Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

A week has passed.

For the first three days, the viper came every day.

He would appear at the entrance of the water dungeon on time with the syringe, slowly walk down the steps, and squat down in front of Bai Ye, as if to complete a routine task.

He would wave the syringe in front of Bai Ye, chat with him about the nice weather and the sunshine outside, and then inject the medicine into Bai Ye's vein.

Each time, Bai Ye would struggle, each time curling up on the ground trembling, convulsing, dry heaving, making broken sounds in his throat, quietly watched from above by the viper's gaze.

On the fourth day, the viper did not return.

Bai Ye huddled in the corner, not knowing what he was waiting for, but his body knew.

He was thirsty. Not just thirsty, but a thirst that surged from the depths of his bones, a thirst that made every nerve in his body scream.

His body was burning hot, yet his skin was covered in a layer of cold sweat, as if he were simultaneously feverish and frozen from the inside out. His heart was pounding like a drum, and his chest felt like it was being gripped by something; every breath required all his strength to tear open that invisible pressure.

He trembled uncontrollably, curling up and stretching out, banging his head against the wall, trying to use external pain to extinguish the fire burning inside him. He bit his wrists and arms, leaving rows of bleeding teeth marks.

The fifth day was even more agonizing.

His willpower was like a string being repeatedly stretched taut; each time it was about to snap, he would remember something to tighten it again.

On the sixth day, he began to hallucinate.

He saw movement in the corner and heard voices outside the water dungeon. He rushed over, grabbed the iron bars, and shook them frantically, shouting hoarsely for someone outside to give him an injection—any kind of injection would do, as long as it relieved his suffering. But no one answered him.

It was empty outside, with only the whistling of the wind through the corridor. He leaned against the iron gate, slowly slid down to the ground, buried his face in his knees, and trembled uncontrollably all over.

On the seventh day, the door to the water dungeon was finally pushed open.

Viper seemed to be in a good mood today. He walked down the steps and saw Bai Ye curled up in the corner. He had lost a lot of weight, his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were deep-set, his lips were chapped and peeling, and the tips of his ten fingers were covered with layers of dried scabs, new and old ones stacked together.

He leaned against the wall, head down, breathing shallowly and rapidly, his whole body like a shell that had been repeatedly disassembled and hastily pieced back together.

The viper crouched down and sized him up. It didn't say a word.

Bai Ye slowly raised his head. His eyes were unfocused, his pupils dilating and contracting repeatedly, as if something was struggling deep within his eyes, trying to surface.

He moved his lips, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, as if forced out from a parched throat: "...Big Brother..."

He crawled forward half a step and grabbed the viper's trouser leg.

He looked up at the viper with his wet, gleaming eyes, like a drowning man spotting a piece of driftwood: "...Give me a needle...I can't take it anymore...I really can't take it anymore..."

His voice trembled, his lips quivered, his whole body shook violently, and even his toes were digging into the ground inside his shoes.

His fingers tightened around the viper's trouser leg, as if afraid that if he let go, the person in front of him would disappear, and he would return to that state of being burned, torn apart, and repeatedly dragged into the abyss: "I'm going crazy... Big brother... I'm really going crazy... Please give me an injection... I'll do anything... I'll do anything you want... Just give me an injection... just one injection..."

Viper looked down at him. His eyes were lowered, his gaze slowly moving from Bai Ye's hand gripping his trouser leg to Bai Ye's upturned face, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upwards, as if he had finally seen a long-awaited scene unfold before him.

"Just beg me," Viper's voice was soft, like coaxing a child who had finally given in, "say you're willing to work for me, say you'll be my dog ​​from now on, and I'll give you an injection right away. After that injection, you'll feel like you've been pulled out of hell, and everything will be alright. Just say it. It's that simple. Just say it, and I'll give it to you."

Bai Ye's lips trembled, and the word "good" was already on the tip of her tongue.

His pupils reflected the viper's face and the syringe that had already been taken out. The pale yellow liquid in the syringe gleamed warmly under the fluorescent light, as if beckoning to him.

He knew what that thing would turn him into, that he would no longer be himself. He would kneel on the ground and beg this person to give him the injection every time he had an attack, until he became nothing but an empty shell.

But the images were becoming increasingly blurry in his vision, while the liquid in the syringe was growing brighter. He opened his mouth, and a sound was about to escape his throat—

Then he stopped moving.

He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, a sharp pain exploding from his tongue, and the taste of blood filled his entire mouth.

He closed his eyes briefly, forcing the word "good" that was already on the tip of his tongue to be uttered and swallowing it back down.

No. He can't become an empty shell without a soul. He's 007. He's the sharpest blade in the sky. The captain and the others are still waiting for him to come back. Xuan Xiao is still waiting for him to come back. He can't bow down for a single injection of drugs.

He opened his mouth, but the word never came out.

The viper waited a while and saw his lips move a few times, but in the end no sound came out.

Viper wasn't angry or urging him; he simply took the syringe away from Bai Ye's sight and put it back in his pocket.

He stood up, dusted off his pants, looked down at Bai Ye curled up on the ground trembling, and spoke with a calm and unhurried certainty, as if he were talking about something that would happen sooner or later.

"How much longer can you hold on? Three days? Five days? Next week?" Viper chuckled. "No rush. We have plenty of time. When you can't hold on any longer, remember to tell me. I'll always be there."