Outside, the new king's enthronement ceremony was in full swing, a scene of grand festivity. The people of Jinquan Kingdom seemed unfazed by the shadow of war, instead decorating their surroundings and celebrating.
Inside the prison, however, the atmosphere was one of deathly stillness and chilling cold. Gu Ya, Ye Ying, and Bai Ying strode quickly towards Prison No. 3628. The alloy gate slid open, revealing two men bound and gagged within. One was the assassin, beaten into unconsciousness. The other was a stranger, his eyes wide with terror, his body trembling, yet uninjured.
Gu Ya took the executioner's tools, his expression grim, and approached the stranger. "Will your mouth be tougher, or will my tools be tougher!" he whispered.
The man gasped, his face pale. From his expression, it was clear he recognized Gu Ya and knew what torment awaited him. He immediately rolled over and knelt, wriggling like a caterpillar, his head banging against the floor like a drum. "Supreme Great Power User! I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!"
Within minutes, he had spilled the entire assassination plan. According to him, a mysterious stranger of unknown identity had approached him days ago, promising a huge reward for using his position to find an opportunity to assassinate Gu Ya. The stranger had also informed him that Gu Ya might have lost his divine powers, making the assassination relatively easy. He was unsure how the stranger knew he was a remnant of the Divisionists. Faced with immense wealth, he accepted the commission without hesitation and immediately mobilized the strongest assassin among the remaining Divisionists, who had then ambushed Gu Ya in the locker room's bathroom.
After listening, Gu Ya frowned, lost in thought. A dozen minutes later, Gu Ya stood and called Bai Ying outside the prison. "Xiao Ying, listen to me."
"For our plan to succeed, I want to use you for an experiment."
"The process might cause you pain, and there's no guarantee of 100% success."
"If you agree, we'll start immediately. If not, I won't force you."
Bai Ying looked into Gu Ya's sincere eyes, hesitated for a long time, and then nodded in silence.
Half an hour later, Gu Ya, Ye Ying, and Bai Ying arrived at Jinquan Kingdom's highest-profile and most classified human research institute. In a secret laboratory, Bai Ying sat on the examination table, gently removing her clothes to reveal her pristine white cybernetic upper body. Ye Ying, clad in a sterile protective suit, stood by Bai Ying's side.
Gu Ya sat on a stool, holding a scalpel and a screwdriver. He carefully sliced open Bai Ying's left shoulder's cybernetic skin, then used the screwdriver to loosen the securing screws. Gu Ya narrowed his eyes, his movements precise and meticulous as he disassembled the limb. All removed screws and parts were neatly placed on the examination table.
An hour later, Bai Ying's entire cybernetic arm was completely removed. The internal micro-energy conduits, communication lines, and mechanical joints were all separated, and all interfaces were severed.
"Try it," Gu Ya said softly.
Bai Ying took a few deep breaths, but still hesitated. "Dad, I... I..."
"Afraid? Worried?" Gu Ya asked gently. Bai Ying had indeed experienced these emotions a few days ago, and she still didn't know what impact they would have.
Bai Ying lowered her head, unable to meet Gu Ya's gaze, and nodded slightly.
"It's alright. Mom and I are here," Gu Ya reassured her. "If there's a severe reaction, do as I say and disconnect the flesh immediately."
Ye Ying also comforted her, "Xiao Ying, you can do it. Think of the feeling of anger."
"Anger..." Bai Ying murmured, her brow furrowing. Her expression gradually shifted to one of anger. Suddenly, Bai Ying's cybernetic body began to materialize. Blood slowly seeped from the severed limb. As the aorta was clamped and hemostatic ointment was applied, the bleeding was minimal. Gu Ya and Ye Ying watched vigilantly, ready to attend to her if necessary.
As Bai Ying fully materialized, she took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and said in a clear, pleasant voice, "Dad, it doesn't hurt."
Gu Ya breathed a sigh of relief. "Excellent. I knew it was possible!"
"The initial modification test is complete. Next, we proceed to the next step."
Bai Ying reverted to her cybernetic form. Ye Ying lifted Bai Ying and placed her inside an egg-shaped pod beside the examination table. The pod was 5 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 2 meters high. The hatch closed. Gu Ya put on remote surgical gloves, which connected him to two mechanical arms inside the pod.
"Xiao Ying, save my operations into your brain. These basic operations have been calculated and can be combined and transformed into thousands of complex procedures. With your intelligence and computational power, you can master them," Gu Ya instructed.
Lying in the pod, Bai Ying closed her eyes and nodded gently. Gu Ya tentatively wiggled his right index finger, and the right mechanical arm's index finger immediately responded. Next, Gu Ya moved his hands with dexterity, and the mechanical arms perfectly mimicked his hand movements. Furthermore, Gu Ya could use voice commands to transform the mechanical arms' fingers into desired tools, such as screwdrivers, cell pincers, mini saws, or micro laser welders.
After carefully completing the preparatory work, Gu Ya controlled the mechanical arms to begin disassembling Bai Ying's cybernetic body. With each screw, micro-pin, nano-gear, or part removed, the soft, self-repairing material of the pod's wall would split open with neat seams, and a small fluid container would pop out from within, adjusting its size based on the component. Gu Ya placed the removed parts into the containers for preservation. These containers would be stored in the lab's spare parts库 for future use.
Time flew by. When Gu Ya finally relaxed his increasingly stiff hands, ten hours had passed. Only a small block containing Bai Ying's consciousness remained in the pod, emitting a beautiful white glow. Bai Ying's original form was within this small block.
"Bai Ying, now use the disassembly knowledge you've learned to reassemble your body," Gu Ya said wearily.
As the words fell, a small container immediately popped out from the pod's wall. Without Gu Ya's input, the mechanical arm automatically retrieved the parts from the container and began assembly. Then came the second, third, fourth, and fifth... As Bai Ying's recall became more proficient, the speed at which the pod's wall ejected containers increased, eventually reaching its peak, capable of ejecting four hundred small containers simultaneously.
The mechanical arms, controlled by Bai Ying, moved with incredible speed and precision, always selecting the exact part or spare component needed. Half an hour later, Bai Ying had completely reassembled her body, twenty times faster than Gu Ya's manual operation. Gu Ya mused that if there were more than two mechanical arms, Bai Ying's assembly speed would be even faster.
"Any problems? Try moving your body," Gu Ya gently prompted.
The hatch opened, and Bai Ying stepped out lightly. She moved gracefully and said, "No problems at all. In fact, the reassembly has made my body more agile."
Ye Ying reminded him, "Dear, a lot of time has passed. If we want to execute the plan, we need to hurry."
Gu Ya looked at Bai Ying and nodded. "Bai Ying, from now on, it's up to you."
Bai Ying re-entered the pod, and the hatch closed. For reasons unknown, Bai Ying turned off the pod's internal lights. The interior became dark and opaque, with only the sounds of rapidly moving mechanical arms and the flashing of small welding lasers, each flash revealing glimpses of assembled parts. In less than ten minutes, the sounds within the pod gradually ceased.
Gu Ya and Ye Ying's hearts tensed once more. If this attempt failed, they had no idea what Bai Ying would become. Moreover, if it failed, Gu Ya would have to spend even more time repairing Bai Ying. The revelation of all their anxieties and mysteries would come in the next few seconds.
A hissing sound, like air being drawn in, came from the seam of the hatch as it slowly opened. From the swirling white mist emerged a graceful, light-footed, pure white kitten. The small white cat's turquoise eyes scanned Gu Ya and Ye Ying. Then, it leaped up, landing lightly on Gu Ya's shoulder. It opened its mouth and spoke in Bai Ying's voice, "Dad, Mom, I succeeded."
"Not only that, look at this..."