Chapter 312: Seventeen

In the desolate moss-covered permafrost, the karst landscape had forged a massive underground world with unparalleled craftsmanship.

Only a few kerosene lamps scattered their feeble warmth within the vast space, casting faint reflections of various colors on the cave ceiling and walls adorned with metal and ores.

Damp, cold, silent, and oppressive.

In this secluded place, almost like another world, deep underground where human presence rarely treaded, a massive iron cage enclosed a square area of several hundred square meters. Thick steel pillars, as thick as a human arm, connected the ground to the cave ceiling, forming a sturdy enclosure.

The only entrance to this iron cage was secured by a hefty, rusted lock.

This was an isolated place, devoid of sunlight year-round, where fresh air was a distant memory. The chill and dampness of the underground could erode and consume anyone's spirit.

Yet within the iron cage, dozens of frail figures huddled in various positions—some lying down, others curled up hugging their legs, and a few clinging to the steel pillars.

These were children who appeared no more than ten years old, their slender bodies clad in thin gray short-sleeved shirts and shorts.

There was no food; their survival depended solely on occasional drops of groundwater seeping through the cave formations above.

Days of relentless hunger and cold had left most of the children on the brink of collapse.

What was even more terrifying was the silent and mysteriously dark atmosphere of the underground world. Even adults would feel oppressed and uneasy in such isolation, but for these children trapped in the icy iron cage, despair continued to breed relentlessly.

In the past few days, some children had succumbed to their inner fears and cried, expending precious energy. Now, all that remained of them were still forms, their bodies frozen in the eternal chill of the underground, their decay slowed by the extremely low temperatures, leaving them in a state of eerie stiffness.

In the darkness devoid of sun, moon, or stars underground, they had lost track of time. Gradually, the remaining dozen or so children became the last hope for survival.

Inside the vast iron cell, no one spoke. Each breath was hushed, for they knew that to live, every ounce of strength must be conserved.

Then, one slightly larger child, enduring unimaginable hunger, finally made a move. Using the least energy possible, he slowly maneuvered towards the nearest corpse of a child, similar in size to himself.

In the blackness, the boy bent down, opened his mouth, and decisively sank his teeth into the neck of the lifeless body.

Soon, the silent cell echoed with the distinct sounds of teeth tearing and chewing raw flesh—sounds that would never be heard by ordinary people, but now seemed mundane and unsurprising to the remaining children.

Following the first child's search for sustenance, three more children began scavenging and gnawing on corpses.

Their teeth proved sharper than expected, and as they swallowed the cold flesh, they did so in silence, accompanied only by heavy, labored breaths.

With a few bites, the children gradually regained strength, and the biting sounds grew louder.

In a corner of the cell, another boy couldn't resist any longer. He crawled toward the nearest bodies—a girl and a boy lying motionless for over a day. The girl, despite her slighter frame, now posed no difference from the boy; they were just food.

Without much deliberation, the boy swallowed his bitter saliva, opened his mouth, and leaned towards the girl's corpse.

Suddenly! The boy felt something odd!

But the moment of realization came too late!

What he thought was a dead girl's "corpse" suddenly flipped over, a skeletal hand fiercely slapping near the boy's temple.

The girl's nails, long and sharp, drove into the boy's head with all her remaining strength.

The supposed "feaster" had instantly become the "prey" of death.

The girl pounced onto the recently deceased boy's body like a frenzied, hungry lioness, tearing into his flesh. The freshly dead body still retained warmth, its blood running hot—a meal that clearly gave the "predator" greater chances at survival.

Just moments after the girl began her first meal in days, the body nearest to her—the "boy's corpse"—slowly sat up. Silently, the boy approached the body the girl had just fatally struck. Without a word exchanged, he opened his mouth and bit into the untouched parts, seemingly at random.

The girl showed no surprise, evidently aware that the boy had feigned death too, patiently waiting for warm prey. She continued tearing and drinking the warm blood, focused and relentless.

Though the raw flesh was incredibly tough to chew, both the boy and the girl spent nearly an hour consuming their grisly meal, their faces smeared with blood.

The once-warm body now emitted a putrid odor, joining the pervasive stench of decay throughout the iron cell littered with half-eaten corpses.

The two retreated to a corner of the cell, where in the darkness, they could barely make out each other's vague features—both disheveled, their eyes glinting with a beastly, poised vigilance.

Both children understood the other was adept at surviving in such brutal conditions. Any lapse in vigilance could mean becoming the other's next prey. Fighting unnecessarily against such an opponent was clearly unwise, so vigilance was their best recourse.

As they sat, their gazes remained fixed on each other's faces. Time passed indeterminately until a beam of light pierced through the cell door, illuminating them. Only then did they slowly turn their heads towards the glaring light.

A pale, indifferent voice recorded the training results in Russian, "Fifty-seven subjects, two survivors, Number Thirteen, Number Seventeen..."

Deep within the dense primordial tropical rainforest, a vibrant poisonous snake coiled around a towering redwood. On the shaded side of this tree, a young boy in a snug camouflage short-sleeved shirt and canvas camouflage pants sat upon a soft bed of fallen leaves. His face, muddy yet youthful, appeared around thirteen or fourteen years old, his physique robust and agile. Leaning against the redwood, he held a blood-grooved cold steel military knife, stained with fresh blood that had yet to dry.

The incessant cicada chorus echoed through the rainforest, and the boy seemed asleep, eyes closed, head tilted. At that moment, another figure in a similar camouflage short-sleeved shirt emerged slowly from a pile of banana leaves, brandishing a short blade, approaching the boy.

Within a foot's distance of the boy, the military knife in his hand suddenly pointed towards the approaching figure, and the boy's eyes opened. His eyes were cold and numb, yet beneath the emptiness seemed to simmer an intense, restrained fire.

"It's you," the boy murmured in English, recognizing the figure before him.

Approaching him was a girl of similar age, with short hair and snow-white skin tinged with a faint red from prolonged sun exposure. Her delicate features hinted at a stunning beauty that, given time, would captivate hearts. However, her icy demeanor and the same numb resilience in her eyes as the boy's made her difficult to approach, even intimidating upon a mere glance.

"I want to cooperate with you," the girl stated bluntly, not mincing words.

"Why should I?" the boy retorted.

"You're the strongest among everyone here. If I want to survive, my best chance is to team up with you," she replied succinctly.

The boy scoffed, "You should know, besides snakes and wild beasts, anyone in this rainforest is an enemy."

"Are you afraid of me?" the girl sneered contemptuously.

"Don't try to provoke me with childish taunts. Show me what you've got," the boy mocked.

Suddenly, the girl flashed a seductive smile completely incongruous with her age, her dewy eyes exuding a powerful allure.

"Two foolish men thought they could overpower me, only to be slain by my hand. You're stronger than them, but there's one thing you have in common," she paused, her voice low and irresistibly tempting, "You're a man too. Just like them, you desire women. You crave release."

There was a slight abnormality in the boy's eyes, and he remained silent for a moment. "You're not the only woman here," he said

"That's right," the girl said with a hint of pride on her lips, "but you know very well that I am the most beautiful among them."

The girl finished speaking and elegantly began to remove her tight short sleeves, gradually revealing her fair and alluring skin from her delicate and tight waist.

The young girl clearly received professional training, and every move was extremely captivating. It's hard for anyone to imagine that this is a move made by a thirteen or four year old girl!

At the moment when the young girl's green and astringent body, which was still in the developmental stage, was fully presented in front of the boy, the boy's eyes were finally no longer calm, and the flames ignited.

"I want to live, and you also want to live. As a weak person, I exchange my own body for your assistance." The girl no longer showed off any women's weapons and stood in front of the young man with all her body exposed. She solemnly asked, "Thirteen, do you dare to take me?"

"How can I believe you?" The young man clearly suppressed something. He had understood the relationship between men and women, and the madness of being suppressed for a long time. He did need an outlet to prevent himself from collapsing due to the huge load on his brain. However, he was also well aware that the owner of his body in front of him was the always beautiful poisonous scorpion.

The girl bit her thin lips, her eyes so resolute and cold, and said in a clear voice, "I have no evidence, but I can tell you this is, my first time."

The boy didn't ask any more questions, and with a fierce pounce like a leopard, he knocked down the girl's body, which had already given up its strength.

After a violent storm, calm returned to the dead leaves.

"What's your name?"

"The 17th."

"Your original name?"

I don't know

"Why so persistent in wanting to live and die is actually liberation."

"I want to go back to my hometown and meet my parents."

"Why?"

"I want to ask them my name."