Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Wuyin listened intently, "And then what?"

"Then, I had no idea," Gui You sat cross-legged on the bed, his voice slowing down. "It seemed my mother wasn't the only one aware of the situation. Everyone had their own agendas and plots. Because of me, her concerns were even greater. Realizing that staying would only lead to chaos, and that my corrupt life force couldn't be improved quickly, she swiftly took me and ran away... So, I don't know what happened afterward."

Not amnesiac, but the information known was limited.

"Where is your mother now?" Xie Linyuan asked.

"...She passed away," Gui You lowered his head. "Not long after we left the experimental island, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Coupled with constant worry and moving from city to city with me, her condition worsened quickly, and she passed away within a year."

"Constantly moving... were you avoiding something?"

"Yes, we were hiding from the people on the island. She feared that after Yier discovered her escape, they would relentlessly pursue us to eliminate us completely," Gui You explained. "In her last few months, we lived very cautiously, always on edge. Perhaps, in a way, her passing was a release for her."

Wu Yin asked, "Do you know the exact coordinates of this experimental island you mentioned? Did your mother leave any records?"

Unsurprisingly, Gui You shook his head. "I'm not sure. I was in a vegetative state when I arrived and spent the entire time hiding in the cabin with my mother when leaving, so I know nothing of the island's exact location. I've tried to find it and asked around these past two years, but to no avail.

As for my mother's belongings, there were very few to begin with, all of which were research notes left on the island. After her death, we even suffered a burglary, leaving nothing behind."

"A burglary?"

"Yes." Gui You's gaze suddenly became stern. "Before she died, my mother had hosted a stranger who wore sunglasses and a mask for a visit. At that time, the calamity of contagious disease was rampant, and the country was in lockdown. They hid from me in a room to talk. Pretending to deliver water, I vaguely heard news about all personnel on the experimental island being dead or missing, and data destroyed. I thought that stranger was a colleague of my mother from the island, but after she died, our home was burglarized, and in the surveillance footage, I recognized the figure of the thief as that visitor. As for his face—"

Xie Linyuan lifted his eyes, behind his crimson right pupil, a pair of emerald eyes also opened wide, intently waiting for Gui You to continue.

"—was actually the boatman my mother had bribed, who delivered supplies to the island!"

"The boatman...?" Xie Linyuan mused, his brows furrowing. Then, a distinctly different voice emanated from him, clearly belonging to another soul: "The boatman??" Wu Yin furrowed his brows even more, "...What does this have to do with the boatman? Why is he getting involved?"

"Don't underestimate him," Gui You's voice deepened, his emotion clearly agitated. "This boatman is no simple character. Somehow, he found out about the parasitic experiments on the island, became greedy, and then somehow accessed the experiment's details and data. After stealing the research materials from my mother, he disappeared.

It was only four months ago, at the northern camp, that I saw him again. This man was actually mingling with the leader of the immune rebels there, up to no good.

I had my eye on him, tracking his movements. Then, I discovered that recently, the cause of the turmoil in the northern camp, the intelligent mutants and artificially mutated animals, all originated from him. He had gathered a group of fanatic followers, who crazily supported him. I was tracking one of his underlings to learn how to control the intelligent mutants better and was about to act to get more information from him when I coincidentally met you and was forcibly moved to the zoo, losing track of the follower."

Speaking of which, Gui You looked up at Wu Yin. "You say you've lost your memory, which doesn't surprise me much. During the experiment, there were many cases of memory loss, somewhat related to the [core], though the exact reason is unclear. What surprises me is that your [core] isn't a waste. I remember clearly, you were born with a core but lacked parasitic abilities. The researcher responsible for you did so many checks for this...

What exactly happened after I left the island? I'm too curious. All the researchers died, and you, Geng Wu, and what, Jia Chen, all managed to escape completely intact? What about Gui Si? Don't tell me Gui Si also escaped... Could it be—unwilling to be experimented on and parasitized, you rebelled in one fell swoop, killing the researchers and then collectively escaping?"

"Honestly," Jie Linyuan felt that this was something Wu Yin could do. And before leaving, he'd probably set the entire island ablaze with his siblings, engaging in murder and arson without restraint.

"Why not simply ask that boatman?" Wu Yin suggested. "You don't know the coordinates of the experimental island, but surely he does?"

"I'd love to ask, but how?" Gui You felt helpless. "Making contact with him isn't the hard part, but there's no guarantee he'd be willing to tell us."

Wu Yin offered his blunt assessment: "Useless."

Gui You pouted in grievance, but Wu Yin quickly cut him off before he could speak, "Are you about to say I've changed? That my personality is vastly different from before?"

Gui You: "..."

Gui You: "Why do you seem proud? Your personality has changed, for the worse, you..." He paused mid-sentence, his expression briefly unnatural. Then, seamlessly transitioning to a long sigh, his tone softened, "But after all, we haven't seen each other for years, and we weren't that close to begin with. It's normal for your personality to have changed."

Wu Yin smiled slightly at his change of heart. He couldn't control Jie Linyuan's mechanical parts; his left eye remained open as usual, but his right eye squinted slightly, showing slyness and malice. "Gui You, stop struggling. Since you've realized it, I might as well be upfront. Is it possible that I'm not Wu Yin at all, but rather Yi Er, who successfully parasitized Gui Si's core and then Wu Yin's body?"

"This could also explain why I'm so eager to find myself, no, Wu Yin's original body. Is it because that's my... obsession?" Wu Yin tilted his head, explaining earnestly, "After all, I suffered severe burns all over my body, probably faced a lot of discrimination, endured disdainful stares. Having a healthy, complete, and attractive body is definitely an obsession ingrained in my bones, something I can't forget even with amnesia."

Jie Linyuan realized something: "Then you're not four years old, but forty."

Wu Yin laughed: "So there's always a twenty-year age gap between us?"

Gui You wasn't as easygoing as Wu Yin and Jie Linyuan. Right after Wu Yin pointed out what Gui You had suddenly realized, Gui You's expression turned sour. He shifted from a relaxed sitting position to sitting up straight, as if he was about to flee through a window at any moment.

"Is Yi Er really that terrifying, to make you so fearful?" Wu Yin didn't have a strong attachment to his own identity. Without memories, any possibility seemed plausible. If there was anything that truly mattered to him, it might only be finding his original body.

As Wu Yin, he is the victim, and his resistance against unethical human rights-violating experiments is justified; as Yi Er, having already committed atrocities, why not act recklessly to the end? It's better to disgust others than to erode himself from within.

Jie Linyuan, as the morally dubious wolf in cahoots with Wu Yin, hesitated but still hoped that his treasured partner was indeed Wu Yin himself—flawed, perhaps, but at least pure and untainted, not the twisted and worldly corrupted Yi Er.

"You better not be Yi Er," Gui You suddenly said, his expression shifting from timidity to resolve, his green eyes filled with defiance and anger. He turned sharply to meet Jie Linyuan's gaze, "If you are, I'll kill you, beast."

Wu Yin, sensing Gui You's hostility, raised an eyebrow and then laughed disdainfully, "Then get out of my bionic body first. You want to kill me while still occupying my bionics? How brazen is that?"

"Yours? This belongs to Wu Yin!"

"Belongs to Wu Yin? What can Wu Yin, a core who is good for nothing but his temper, do about bionics?" Wu Yin boasted shamelessly, "These bionics must have been created by me, Yi Er, based on Wu Yin's genes. So, they are all my bionics."

Gui You: "..."

Gui You's eyelids twitched, "You're definitely not Yi Er; Yi Er isn't like you."

"Not Yi Er, not Wu Yin, then who exactly am I?" Wu Yin curled his lip, "You have to give me a name, right?"

Gui You began to speculate wildly, "Could you be one of those after the thirtieth Gui Si, who escaped with Wu Yin's help? And because Wu Yin met with misfortune on your account, you're especially grateful to him, leading you to mistakenly believe you are him."

"...That's not entirely impossible."

"Stop guessing," Jie Linyuan said helplessly. "If we really want to figure this out, why not directly ask the boatman for the coordinates and then go to the island to see for ourselves?"

"That makes sense," Wu Yin agreed. "We can discuss this with Geng Wu and Jia Chen after we return tonight. We won’t say much, just share the boatman's story. What do you think, Gui You?"

"I think we should say nothing. I trust no one; I even regret making contact with you," Gui You indiscriminately conspiring against everyone.

"Let's discuss something that can unite us in a common cause," Jie Linyuan initiated a topic he had long pondered and always kept at the tip of his tongue, "Gui You, when you and your mother fled back to the mainland by boat, which port did you land at?"

Gui You recalled for a moment and named a port city in the north.

Famous far and wide, not only was it once an economic hub, with developed waterways and a transportation nexus, but it also became a pivotal point three years ago, frequently mentioned in the news before the nationwide information network collapsed.

"How long ago did this happen?" Jie Linyuan asked further.

"..." Realizing what he was actually asking, Gui You replied, "Four years ago."