Captivated by the Ruler of the Underworld
Chapter 69 Locking Lela in the Basement (2)

The basement was dim, with almost no trace of light, a familiar environment that immediately reminded her of something bad. Ever since she was captured, she had been taken to a vast research lab, where she was bound by metal chains to a cold surgical table.

Injections of some unknown substance, causing such excruciating pain, were administered to her neck using a syringe. She longed for her mother, her father, her tribe, and Big White. But they were all gone. No one came to rescue her, leaving her with only a piercing pain that stabbed at her heart.

Day after day, she endured the torment inflicted upon her body, having nothing to eat but bitter medications...

Sylvester felt Lela's body in his arms suddenly tense up, thinking she had realized her mistake. His lips curved into a smile.

Good.

Perhaps afraid of frightening her, Sylvester turned on the lights in the basement while hugging Lela.

A "click" sound.

The entire basement began to brighten up, though the lighting inside was dim, provided by incandescent lamps.

However, it was enough for Lela to see the row upon row of cold tools.

With red eyes and tightly pursed lips, Lela reminisced.

Since she was five years old in the research lab, her body had endured two years of torment as those people carried out their experiments, thinking that her mutant body was starting to take shape. The first step was to verify her self-healing ability.

Wearing white protective suits, terrifying masks, and smooth rubber gloves on their hands, they approached her with knives.

Under her terrified gaze, they forcefully severed her fingers one by one.

It hurt!

It hurt so much!

She cried, yearning for her mother, but no one paid her any mind. Instead, they forcefully stuffed a gauze pad into her mouth to silence her.

She felt her blood flowing out of her body, and after a long time, she heard a sigh from someone beside her, "Tsk! The timing isn't right; this mutant's healing ability is quite poor. It's been ten minutes, the bleeding has stopped, and the wound hasn't closed yet. Who knows when these fingers will grow back."

Another dreadful voice followed, "No hurry, I've waited two years. A little while longer won't matter. Let's cut off her toes as well, so we can compare the data."

"Yes, Master."

Then, all of her toes were mercilessly severed using these familiar cold weapons.

After half a month, her hands and feet had more or less healed, only to be subjected to injections again.

And then, the injections and flesh-peeling continued in an alternating fashion.

Day after day, year after year...

The pain, more tormenting than having one's heart torn apart...

"Sylvester, I want to leave." Lela clung to his neck, burying her head into the crook of his neck. Her voice was trembling, with a hint of fragility, "I don't like it here." She didn't like this oppressive environment, which would evoke her deepest fears.

Scarier than hell itself.

Sylvester didn't know what had happened to Lela, but he sneered, "Now you know fear!"

Back then, why didn't he think about these things?

It was too late!

He had to personally tell her how dangerous the world could be.

Only by his side could she find solace.

Sylvester placed Lela on a cold table and turned to leave. Almost instinctively, Lela bounced back, clasping Sylvester with both hands and murmuring unconsciously, "Sylvester, Sylvester, don't go, please." Sylvester froze for a moment, surprised by Lela's reaction, but he didn't dwell on it, thinking that the little thing was simply scared of the environment.

He raised his hand and pinched her cheek, pulling her away and then taking out a metal chain. It was specifically crafted in his military factory and had just arrived a few days ago.

No one had used it yet. The little thing would be the first.

Lela saw the metal chain and her pupils contracted. The fear inside her surged like an avalanche.

After all this time, she thought she was no longer afraid and had researched everything related. But she had not anticipated that her deepest fears from within her body would be awakened. She backed away, her face growing pale. "Don't, don't come closer."