The eyes behind the white iris mask were like two cold, polished obsidian stones, devoid of any human emotion. The scalpel spun deftly between his fingers, reflecting the cold light from the computer screen that played the cruel footage of Lila being implanted with the "Thorn Seed." "The self-awareness of the vessel is always the most troublesome part," the voice behind the mask was as steady as an AI-generated tone, "but it doesn't matter, soon you won't need it anymore."
Lila's heart pounded wildly in her chest, adrenaline overpowering the excruciating pain in her ribs. She suddenly grabbed the peculiarly shaped computer on the table and, with all her strength, hurled it at the masked "doctor"!
The "doctor's" reaction was astonishingly swift; he dodged the attack with a flicker of movement. The computer smashed against the wall, its screen shattering instantly, though the main unit seemed undamaged, still flashing with an eerie blue light. "Physical resistance will only accelerate organ failure," he closed in again, the scalpel slicing through the air in a cold arc. "The 'Thorn Project' requires a docile, healthy womb, not a brain filled with anger and distractions."
His words slithered like a snake's tongue, licking at Lila's deepest fears. A docile womb? Organ harvesting? The hybrid inside her seemed to sense the threat too, stirring restlessly, a strange surge of power flooding through her limbs! Without hesitation, she grabbed a nearby glass bottle filled with an unknown blue liquid and hurled it at the masked figure!
The liquid splashed out, hissing with a corrosive sound! Though most of it was dodged, a few drops landed on his lab coat and mask, immediately corroding small holes into the fabric and material! The "doctor" let out a muffled, almost mechanical gasp, his movements momentarily freezing.
Lila seized the opportunity, crashing open the office door and rushing out! The "doctor" didn't pursue her immediately, only speaking in that icy voice: "Run, vessel. The entire 'White Iris' is your labyrinth, and also your… final processing ground."
She sprinted along the cold, luxurious corridors. No alarms blared, but she could feel the omnipresent surveillance. The "eyes" of the abstract artworks on the walls seemed to swivel, the red lights of tiny cameras blinking within the exquisite crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, and even the soft, expensive carpet beneath her feet seemed to sense her weight and footsteps. This wasn't a clinic—it was a massive, living experimental prison built with money and technology!
She tried to find a staircase or elevator leading downward, but all passages seemed blocked by invisible force fields or solid alloy doors. She could only move forward along the corridor, passing room after room of tightly shut "treatment rooms," each eerily silent. One door was slightly ajar, and through it, she glimpsed a woman with a delicate but doll-like vacant expression lying there while nurse robots carved something onto her face with lasers. The air reeked of burnt protein. This wasn't beauty enhancement—it was a production line for "artworks"!
Suddenly, the floor beneath her feet gave way! She screamed as she plummeted downward! This wasn't an accident—it was a trap! She fell into a hidden chute, surrounded by pitch darkness, only the sensation of freefall and the roaring wind accompanying her descent.
"Bang!" She hit the ground hard, feeling as though her internal organs had shifted. This… seemed to be a wine cellar? The air was cold and damp, saturated with the overwhelming, almost suffocating aroma of wine, mixed with the scent of earth and… preservatives. By the faint light filtering down from the chute entrance, she saw endless towering wine racks, neatly lined with countless dusty bottles of red wine.
Was this Harlowe's private wine cellar? Or a place where the clinic stored special "items"?
Struggling to her feet, the frame of *The Thorns* painting on her back felt heavier than ever. The hybrid inside her, startled by the fall, writhed uneasily. She glanced around cautiously. The wine cellar was eerily quiet, save for her own breathing and heartbeat.
"Welcome to 'The Cradle,' Lila Weston." The masked "doctor's" voice suddenly echoed from speakers all around, dripping with icy mockery. "This collection preserves the initial 'nutrients' for nurturing you and your kind—the 1997 vintage, Harlowe's special selection."
Lila's heart sank. So it was true! These wines weren't just wine! They were… culture fluid? Or…
"Now, the game begins." The "doctor's" voice continued. "The rules are simple: before the 'aroma' here completely purifies you, find your way out. Oh, I forgot to mention, the oxygen level is rapidly decreasing, and your favorite 1997 'vintage' is slowly being infused. Good luck, vessel LW-01."
As soon as the words ended, Lila immediately felt her breathing grow difficult! The air truly seemed to be thinning! Simultaneously, a low, rumbling sound of liquid flow began, and she saw dark red, viscous liquid resembling blood seeping out of pipes in the walls, the surface steadily rising! It was the 1997 red wine! Was Harlowe planning to drown her—or perhaps "pickle" her here?!
The suffocation and fear of being swallowed by the liquid nearly broke her. This was the so-called "Suffocation Game"! In a frenzy, she rushed toward the wine racks, searching for an exit or ventilation shaft. But the racks were arranged like a maze, stretching endlessly. As oxygen dwindled, her strength drained rapidly, her vision blurring.
She knocked over a row of wine racks, the sound of shattering bottles echoing through the cavernous cellar. Dark red wine sprayed out, soaking her clothes and skin. The wine… felt cold and sticky, carrying a strange metallic tang—it wasn't normal wine at all!
She collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, her lungs burning as if on fire. The hybrid inside her, deprived of oxygen, grew more agitated, seemingly competing with her for the scarce air.
No! She couldn't give up! Ethan's message… "The gate of life lies in the place of your birth…" That diamond safe was her 'cradle,' and this wine cellar, saturated with the 1997 'nutrients,' was another kind of 'cradle' in a different sense! There had to be a way out!
Forcing herself to calm down, she carefully observed her surroundings. Though the wine racks were chaotically arranged, they seemed to follow some pattern. She noticed that all bottles labeled "1997 - LW Reserve" were concentrated in the deepest part of the cellar, and their corks appeared different from the others—made of some… metallic material?
Summoning her last reserves of strength, she crawled toward that area. The lack of oxygen made her dizzy, every inch of movement agonizingly difficult. The rising wine had already submerged her ankles, its cold, sticky touch sending shivers down her spine.
Finally, she reached the section. Grabbing a bottle of "LW Reserve," she confirmed that the cork was indeed metallic, engraved with a tiny, almost imperceptible pattern… a coiled iris and thorn design identical to the one on the music box Ethan had given her!
She tried twisting the cork, but it wouldn't budge. With all her might, she smashed the bottle against the wall!
"Bang!" The bottle shattered, but instead of wine, what poured out was… a white, pungent-smelling… concentrated nutrient solution? Or rather… some kind of genetic culture medium?!
Something seemed stuck to the bottom of the bottle. She reached in, pulling out a small, waterproof chip-like card. Complex circuitry was printed on the card, along with a line of text: "Project Thorns - Phase Two Emergency Override - Code: Mother's Last Breath."
"Mother's last breath"? What kind of password was this?
Her oxygen-deprived brain struggled to process. Mother… suicide… pearl earrings… placental tissue… Lady Harlowe's death… fragments of memory flashed through her mind. Her mother's last breath… She recalled the activated memory: her mother, before slitting her throat in the delivery room, had used her last ounce of strength to imprint "LW" onto the baby's anklet (or rather, the switched infant's anklet) with a steel stamp… that motion! That pressure and angle!
She suddenly looked at her wrist, where years of handcuffs had left a scarred ring. Mimicking the memory of her mother's final pressing motion, she pressed her knuckle into a specific spot on the chip card.
The card emitted a faint "beep," and a row of flowing green code surfaced on its surface! It worked!
But what use was this chip? Could it open a door? She scanned her surroundings—no obvious card slot or control panel in sight.
The wine had risen to her waist, the suffocation growing unbearable, her consciousness beginning to fade.
"What a pity, the game seems to be ending prematurely," the "doctor's" voice rang out again, tinged with regret. "Still, returning to the 'womb' in the Harlowe family's 'Cradle' is a kind of honor."
Returning to the womb… the wine cellar… wait! She suddenly remembered the charred remnants of *The Thorn Iris* in the gallery's basement! And the photo of the jewelry heist submerged in wine! The 1997 wine wasn't just culture fluid—it itself was… some kind of information carrier or… energy source?!
Looking at the thick, dark red liquid pouring in from all sides, a mad idea struck her. Clutching the chip card tightly in her hand, she took a deep breath and plunged her head into the suffocating, chest-high "wine"!
The cold, sticky liquid enveloped her instantly! Strangely, the anticipated suffocation didn't come. Instead, when her skin fully contacted the "wine," the chip card in her hand suddenly emitted a blinding glow! She felt a torrent of information surge through her body, racing along her veins and pounding into her brain!
Countless images, data streams, and sounds exploded in her mind!
She saw secret records of generations of the Harlowe family conducting genetic experiments! Countless failed clones dissolved in wine barrels! How Ethan's father was controlled by Harlowe and forced to participate in the experiments! How Scarlett was gradually molded into the perfect "vessel"! How her mother hadn't committed suicide but was silenced by Harlowe while trying to destroy experimental data, staged to look like a suicide! The 1997 jewelry heist wasn't for robbery but to seize a… blue diamond heart from a meteorite, imbued with special energy! That heart was the core of all the experiments!
Even more horrifying, she saw fragments about herself—she wasn't merely a "vessel" or "womb." From the very beginning, Harlowe had infused her genes with… fragments of the blue diamond heart's energy! This was why she could activate the chip and resonate biologically with the self-portrait of *The Thorns*! She herself was… an unstable, unfinished product, carrying both "divinity" and a "curse"!
And that so-called "hybrid" wasn't simply a fusion of LW-SW-EW but a mad plan by Harlowe to use her and Ethan's genes (and those of the cloned body implanted with fragments of Scarlett's consciousness) as a "bridge" to graft the full energy of the blue diamond heart onto a newborn body! The ultimate goal was to create an heir with godlike powers, absolutely obedient to him!
The torrent of information battered her consciousness, nearly breaking her. But at the same time, she felt the hybrid inside her frantically absorbing the information and… the energy contained in the wine! Its power surged exponentially!
At that moment, the chip card in her hand grew scorching hot, its surface codes swirling chaotically before converging into a flashing red warning: "Warning! Vessel energy overload! Forced initiation of 'Thorn Project' Phase Two! Objective: Forced separation of hybrid! Location: Velvet Finger Box site!"
Velvet Finger Box? What was that?!
The chip card shattered abruptly in her hand! A powerful energy surge pushed her violently out of the "wine"! She crashed onto a higher wine rack not yet submerged, coughing violently and spitting out mouthfuls of dark red liquid.
The floor of the wine cellar suddenly cracked open, revealing a downward passage exuding bone-chilling cold—an ice cellar entrance?! At its threshold lay a black velvet box.