Apocalypse: Reborn with a Soul Sync Farming Space System-Chapter 105 Guilt (Bonus)

Chris’s gaze lingered on her for a second longer before shifting to the corpse on the floor, and then to the shattered glass and blood-stained walls that had once been part of a controlled and sterile environment. The isolation wing no longer looked like a place of safety, but a battlefield.

"Secure the area," Chris ordered quietly. "No one leaves this sector until we confirm there is no further mutation."

Soldiers immediately moved into formation, two stepping over the body to guard the corridor while others entered the room to check for additional threats. The medics who had survived stood frozen for a heartbeat too long before snapping back into motion, their faces pale as they began covering the bodies of their fallen colleagues.

Ling Xuan remained in her place, watching as one soldier carefully kicked the severed head aside to ensure it would not twitch back to life, and only when it remained still did she dismiss it as neutralized. The blackened blood pooling beneath it looked thicker than ordinary blood, almost tar-like, and it carried a faint metallic scent that clung to the air.

Behind the glass partition at the end of the corridor, the restrained brother had witnessed everything.

He had watched the glass shatter.

He had heard the screams.

He had seen the blade sever his sister’s head.

Now he stared at the headless body of his sister lying in a pool of dark blood, his bound hands trembling violently at his sides.

For several seconds he did not react, as if his mind had refused to process what his eyes were seeing.

A sharp trembling inhale broke the silence and then twisted into something raw and heart-wrenching. He sobbed as if he had lost everything.

"No..." he whispered hoarsely.

The soldiers guarding him stiffened but did not loosen his restraints.

"No!" he shouted, his voice cracking as he stumbled forward and slammed both bound fists against the reinforced glass. "That’s not her! That’s not my sister!"

His body shook violently as tears streamed down his face, and the despair in his voice echoed painfully through the corridor.

"You said you would help her!" he screamed, his gaze locking onto Ling Xuan with a mixture of hatred and desperation. "You said she would be safe!"

Ling Xuan met his gaze without flinching.

"She died before I killed her," she said calmly. "That was no longer your sister."

Her words were not cruel, but they were not soft either.

The man let out a strangled sob and slid down against the glass, his shoulders collapsing inward as if the weight of the world had pressed down all at once. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against the cold surface, and for a long moment, he did not move.

Laurel felt every bit of that grief. Inside, her chest tightened painfully, and guilt wrapped around her like invisible chains.

"She trusted me," Laurel whispered inwardly. "She even thanked me." She soliloquised, drowning in the sea of her guilt.

Ling Xuan closed her eyes, but didn’t respond to her. Not that she felt her guilt or was capable to feel for her... she was mad at her, and she knew now wasn’t the time to face her.

Chris stepped closer to the restrained man and spoke in a steady voice. "We will investigate what happened, but you need to calm down."

The man laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and broken. "Investigate? She just gave birth to a healthy baby... She was fine.

That sentence caused Ling Xuan’s gaze to sharpen slightly.

"The baby," she said under her breath, her fingers tightening around the sword.

Almost on cue, one of the medics rushed toward them from the nursery wing.

"The infant is stable," the medic reported, slightly out of breath. "No abnormal vitals, no mutation signs, no infection markers. She is perfectly normal."

For a moment, silence stretched through the corridor.

The brother’s head snapped upward. "My niece... she’s alive?"

"Yes," the medic said.

A flicker of hope crossed the man’s broken expression, and his body sagged with relief even as fresh tears fell down his face. "She’s okay," he murmured repeatedly, as if saying it aloud would make it more real.

Ling Xuan’s brows knitted slightly. The mother had mutated within minutes of delivery, yet the child showed no abnormal signs. And before the mother gave birth, she was perfectly fine and had the attributes of an awakened... why would an awakened suddenly turn infected?

"This changes nothing," she said calmly. "The child remains under observation."

Chris nodded. "Double the security around the nursery."

The soldiers moved immediately. The corridor was gradually cleared as the bodies were removed and the blood began to be cleaned, but the metallic scent lingered stubbornly in the air.

Ling Xuan turned away from the scene and began walking back toward the inner sector without another word.

Chris watched her retreating back for a moment, and he let out a deep sigh, as his gaze wandered back to the dark liquid on the floor.

His gaze sharpened, "Collect the remains of the infected and send it to the science lab, run tests on it." He ordered.

The moment Ling Xuan reached a quiet corner, she closed her eyes and stepped into the space.

The familiar stillness of the system world enveloped her instantly, and the scent of blood was replaced by the neutral, clean air of the white expanse.

Laurel stood near the center of the hall, her shoulders slightly hunched and her gaze lowered.

Ling Xuan appeared before her, her facial expression remained indifferent except for the fury burning in her gaze.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke, and a thick layer of tension settled between both of them.

Then Ling Xuan broke the silence.

"Four." Her voice was steady and cold. "We lost four people today because you chose compassion."

Laurel remained unmoved, yet inwardly her chest tightened so much it was hard for her to breathe. The weight of her decision and the guilt of it pressed down on her like a mountain.

"I did not know this would happen," she said quietly, her nails dug into her palms, as if the pain would be able to distract her from the pain in her heart.

"You did not know," Ling Xuan repeated. "That is precisely the problem."

Laurel looked up at her, her eyes glistening faintly though no tears fell. "She was pregnant. I couldn’t just leave her outside."

"And now she is dead," Ling Xuan replied. "Two medics are dead. Two soldiers are dead. The isolation wing is compromised... and at what cost?!" Ling Xuan’s voice cut through the air like a blade.

Laurel swallowed hard. "If we stop helping people, then what are we protecting?"

Laurel knew her decision was bound to bring actions she could not control. And she knew the lives that were lost today were no less than those of the people she had saved. But how could she predict that a perfectly normal woman would turn into a monster... how could she atone for the lives that were lost?