Chapter 242: Chapter 219: The Stripped SS-level Talent
Like she was before?
Before Yu Lan appeared.
The one and only, renowned Princess of the Empire.
How nostalgic!
A trace of wistfulness flashed through Louisa’s eyes.
But in the next instant, it transformed into smug satisfaction.
’So what?’
’Even if Yu Lan is more outstanding, more dazzling than I am, I’m the one who will inherit the throne. I’m the one everyone will remember in the future.’
*
While Louisa and Belina were frantically busy with the preparations for the upcoming succession ceremony, on the other side, Yu Lan, Jun Lin Yuan, Shen Zueran, and the others had successfully arrived at the Dark Laboratory near Jade Star.
From a distance, they could see people from Jade Star keeping a tight watch on the area. Upon seeing Yu Lan and Jun Lin Yuan approach, they hurried forward to salute.
"Princess Yu Lan, Star Commander."
"We’ve already run a preliminary interrogation on the people. Everything is inside."
This man was one of Jun Lin Yuan’s trusted confidants.
Even though rumors were running rampant on the Star Network that Yu Lan had died in battle on White Sand Star, when he saw her appear right in front of him, he was only dazed for a moment before quickly composing himself. He then took the lead to guide the group.
The Dark Laboratory was built underground, its secret entrance located inside a massive cavern.
The guard explained as they walked:
"If we hadn’t sent someone to tail them secretly back then, we never would have known such a large laboratory existed here."
"It’s so close to Jade Star. It’s terrifying to think what could have happened if they’d had any malicious intentions."
Jun Lin Yuan’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he gave an order:
"After this is over, send people to search every planet near Jade Star."
"If you find anything suspicious, deal with it. All of it."
"Yes, sir."
The guard nodded in immediate acknowledgment, then reminded them in a low voice,
"Princess Yu Lan, please be careful. The path ahead is difficult."
The inside of the cavern was largely undeveloped.
Jagged rocks jutted out everywhere in the messy, pitch-black darkness. The guard handed each of them a small flashlight.
They walked for what felt like an eternity before their surroundings suddenly lit up. A high-tech laboratory, gleaming with sharp white light, appeared before them.
For some reason, the sight of the laboratory made Yu Lan’s heart start pounding frantically.
An inexplicable sense of terror washed over her. She gripped Jun Lin Yuan’s hand even tighter, her fingertips turning cold.
Jun Lin Yuan sensed it immediately and squeezed her hand back with his own large, warm, and steady one.
"Don’t be afraid. It’s okay."
Behind them, Shen Zueran, Li Yucheng, and Yu Wenzhou said nothing, but their silent presence gave Yu Lan the courage to face what was ahead.
The group walked toward the laboratory in the cavern, while the guard bowed and waited at the entrance.
What happened next was not something he was privy to.
All he could do was wait.
However...
The guard lifted his gaze, and for a fleeting moment, a look of profound pity for Yu Lan flashed in his eyes.
Shen Zueran keenly caught this, but he saw no romantic sentiment in the guard’s eyes—only that same heartache.
’Then it must be related to what’s inside the laboratory,’ he thought.
’What could be in there that required Jun Lin Yuan’s personal authority to handle, something that couldn’t be revealed in the slightest?’
Shen Zueran’s heart sank.
The moment they stepped into the laboratory, they were all struck by a fragrance that lingered in the air.
It was fresh and natural, a scent more pristine than even the most advanced Healing Agent could produce.
No, that wasn’t right. To even compare this fragrance to a Healing Agent was to defile it.
But the expressions on Pei Shiyi, Yu Wenzhou, and Sheng Yiqing’s faces changed drastically, one after another.
The scent was simply too familiar.
Far too familiar.
A scent engraved upon their very souls.
It was, unmistakably, Yu Lan’s own scent.
What in the world had been done in this laboratory? An inexplicable rage surged violently from the depths of their hearts.
Just then, Pei Shiyi spotted a glob of pure gold liquid, floating in mid-air at the very core of the lab, tightly enclosed within a transparent containment field.
"What is that?"
Shen Zueran followed Pei Shiyi’s gaze, and his pupils contracted violently in an instant.
An intense, heart-wrenching ache washed over him. After a long moment, his pained, hoarse voice broke the silence.
"It’s a talent."
"A female’s Healing Power talent."
He grabbed a nearby scanner and quickly swept it over the liquid. When he saw the familiar values appear on the screen, his entire hand began to tremble uncontrollably, and he forced himself to speak:
"An SS-level, growth-type Healing Power talent. It had a 99% chance of developing into a 3S-level Healing Power talent."
"And they just... ripped it right out of her."
Shen Zueran’s words were filled with pity, but even more so with an unconcealable rage.
This was incredibly rare for him, a man who was always emotionally composed. If the people from the Dark Laboratory were to appear before him now, he would undoubtedly attack without hesitation, spilling their blood on the spot.
Meanwhile, Pei Shiyi, Yu Wenzhou, and the others were completely stunned by the bombshell Shen Zueran had just dropped.
The truth they had resisted, the one they hadn’t dared to even consider, was now confirmed.
Everyone knew.
When Yu Lan was first brought back to Central Star from Garbage Star, she had no talent.
Her talent had mysteriously vanished while she was adrift, turning her into a notoriously useless female.
Because of this, Belina had never publicly announced Yu Lan’s identity.
Thinking back now, it all made sense.
No wonder!
No wonder Louisa and Belina were the first to express disbelief when people on the Star Network speculated that Yu Lan was a 3S-level female.
It was because they knew all along that Yu Lan’s talent was gone.
It had been ripped out by people Belina sent, right from the very beginning.
Jun Lin Yuan couldn’t even bear to imagine how Yu Lan, stripped of her Healing Power, had managed to survive all those years on Garbage Star.
At that moment, Shen Zueran’s words seemed to unlock Yu Lan’s own long-buried memories.
Her beautiful face turned deathly pale in an instant. Her eyes stared, numb and vacant, at the golden liquid in the distance as her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Lanlan, don’t look!"
"Don’t look. It’s all in the past. Everything is in the past."
Yu Wenzhou embraced Yu Lan from behind, covering her eyes with his large hand. His heart ached to the extreme, and his voice was choked with suppressed sobs.
The people who love you will only feel more pain than you do.
He wished all the knives could fall on him instead, to shield her from every storm.
"It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore."
"It’s all in the past."
Yu Lan’s voice was low. In that instant, she finally remembered everything.
All her memories came flooding back.
She had originally thought she had transmigrated, but it was actually the second awakening of her talent that had caused her amnesia.
Belina, arrogant and condescending, had tried to control her destiny. But in the grand scheme of things, fate had its own plans.
What she had lost, she would take back in its entirety. She would return to her peak.
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