Chapter 63: Armor and Core

Hesta silently stared at Sean’s angry face.

"You know," she said softly, "not long ago, someone told me that anger is a person's only spear in this world. Because it is crude, ugly, and sharp, whenever you fall into threat, grow weak, or feel humiliated, it will jump out at all costs and tell you to fight back.

"Want to fight back, Sean?"

Hesta grabbed Sean’s head and slammed it heavily against the wall.

"Lately, I’ve been chewing on this feeling every single day, every single day."

A painful, low gasp escaped from Sean's throat, and fresh blood welled from the corner of his mouth once again. Yet even so, he still managed to turn his head with difficulty, fixing his hateful gaze on Hesta's eyes, refusing to relent for even a second.

"You... just you wait..."

Hesta let out a chuckle.

"They say that when a person is angry, it is often when they are at their most powerful. Do you think so?"

Hesta’s voice was indifferent. She did not expect an answer from Sean to any of the questions she raised. After a brief moment of contemplation, she continued on her own.

"But when I thought about it later, it seems that when a person is most angry, he is also most afraid. It’s like when you snatch away a starving person's last ration—he relies on this thing to survive. If this sustenance is casually snatched away, how is he supposed to live?

"Therefore, he must use the utmost anger to warn every plunderer: 'Don't you dare come near me, because I will defend it at all costs.'

"Anger is the armor, and fear is the core. Don't you agree?"

Hesta slightly raised her chin and smiled.

"Tell me, Sean, when I am saying these things, what are you angry about? What are you afraid of? Why did you target me and make things difficult for me... What did you see in me?"

Sean's breathing grew rapid. He knitted his brows tightly and subconsciously averted his gaze—Hesta's eyes, expression, and words were like a sharp scalpel, precisely piercing his heart. They stirred inside him, leaving him both confused and heartbroken.

Sean felt his mind descend into chaos. He panted heavily, yet facing Hesta's relentless questioning, he could not utter a single word.

Amidst the silence, Hesta's expression suddenly froze slightly. She reached out toward Sean’s face.

"Heh... are you crying?"

She gently wiped away the tears on Sean’s cheeks—these fresh tears were still warm.

Sean started, and turned his head away with even greater shame and anger.

Hesta sneered, flicking the mixture of tears and blood onto the floor. She stood up and kicked Sean, who was leaning against the wall, sending him rolling halfway over to lie flat on the ground.

"Disgusting," Hesta said coldly.

Sean’s golden eyes slowly drifted toward Hesta’s ankles.

"You might as well... just shoot me now..."

"Don't sit there and try to order me around," Hesta said lowly. "Unlike you, Sean, my hands have never been stained with human life. Do you know why? No one has ever been willing to let me do these dirty and dangerous things. If I killed you, Liz would be sad—sad for me, do you understand?"

Hesta stepped on the back of Sean's neck, grinding him back down onto the ground.

Sean let out an uncontrollable whimper. He didn't understand what he was crying for; he didn't want to cry, especially not now, shedding tears in front of Hesta.

Hesta glanced at the time. Exactly 7 minutes and 53 seconds had passed since Sean fell out of bullet time.

"Do you remember my warning from last time? I told you not to come looking for trouble with me anymore, but you didn't listen," Hesta said coldly. "I'll be waiting for you to throw whatever else you've got at me, Sean. When it comes to dealing with you, I have plenty of ways."

Hesta pulled a pack of tissues out of her pocket and threw it onto Sean’s face.

"Chew on that slowly."

...

The next task was simple—the partition doors had already dropped, and she couldn't return to the main hospital wing for the time being. She needed to head to the emergency shelter on this floor.

Chiba had said she was coming over because she had something very important to discuss in person.

Hesta lowered her head and sent a message to Chiba: "I'm finished on my end."

It was only then that Hesta's pace finally slowed down, her hands trembling slightly.

She felt as though a fire was burning recklessly in her heart, sweeping away the gloom that had accumulated at the bottom of her spirit these past few days with a cruel, tyrannical momentum, like a living sprite.

Since entering the base, she had experienced several unprecedented sensations and encounters, but none of them left as deep an impression on her as today's ordeal.

All the emotions she had ever anticipated seemed pale and withered compared to her current state of mind—the sweetness and exhilaration of revenge are beyond the imagination of anyone who has never experienced them.

Hesta’s breathing grew deep and slow, and she felt the skin around her eyes grow hot once more.

How strange it was. All emotions in the world—whether joy, sadness, shame, or anger—seemingly culminate in tears when pushed to their limits, but only now did these tears truly make her feel light.

For the first time today, she felt her own strength, a solid, sharp, and majestic strength. It surged within her heart, seemingly shouting aloud—as long as you clench your fists, you can survive.

You can survive just fine.

Hesta's pace quickened. She ran back along the way she had come, like a nimble swallow.

However, just as she approached the emergency shelter, Hesta suddenly heard a faint, strange sound, resembling the clinking of chains.

A faint scent of blood lingered in the air.

Hesta stopped in her tracks.

She stood in the corridor. The shelter was at the very end of the path, the room on the right. Its door appeared to be open.

...Something was slowly crawling out from inside.

Hesta frowned and stepped back slightly.

First, a hand stained completely with blood reached out, followed by a head and shoulders...

Hesta recognized the person before her. Stunned, she hurried forward. "Tulan? What are you—"

"Don't come over!"

Upon recognizing Hesta, Tulan suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Her choked state made it difficult for her to speak. Stuttering, she uttered a few silent apologies and, using her remaining strength, cried out to Hesta.

"Run... run away... Jane..."

Footsteps echoed from inside the shelter. Tulan was suddenly yanked backward. Desperately, she grabbed onto the doorframe, her sobs turning into incoherent murmurs.

The next instant, however, she was pulled into the room. Only a trail of blood remained on the floor, and Tulan's cries were cut short abruptly.

It all happened so fast that by the time Hesta realized what was happening, she had already caught sight of a pair of crimson hands, as thick as crab pincers, reaching out from the doorway.

Immediately following, a man wearing dark blue prison clothes emerged.

He held a loosened iron chain in his hand, and his clothes were splattered with dark blood.

The moment he stepped onto the corridor floor, the lights along the entire hallway instantly shifted to a dark red, and a piercing alarm began to blare, warning everyone at a frequency of three times per second—

*Chelate entity detected within the underground base.*