318: I'm letting you go.

As the pure white flower, which had absorbed Zhao Qifeng's entire life, bloomed quietly in Cynthia's hand, the laboratory was filled with an eerie silence interwoven with victory and cruelty.

Scattered on the ground were the remains of deactivated 'Metal Trilobites.' In the center lay a withered corpse, entwined and drained by gnarled wooden branches. The air still carried the lingering scents of scorched energy, blood, and the faint, strange fragrance emitted by that peculiar white flower.

Golden Bone looked at this scene, his brows furrowed beneath his faceplate. He stepped forward, checked the thoroughly lifeless, desiccated corpse of Zhao Qifeng, glanced at the completely silent armor components, and finally let out a heavy sigh. His tone carried a hint of helplessness and the regret of an unfinished task:

"Sigh... why did you just... At least we should have kept a live witness. There are many leads and accomplice networks that still need deeper investigation." He shook his head. "Forget it, the dead cannot be brought back to life. We'll investigate slowly. We can always find clues from these remains and the base data."

His gaze then turned towards Cynthia, who held the white flower and was covered in blood. His eyes became complex and sharp: "Now, it's your turn, Cynthia."

Cynthia raised her eyes. There was no joy of victory on her face, only a deep weariness and a certain empty numbness after release. She shook her head gently, her voice calm yet firm:

"I do not intend to go back with you. I don't have any 'issues,' nor do I have a so-called 'Second Form' that needs treatment or supervision. My goal... is already complete."

She glanced at the white flower in her hand, then swept her eyes over Zhao Qifeng's body on the ground. "Whether it's revenge or cleaning house, for me, it's over. I won't return to that ward."

Wei Ziqing stood to the side, silently wiping the small amount of bloodstains from his bone sword. Regarding Cynthia's actions, his face showed no particular emotion. He just muttered softly, as if to himself:

"A clean end, good." In his view, for a prime culprit like Zhao Qifeng, whose crimes were numerous and whose ideology was fanatical to the extreme, immediate execution was far cleaner and more decisive than a cumbersome trial and its potential variables. He inwardly agreed.

Shen Mingyuan had already de-transformed. He leaned against a nearby console, hands in his trench coat pockets, calmly observing Cynthia.

As a former temporary teammate, he understood her current feelings and choice. He also knew that the changes she had undergone were by no means a simple 'cure.'

He didn't try to persuade her, nor did he voice any opposition. He merely maintained the silence of an observer.

Lu Jianchuan had also deactivated his armor. His face was still somewhat pale, having expended a great deal.

He looked at Cynthia. His eyes held concern and understanding, but more so, consideration for her future choices: "Cynthia, I know you've been through a lot... but..."

"No buts, Lu Jianchuan," Cynthia interrupted him, her tone not agitated, merely stating a fact.

"What I need to find now is the meaning of my own existence—a meaning no longer defined by others nor driven by hatred. Whatever lies ahead, it will be my own choice. I will not go with you."

Lu Jianchuan looked at the unwavering resolve in her eyes, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally nodded slowly, his voice somewhat low: "...Alright. Since this is your own choice, I... won't force you."

After speaking, his gaze turned to Golden Bone, carrying a questioning meaning. After all, Golden Bone was the highest-ranking official commander on-site, holding the authority to decide.

Golden Bone's gaze swept over the faces of Lu Jianchuan, Shen Mingyuan, and Wei Ziqing—none of the three showed any intention of forcibly detaining Cynthia.

The lines of his face beneath his helmet seemed to twitch slightly, as if he had a headache.

Finally, he raised his hand and rubbed his temple forcefully, speaking in a tone that was almost complaining yet carried a clear undertone of 'letting it slide':

"You three... one after another, none of you plan to make a move to apprehend her? Leaving it all to this 'old bone' to play the bad guy?" He waved his hand, his voice thick with fatigue.

"Forget it, forget it... Ah, suddenly feeling a bit sleepy... This high-intensity ordeal all night, can't handle it at my age. I need... I need to find a place to rest first, check if this damned place has any other hidden dangers. I'm sleepy, yeah, really sleepy."

As he spoke, he actually turned around and began to pretend to inspect a nearby damaged piece of equipment, completely leaving his back to Cynthia as if he had utterly forgotten her existence.

Cynthia looked at Golden Bone's 'suddenly sleepy' back, clearly an intentional act, then at the motionless Lu Jianchuan and the other two. She was stunned for a few seconds.

For the first time, the icy expression on her face noticeably softened. She pursed her lips slightly. In her eyes, which had once been chaotic with pain and division, flashed a trace of an extremely hard-to-detect, complex emotion belonging to 'Cynthia' herself—gratitude, relief, and also a hint of melancholy.

In the end, she didn't say much. She just spoke in a light but clear voice, directed at Lu Jianchuan and the others, and also at Golden Bone's back:

"...Thank you."

After saying this, she took one last look at the white flower in her hand, symbolizing both an end and a new beginning, carefully stored it away, and then turned without hesitation. She walked towards another unsealed backup exit of the laboratory, her figure quickly disappearing into the shadows of the dim corridor.

No one stopped her.

Golden Bone only slowly straightened up after the sound of footsteps had completely faded away. He glanced back at the now-empty exit, then looked at the mess on the ground and sighed: "...Stand down. Clean up the scene, recover all remains and data. The report... I'll handle the writing."

As Cynthia's figure completely vanished into the depths of the corridor, the tense combat atmosphere abruptly relaxed. Almost simultaneously, Shen Mingyuan and Wei Ziqing plopped down onto the ground, sitting heavily. The faint glow of their deactivated armor hadn't fully dissipated, and both their faces showed signs of extreme exhaustion from overexertion.

"Ah... can't take it anymore, can't take it anymore..." Shen Mingyuan tugged at his collar, breathing heavily. "Energy bottomed out, blood sugar's alarming... Officer Jin Gu, do you have any backup high-energy nutrient packs? Give me a hit, I'm really about to pass out..."

Wei Ziqing didn't speak. He just leaned against the wall, his face pale, weakly raising a hand towards Golden Bone, the meaning clear—me too.

Seeing this, Golden Bone shook his head helplessly. He retrieved several concentrated energy supplements from the emergency storage slot on his exoskeleton's waist and tossed them to the two: "Use them sparingly. Base resupply isn't easy."

The two took them, immediately unscrewed them, and gulped them down, their faces regaining a bit of color.

Golden Bone took out another one and handed it to Lu Jianchuan, who was standing nearby: "Yours."

Lu Jianchuan took it but didn't drink it immediately. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at his own hand, gently clenching his fist. Although his face also showed sweat and fatigue, his condition was clearly much better than that of the two slumped on the ground.

"Strange..." Lu Jianchuan himself was a bit puzzled. He unscrewed the supplement, took a sip, and felt the energy flow through his body.

"Logically, after using the Second Form for so long earlier and the high-intensity combat, I should be as weak as them, if not worse, right now. But I feel... okay? The expenditure was huge, but I seem to be recovering a bit faster than usual?"

Hearing this, Golden Bone gave him another look but didn't comment, merely saying, "Differences in Physique, or your recent training is effective. Anyway, not collapsing is a good thing."

At that moment, Shen Mingyuan and Wei Ziqing caught their breath and struggled to stand up. Shen Mingyuan looked at the chaotic laboratory and asked, "What's next? This mess..."

"What else can we do?" Golden Bone surveyed the surroundings and began directing the follow-up. "Wait for the subsequent processing teams and Researcher to arrive. Follow higher-ups' commands for detailed investigation, data recovery, and sample collection. We'll handle initial containment first." As he spoke, he walked towards the console that had once spewed nutrient fluid, attempting to retrieve any remaining data.

While he was operating, he accidentally touched a button that wasn't completely damaged.

"Splash—!"

A backup pipe outlet in the ceiling suddenly opened, and a small stream of residual emerald-green nutrient fluid poured down noisily, wetting a small patch of the floor.

This commotion immediately attracted the attention of the scattered 'Metal Trilobite' remains. Several of the less-damaged individuals, which seemed to retain basic biological instincts, immediately struggled to move their limbs, crawling towards the small puddle where the nutrient fluid had gathered, greedily absorbing it.

Golden Bone and the others watched warily. They saw that after absorbing the nutrient fluid, the damaged areas on the surfaces of those few trilobites showed faint signs of biological repair. But soon, the more severe structural cracks they had sustained during the earlier battle began to rapidly worsen. The internal Dark blue light (Note: This specific term ' Dark blue light' was not in the provided glossary. It will be added to new terms as ' Dark blue light', 'ghostly blue light') completely extinguished. Their limbs twitched a few times, and then they became completely still. Clearly, the repair process had exhausted their last vestiges of vitality, hastening their death.

"It seems the individual stability of these symbiotic Units is very poor. Once the core connection is severed and they are damaged, their self-repair capability is limited, ultimately leading to collapse," Shen Mingyuan concluded after observation.

Golden Bone didn't respond. His gaze fell on the gnarled branches that had grown from Zhao Qifeng's corpse, now looking somewhat wilted. He picked up a simple container nearby, scooped up a bit of the nutrient fluid from the ground, and casually splashed it onto the roots of the branches.

An astonishing sight occurred.

Those grayish-brown branches, upon contact with the nutrient fluid, greedily absorbed it like a long drought meeting sweet rain! Visibly, the main stem became slightly fuller, and its color deepened a bit.

Immediately after, several thin new shoots rapidly sprouted from the sides of the main stem, extending downwards like roots, burrowing into the tiny cracks in the laboratory floor, seemingly searching for deeper sources of nourishment.

And at the tip of one of these new shoots, a tiny white bud quickly swelled, blooming at a visible rate—another pure, flawless white flower emitting a tranquil glow, almost identical to the one Cynthia had taken.

"Interesting..." Golden Bone crouched down, carefully examining this newly sprouted small white flower and the branches that were still slightly writhing, as if possessing an independent life.

"Absorbs specific nutrients, grows directionally, and condenses high-purity life essence..."

He stood up and clapped his hands. "However, this isn't something for us to delve into now. Let the professional biological research team handle it when they arrive. Our mission is basically complete."

He looked at Lu Jianchuan and the other two, especially Wei Ziqing, who was still supporting Shen Mingyuan:

"You three, once you've recovered a bit, withdraw first. Return to headquarters to report and undergo basic checks and rest. I'll handle the remaining cleanup, lockdown, and handover work here with the on-site commander and Researcher who will be arriving soon."

Lu Jianchuan nodded, propping up Shen Mingyuan, who still had weak legs. Wei Ziqing also tried to stand firm: "Alright, understood. Then we'll leave it to you, Officer Jin Gu."

The three didn't linger any longer. Supporting each other, they made their way out along the corridor they came from, their steps somewhat unsteady but resolute, leaving this laboratory filled with death, madness, and bizarre creations to the professional teams that were about to arrive.

Golden Bone watched them leave. Then he stood alone in the vast, ruined laboratory, looking at Zhao Qifeng's desiccated corpse on the ground, the scattered trilobite remains, the bizarre branches growing and flowering on their own, and the flickering remnant data streams on the console.

He stood in silence for a long time. In the end, he just let out a low sigh and began calmly and clearly reporting the mission results via an encrypted channel, calling for support.