Lu Mingfei, who had read Dragon Clan before slaying the dragon

"Why are you afraid of him? Has he done anything to scare you?" Lu Mingfei continued to ask.

"No, the Doctor has always been very kind to me. He's never done anything excessive to me." Renata shook her head. "It's just that I feel a little depressed living here. We're all locked up in our own rooms, and you're tied to a chair. The Doctor is the one in charge here. I'm afraid of those menacing nurses, but even the head nurse seems afraid of the Doctor. So I feel that although the Doctor appears to be very friendly to us, he's actually very distant."

Although Renata's expression was awkward, Lu Mingfei completely understood what she meant. This remote seaport located in the polar region, far away from all continents, can be understood as a small utopia independent of the real world. Every utopia has a reasonable class division. Renata, Anton, Khorkina and other children are undoubtedly the bottom of this utopia. People at the bottom have no voice and no choice. Their only power is to be governed and provide some value.

The nurses and soldiers could probably be considered the management of this utopia. They had some power, but not much. The only ones they could control were children of lower social status like Renata and Khorkina.

As the person in charge of this port, the "doctor" is undoubtedly the supreme ruler of this utopia. He can order the nurses and soldiers at will, and he can also directly control the children, but there is no need for that.

Because an excellent ruler will never have a bad attitude towards the people at the bottom. He only needs to restrain his subordinates and pass his thoughts and will through layers, radiating to the entire utopia... So those nurses and soldiers actually represent the will of the "Doctor" himself, or the entire utopia is a collection of the "Doctor's" thoughts. Renata feels that life here is very depressing because she lives in the shadow of the "Doctor's" will.

Lu Mingfei understood what Renata said, but he did not tell her these thoughts, because whether Renata understood it or not was secondary. If Renata understood the meaning, she would definitely stay away from the doctor in the future. No matter how smart Renata was, she was just a little girl in her early ten years old. It was impossible for her to hide her thoughts perfectly. Lu Mingfei was afraid that Renata would be in danger because of his analysis.

Although Lu Mingfei still hadn't figured out what he had lost, he seemed to have found the key to getting those things back... If every person in this port was the stem or branch of a leaf, then after sorting out all the intricate connections, the "root" they pointed to was only one person.

"When was the last time you saw 'Doctor'?" Lu Mingfei asked indirectly.

"I can't remember exactly, but it seemed like a week ago. After lunch, the Doctor announced in the garden that the best children would have the opportunity to be sent to Moscow to study. Everyone was very happy," Renata said. "The Doctor seems very busy lately. He's handed our affairs over to the head nurse... Oh, and there was a man in military uniform standing next to the Doctor at the time. I've never seen him before."

Someone in military uniform? Lu Mingfei had no impression of him. He continued to ask Renata, "Do you know the name of 'Doctor'?"

"I don't know. 'Doc' only told us how talented he was in school and how many girls admired him, but he never introduced himself." Renata shook her head. "Neither the nurses nor the soldiers would call him by his name."

It sounded like the name "Doctor" was a taboo word here. Lu Mingfei pressed on, "What does 'Doctor' look like? You must have seen him in person, right?"

"Haven't you seen what the Doctor looks like?" Renata looked at Lu Mingfei in surprise. "Do you suspect the Doctor has something to do with what you lost?"

Even if Renata was slow-witted, she should have realized that Lu Mingfei was overly concerned about the "Doctor". Ever since she mentioned that the Doctor said the same thing as Zero, all the questions Lu Mingfei asked were about the "Doctor".

What surprised Renata even more was that Lu Mingfei seemed to have no idea about the "Doctor"... How could there be someone in this building who had never seen the "Doctor"?

Lu Mingfei, who was confined in Ward Zero, should be the one who had the most contact with the "Doctor".

Chapter 684: Fictional World

"I should have met the Doctor, because from what I know, it was the Doctor who performed the surgery on me and imprisoned me here." Lu Mingfei frowned tightly, "But I have no impression of the Doctor himself."

"I can even imagine the blinding white light, the feeling of the scalpel cutting open my head, and the sound of hard heels tapping on the floor..." Lu Mingfei, "But I don't remember his voice, or what he looked like. I can't recall what he said or did to me. My impression of him isn't even vague. I just remember that there should be such a person in this port."

"But haven't you forgotten a lot of things?" Renata asked. "Don't you remember that it's strange that 'Doctor' is a doctor?"

"No, Renata, this isn't a natural amnesia, it's more like a sealed memory." Lu Mingfei shook his head and explained to Renata, "For example, I remember you, I remember the head nurse, I remember the nurses who gave me the injection, I even remember Anton, Yakov, and Khorkina, children I've never met, and the soldiers I heard talking loudly outside the building but never met. But I don't remember 'Doctor'."

"'Doctor,' the person in charge of this nameless seaport, is in this building. I do have this person in my consciousness, but I can't even recall his voice, appearance, clothing, or any other characteristics related to him." Lu Mingfei racked his brains to describe it. "It's like a force has erased the memory of this person from my brain, or a fog has obscured everything about him."

"Do you mean that someone deliberately made you forget everything about 'Doctor'?" Renata asked Lu Mingfei.

"I don't know, but I have this feeling now. It's a very strange feeling. All I have are scattered memories of being trapped here, which piece together the outline of an unknown seaport and the people who live in it." Lu Mingfei whispered, "Maybe my understanding of these people is one-sided and wrong, but at least I have a general impression of them. But as the person in charge of this seaport, 'Doctor', I can't remember anything about him. Don't you think this is weird?"

"It sounds strange." Renata's expression also became a little strange.

"Do you still remember what 'Doctor' looks like?" Lu Mingfei looked at Renata and asked, "Can you describe it to me, the more detailed the better."

"Let me think about it..." Renata fell into deep thought. "Every time I saw 'Doc', he always wore a white coat and military snow boots. About half of his hair was white. 'Doc' had a very straight nose and deep eye sockets. The lines on his face looked like they were carved with a knife. His facial features were clear and smooth."

"Typical European appearance?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Yes." Renata nodded. "Khorkina said that if 'Doctor' were forty years younger, he would be a very handsome young man from Moscow."

"Is 'Doctor' from Moscow?" Lu Mingfei asked Renata, "Did he tell you that himself?"

"No." Renata shook her head. "But 'Doctor' has a slight accent. Yakov said 'Doctor's' accent has characteristics of the Slavic language family, that is, it distinguishes between hard and soft palate sounds. This is a typical Russian pronunciation. And 'Doctor's' lingual trill sounds very standard."

"This doesn't necessarily prove that 'Doctor' is from Moscow, or even Russia," Lu Mingfei said quickly. "The characteristics of Slavic languages ​​can be imitated and learned. If you practice using the water method for a month, you'll be able to fluently produce lingual trills. It's difficult to distinguish between hard and soft palatal sounds, but if you stay in Moscow for half a year and interact with the locals every day, you'll unconsciously develop the habit and master a pure Russian accent."

"This feature only proves that 'Doctor' has indeed lived in Russia, but it does not mean that he is a pure Muscovite." Lu Mingfei shook his head in denial.

Renata's mouth opened slightly, and he seemed a little surprised. Not to mention Renata, even Dang Lu Mingfei was a little scared by himself after he said these words... After Renata talked about language characteristics and language habits, Lu Mingfei blurted out these words almost subconsciously.

But Lu Mingfei himself couldn't remember where he learned this knowledge. It's not like he had never been to Moscow, he wasn't Russian, or even European, but why was he so familiar with the Russians' pronunciation habits and characteristics?

This familiarity was very unnatural. Lu Mingfei himself knew almost no Russian and had no habit of distinguishing between hard and soft palate sounds. This knowledge was like something that an outsider who had never been to Moscow or Russia had learned specifically in order to understand certain things... To be more precise, it was like a preparation to refute the "doctor" who must be from Moscow at this moment.

But how did Lu Mingfei know all this? And how could he have known in advance that he would one day talk to Renata about the characteristics of the Russian language?

If Lu Mingfei's inexplicable knowledge of Germany's defeat, the girl's menarche and the date of the full moon could be explained by amnesia, then the current coincidence was so bizarre that it made people's backs chill.

"Yes, the Doctor never said he was from Moscow... So it seems that the Doctor didn't go to university in Moscow either." Renata suddenly remembered something. "Because when Yakov asked the Doctor if we would be happy if we were sent to Moscow to study, the Doctor just told him that children sent to Moscow to study would live in wealthy families' large estates and wouldn't have to worry about being cold or having enough food. The Doctor's tone was very flat and calm... But every time the Doctor told us about his study experience, he would be very happy and laugh from the bottom of his heart!"

"If he's also a German prisoner of war, sent to take charge of this harbor, then everything makes sense." Lu Mingfei raised his suspicions. He looked at Renata, "When I asked if you knew the Doctor's name, I actually wanted to know his last name... I wanted to know if he had a German last name!"

"Are you suspecting that... 'Doctor' is the German that Zero mentioned?" Renata opened her mouth involuntarily. Lu Mingfei had said this much, so she should understand what Lu Mingfei was thinking.

"Yes, this is very strange, isn't it?" Lu Mingfei said slowly, "'Doctor' is the person in charge of this seaport. I should have the most profound impression of him, but I don't remember him at all. I can even remember the face of the nurse who put the straitjacket on me every time, but I have no idea what 'Doctor' looks like."

Renata looked at Lu Mingfei and listened to what he said. Her heart was not at peace either, but she did not interrupt Lu Mingfei.

"My hearing is very good. In the dead of night, I can hear the nurses playing mahjong, daydreaming, and cursing in the duty room. I can also hear every child snoring and talking in their sleep. Yakov calls out Khorkina's name in his dreams. Khorkina fantasizes about going to Moscow to study and meeting a handsome and wealthy young man. Anton seems to have you as the object of his erotic dreams... I can also hear the noises you make when you sneak out of your room every night." Lu Mingfei looked at Renata and said, "But I can't recall the slightest sound of that 'doctor'. Even his existence is vague and tenuous in my memory."

"Are you suspecting that your missing memories were tampered with by the 'Doctor'?" Renata expressed Lu Mingfei's guess.

"Why else would he imprison me here?" Lu Mingfei asked in return, "Since he set up a room just for me and doesn't allow me to leave or communicate with others, he must be getting something from me, right?"

"What do you think the 'Doctor' wants from you?" Renata asked.

"I don't know. To be honest, I've been drowning in self-doubt. I even thought I was created by the 'Doctor'. My thoughts, my memories, even my personality are all unnatural, man-made products, or even failures." Lu Mingfei raised his head and looked at the dark ceiling. "Because my consciousness is flawed, my brain lacks many important things, but has a lot of insignificant things."

"But..." Renata was about to comfort Lu Mingfei, but was interrupted by Lu Mingfei.

"Don't worry, after hearing what you said, I no longer think so." Lu Mingfei paused. "Or rather, what Zero said, you can doubt the world but not yourself. That's a very wise statement... If a person truly loses something important, they should do everything they can to find it back. But if a person loses themselves, then they really have nothing left."

"Do you think the two things you lost were taken away by the 'Doctor'?" Renata asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I lost it myself." Lu Mingfei took a deep breath. "But no matter what, 'Doctor' must be the key for me to get those two things back."

What Lu Mingfei didn't tell Renata was that if this world was really fake and only he was real, then the "Doctor" was the vehicle to unlock his important memories. Maybe what he lost were his important memories, or maybe what he lost was his true self... But if Lu Mingfei said this to Renata, whether the girl could understand Lu Mingfei's words was secondary. Lu Mingfei didn't want to deny the true meaning of the existence of this pure white, flower-like girl who had always helped him.

"Tomorrow at lunchtime, I'll find a chance to find out 'Doctor's' name," Renata said to Lu Mingfei. "If 'Doctor' really has a German surname, I'll find a way to tell you tonight."

"No need to ask, there's no need anymore." Lu Mingfei shook his head. "Knowing his name is useless. I must meet him. Only by meeting him can I have a chance to find the things that Zero mentioned he lost."

"But how are you going to see the Doctor like this?" Renata looked at Lu Mingfei, who was tied to the iron bed, feeling a little worried. "I can't untie these chains, so I can only go to the duty room and steal the key. After the last incident, the head nurse now keeps the key to Ward Zero very close to her and always carries it with her. Even if I really stole it, we can't get around the patrolling guards. No one can get close to the Doctor's room."

"I can't leave this room, and even if I did, it would be futile. There's no point thinking about it that way." Lu Mingfei said shockingly, "I want to meet the Doctor. I'm not going to see him... I want him to come and see me."

"Let the Doctor come to see you..." Renata was surprised. "But, we can't even see the Doctor... How can we let the Doctor come to see you?"

"Since the 'Doctor' has imprisoned me here, there must be something he wants from me." Lu Mingfei whispered, "As long as he thinks there's a chance he can get what he wants from me, he'll come back to see me... He definitely will!"

"Then do you know what the 'Doctor' wants from you?" Renata asked Lu Mingfei.

"I haven't thought about it yet. If I had realized it, I wouldn't be trapped here." Lu Mingfei shook his head.

Renata also lowered her head to think. Lu Mingfei suddenly saw a yellow object flash over Renata's head. It was a leaf-yellow bow accessory.

"I don't think I saw you wearing this yellow bow last time. Did a boy give it to you?" Lu Mingfei asked, looking at the accessories on Renata's braid.

Just as Renata was about to say something, their conversation was interrupted by a burst of rapid alarm bells. Renata's voice was blocked in her throat and her expression changed instantly.

"What happened again?" Lu Mingfei frowned as he spoke, "Has anything big happened in the harbor recently?"

"I don't know... I don't know..." Renata's face turned pale, and she shook her head like a puppet. "I only know that a man from Moscow recently visited the 'Doctor'. He's the man in military uniform I told you about, the one I've never seen before... The 'Doctor' said that the chosen children will soon be able to follow that man to Moscow to study. I don't know anything else..."

Renata looked terrified. The last time she was caught by the nurses in Ward Zero, thanks to Zero pretending to assault her, the head nurse's attention was diverted and Renata was only put in solitary confinement for three days.

The yellow butterfly on Renata's braid was not a token of goodwill given to her by a boy, but a sign of punishment. Renata didn't like to wear braids at all, but here, all disobedient girls had to wear braids and yellow butterfly accessories.

This is a symbol of shame, and the head nurse will only remove the butterfly for you if she thinks your performance is good enough.

This transition is about to end, and we will enter the final battle

Chapter 685 Crazy Lu Mingfei

Renata was still wearing a yellow butterfly accessory, which meant that she was actually still in the probation period after having just finished her punishment. If she was caught making a mistake again at this time, or was discovered to have sneaked into Room Zero again, the punishment waiting for Renata would definitely not be as simple as just three days of solitary confinement.

Perhaps she would never be allowed to leave her room again. Perhaps she would spend the rest of her life like Zero, tethered to a straitjacket and confined to a hard, cold iron bed. Perhaps she would even be driven out onto the freezing white ice… But she wouldn't be left to fend for herself. The ice outside was filled with soldiers on sentry duty and patrol. These soldiers, accustomed to the remote far north, seemed desperate for women, even children.

Renata couldn't imagine what kind of punishment she would face this time. No child here had ever been punished twice for committing a crime after wearing a yellow butterfly accessory. She could imagine the white-clad nurses rushing into Ward Zero, the head nurse in charge yelling at her ferociously. She might even knock her unconscious with an electric baton and inject a sedative into a vein in her neck, just like they did to Ward Zero last time! It wouldn't work if Ward Zero pretended to assault her again. Renata was doomed. She might even faint and wake up on a frozen field!

"Damn it! That damn alarm ringing... I remember this feeling!" Lu Mingfei frowned, his head starting to hurt again. "There's something in that alarm ringing... It's that damn knocking sound again! It's drowned out by the alarm ringing!"

Just like the time three days ago, Lu Mingfei's ears were filled with the crisp "bang, bang, bang" sounds again. The sounds were rapid and rhythmic, as if someone was holding a pair of wooden clappers and colliding them in his ears, beating out a strange and hypnotic beat. The sound was obviously not loud and was far less harsh than the alarm, but it drowned out any other sounds in Lu Mingfei's ears, like bursts of thunder.

Lu Mingfei began to have a headache again, his brain hurt so much that it felt like it was going to split in two, and his consciousness began to slowly sink. The strange frequency of the clapper sound seemed to create circles of deep whirlpools in Lu Mingfei's mind, sucking Lu Mingfei's will and even his personality into them.

Lu Mingfei didn't notice it the first time, but he should have noticed it the second time. This strange clapper sound was ringing at the same time as the alarm! Buried under the piercing alarm sound, this clapper sound had a strong hypnotic and bewitching effect on Lu Mingfei!

I can’t just fall asleep like this…at least not now! Lu Mingfei had just grasped some clues, and he still had important things to do. He didn’t know when he would wake up again!

If I fall into a deep sleep now and wake up after the full moon, or if I don’t find the two things I lost when I wake up next time, something irreversible will definitely happen just like what Zero said... While half asleep and half awake, Lu Mingfei suddenly had such a strong idea!

Lu Mingfei bit his tongue hard, unable to move his body. The best way for him to stay awake was to create pain. As long as the pain was much greater than the hypnotic effect of the bangzi sound, he could remain clear-headed.

But Lu Mingfei obviously underestimated the effect of the clapper sound on him. Even though he had bitten the tip of his tongue until it was bloody, he still couldn't stop his will from becoming confused. Pain and drowsiness came together. The pain couldn't suppress the sleepiness, but could only slightly delay his falling into a deep sleep. He was still about to pass out!

boom! boom! boom!

A huge crisp sound echoed in the empty Ward Zero, startling Renata Hei, who was still worried about the upcoming punishment. Renata looked at Lu Mingfei who was banging his head hard against the edge of the iron bed. She was frightened by Lu Mingfei's crazy behavior.

"What are you doing?" Renata asked Lu Mingfei. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. "Did you hear it again? That strange sound hidden in the alarm you mentioned last time?"

“Help me!” Lu Mingfei almost roared, but his voice was already very weak. “Renata… help me!”

"How can I help you? How can I help you?" Renata was also a little anxious. "Don't hurt yourself!"

"Cover my ears!" Lu Mingfei said to Renata, "Block them as much as possible, don't let me hear that sound again... I can't pass out now... Otherwise, not only will I not be able to see the Doctor, you'll be in trouble too!"

Hearing Lu Mingfei's words, Renata rushed over quickly. She grabbed Lu Mingfei's ear and pressed her small palm tightly against Lu Mingfei's temples and earlobes to prevent the strange clapper sound hidden in the alarm from invading Lu Mingfei's mind again.

"Renata! Renata is not in her room, she's disappeared again!"

"Damn it, it's this bad girl again. I must make her suffer this time!"

"We can't keep an eye on her. This girl is too cunning. Let's just let the 'doctor' perform the surgery on her!"

"Go to Ward Zero! That little bitch must have hidden in Ward Zero again! Go and pull her out! I won't let her go!"

There was a chaotic sound of footsteps in the corridor outside the door, and the sound of hard heels tapping the floor came one after another, moving quickly towards Ward Zero at the end of the corridor.

Renata's face was pale as a ghost. She was trembling, and her thin body was shaking like a sieve... But she was still trying her best to help Lu Mingfei cover his ears. Renata didn't know whether the strange clapper sound hidden under the alarm could wake up Zero, but like Lu Mingfei said, if Lu Mingfei also fell asleep now, Renata would be really isolated and helpless, and could only face despair alone.

"It'll be okay." Lu Mingfei said in Renata's ear. Although his voice sounded low and weak, his tone was firm and powerful. "Don't worry, you're helping me, so I won't let anything happen to you. I promise!"

Renata didn't even have time to think about how Lu Mingfei, who was tied to the iron bed, could protect her from those ferocious nurses. The heavy iron door outside was kicked open with a "bang". The firelight in the corridor hit Renata and Lu Mingfei's faces, illuminating the dark walls of Ward Zero.

"Renata, what are you doing! Get off Zero!"

"I told you this little bitch was the one who took the initiative, but 'Doctor' didn't believe me! Look at her now, lying on top of Zero, taking the initiative. She doesn't look like she's been forced or violated at all!"

"Get Renata under control! Sedate her, give her a hypnotic, lock her in her room!"

The moment the nurses pushed the door open, the shrill alarm sound stopped abruptly. At the same time, the strange clapper sound that was covered by the alarm sound also stopped. But Renata had not yet reacted and did not have time to get up from Lu Mingfei.

So when the nurses entered Ward Zero, the first thing they saw was the strange scene of Renata throwing herself on Lu Mingfei. They didn't know that Renata was trying to help Lu Mingfei cover his ears... From the nurses' perspective, Renata's entire upper body was lying on Lu Mingfei's chest, her hands holding Lu Mingfei's head. Lu Mingfei was still tied to the bed with hard iron chains and unable to move. Renata looked like she was about to kiss Lu Mingfei on the lips.

The nurses rushed over, pulled Renata off Lu Mingfei, and forcibly separated the two. The head nurse put an electric baton on the back of Renata's neck, and the other nurses checked Lu Mingfei's condition and whether the chains on Lu Mingfei were locked properly.

"You little bitch, you almost got raped by that lunatic last time, and you still haven't learned your lesson. I think you're a lunatic too!" The head nurse practically yelled at Renata, "This time, we'll have to let the 'Doctor' perform the surgery on you. We can't control you anymore, and no one can persuade you!"

"Does Zero need a sedative?" the nurse next to Lu Mingfei asked the head nurse loudly, "His chains are still intact, and he shows no signs of breaking free."

"Give him a shot of sedative, just the most common dose. No need for hallucinogens." The head nurse glanced at Lu Mingfei, who was tied to the iron bed. "It doesn't look like this little lunatic is responsible for the trouble today. He's still lying in bed fine. It seems we might have misunderstood him last time."

"Head nurse, come and take a look!" The nurse who was sedating Lu Mingfei suddenly exclaimed. She pointed at Lu Mingfei's forehead and said, "Here, there are several cuts on Zero's forehead. There's blood on the corner of the bed. His forehead was broken on the bed!"

"What happened?" The head nurse rushed to Lu Mingfei's side in two steps. When she saw the gash on Lu Mingfei's forehead, her expression suddenly changed. "Damn it! How did it become like this? This is the most important experimental material for the Doctor. If Zero is damaged, we will all be in trouble!"

"Renata, you did it, didn't you?" The nurse standing near the door grabbed Renata's hair and threw her in front of the head nurse.

The petite girl was like a lamb to be slaughtered in front of these tall, strong and fierce Russian women, weak and powerless.

"Admit it, Renata!" The head nurse turned around and glared at Renata with fierce, red eyes. She pulled Renata's waist-length braid and said, "Hurry up and confess what you did to Zero, or I will never let you go... Do you want to experience what it feels like to lie naked in the snow at minus thirty degrees Celsius?"

Renata huddled on the ground, trembling, her pupils dilated with fear. She clasped her hands tightly against her chest, but she didn't dare resist the head nurse because she knew that if she resisted, she would face even more severe punishment. She was like a helpless white rabbit that was afraid and stressed.

"Let her go." A weak voice accompanied by panting came from behind the head nurse.

The head nurse turned around in surprise, her expression still dazed. She didn't know whether she was surprised that the boy spoke at this time, or because she was shocked by what Lu Mingfei said. She asked Lu Mingfei blankly: "What did you say..."

"I said... let her go." Lu Mingfei raised his eyelids and looked at the head nurse. "This has nothing to do with Renata. I hit my forehead myself. You can inject sedatives and hallucinogens into my neck, but there's no need to vent your anger on an innocent girl."

"Innocent girl?" The head nurse raised an eyebrow, seeming to strongly disapprove of Lu Mingfei's use of the term. "Don't you know? Eighty percent of the bad things in this institute are caused by this bad girl... Oh, yes, you've been locked up here the whole time, you don't know anything, but why are you shielding this bad girl? I get it, you and her have a crush on each other, right? So even after she broke your head, you spoke up for her, right?"

"I said, I hit my head by myself. It has nothing to do with Renata." Lu Mingfei emphasized to the head nurse again.