53: Chapter 53 Out of Control

He roughly shoved Luo Ning onto the bed, the immense force causing the bed frame to groan in protest.

At this moment, Zhou An's eyes were bloodshot, his pupils unfocused, the veins on his forehead throbbing like earthworms, and a low growl emanated from his throat.

"Boss! Zhou An! You've lost your mind! Wake up!"

Luo Ning was pinned down, struggling to breathe, and shouted loudly. She saw faint purple veins pulsing beneath Zhou An's skin—a sign of deep mutation.

Zhou An ignored her cries, his large hand gripping Luo Ning's wrist tightly. He had fallen into a frenzied predatory state, suddenly leaning down, his teeth nearly biting into Luo Ning's carotid artery.

"Hum—" At the critical moment, Luo Ning focused her mind, and her light mechanical armor instantly covered her entire body.

"Let go! Are you trying to devour me whole?" Luo Ning cursed angrily, using the armor's power engines to heave, attempting to push Zhou An off her.

However, even with the armor's boost, facing Zhou An, who was in a Tier 3 physical state and a berserk frenzy, Luo Ning still couldn't gain the slightest advantage in raw strength.

"Bang!" Zhou An backhanded her, pinning Luo Ning firmly back onto the bed, the violent force causing the armor's mechanical arm to emit a harsh grinding sound.

"Damn it, you're so thick-skinned, and I can't exactly blast you with the main cannon!" Luo Ning was sweating profusely, watching as Zhou An's face, filled with madness, drew closer, his mouth opening to bite down.

At this desperate moment, Luo Ning endured the agonizing pain of her wrist being crushed and reached toward under the pillow at an extremely awkward angle with her right hand.

"I knew you'd get into trouble sooner or later... you damn lunatic!"

Luo Ning gritted her teeth, and a second before Zhou An could bite down, she plunged a prepared deep-blue syringe firmly and accurately into the back of Zhou An's neck.

"Hiss—" A high concentration of mental stabilizer was instantly pumped into his blood vessels.

Zhou An's body stiffened, and the violent aura that threatened to tear everything apart receded like a tide. The red light in his eyes quickly faded, his body went limp, and he collapsed heavily onto Luo Ning, completely unconscious.

In the master bedroom, cold light shone upon the two. Luo Ning gasped for air, her face deathly pale.

She struggled to push off the heavy body pinning her down and couldn't help but curse under her breath: "Damn... I almost got eaten alive by you."

When Zhou An opened his eyes again, several hours had passed.

The torturous whispers and auditory hallucinations in his brain had completely vanished, replaced by a long-lost clarity. He rubbed his throbbing temples and sat up, realizing he was lying on the large, soft bed in the master bedroom.

Luo Ning was sitting cross-legged on a chair nearby, toying with an isolation box that emitted a red glow.

Seeing the distinct bruised fingerprints on Luo Ning's wrist after her armor had retracted, Zhou An's face turned uncharacteristically red, and an indescribable awkwardness filled the air.

"Awake, busybody?" Luo Ning raised an eyebrow, pouting as she retorted: "Boss, you usually look so cold and composed, I never expected you to be so handsy when you go crazy. It's a good thing I have high physical stats and was wearing armor, otherwise, you would've choked the life out of me. You were like a starving wolf, pinning me down until I couldn't breathe."

"Ahem... an accident, purely an accident." Zhou An coughed dryly, awkwardly changing the subject, his gaze falling on the isolation box in her hand.

"Why do you have that?"

"Confiscating the weapon of the crime!" Luo Ning righteously shoved the isolation box containing the Abyss Tentacle into her white lab coat pocket. "From today on, I'm keeping this thing."

"No, this concerns the fortress's production efficiency..." Zhou An instinctively wanted to refuse.

"Cut the crap!" Luo Ning interrupted him bluntly, glaring with wide eyes.

"From now on, I'll take it away every three days to force you to regain your sanity. If I leave it with you all the time, you have no idea what 'moderation' is! Are you willing to throw your life away just to earn some supplies? If you really turn into a monster, who's going to protect us?"

Facing this "guardian" who had just saved his life and was rarely this serious, Zhou An knew he was in the wrong and could only obediently nod in compromise.

"Alright, this beautiful young lady is tired after a long day, time to sleep!" Luo Ning yawned and decisively pressed the house light control switch on the wall.

"Click." The master bedroom was instantly plunged into darkness. Luo Ning felt her way back to her exclusive small bed in the corner.

Soon, the "rustling" sound of clothes being removed filled the quiet room.

In this serene atmosphere, Luo Ning's voice, filled with a hint of mischief, suddenly drifted over from the corner: "Hey, Boss."

"What?" Zhou An replied vigilantly.

"I couldn't be bothered to change into pajamas earlier... and now I'm wearing nothing at all~"

"Your SAN value has recovered now, so don't go pouncing on me like you did before."

Zhou An rolled his eyes speechlessly, too lazy to engage with this girl with the abnormal train of thought. He turned over, wrapping himself tightly in the quilt, not even leaving his head exposed.

"Pfft..." Seeing Zhou An's conservative reaction, an irrepressible snicker came from Luo Ning in the corner.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Good night, Boss."

The next morning. When Zhou An awoke from a deep sleep, he felt every cell in his body cheering; that refreshing feeling was simply indescribable.

For a full month, his SAN value had been dangerously hovering at the edge of 20 points. Now that it had finally fully recovered to 100%, the entire world looked bright and clear in his eyes.

He stretched comfortably and casually summoned his current attribute panel:

[Survivor: Zhou An]

[SAN Value]: 95

[Level]: Tier 3

[Core Equipment/Items]

[Nuclear Liquid Armor (Legendary)] Tier: Tier 3. Core Upgrade: Built-in dual micro-fusion reactors. High-level nano-healing units are integrated into the liquid memory metal. Effect: Defense crosses tiers, capable of ignoring all physical/energy attacks of Tier 3 and below. After activating Overload Mode, strength increases by 300%! Additionally, if the armor is damaged, it can consume energy to automatically reconstruct within ten seconds.

[High-Frequency Pulse Ripper (Legendary)] Tier: Tier 3. Core Upgrade: Barrel reconstruction, bullets replaced with highly concentrated Void Plasma. Effect: Fire rate increased by 50%, with "Absolute Penetration" and "Cell Necrosis" effects. Hitting a Tier 3 monster's weak point has a high probability of causing a one-hit kill.

[Star Skeleton Dragon Egg (Legendary)]: Incubating (Current progress: 1%).

[Exclusive Hextech Augment Pool]

[Little Giant (Prismatic)]: Durability, Stamina, and SAN value recover 5% per hour.

[Compound Interest (Prismatic)]: Daily supplies/materials automatically accrue 1% interest. (Doubles when Last Stand is activated)

[Level Up! (Prismatic)]: Everything can be sublimated (Absolute Law, ignores rank).

[War Treasure III (Prismatic)]: 40% chance to drop a treasure chest upon killing monsters.

[Last Stand (Prismatic)]: The lower the SAN value, the higher the self-buff, providing up to 99% increase in all attributes and Hextech efficiency.