try my best to control myself…”

Vivian’s anxious and helpless voice echoed in Meng Yun’s heart.

“I’ll wait for you here.” Meng Yun released her hand, giving her a look of concern.

Meng Yun was powerless to do anything about it.

Equivalent at most to a third-level Arcanist, he was utterly incapable of resisting any of the Foundation’s decisions.

He watched helplessly as the ceiling opened, and a platform rose from the ground, sending Vivian to the upper level.

The ceiling closed.

About two minutes later, the ceiling opened again.

Vivian was lowered.

She was covered in bloodstains, her face bewildered.

Crimson blood covered her delicate Lolita princess dress, making her appear broken and absurd.

Like a dark fairy tale.

“Brother…

Vivian still couldn’t control herself…

They all, all were…”

An invisible storm brewed around Vivian, and her golden pupils became deep and chaotic.

Her aura flickered, as if she was in extreme internal struggle.

Evidently, after acknowledging Meng Yun as her older brother, Vivian felt resistance and judgment towards killing for the first time.

But this was clearly contrary to her purpose, having been created as a weapon.

Meng Yun looked at the helpless girl, feeling a touch of sadness in his heart.

The fault was never hers.

He looked directly at Vivian, his expression calm and gentle, and took a step closer.

A strong smell of blood assailed him.

Meng Yun didn’t mind at all.

But Vivian, in a panic, took a step back.

She was afraid that her current state would displease Meng Yun, and even more worried that her appearance would easily cause her to lose this hard-won so-called kinship.

She was afraid her older brother would abandon her from then on.

So Vivian retreated.

Meng Yun continued forward.

He took the girl’s cold little hand, preventing her from retreating further.

Meng Yun examined the bloodstains on Vivian’s face and slowly raised his hand.

Vivian, startled, quickly closed her eyes.

She felt that her appearance must have displeased her older brother, and he was about to punish her severely.

But it didn’t matter.

Compared to her older brother leaving her, these punishments were insignificant.

Besides, she deserved it.

However, the expected stinging sensation did not come; instead, a soft, tingling touch made her open her eyes in surprise.

Vivian was stunned.

In front of her, Meng Yun was gently wiping the bloodstains from her face with the cuff of his new work uniform.

Seeming to find the uniform’s fabric too rough, Meng Yun simply took off his jacket and began to wipe her with his soft shirt.

His expression was serious and earnest, as if he were treating a work of art worthy of meticulous carving.

“Bro… brother?”

Didn’t he have a phobia of germs?

But why?

A warm current flowed through Vivian’s heart.

She didn’t understand this feeling, but she liked this feeling.

And she also believed that one day, she would understand this feeling.

“Be good, Vivian, none of this is your fault.”

Meng Yun wiped all the bloodstains from her face, and then gently embraced her.

Yes, Meng Yun had a phobia of germs; he couldn’t tolerate any dirt on Vivian.

His palm rested on the back of her head, gently stroking.

Calming her restless heart.

“Don’t be afraid, your older brother is here.”

Simple words, like the most efficient catalyst, brought forth all the unwillingness and grievances Vivian had buried for decades, even centuries.

Do containment objects also cry?

Even if not human, even if becoming an object, do they still cry?

She didn’t know. She didn’t understand.

But where her older brother was, Vivian was no different from a human.

Don’t be afraid.

No one had ever treated her as a girl who could be afraid.

Indeed, what reason did a killing tool, a terrifying containment object, have to be afraid?

But Meng Yun would hold her in his arms, gently comfort her, and tell her, don’t be afraid.

Your older brother is here.

Tears, gushed forth.