9. Ghost Island
Seated on a thick branch on top of a tree, Kimberly observed the situation a few meters above the hill using binoculars taken from her portable space.
Men and women, old and young worked tirelessly on a mine. From their conversations, Kim was able to figure out that it was a gold mine.
Although Continent M wasn't a major producer of gold, there were still several gold mines that produced a substantial amount of gold.
' Definitely an illegal mine.' Kim thought and clicked her tongue.
One would be able to tell from the burly and fierce looking armed men that surrounded and supervised the workers. With experience, one would also be able to tell that the bad guys had abducted a village or so into this forced labour. ' Evil runs everywhere everytime.' Kim sighed preparing to climb down the tree.
She didn't intend to interfere. She wasn't a saint in the first place. Secondly, she had just transmigrated into this world in the very same day and her conditions were also a bit unclear. She didn't want to act rashly and stir the hornet nest.
The corner of her eyes caught a huge faded building below the hill that looked like a warehouse. Thinking that it was probably a factory that they used to process their gold, she didn't give it much thought and instantly leapt from the tree into the air, did a back flip and cleanly landed on the ground without much implicating her injured leg.
Without turning back, she left the way that she had come.
Unfortunately, Kim Lee had no idea what she missed and if only she could have turned back with a single glance... Alas, that mistake would in the future make her regret for the rest of her life.
***
Few meters away in a dilapidated looking warehouse, there was a hidden fright of stairs that led to the underground floor of the building. Unlike how shabby the warehouse looked on the outside, the underground was completely different. Inside was a modern and a high tech science laboratory.
Scenes only seen in horror and scifi movies were happening inside the laboratory.
Men and women in white lab coats and face masks came and left as they busied themselves with their usual business while inside numerous glass cages, people of different caliber were chained and locked, their bodies connected to various machines. Their bodies were emanciated and their eyes looked soulless and empty.
Scenes of people dying and the sorrowful sounds of the painful cries were all blocked by the soundproofed glass cages.
In another room, a man with good looking features in his forties stood Infront of a screen monitor. He was dressed simply in a white long sleeved shirt and black pants while white lab coat was added on top. He looked neat, clean and composed but the cold smile on his face exuded a dangerous vibe.
Behind him were a group of 3 to 4 people equally dressed in lab coats who looked like his subordinates.
" Medicine?" The man's smile as he played with his phone was warm and harmless if one ignored his pale colored pupils carrying a trace of coldness and a faint killing intent, looking like a venomous viper.
He looked amused as he seemed to be answering a question.
" Medicine is used to save lives, mine... is used to kill. "
He uttered nonchalantly in a low voice as his eyes expressionlessly fell on the large screen monitor in the room.
On the screen, images of worm-like and colorful viruses squarming inside the bodies of the experiment subjects (people locked in the cages) were displayed.
" Sir King, the new arrivals are ready." A voice broke the silence. The person being referred to as sir King was the dangerous man in his forties.
Sir King waved his hand and instructed, "inject the new R series immediately."
The scenes on the monitor changed to that of a young man in his early twenties locked in a cage.
His hands and legs were bound with chains as he laid on the metallic hospital bed, his eyes showing immense fear and sorrow.
A cocktail of drugs was injected into his veins. It made his whole body feel like it was being torn apart and his blood was boiling. He was in so much pain that he wished that he could die.
However at this moment, he couldn't die and could only become the test subject and be manipulated by these crazy researchers.
On the glass screen, the young man's blood vessels were about to explode from the drugs. The blood vessels surged with powerful strength that constantly attacked the limits of his body. He was sweating profusely from the pain as if he was soaked in water. His eyes were red and he was losing his rationality.
Outside the screen, data kept jumping. The technicians and researchers discussed in low tones as if the person inside the cage was just a non living test object.
Suddenly, an alarm rang and everything went still. The young man breathed his last.
Infront of the screen monitor, Sir King frowned his eyes turning cold.
Seeing this, the researchers trembled in extreme fear not daring to raise their bowed heads.
" Follow the rules. Failure results to punishment. Get her to accept her share." Sir King said expressionlessly.
The her he was referring to was in another building.
She was a very beautiful middle-aged woman who looked as if she was in her late thirties. She possessed especially striking eyes that could suck one's soul. Her eyes were cold and deep as a bottomless abyss.
Despite being led to the deathly punishment hall and received her doses of electrocution, the expression on her face never cracked for a second as if it wasn't anything new and surprising. Like a block of wood, she had a dead look on her face like a lifeless person.
The only shocking fact was that her striking face resembled 80% of Kimberly Lee's real face.
" How's it? "
Back in the research room, Sir King slowly whispered. He was currently gazing at a young and beautiful woman among the new batch of arrivals. She had pretty eyes but they weren't close to the middle-aged woman's drop gorgeous ones.
The young girl was so scared that she was trembling profusely in fear. Her whole face was stained with tears and snot as she desperately shook her head letting out muffled cries through her gagged mouth.
" It's done sir. " Responded the subordinate fearfully.
" Get rid of them. "
" Yes sir. "
The subordinate nodded in apprehension, understanding what king meant without extra explanations.
This was nothing new. It had been the continuous cycle in the lab for decades. Everyone in the lab already knew that unrequited love had transformed their powerful boss into a psychopath but kept it within their hearts.
Whenever 'she' would get punished, whoever involved in administering the punishment would receive 10 times more pain before going to hell. Including King himself. He'd inflict on himself dozens of times more pain than what she received. Everyone was already used to it.
King's eyes fell on the crying young woman for the last time. Seeing the deep fear and pleading in her eyes, he seemed to have thought of something and chuckled self deprecatingly. " If only she gave me a tiny bit of that look. " He paused and then shook his head. "Unfortunately you're not her. She can only have those eyes. "
King turned his cold back and walked out of the room after giving an order, "those eyes are useless on her. Dig them out. "
" Yes sir. "
***
After exiting a taxi, Kimberly rode an elevator to the 10th floor of an apartment building, following the host's memories to her apartment. It was currently in the midnight. She keyed in the passcode and entered the dim apartment. The house was a 3 bedroom with a modern warm and cozy design layout.
How she had arrived to the Capital from the Ghost Island, that was a story for another day. Let's just say that she met a benefactor. Or rather say that the host's alleged biological family wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface. Nevertheless, it's a story for another day.
She hadn't realized earlier but right now, Kim felt as if her body was been pressed down by a tractor. She was so much tired and her body was aching all over. The only thought on her mind right now was to immediately collapse on her bed and never wake up for a month.
The host had a 5 years old son from her accidental one night stand after her wedding was called off. If not bad, the relationship between the mother and the little boy had only been so-so since the kid always reminded her of the deep scars hidden within her heart.