My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 412 A Caged Bird (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Iceland, at the base of Hofsjökull Glacier, at 2:00 AM local time on August 29.

"Restricted-level ability user, number 1002—Ji...Ji...Ming...Ming..."

A hoarse voice came from the penguin-shaped broadcasting equipment, as if the television had lost signal. The sound was intermittent, sometimes twitching, and chilling to the ear.

Ji Minghuan woke up from his bed with a thud. He opened his eyes and stared silently at the penguin broadcast on the ceiling in the darkness. After a long while, the eerie noise finally stopped.

For a moment, the cell became as silent as the deep sea, so quiet that one could hear the ringing in their ears.

"What just happened? Is the Salvation Society's equipment really this shoddy...?"

Ji Minghuan muttered to himself, slowly got up, sat on the bed, and looked around in confusion.

Normally, when the supervisor gave a report, the lights in the detention cell would turn on first to wake him from his sleep, but at this moment the room was pitch black, with not a single light in sight.

Just as he was thinking this, the large door in his field of vision suddenly opened slowly. The rumbling sound drowned out the ringing in his ears, and in a moment, what came into view was an empty corridor.

Ji Minghuan looked over in confusion, only to see the corridor filled with blinding light, and it was completely empty, with not a single person in sight.

"Old man, what are you up to now?" He raised an eyebrow, looking down the aisle, but asked the broadcasting equipment above his head.

However, the tutor did not answer his question this time.

The cell was quiet, and so was the corridor. Ji Minghuan squinted and sat silently on the bed for a while, but no researchers came in from outside.

After a while, seeing that waiting had yielded no results, Ji Minghuan got out of bed and walked barefoot step by step out of the prison room.

He stepped into the endless curtain of light.

A halo of light washed over his face like a tidal wave. He closed his eyes, reached out and touched the wall, walking along its edge. After a moment, his right hand suddenly found nothing on the wall. Although he couldn't see clearly with his eyes closed, he could guess that it was a room.

The door was open. Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, stopped, and turned to walk into the room.

With his back to the light screen, he slowly opened his eyes and saw a emaciated boy. The boy was curled up in a corner, hugging his knees, head down, bangs covering his eyes, and muttering something softly.

Ji Minghuan knew this boy; the two had met once before. He was Wu Qingjie, the holder of the mythical wonder "Zeus".

After a while, Wu Qingjie looked up nervously and looked at Ji Minghuan's face.

"What's wrong?" Ji Minghuan stared into his eyes and asked curiously, "You look like you're in a lot of pain."

"I thought you wouldn't come to see me. I've always wanted to play with you," Wu Qingjie murmured, a faint smile forcing across her pale face. "But you never come to see me, not even once..."

Ji Minghuan lowered her eyes and explained, "Our mentor said you need to be alone, which is why we've never contacted you."

“I need friends, I don’t need to be alone… I’ve been alone enough, for long enough.”

"are you OK?"

“I’m not okay… I feel like my brain is about to split open,” Wu Qingjie murmured. “That person with lightning all over his body kept talking to me, but I couldn’t hear him. He seemed to be reminding me of something, but I couldn’t hear anything clearly… I don’t want to listen, I’m so tired.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Minghuan suddenly thought of Yan Molin, but she deserved it. Wu Qingjie was innocent; he was only forced to have a fragment of Zeus implanted in his body, which led to his fate.

Wu Qingjie paused, then suddenly lowered her head. "Thank you for coming to see me... No one has ever come to see me before."

Ji Minghuan remained silent for a while, then sat down beside him, leaning against the wall.

"Your name is 'Wu Qingjie', right?"

"Correct."

"If you leave here, is there anything you'd like to do?"

“Make friends, friends who aren’t afraid of me,” Wu Qingjie said softly. “I know you won’t be friends with me anymore, but don’t tell anyone else that I’m a dangerous person, otherwise they won’t be friends with me either…”

Ji Minghuan was silent.

After a long silence, he lowered his voice and said, "I'm sorry, I always thought you were mentally ill... so I listened to my mentor and ignored you."

Wu Qingjie shook her head. "I am a mental patient... He kept talking to me, and I couldn't concentrate on anything. The thunder was so loud, his voice was so loud, and sometimes the tinnitus was so loud that I couldn't even hear what he was saying."

He said hoarsely, "Why is the mentor so good to you, but so bad to me? Is it because I'm unstable and not a good kid? But I've been trying to listen to him... I want to be like you, but I just can't."

“In our mentor’s eyes, we are all the same.”

"Really?"

“Yes.” Ji Minghuan nodded. “In his eyes, we are just…” He paused, knowing he couldn’t say what he should say, otherwise Wu Qingjie would either be electrocuted or controlled by the brand in her mind.

So he turned to Wu Qingjie and changed his words, saying, "Anyway, it's okay, it'll be over in a few days... Whether it's good or bad, it'll all be over in a few days, and then you'll be free and won't be in so much pain anymore."

"Really?"

“Hmm,” Ji Minghuan nodded, “At that time you will no longer hear thunder, nor will you have tinnitus or hallucinations. Perhaps you will be able to make some very good friends.”

"Can't you be my friend?"

You deserve better friends.

"Even though I know you're just giving me the runaround... thank you anyway."

"You're welcome, I have to go now."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

After saying goodbye to Wu Qingjie, Ji Minghuan got up from the wall and returned to the prison cell along the same route.

He knew that his mentor had suddenly opened the door in the middle of the night because he wanted him to meet with Wu Qingjie, in order to comfort Wu Qingjie's mental state, which was about to spiral out of control.

But in reality, all of this is dispensable; it's merely a condescending display of pity.

Once the androids are fully completed, these mythical children will become mere sacrifices, used and discarded by their mentor. The mentor will never let them go. The androids are his tools for cleaning up the world, a blade completely obedient to him.

A short while later, Ji Minghuan returned to the detention cell.

His cell was very close to Wu Qingjie's, not far apart. This was a piece of information worth mentioning; it might come in handy on the day we infiltrate the Salvation Society.

Ji Minghuan had just returned to her bedroom when suddenly, another figure walked into the cell door.

He looked up curiously and saw that the other person was wearing a white coat, with black hair tied in a bun, dark circles under his eyes as heavy as ever, and an expression as languid as ever.

Keojiena has arrived.

This was an unexpected guest for Ji Minghuan. He had thought that after Keojiena left the Salvation Society a few days ago, she wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

"Working girl, what are you doing back here? Aren't you on holiday?" Ji Minghuan was taken aback for a moment, then got out of bed and very consciously pulled up a chair to sit at the table.

“I’m free.” Koogena walked over with her hands in the pockets of her white coat and said this as soon as she opened her mouth.

"Huh?" Keojiena pulled up a chair and casually sat down at the table.

"What do you mean you're free?" Ji Minghuan tilted her head, staring at her in confusion.

"Literally, from today onwards I don't need to come to the Salvation Society anymore." Koogena rested her chin on her hand, her elbow on the table, and yawned with her eyes downcast.

"You resigned?"

"It's more accurate to say he was fired; he was just expelled by his advisor."

"Oh, congratulations then. But be careful they don't silence you." Ji Minghuan thought for a moment, then said.

"Let them shut us up. It's better than working in this godforsaken place every day." Koogena tilted her head. "Even the Whale Garden is more interesting than this place. Although the people in the Garden are pretty crazy. They kneel down in front of me all the time, which makes me want to kowtow to them a few times too."

"Putting aside the people from the Little Garden, did your mentor really let you go? I don't believe it."

Ji Minghuan rested her chin on her hand and looked up at her.

“My mentor has already wiped out the Salvation Society’s top brass, don’t you think?” Koogena said slowly. “It was those high-ranking members who wouldn’t let me leave in the first place, but now they’re all dead.” She paused. “My mentor just approached me and told me that starting tomorrow, I don’t need to come here anymore…”

She was silent for a moment, then stretched lazily with her eyes downcast, and added casually:
"Actually, I used to be just like you."

"Like us?" Ji Minghuan asked.

"More than ten years ago, I was also a child who grew up in the Salvation Society. But later, I grew up and was sent to the Whale Garden as an undercover agent."

“I guessed it…” Ji Minghuan shrugged. “They must have used some methods to make you unable to get rid of the Salvation Society, so that you are willing to work for them, right?”

“They kidnapped my grandmother. While I was here, I could see her every six months.”

"How is your grandma now?"

"you guess?"

As Keogena spoke softly, she untied the bun on her head, letting her black hair fall down.

Will the Salvation Council release her?

“No.” Koogena shook her head.

"What's the reason for that?"

“My grandmother died yesterday,” Keojiena said, shrugging her shoulders. “So, I have no reason to stay here anymore, and my mentor just happened to give me permission to leave without any guilt.”

"How ironic," Ji Minghuan said casually.

He lowered his eyes and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

“Actually, I feel quite sorry for you,” Koojena said calmly. “I’m leaving, but you probably won’t be able to leave… well, that’s not a secret.”

"It's really not a secret," Ji Ming thought to himself. Even the mentor was starting to reveal his hand and go crazy.

"Anyway, this is the last time you'll see me," Keojiena said lazily. "I'm probably going to go home and lie around for ten days to two weeks, and then I'll just find a city with lots of delicious food to travel around in. Aren't you envious? Aren't you jealous?"

"I'm not envious. It's good that you can leave here."

"why?"

"I'm afraid I'll kill you too when the time comes." Ji Minghuan looked away. "Happy resignation, working girl. But don't ever come back. This is not a place worth staying."

"You've got quite the big mouth, no wonder you're our restricted-level kid brother." Ke Aojiena gave a barely perceptible sneer.

Then she reached out and patted Ji Minghuan's head, "Goodbye, little brat."

"Goodbye." Ji Minghuan paused, "But could you please not make it sound like I'm already dead? It's really bad luck."

"Who knows? All I know is that nobody here wants you to leave alive, not a single one."

After saying this, Keojiena got up from the table and turned to walk towards the exit of the detention cell.

After a while, she stopped in front of the open metal door, turned her head slightly, and her face was shrouded in a hazy, bright light.

Turning her head to look at the boy in the hospital gown sitting quietly at the table, Keojiena felt as if she were seeing herself ten years ago, wearing the same hospital gown, like a caged bird, opening her eyes day after day in the white ward, looking at the white ceiling, the white table, the white chair, everything was so pale, making one seem to forget the original colors of the world.

The world should be as vibrant and beautiful as a kaleidoscope.

Sadly, she was freed ten years later. But the other children imprisoned there never gained their freedom again.

Ke Aojiena was lost in thought. She glanced at Ji Minghuan one last time before looking away.

Her lips moved slightly, as if whispering to the boy behind her, or perhaps bidding farewell to her past. Once again, she spoke softly:

"Goodbye."

After saying that, Keogena left without looking back.

Ji Minghuan silently watched her back until she walked out of the cell before turning his gaze away. He thought to himself, "That working girl is really stupid. She clearly had a chance to leave, but she insisted on coming back to see her grandmother's death. What if her mentor doesn't let her leave?"
Before the door to the monitoring room could even close, he suddenly heard a gunshot, a deafening gunshot that rang out from the corridor like lightning flashing across a calm sea, tearing apart the long, deathly silence.

"Bang——!!!"

In an instant, the entire corridor was filled with deafening gunfire.

Ji Minghuan was stunned for a moment, then slowly raised his eyes and looked up. He saw that the metal door was about to close, and through the crack that was about to disappear, he could still see Ke Aojie's back.

Her figure swayed, stood stiffly for a moment, and then slowly fell to the ground. She turned her head to the side, revealing a bullet hole on her head from which a large amount of blood was flowing, slicing down her cheek.

Ke Aojie stared blankly into the cell for a while, then met Ji Minghuan's gaze. Her face was expressionless, and her eyes were empty.

After a long while, her heavy eyelids slowly closed, and she lay quietly on the ground, her white coat stained with blood, the hem of which drooped in the pool of blood like a broken bird wing, and she remained motionless for a long time.

Ji Minghuan was stunned for a moment. Then he saw a figure, a man wearing a white coat and frameless glasses.

The mentor adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose with his left hand, while in his right hand he held a peculiar revolver that appeared to have been modified by the Salvation Society.

At this moment, the metal door closed completely, and Ji Minghuan could no longer see the scene outside the prison room through the gap.

The cell was pitch black. Ji Minghuan leaned back in his chair and chuckled softly.

"That's true. The mentor's goal is to wipe out all the superhumans. How could he possibly let you go... You're so naive, working girl. Don't you regret coming back?"

With her thoughts drifting to this point, Ji Minghuan suddenly let out a long sigh of relief, then slowly raised her head and stared blankly at the ceiling that was all too familiar to her.

Koojiena is dead. The time was 4:08 AM on August 29th.

There are now 68 hours left until the start of the battle in Iceland.

(End of this chapter)