Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Paida Xi’s Modification Experiment (2/2)
After a moment’s hesitation, Bena voiced the question that was weighing on his mind.
Hearing his question, Simon fell silent for a moment before he spoke.
"Have you ever heard of cyborgs?"
Bena gasped at the word.
Of course he’d heard of cyborgs. He’d even seen one before.
The leader of the raiders entrenched near Huitong Town was a powerful cyborg.
Both of his hands had been specially modified. His left could spray high-temperature flames, while his right could launch powerful missiles. He was strong enough to single-handedly annihilate a small merchant caravan.
Bena stared intently at Xisuo, who was laid out on the ground. He couldn’t see any sign that he had been modified.
His gaze shifted downward to a certain... sensitive area. ’Could it be *that* kind of special modification?’
Before Bena could overthink it, Simon continued his explanation.
"My brother’s ability isn’t natural. It was acquired through modification."
Bena: !!!!
He had to admit, he’d probably been shocked more times today than in his entire life combined.
As far as he knew, all ability users were born with their powers; it was just a matter of when they awakened. He had never heard of anyone gaining an ability through modification.
Bena asked in disbelief:
"How... How is that possible?"
Simon explained.
"We don’t understand the principles behind it. When we were very young, we were bought by a madman named Paida Xi."
"Many other children around our age were bought along with us. I don’t know the exact number, but there were definitely a lot of them. A whole lot."
"After we were bought, we were locked away in a shelter that existed before the Great Cataclysm."
"He conducted insane experiments in there, and we were his test subjects."
"Paida Xi coveted the immense power of ability users, so he came up with the idea of turning ordinary people into ability users through modifications."
"That madman operated on us. He put something inside our brains... we don’t know what."
"After the procedures, the vast majority of the test subjects died right on the operating table."
"A small fraction of them made it off the operating table alive, but not long after, their bodies would break out in radiation spots. Within a few days, they would die in agony from total organ failure as their radiation levels skyrocketed."
"And among that small fraction, a tiny handful didn’t experience these post-operative reactions."
Bena looked at the two brothers and said in a low voice,
"And you two were part of that tiny handful?"
Simon nodded.
"We’ve had our abilities ever since."
"My brother’s ability is Confinement. He can project countless chains from his body to restrain his enemies."
"And my ability is..."
Xisuo suddenly cut his brother off.
"But our abilities are very different from those of natural ability users."
"Every time we use our powers, the radiation levels in our bodies rise. The more intensely we use them, the faster our radiation levels climb."
"Back in the shelter, this wasn’t a huge problem."
"Paida Xi gave us regular check-ups. Whenever our radiation levels got too high, he would inject us with a radiation-suppressing drug."
"With a steady supply of the drug, we really weren’t that different from natural ability users."
"At first, I didn’t mind that life."
"After all, going from a slave to a high-and-mighty ability user seemed like a good trade-off."
"However, I soon realized we were just guinea pigs—test subjects. Our only purpose was to provide Paida Xi with more experimental data. That, and to help him secure more funding to buy even more test subjects for his experiments."
"Test subjects who didn’t meet his expectations had a habit of mysteriously disappearing."
"I worried that one day my brother and I would be next, so I took the first chance we got on an outside mission and we escaped."
"But after leaving the shelter, I discovered the outside world wasn’t as wonderful as I’d imagined."
"In the shelter, we were tools—high-level enforcers. Out here... how is it any different?"
"To survive in the wasteland, you have to explore and hunt. We had to constantly take on jobs to earn enough bounty money."
"We learned how to fight in the shelter, but all our combat training was intrinsically linked to our abilities."
"But using our abilities increases the radiation in our bodies."
"Forget everything else—just buying enough of the radiation-suppressing drugs costs a fortune."
"It created a vicious cycle."
"Without our abilities, our combat skills are average at best. Trying to live a good life is just a pipe dream."
"Using our abilities makes us much stronger in a fight, but then we don’t have enough money to treat the side effects."
At this, Xisuo, still lying on the ground, gave a self-deprecating smile.
"Eventually, we considered just going back to the shelter."
"We figured we’d apologize to Paida Xi. Given how useful our abilities are, he’d probably be willing to take us back."
"Only, when we got back to Paida Xi’s shelter, we were shocked to find it had been attacked and destroyed by persons unknown."
"Pretty pathetic, aren’t we?"
Simon grabbed his brother’s hand and whispered,
"Brother..."
Bena fell silent after hearing their story.
He hesitated for a moment before speaking to them.
"Wait here a moment. I might have a solution, but it’s not my call to make. I need to send a message."
Neither of them was a fool. They both froze at his words.
Simon asked anxiously,
"You really have a solution?"
Bena hesitated, then nodded.
"I don’t have any radiation-suppressing injections on me, but I know where to find some."
"But, you’re not part of our shelter, so..."
Xisuo was taken aback. He looked Bena up and down, his expression a mix of shock and suspicion.
"You’re from a shelter, too?"
Bena scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"I only just joined, actually."
"So, I’m just an ordinary member. I can’t make the call."
"Just wait here. I’ll have someone send a message to our Administrator and ask."
With that, he quickly waved to Number 1 in the distance.
「...」
Inside the shelter, Ye Yun fell silent as he read the message sent back by Number 1.
’The two loners Bena had run into were both ability users. Products of a lab, sure, but ability users nonetheless.’
From the snippets of his previous conversations with Bena, he knew that ability users were incredibly powerful.
’Honestly, this is a rather sudden surprise.’
’From the looks of it, these two loners seem to be of decent character.’
’After all, not many people would risk their own well-being to block a fatal blow for Number 1.’
