“Good morning,” he said.
“Number 81, Lin Huai,” the secretary whispered in the doctor’s ear. The doctor nodded, then bent down to look at the young man sitting on the ground, neither humble nor arrogant, and kindly asked, “What are you doing here?”
Lin Huai replied, “Visiting the wildlife park.”
The doctor and his team clearly didn’t catch Lin Huai’s sarcasm. The doctor smiled affectionately and asked, “Was it you who was tapping on the glass just now?”
Lin Huai nodded, “Yes.”
The doctor squatted down, looking directly into his eyes, “Why?”
“Were you venting your frustration about being locked up here, or…” he narrowed his eyes, “or were you trying to save Number 91?”
“Neither,” Lin Huai yawned, squinting his eyes, “Just venting some morning grumpiness. A girl’s scream is the worst alarm clock in the world.”
The doctor chuckled softly, and after a while, he said, “I really want to open the glass and pat your head, but unfortunately, you seem a bit too aggressive.”
Lin Huai also looked into his eyes and smiled, “I’d like to pat your head too, but I prefer furry creatures, like dogs, ferrets, or bamboo rats… not a bald old man’s head.”
The doctor: “…”
“You should take some medicine,” the doctor said gently, “Be good.”
With that, he clapped his hands and coldly spoke to the camera, “Electrocute him.”
“Ugh—”
The sudden pain made Lin Huai violently shake his head. The moment the operator pressed the button, a strong electric current surged from the collar around his neck. The heart-wrenching pain traveled along his nerves, drilling into his skull, and reaching his fragile cerebral cortex.
Although Lin Huai had a higher tolerance for pain than most and possessed the ability to heal his body, it was a pity that, even though he was a Fierce Ghost, he hadn’t yet surpassed human limits like Dio. In other words…
His body was still conductive.
When the doctor pressed the power button, everyone’s faces turned pale. The girl sitting in another room, wearing a sunflower, suddenly stood up!
She rushed to the glass, almost about to say something.
However, the next moment, her eyes darkened, and upon seeing the collar clearly, the corner of her mouth curled slightly.
“How interesting…” she whispered.
Finally, she lowered her arm to her side and closed her eyes.
“Does it hurt?” Dr. Lucille squatted in front of him, stroking his chin, “You should feel the pain. This level of current is prepared to punish disobedient exhibits.”
Then, he clapped his hands again, looking at the twisted side of Lin Huai’s face, and let out a surprised “Huh?”
“You look much better now than when you were all fierce and sharp-tongued,” he said, “Does it hurt? If it hurts, scream. There’s no need to suppress your feelings for the sake of ridiculous dignity, right?”
After saying this, he leisurely looked at the young man, and as expected, the young man’s shoulders trembled violently.
As expected.
“Have you heard of Pavlov’s dog?” Dr. Lucille looked at him with his green eyes under his glasses, smiling softly, “Or perhaps, have you heard of Little Albert?”
“This is operant conditioning,” he said, reaching through the glass to touch the hair of the young man who was pale from pain, “One pain is a lesson, one obedience is a comfort. Soon, you’ll learn to be a good boy. Understand?”
“Screw your good boy,” Lin Huai sneered, holding his head, “Not possible, unless…”
“Unless your bald head grows back,” he said, “But it seems like you’ll never achieve that in this lifetime. If you want to achieve that, you’d better commit suicide for the benefit of the people and be reborn as a furry cockroach in the next world.”
Dr. Lucille’s smiling face finally darkened unavoidably. He took a few deep breaths to stabilize his smile, and after a while, he said, “You’re something.”
He decided not to say anything more. Soon, this young man would be in too much pain to make any more sharp-tongued replies. He thought that the next step would be begging, crying, and wailing…
Dr. Lucille thought idly. After satisfying his inner sadistic desires, he felt a bit bored.
Dr. Lucille was born into an upper-class family. His family was very clean—there had never been a potential criminal. After all, the determination of a potential criminal was always a very subjective test. Sometimes, a ten-year-old boy who bullied his classmates and burned their hair with fire would not be considered a potential criminal; meanwhile, a well-behaved girl who was about to inherit millions from her deceased parents could be judged as a potential criminal—in the end, it was all about manipulation.
He had a pair of strong parents and two brothers who were physically stronger than him, which resulted in an inferiority complex that tormented him throughout his youth. Some people can use a perfect childhood to heal their future selves and live their entire lives with that light; however, others encounter too many unpleasant things in their childhood, so they need to use various methods in adulthood to try to heal their childhood with their own lives.
What Dr. Lucille adopted was an abnormal obsession with “the desire to dominate” to heal his childhood of being bullied by his brothers and ignored by his parents. While studying biology, he keenly noticed society’s obsession with the issue of “potential criminals,” the public’s fear of crime, and their eagerness to label and find an outlet for their emotions, which gave birth to this twisted and terrifying product.
He smelled the business opportunity and quickly began his actions. With the help of media hype and his understanding of public psychology, he successfully started his path of domination.
He dominated the lives of his “patients” and controlled public opinion. He was the inventor of new methods, the merciful savior of potential criminals who should have remained in the dark, and the deity who should be praised by all!
Dr. Lucille enjoyed the feeling of condescending benevolence. Just like when he looked at Number 81 on the other side of the glass, clutching his head and trembling in pain. After all the displeasure caused by disobedience dissipated, he put on a perfect mask and felt the satisfying boredom of “everything is as expected.”
It was about time to stop. Dr. Lucille thought so and opened his mouth to the person beside him, “Stop…”
However, the next moment, he finally heard the sound that came from the mouth of the potential criminal who should have been begging for mercy.
“Haha… hahaha…” he laughed, “Hahahaha…”
It was actually laughter.
“What are you laughing at?!”
At that moment, an indescribable sense of shock and anger rose from Dr. Lucille’s heart. He felt a strong sense of humiliation, even stronger than the humiliation he felt years ago when he couldn’t catch up with his stronger brothers.
He’s laughing? He’s actually laughing? This prisoner, this person who is much, much lower than his own status… is actually laughing?
He couldn’t believe his ears for a moment, and with a cold face, he ordered the operator to turn off the power. He pressed against the glass, staring directly at the prisoner below, “What are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing at you…” the prisoner behind the glass looked into his eyes, the corner of his mouth slightly curled, “I’m laughing at you…”
“Guess what,” he whispered, “who do you think looked more like the trapped prisoner just now, you or me?”
It was a light remark, but Lucille suddenly flew into a rage. With a dark face, he led everyone away.
“Hahahaha… hahahaha…”
The maniacal laughter chased after him, lingering until he was completely gone, and the lights in the corridor dimmed.
Only after Lucille and the others had left did Lin Huai stop laughing.
“Brother Lin, Brother Lin,” Lu Xiaotian crawled over to him with a sobbing voice, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lin Huai said.
“How can you be fine! You’ve been electrocuted silly!” Lu Xiaotian shouted, “Damn that dog doctor, looks like a human but is actually a magnetosphere trooper…”
“Really, I’m fine,” Lin Huai said, “I don’t feel any pain…”
“Brother Fat! Brother Fat! Brother Lin has been electrocuted silly!” Lu Xiaotian shouted, “We need to think of a way to get him out of here! If we stay locked up here any longer, we’ll all be electrocuted silly!”
“…”
Lin Huai sighed, “I was going to build up a tragic, strong, and beautiful image for you, but forget it, I’ll reveal the answer now.”
With that, he easily shook his neck, revealing the gap between the collar and his neck.
“Actually, I used two skills just now,” he said, “The first skill made the magnetosphere trooper’s power ineffective.”
Lu Xiaotian’s eyes widened, “Damn, you have that kind of skill? What’s the second one?”
Lin Huai: “The second skill is called Stanislavsky, also known as ‘An Actor Prepares,’ where I acted as if I was being electrocuted, but actually, I was just performing, hehe.”
Lu Xiaotian: “…”
At this point, perhaps it’s necessary to explain how Lin Huai managed to damage the collar earlier.
In the room, Lin Huai tried various ways to destroy this damn collar. However, it seemed to be made of cutting-edge technology, with excellent elasticity and toughness. If he tried to force it open, this story might turn into ‘The Headless Horseman Chronicles’… So finally, he remembered a skill he had once acquired.
[Some say we sell disposable products, some say our computers never work well—oh, my friend, when the computer isn’t working, just give it a good whack!]
Skill Name: Repair Technique [Green]
Skill Description: In life, there are always some strange things that need temporary repairs, sometimes a TV, sometimes a computer, sometimes your ex-boyfriend who’s not quite right in the head… When your mechanical device malfunctions, you can use this skill to hit it once and make it work again. Note: Only effective on post-First Industrial Revolution products. The strength of the hit will determine how long the device works, with a maximum duration of half an hour. Success rate: 90%.
Since he couldn’t destroy the collar, he decided to try repairing it. Before the warden and others arrived in the corridor, Lin Huai had used the skill on the collar 25 times…
Finally, on the last attempt, he hit the 10% probability and perfectly broke the collar…
