Chapter 16: Cannot be Manipulated

She spent the majority of every day with her eyes closed, even when Zong Fang or someone else came and talked to her, she did not respond. At first, she forced herself to eat something, but ever since she discovered the cameras inside the cabin, she began to starve herself.

She didn't want people to see her excreting while lying there, overwhelmed by an immense sense of shame. This made her body weaker by the day, sometimes sleeping for two days at a stretch, unrousable by anyone.

This greatly alarmed everyone, their faces tense, they even held meetings specifically for this issue, discussing ways to get her to eat normally.

Someone suggested, "Doctor, why not try untying her? I studied human emotion at the Interstellar Academy, and I suspect Miss Suisui's loss of appetite might be due to emotional issues."

Zong Fang looked serious, pondering something.

He had tried all sorts of methods, injecting nutrient liquid, threatening, cooing... none of it worked. He didn't understand why this research subject was so uncooperative.

Zong Fang agreed to give Qiao Suisui some space to move because after several days of travel, the Soter Republic had arrived.

He transferred Qiao Suisui to the Ancient Human Research Center, where there was an array of equipment and a confluence of experts and scholars from various fields of anthropology. He opened an entire top-level area as Qiao Suisui's living space, where he recreated a living room, audio-visual room, entertainment area, dining room, small library, gym, and so on - all based on historical records of ancient human inventions, at a one-to-one scale.

Zong Fang looked at the human-like habitat he had created with satisfaction, eager to see the reaction on that small face.

Suisui felt a slight jolt and heard some rustling sounds around her; she woke up but didn't want to pay any attention.

With a hiss, the airbag door opened, and she felt the electronic locks on her hands and feet being released.

Zong Fang picked her up, and due to her fasting and poor mood, she had suddenly lost about ten pounds in a few days. Zong Fang frowned as he lifted her. He placed her on a sofa with a warm color tone, allowing her to step barefoot onto the fluffy carpet.

"Now you can move around freely, no need to stay in the observation cabin anymore."

He excitedly awaited her reaction, but Qiao Suisui just opened her eyes briefly, glanced indifferently around, and then closed them expressionlessly.

The man paused, and then continued, "From now on, you're free. You will have a nutritionist specially assigned to bring you meals, and you also have your own bathroom."

She sneered in her heart.

Free?

She had just glanced around, mainly at the cameras, and noticed they were indeed everywhere, a full 360 degrees without a blind spot.

Living every day like a 24-hour reality show, what kind of freedom was that?

She was human, not an animal without a sense of shame.

She felt an extreme aversion to everything here, especially the man in front of her.

Zong Fang didn't see the reaction he was expecting and furrowed his brow unhappily.

"Tell me what you want, I will fulfill all your wishes," he said, then added, "except letting you leave this place."

Qiao Suisui still didn't look, listen, or speak.

He grabbed her wrist with some irritation and said, "Do you think this kind of resistance will work? I have plenty of time to study you."

"..."

"You can set conditions for me."

"..."

"Do you want to see Sikoses? I can apply to the Federation for you."

"..."

Facing Qiao Suisui's continued indifference, Zong Fang's face turned extremely ugly. He easily pinned her down on the couch, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"Qiao Suisui, speak."

This time she opened her eyes, her black pupils unfocused, like a soulless puppet. Zong Fang froze, her current state a stark contrast to the vivacious young girl he had first met, and he panicked thoroughly. Even the pressure he maintained on her body lessened slightly as his grasp involuntarily softened.

"It's time. I'll have today's scheduled meal sent over."

Just as he stood up, he caught a glimpse of bloodstains on the couch from the corner of his eye.

Zong Fang immediately pulled Qiao Suisui into his arms to check on her, and upon discovering that the blood was coming from her lower body, panic filled his eyes.

"Someone, come!"

Not daring to move Qiao Suisui, he carefully placed her on the couch. Quickly, the entire medical team arrived and began examining her promptly, with Beastmen endowed with healing talents waiting by her side.

Zong Fang held her hand in his, utterly unconscious of it. He checked on Suisui's condition every other minute.

"It's symptoms of a threatened miscarriage."

A doctor said, "How could this happen? We've been extremely careful, and the previous examinations showed that the fetus was stable."

Zong Fang's brows were furrowed, his hands with pronounced knuckles caressed her stomach. The calm he usually exhibited had vanished, leaving raw aggression in his eyes.

"Qiao Suisui, what game are you playing? What exactly do you want? Spill it out."

After a long moment, she finally lifted her eyelids and coldly stared at Zong Fang, speaking slowly, "Remove the cameras."

She couldn't stand living without dignity anymore.

She knew Zong Fang would never let her leave here, and clearly, Ruka's side was no longer safe. The thought that she was alone in this world filled her mind with dark thoughts, some of which were of resigned defiance.

"If you continue to surveil me like this, I'll quickly end myself, and you can go study a dried corpse," she threatened.

If she was to be fish on the cutting board, she would use whatever resources available to resist to the end.

To hell with your game rules, she wanted to set the world's rules herself!

Zong Fang's gaze was deep, and after a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "...Fine, only the public area surveillance will remain."

"I want all the cameras removed," her gaze didn't flinch as she met his stare head-on.

The man took a deep breath, clearly trying hard to contain his anger. He frowned at her, but at last, he compromised.

"Alright, all cameras on this floor will be taken down. But from now on, you must eat well!"

Seeing her nod, Zong Fang, as though venting his frustration, clenched her wrist tightly, yet he dared not exert too much force.

"Qiao Suisui, you're quite something."

In the following days, the cameras were indeed removed as promised.

Suisui began to eat voluntarily, gradually resuming a regular routine. But Zong Fang spent more and more time with her, initially under the pretense of observation for two hours each in the mornings and afternoons. Later, it became six hours a day by her side, eventually progressing to him sharing meals with her—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—and unless there was urgent business, he stayed until she fell asleep at night.

Most times, he merely observed her in silence and took notes, occasionally staring at her slightly protruding belly and getting lost in thought, possibly contemplating something.

Several times, Qiao Suisui dreamt of him carrying her to a cold operating table, splitting her chest open with a scalpel, pulling out her intestines, chopping her head into two, and preserving it in formalin.