Top edge chapter 31

The bird in the cage

Shen Siwei dreamed of the rainy night twenty years ago.

After parting ways with the little boy, he returned to the battle zone and found Laizhe.

“Captain, the target is dead, I repeat, the target is dead,” the radio crackled.

Shen Siwei took Leizhe to hide in a residential building and seized the opportunity to report to Moran.

“What about the body?” Gunfire sounded intensively through the earpiece, indicating that Moran’s situation was not good either.

“It fell into the river and was washed away,” Shen Siwei said.

“Are you sure the target is dead?” Moran asked.

“I shot and killed him myself.”

Moran didn’t reply immediately, seemingly considering whether or not to verify the information. But the voices of the team members urging retreat came through the earpiece, and he finally ordered the team to regroup.

Shen Siwei and Laizhe prepared to leave the residential building, but as soon as they stepped out, they ran into a small squad of Night Eagles.

The two were forced to the rooftop, and Shen Siwei asked Laizhe to jump to the opposite building. It was at this moment that a bomb fell at his feet.

“Bang!”

Shen Siwei woke up abruptly, looking up at the familiar white ceiling.

He gradually regained consciousness, and his relaxed nerves tensed up again. He subconsciously tried to sit up but found his hands restrained on the operating table. His face was not wearing an oxygen mask either..

“You’re awake.”

Moran, dressed in black military uniform, stood beside the operating table, hands behind his back, calmly observing Shen Siwei.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm.

Shen Siwei coldly surveyed his surroundings and realized that he was back at the laboratory. Dr. Chen stood behind the control console, which should be the operational terminal for the control chip in Shen Siwei’s brain.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Moran apparently noticed Shen Siwei’s gaze. “You won’t get far”

Moran was right. Without the oxygen mask, Shen Siwei couldn’t even remove the metal ring clasping his wrist.

He decided to relax his muscles and looked at Moran, asking, “Aren’t you afraid of the bombing being exposed?”

Moran stroked his chin and chuckled softly, “Do you think this is my decision?”

Shen Siwei understood what Moran meant and silently furrowed his brow.

“This order comes from above,” Moran pointed upward.

The laboratory was located on the third level of the Life Tree, and by “above,” naturally, he was referring to the Marg people.

To prove his point, Moran opened a news webpage on a miniature computer. The screen displayed a city full of holes, with the iconic Creston Grand Hotel turned into ruins.

News headline: Western District invaded by distorted monsters, military retaliates relentlessly.

Below, there were images of desert wolf packs roaming the streets of Z City, but the article made no mention of the refugees fighting the desert wolves.

The comments were filled with gratitude for the military driving away the monsters..

Shen Siwei was not surprised that the military would take credit for driving away the wolf pack, but what worried him was if the military had bombed the entire city

He clearly remembered that when he was taken away, only the area at the junction of the city and the industrial zone was bombed. But now, according to the news, the entire city had turned into scorched earth.

“Blame it on Klet,” Moran said regretfully. “If he had been killed in the bombing, I wouldn’t have had to send so many fighter jets.”

Shen Siwei furrowed his brows upon hearing this, and his heart sank.

“You seem very worried about him,” Moran noticed Shen Siwei’s tension and smiled. “I can tell you some good news: we didn’t find his body.”

That’s good…

Klet must be fine…

Shen Siwei lowered his gaze, unable to help but recall various things from the past.

This was the second time Moran hunted down Klet, and he was also the killer of Klet’s mother.

If there was a chance…

Shen Siwei secretly harbored murderous intentions, but he looked at his restrained wrists and helplessly pushed back the thought.

“But I’m still curious, what made you choose klet’s side?” Moran continued, “Does Klet have a charming personality?”

As a member of the military, Shen Siwei was willing to help Klet, which could be because of his “charming personality.”

But no matter how charming Klet was, that wasn’t the case.

In the end, it was because of Moran.

If Moran killing Sara twenty years ago could be considered the trigger for his change in stance, then the military’s bombing of civilians twenty years later had completely ignited that trigger.

Of course, Shen Siwei wouldn’t explain all this in detail to Moran. He simply said, “Because you’re disgusting.”

Moran had a shocked expression. “You’re talking about love affairs.”

“To be honest, you’re not my type,” Moran leaned closer, his hands resting on the edge of the operating table, observing Shen Siwei up close. “All I see in your eyes is rebellion, and i hate rebellious and hard headed individuals”

Shen Siwei turned his face in the opposite direction to avoid Moran’s breath from reaching his face and making him nauseous.

“But,” Moran quickly straightened up and walked to the control panel, “I enjoy playing dress-up games. It’s my little hobby.”

After saying that, he turned the knob on the control panel and asked Dr. Chen standing nearby, “How about this hair color?”

Dr. Chen pushed his glasses and agreed, “Captain Shen’s features are quite striking, so any color would suit him.”

“That’s right,” Moran smiled, “I like this toy.”

Shen Siwei despised this feeling of being manipulated. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, suppressed the surging desire to kill, and coldly asked, “So, what are you implying now? Are you going to keep me locked up as your toy forever?”

“I’d like to, but you’re the military’s property,” Moran said, “and I also don’t like the look in your eyes.”

—This meant that he had a way to make Shen Siwei’s gaze disappear.

So, was he going to erase his memories again?

“Actually, over the years, we have worked on many soldiers, and you are the only one who survived,” Moran continued, “, you are still an incomplete product. Your memories haven’t been completely erased, and your cardiopulmonary function hasn’t been restored. If it weren’t for the sudden situation in the Western District, I wouldn’t have awakened you so early.”

When his memories were restored, Shen Siwei had wondered whether Moran intentionally left him with such fragile cardiopulmonary function just to keep him under his control.

But now it seemed that wasn’t the case; it was simply that the military’s transformation hadn’t been successful.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll seek revenge in the future?” Shen Siwei asked coldly.

The reason he used the term “future” was because he had already realized that he had no way to resist Moran at the moment.

“You cannot fight against me,” Moran walked back to the operating table and pulled out a  dagger from his body, “Do you know how powerful your skin is?”

Saying this, he cut Shen Siwei’s arm with the dagger.

The sharp tip of the blade carved deep grooves into Shen Siwei’s skin, but the smooth skin remained undamaged.

“Do you know what this means?” Moran put away the dagger, his tone implying a teasing intent.

For the time being, Shen Siwei couldn’t figure out the connection between his skin and seeking revenge against Moran, so he frowned and asked, “What?”

“Let me give you another hint,” Moran leisurely said, “There is a control chip installed in your brain that can manipulate the high molecular material inside your skin, thereby changing your skin color, hair color, and iris color. Of course, the most important function of this chip is to put you into a sleep state. If you make any dangerous moves, I can instantly make you lose consciousness.”

Sure enough, Moran continued, “Emphasizing the key point, the chip was installed before your skin modification was completed.”

“You mean,” Shen Siwei’s expression turned solemn as he spoke, “my skin cannot be cut open, so the chip can never be removed.”

“That’s right,” Moran said smiling, “You’re not too dumb i see.”

Shen Siwei felt a sense of frustration. His eyes darkened.

He would forever be under Moran’s control, like a bird trapped in a cage unable to fly away.

He still wanted to see Klet again, to have a conversation with him, but now it seemed impossible…

“Dr. Chen,” Moran turned around and snapped his fingers at Dr. Chen behind the central control console, “Didn’t you say that there has been progress in the technology in recent days? Can we erase his memories now?”

“Well, Captain,” Dr. Chen looked hesitant and signaled for a private conversation with Moran.

But Moran didn’t move, slightly impatiently saying, “Just say it.”

He didn’t bother to avoid the fact that Shen Siwei could hear their conversation because eventually, Shen Siwei would fall into a deep sleep, and it wouldn’t matter what he heard.

“With the current technology,” Dr. Chen said with difficulty, “we still cannot completely erase memories.”

Moran frowned, “Then what progress did you say we made?”

“We have indeed made some progress, but it only makes it more difficult for him to recover forgotten memories,” Dr. Chen said, “earlier, Captain Shen had already put a lot of effort and strain into resisting the control chip. If we rashly erase all his memories, it may cause permanent damage to his brain.”

“That won’t do,” Moran said, “The higher-ups won’t allow us to invest so much funding and time into creating an idiot.”

“I believe it’s best to proceed gradually,” Dr. Chen pushed his glasses, “Captain Shen is currently the only semi-finished product, and a slight oversight could undo all our previous efforts. Especially when it comes to memories and cardiopulmonary function, which are internal in the body and not like skin and muscle modifications that won’t endanger his life.”

Moran stroked his chin,  “What do you propose then?”

“Let’s continue with cryopreservation for now,” Dr. Chen said, “We have plenty of time.”

Moran pondered for a moment and said, “Alright, let’s go with that.”

Shen Siwei watched helplessly as Morin pressed the sleep button, unable to break free.

That familiar drowsiness swept over him again, and the images became blurry.

Before losing consciousness, there was only one name left in Shen Siwei’s mind.

Klet…

:They will meet again, Klet will start pursuing Shen, and there will be more love Story Content from the two.