134: Chapter 134 The Deal is Made

"Clap, clap, clap."

Inside the empty hall, Zhou An's clapping resounded.

"Very bold. You're much better than your hesitant captain."

Zhou An looked at Hila, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he flicked his wrist and retrieved a parchment scroll emitting a faint golden glow directly from his system space.

This was a subordinate contract notarized by the system.

Seeing the contract, Ivy's face turned pale. She instinctively wanted to rush forward and stop Hila: "Hila! No! You're still so young, how can you..."

"Captain Ivy."

Zhou An's cold gaze swept over like a sharp sword, instantly pinning Ivy to the spot.

"Watch your current status. In this deal, you don't even have the chips to sit at the table. Just watch quietly."

Ivy stiffened all over. The humiliation and powerlessness made her close her eyes in pain, tears silently sliding down.

"Captain, it's fine." Hila turned her head, reaching out to gently wipe away the tears on Ivy's face. A relieved smile squeezed onto her youthful face. "You've always protected me in the past. Now, it's my turn to protect everyone."

After saying that, Hila turned around, took a deep breath, and pressed her palm onto the golden contract without hesitation, forcing out a drop of blood from her fingertip to drip onto it.

*Buzz—*

The contract instantly turned into a blinding red light that sank directly into the space between Hila's brows. Hila let out a sharp groan, her petite body trembling violently, her delicate features instantly contorting from the pain of having her soul forcibly branded.

However, this pain was only fleeting. Once the red light faded, a tiny golden mark appeared between her brows, which then gradually faded beneath her skin.

At the same time, a clear mental connection suddenly appeared in Zhou An's mind.

It was a strange sensation. He could clearly perceive Hila's current physical state and emotional fluctuations. In fact, with just a thought, even from thousands of miles away, he could instantly sever this young girl's life force, shattering her soul.

"Complete authority over life and death... This contract is truly overbearing."

Zhou An secretly evaluated in his mind.

He clapped his hands in satisfaction, stood up, and looked at Hila, whose face was still somewhat pale: "Take out your vehicle's core."

Hila nodded submissively, pulled out the wind-attribute power core that was still flickering with a faint cyan glow from her bosom, and handed it to Zhou An with both hands.

Zhou An took the core and glanced at it casually: "Although its level is a bit low, its foundation is clean enough. Go find Luo Ning with it in a bit and tell her your talent data. She will use the resources in the fortress to help you rebuild a vehicle specifically customized for you."

"Yes, Master."

Hila lowered her head extremely obediently, already changing how she addressed him.

"No need to call me Master. Just call me Boss."

He waved his hand, then turned and walked toward the elevator shaft leading to the surface. Before stepping into the cabin, he stopped, tilted his head slightly, and looked at Ivy:

"You can go down now and tell your people the good news. However, there's one thing you'd better make absolutely clear to them."

"Everything about my operations here—this island, this fortress—not a single word is allowed to be leaked. If the outside world catches even a whisper of it..."

"I won't waste time and effort investigating who leaked it. If anything goes wrong, all of you will suffer collective punishment."

Ivy shuddered violently.

She knew very well that Zhou An was definitely not joking. The lives and deaths of her people were entirely at his whim.

"I understand... I will swear on my life never to leak a single word." Ivy bowed deeply.

...

The temporary field hospital beneath the fortress.

"Phew..."

Shen Xingyue took off her blood-stained gloves and wiped the fine sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

After hours of high-intensity emergency treatment, even she felt a trace of fatigue.

With the assistance of dozens of medical robots, those severely injured with severed arms and broken wings had been completely stitched up and immersed in green recovery fluid. Their vital signs had finally stabilized completely.

However, looking at the few Winged race girls in the corner who were still huddled tightly together, their eyes vacant and shivering constantly, Shen Xingyue's brow furrowed deeply.

"Physical wounds are easy to treat, but mental trauma is the most troublesome."

Shen Xingyue sighed.

Facing this kind of mental breakdown caused by extreme fear and torture, conventional medical methods were completely useless. Currently, the most she could do was inject them with some sedatives to temporarily calm them down.

To completely heal mental trauma of this level, there was actually a way—simply taking out a legendary-grade Cleansing Potion or a high-tier mental reconstruction drug. With powerful enough medicine, they would recover to normal instantly.

But obviously, strategic resources of that level were not worth wasting on a group of worthless captives.

Without the Boss's explicit order, even Shen Xingyue would never dare to arbitrarily deploy resources of that level.

Ivy took a deep breath and walked with heavy steps to the center of the temporary medical area.

Hearing their captain's footsteps, the Winged race girls lying on the hospital beds with despairing faces turned their gazes over one after another. Their faces, covered in tear tracks and dirty blood, were written with fear of the unknown.

"Sisters, listen to me."

Ivy tried to make her voice sound steady and full of hope.

"We are safe. Mr. Zhou An... has promised us that once your injuries stabilize a bit, he will send us to regroup with the main force of the White Feather Guild!"

Hearing the words 'regroup with the Guild,' a faint but excited ripple instantly stirred in the lifeless medical area.

The girls even covered their mouths in disbelief, weeping with joy. In this cruel apocalypse, returning to their tribe alive was their only obsession.

"But!"

Ivy's tone shifted.

"Mr. Zhou An saved us, but he also set rules. Regarding this island, this fortress, and everything you see here, not a single word is allowed to be leaked to the outside! Even to the people of the Guild, you must keep your lips sealed! If anyone dares to violate this..."

Ivy gritted her teeth and hardened her heart, saying: "There won't even be a need for Mr. Zhou An to act. I, Ivy, will personally execute tribal law and clean house! Do you understand?"

Although these surviving Winged race girls had experienced inhumane torture, they were by no means foolish. Knowing full well what a great blessing it was to survive, they nodded their weak bodies one after another. Some even raised their hands to swear to the Wind God, promising to keep the secrets of this place buried in their hearts forever.

Seeing her people's sensible cooperation, Ivy felt a slight sigh of relief. Afterward, Zhou An brought her and Hila to Shen Xingyue, who was organizing medical equipment nearby.

Ivy looked at her compatriots lying in the recovery fluid, her eyes full of anxiety and worry. However, with Zhou An present, she tightly pursed her lips and didn't dare to ask first.

Zhou An turned slightly, glanced at Ivy, and jerked his chin toward Shen Xingyue: "Ask whatever you want. Xingyue is the medical director here."

Receiving Zhou An's tacit permission, Ivy felt as if she had been granted a great pardon. She hurriedly took a step forward, her voice trembling slightly: "Dr. Shen... my sisters, what is their physical condition exactly?"

Shen Xingyue stopped what she was doing and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of her nose:

"The situation isn't great. Out of these dozen or so people, only three have minor injuries and will recover after a few days of rest."

Shen Xingyue's gaze swept over the severely injured: "As for the others, they have more or less been left with irreversible permanent disabilities. Four have had their arms and leg bones severed, and for the five most severe cases, the nerve plexus at the base of their wings has been completely destroyed. With current conventional medical means, they will never grow wings again in their lives, nor will they ever be able to take to the skies to fight."

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Ivy's head.

Her heart instantly sank to the bottom.

In Cangyun Airspace, a Winged person who lost the ability to fly and fight was equivalent to a useless person who could only consume food.

She didn't know if the White Feather Guild headquarters, which was currently struggling to protect itself, would really be willing to take them in after they went through all the trouble to return with such a group of disabled compatriots?

But these words she could not say out loud; she could only swallow the bitterness. Ivy bowed deeply to Shen Xingyue, her voice choking: "In any case, thank you for saving their lives."

"No need to thank me, I was just carrying out orders."

Shen Xingyue waved her hand and turned back to continue adjusting the concentration of the robot's medicinal fluid.

*Rumble—*

Just then, the heavy elevator at the bottom of the fortress made a dull operating sound as it slowly descended to the ground.

Zhang Ming's tower-like, robust figure appeared at the elevator entrance. He was pushing a large multi-functional food cart with several massive constant-temperature alloy barrels on it. Before he even drew near, an extremely rich aroma of meat and the sweet fragrance of spiritual herbs had already filled the air.

"Boss! Xingyue!"

Zhang Ming greeted them with a simple and honest smile, patting the insulated barrels in front of him. "The feast is ready! Today's main theme is high-energy nourishment, all stewed from epic-grade ingredients!"

Zhou An nodded and pointed to the injured Winged race girls nearby who were swallowing their saliva: "Have the robots help serve the injured first. They need to replenish their energy."

"You got it!"

Zhang Ming immediately operated the dispensing valves on the food cart with ease.

Under Zhou An's instructions, several domestic robots glided over carrying trays. Ivy and Hila also rushed forward to help, taking bowls of steaming rice and tenderly stewed spiritual beast meat from Zhang Ming, carefully distributing them to each compatriot.

This scene appeared extremely incredible in the bloody and cruel airspace.

A Winged race girl who had lost her right wing tremblingly reached out her only remaining left hand to take the hot soup handed to her by Hila. The warm current transferred through the bowl to her ice-cold palm, and the rich aroma of meat instantly awakened the extreme craving of her empty stomach.

She took a tentative sip.

In an instant, the warm soup turned into an extremely pure current of spiritual energy, flowing down her throat and into her entire body. It not only dispelled the coldness in her body but even relieved much of the sharp pain at her wounds.

"Sob..."

The girl could no longer hold it in. Her eyes turned red, and large tears splattered into the bowl. She wolfed down the meat, stuffing it into her mouth while letting out uncontrollable sobs.

It wasn't just her; the surrounding Winged race girls, who had been tortured to near-numbness, were all weeping uncontrollably as they held their bowls of hot food.

In front of this hot meal, all their defenses, fear, and grievances were completely shattered. This was the first trace of the warmth of "life" they had felt.