A Glimmer of Consciousness and the Stirring Undercurrent
The first sound he heard was the regular, monotonous "beep... beep..." unique to medical monitoring equipment. It was like a cold, merciless metronome.
Next came the slightly sticky softness and support of the medical gel mattress beneath him and the fresh scent of standard Federation disinfectant emanating from the pure white antibacterial sheets covering him.
He tried to move a finger, but his limbs felt as heavy as lead. Every trivial thought pulled on countless damaged muscle fibers and overloaded nerve endings throughout his body, sending waves of sharp, aching pain and bone-deep exhaustion. His throat was as dry as a desert scorched by fire.
"...Water..."
He mustered all his strength to squeeze the blurred syllable from between his chapped lips.
The moment he made a sound, the figure guarding his bedside reacted immediately.
"Shen-kun! You're finally awake?"
A familiar voice, tinged with irrepressible surprise, relief, and concern, sounded softly in his ear. Immediately after, a gentle yet steady hand supported the back of his neck while another carefully brought a special water cup with a soft, medical-grade silicone straw to his cracked lips.
It was Nadeshiko Sakuraba.
She looked extremely tired. Dark circles were visible under her once-clear, bright eyes, and her fair cheeks were somewhat gaunt from days of anxiety and lack of sleep. But when Shen Kai finally opened his incredibly heavy eyelids, a light burst forth from her beautiful eyes, like a spark of hope after an eternal night.
Sweet, cool, purified water flowed slowly through the straw, moisturizing his throat, which felt as if it were about to emit smoke. The water also brought clarity to his thoughts, which had been disorganized from the long, deep coma and the backlash of his "Colorless Core's" energy.
He looked around and found that he was lying in a high-security, Class A, single-person isolation intensive care unit (ICU). The room resembled a sterile laboratory for the precise maintenance of expensive machinery more than a place for the wounded to recuperate.
"How long was I unconscious?" Shen Kai asked, his voice still hoarse.
"Three whole days, Shen-kun," Nadeshiko replied, carefully setting down the water cup. Her voice carried an uncontrollable sob and lingering fear.
"You were so close to never seeing us again."
Three days...was it?
Shen Kai slowly closed his heavy eyes. The brutal scene of Sergeant Jones and Worker Bee Six's sacrifice and his own uncontrolled, terrifying eruption of power at the end flashed in his mind like a bloody nightmare.
"Specialist... Li Jian?" Shen Kai suddenly remembered the name he had heard before passing out. He noticed the complex emotion that flickered in Nadeshiko's eyes.
"Yes," Nadeshiko affirmed with a nod. She hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell him the truth.
"Shen-kun, you and Captain Gestalt's final performance in that battle was astonishing."
"Captain Gestalt submitted the complete battle record and all related data from your final eruption to the Federation's Supreme Command as a top-level strategic secret."
"Now, the highest echelons of the Federation—especially the bigwigs in the Technology Division, which is in charge of core technology research, and the Internal Affairs Investigation Department, responsible for internal security—have shown an extremely strong interest in your world-shattering performance and your unrecorded 'Colorless Core.'"
She emphasized the word "interest," her eyes filled with deep worry for Shen Kai's future.
The Internal Affairs Investigation Department...
Upon hearing that name, Shen Kai's heart sank abruptly, plunging into a bottomless, cold abyss.
He feared the so-called "special interest" of the higher-ups in the Federation's power structure the most. In the eyes of the Federation's cold and efficient war machine, "special" often didn't mean honor and opportunity. It meant being a rare experimental sample that could be dissected and studied at will or an "unstable factor" that needed to be strictly controlled or completely eliminated.
He had survived only to fall into what felt like an even larger, more invisible cage.