Era of Magic and Martial Arts

The female doctor’s voice echoed through the vast sewer pipes, carrying a hint of hysterical madness.

The female assistant stood still, her face ashen, the light from her cellphone trembling slightly, illuminating her terrified face.

"I... I ask them?" Her voice was almost drowned out by the squeaking of the rats.

Those scarlet eyes flickered in the darkness, and countless rats slowly crawled down the walls, baring their sharp teeth, closing in on her.

The female doctor took a step forward, her specially designed medical suit conducting tremendous power, making her as light as a feather. Simultaneously, she pulled out a syringe from the medical bag and hurriedly injected it into her own thigh.

The potent drug instantly swept through her body, doubling her speed as she fled, her face flushed with vigor.

The female assistant’s legs felt nailed to the ground, unable to move. She too wanted to turn and flee; her medical bag also contained a subordinate "stimulant."

But she wanted to inject herself to escape.

But she couldn’t!

She had to complete the female doctor’s task.

The experimental protocol stated in black and white: Subordinate assistants must unconditionally obey and meticulously complete the tasks assigned by the experimenter.

This was the rule set by the mentor!!

"Ah, ah, is senior sister being controlled by you....?"

Despair etched across the female assistant’s face as she shouted into the rustling sounds, her voice frantic. She shook her entire body vigorously, flinging away the rats that fell on her.

A plump rat was thrown with great force, hitting the pipe wall with a thud, instantly bursting into a pool of foul-smelling blood.

However, this did not scare off the other rats; instead, it only fueled their frenzy.

More rats surged from all directions like a tidal wave, baring their sharp teeth, crazily tearing at the female assistant’s clothes, pant legs, hair, and even her palms.

In less than 10 seconds, the female assistant fell heavily to the ground, covered with rats, becoming a black, writhing mass, with almost no human outline visible.

Her breathing weakened, and her consciousness gradually blurred, with only the sound of the rats squeaking and gnawing reaching her ears.

"Silly child, how can you be so obedient?"

A gentle voice suddenly pierced through the rustling of the rats, sounding as if it came from a distant void, yet also seemed right beside her ear, carrying an indescribable calm and reproach.

Suddenly, the air exploded with dense "puh-puh" sounds, and countless rats’ bodies burst in an instant, with a mist of blood scattering like fireworks.

Several pale, bone-like curved knives appeared out of nowhere, their sharp blades slicing the rat swarms on the female assistant into pieces with ease.

Flesh and fur intermingled like shredded black cotton, sprinkling all over her body.

The female assistant’s vision was momentarily blurred by the blood mist. Suddenly, a man’s face appeared before her eyes.

The face was gentle yet carried a hint of unfathomable sternness, with a pair of deep eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses, seeming to pierce the soul.

He wore a tailored black suit, the fabric fitting his body, outlining an elegant silhouette.

The edge of two playing cards peeked slightly from his chest pocket, emanating an aura of intimidation and mystery.

"Give me your hand!"

The man’s voice was deep and powerful, carrying an irresistible magic.

The female assistant dumbfoundedly extended her hand, her fingertips touching the strange hand that split open to reveal bones.

The hand was cold and terrifying, as if reaching from an abyss, yet at this moment, it brought her an unprecedented warmth and sense of safety.

The next moment, a huge hole exploded within the rat swarm, rotting innards and fur-adhered flesh blasted apart by the terrifying white bones.

The dark red blood arced through the air like spilled paint, dyeing the surrounding pipe walls a bright crimson.

A string of ghostly shadows shot swiftly from the hole, moving so fast they seemed to tear the air, emitting a "swish-swish" sound as they sliced through the wind.

The shadows moved like countless serpents, carving strange arcs in the air, weaving in and out, seemingly performing a dance of death.

The shadows were not static, but twisted and dodged like real beings, flipping and maneuvering in the air, followed by wriggling shadows beneath their feet.

The rat swarm madly lunged at the shadows, their sharp teeth snapping with "snap-snap" sounds, only to bite into clusters of dissipating air.

The shadows seemed to mock the rats’ ineptitude, silently turning into wisps of black smoke, dissipating into the humid air.

The slick pipe walls reflected countless scarlet eyes, the rats’ frenzied squeals shaking loose the rusty iron, their claws scraping out screeching noises on the metal surface, yet they could never capture the lingering warmth and aura of the man and woman.

They flared their nostrils wildly sniffing, pungent drool dripping from their sharp fangs, tails whipping the pipe walls in agitation.

Finally, the leading giant rat screeched sharply, and the entire swarm, enveloped in enraged frustration, charged toward the next pipeline.

As the rumbling of the rats faded, the man finally released the female assistant’s tightly held hand.

In an instant, the grotesque, protruding structures of his hand and wrist, which seemed to tear through his skin and bone, suddenly shrank back beneath his skin, returning to the warm appearance of a normal human.

The female assistant looked at the man before her, relieved to have survived, surprisingly feeling no fear. Instead, she inexplicably longed for the lingering cold of that palm.

"Life is the most precious thing for a person; how can you stay put waiting to die just because of someone else’s orders?"

The man looked at the female assistant, his voice resonant and magnetic:

"Don’t make such a foolish mistake again; after all, not every time will you meet a passing kind-hearted person to save you."

The female assistant stared blankly at the man before her, clearly a stranger, clearly with terrifying, bizarre bones in his body, clearly in a damp, dark pipe...

Yet, it was as if she glimpsed a dazzling, radiant light.

In contrast to the cold, rigid, rule-laden environment she was used to in the laboratory, the man before her displayed a human warmth and brilliance she couldn’t find in her mentor or senior sisters.

"But... I should obey orders, that’s the rule set by my mentor, the principle I’ve always followed."

The female assistant’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s, revealing her inner struggle and confusion.

Her voice grew softer and softer:

"Ah, I’m sorry... I, I didn’t mean that... I, thank you... thank you for saving me."

Seeing the female assistant’s flustered behavior, the man grew more certain of his judgment: the woman before him had lost her personality and was far from smart.

A prime target for past pyramid schemes and telemarketing scams.

Fortunately, the man was not of such lowly stature.

He was....