The Chainsaw Angel’s gaze was scattered, her limbs touching the ground, wings drooping on either side like broken white fan blades, feathers covered with scorch marks. Her teeth clacked abnormally against each other, clicking like piano keys.
"She now understands her place," Farosa said with a light laugh.
"Electric shock and drowning damaged her nerves," Xu Yang observed. "To a certain extent, they made her lose her mind."
"This is more effective than ten thousand lashings," Farosa glanced at the electrifying device on the side of the glass box, with a plastic square casing housing meticulously designed circuits, the wires wrapped in red and green plastic.
"There’s no need to go to such lengths," Xu Yang said. "Torture is not our style. Besides, the Chainsaw Angel Gang has been crushed, completely disbanded, no longer operating as a group, nor will it be reformed."
"Everything you say is true, but life has its hierarchies of high and low, noble and base," Farosa moved closer to the glass box.
The Chainsaw Angel had lost her power and courage. As soon as she saw Farosa, she collapsed to the ground. She lay at the bottom of the glass cage, her body covered with burns, with little of her senses left.
"You can use your energy for more important things," Xu Yang said as he opened the glass box. "This sort of thing is not respectable at all."
"She was captured by the Witch Division, she is my prisoner, and I hold power over life and death over her," Farosa found a collar with iron spikes from among the torture devices, a silver chain attached.
She bent down in front of the Chainsaw Angel, placed the collar around the angel’s pale neck, and locked it with a small iron padlock. Grasping the silver chain linked to the collar, she gently tugged, and the Chainsaw Angel began to crawl behind her.
"What does a puppy say?" Farosa looked back at the Chainsaw Angel, her tone coaxing.
"Woof! Woof!" the Chainsaw Angel repeated in a high-pitched voice.
Xu Yang, familiar with Farosa’s overindulgence in novelty and vulgarity, stood by and watched the whole affair, knowing she would soon lose interest. The more he thought of stopping it, the more vigorous Farosa became, so the best strategy was to feign indifference.
As expected, Farosa led the Chainsaw Angel around the room a couple of times and then quickly lost enthusiasm.
Though it was a good dog, she didn’t like walking dogs; it was too much of a hassle. Moreover, she didn’t have the right audience—no one would praise such behavior, not even the most loyal Little Witch.
Watching Xu Yang’s unprecedented calm, Farosa felt as if all her actions had been anticipated, which dampened her spirits even more, and she shoved the chain handle back into Xu Yang’s hands.
"There are still many secrets on her waiting to be unearthed," Farosa turned her back. "Let her linger on in the state of a dog for a while, and then I will personally kill her."
"I’ll come for you in a bit," Xu Yang dropped the silver chain on the ground.
It clinked crisply as it landed, the Chainsaw Angel watched it, then leaned over to lick it.
After Farosa left the interrogation room, Xu Yang observed the Chainsaw Angel’s actions. She was energetically licking the chain as if it were a sausage, and if she truly had a tail, her action would suggest that it was now wagging happily.
"I know it’s not that serious," Xu Yang said. "You don’t have to play act in front of me."
The Chainsaw Angel looked up at Xu Yang, and after a moment, she slowly stood up, scratching her neck at the collar, avoiding its spikes.
She was silent, waiting for Xu Yang to speak, not doubting that he, just like Farosa, could decide her fate.
"If Farosa knew you were acting, she would be ten times angrier," Xu Yang said.
"She could see through it, but her attention was focused on me just now," Xu Yang took out a Healing Injection from his person. Since drifting in the sea, he carried more and more emergency supplies.
He handed the Healing Injection to the Chainsaw Angel, and despite her suspicion of Xu Yang’s sincerity, she inserted the needle into her chest, pushing the bright red medicine into her veins. The Healing Injection, a cocktail of adrenaline accelerants and four medicinal compounds, was designed to fast-track the body’s regenerative functions, effective in any emergency.
With the injection, the tense furrow in the Chainsaw Angel’s brow gradually smoothed out. She tentatively moved her wings, but they still hung lifelessly. Glancing back at the glass box, remembering the filth left from being electrocuted, she took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. Staring at the floor for several minutes, she pieced together her current situation with fragments of memory, struggling to think.
"I want to live," she looked up, summarizing her thoughts.
"I’ll find you a solitary cell," Xu Yang led the Chainsaw Angel out of the interrogation room. "Regardless, your primary status is still that of a prisoner."
"But she will still kill me," the Chainsaw Angel followed closely. "She only needs the intelligence from me; once I’ve told her everything, she will erase me."
"As long as you can provide other benefits, that’ll be fine," Xu Yang found a warehouse designated as a prison cell and sent the Chainsaw Angel inside.
"Who exactly are you?" the Chainsaw Angel looked around the simply decorated single room, which would be her dwelling place for a long time to come. She sat on the bed, her expression filled with gloom.
"A group of free people," Xu Yang sat beside her, "There’s no deep-seated hatred, it’s just that you kidnapped Setsuki, so we needed to rescue her. That’s where the conflict lies. So back to the original question, why did you kidnap her?"
"She sneaked into the factory," the Chainsaw Angel whispered, "trying to film the production process of the nutrient paste. We naturally caught her. Later, finding out she was valuable, we demanded a ransom from her dad. If I had known she could get in touch with you guys, I wouldn’t have... never mind."
"Life is unpredictable," Xu Yang stood up, "You will receive food, medical care, and fresh clothes according to prison standards. Rest well."
"Even though I’m a defector," the Chainsaw Angel looked up, "I still believe in some of the doctrines from before—that my current suffering stems from the original sin of my life. The original sin manifested in my past behavior, and now I am paying the price for decades of indulgence, senseless killings, and self-righteousness."
"In my view, fate is the result of constantly rolling the dice," Xu Yang closed the door of the prison cell and quickly left.
In the narrow cell, the Chainsaw Angel hugged her knees, buried her head in her legs, and closed her eyes.
In the void, she could hear Dilnai’s whispers, the evil goddess calling out to her wayward angel.
But she didn’t trust Dilnai, for Dilnai’s torment of her over the centuries was far worse than electric shocks and waterboarding. To her, there was no difference between remaining here as a prisoner or returning to New Taixi State to continue being a slave.
At least here, she might have a slim chance of redemption. All she could do now was wait.
Meanwhile, Setsuki, who had been imprisoned alone, was released. She was kept in a small apartment owned by the Katsuragi Gang. Several gang members entered, blindfolded her with a black cloth, put her in a car, and prepared to send her back to Kakuya Media.
"Where is this?" She was blindfolded, unable to see anything, struggling in the back seat, "Where are you taking me?"
"Taking you home," Li Xiaomin was in charge of driving.
Li Xiaomin had a clean record, no blemishes on his career, and he was also working hard to save money for his child’s future. After the burrito hat business shrank, Rosya was completely unemployed and now rested at home, taking care of the pregnancy, with the burden of living falling on him.
"And who are you!" Setsuki’s tone was anxious, "You... "
"I’m just the driver," Li Xiaomin turned the radio to the music from the golden age of corporate capitalism.
"Pink Subway Song" began to play, with its gentle tune and pleasant, upbeat rhythm, the female singer’s voice pure, instilling an invigorating mood from the bottom of the heart. The car quickly filled up with a charming urban atmosphere, easing Setsuki’s tension.
"Hmm..." Blindfolded and frustrated, Setsuki didn’t know if she could make it home safely.
"Are you a journalist?" Li Xiaomin thought about the news of Setsuki’s kidnapping, "The president’s daughter, why would you come to Aizu City for a visit."
"They use human flesh to make nutrient paste!" Setsuki remembered, "I recorded it with my artificial eye, it’s going to cause problems! It’s terrifying!"
"Oh," Li Xiaomin remained nonchalant.
"How come you are not the least bit shocked?" Setsuki was surprised, "How can you be so indifferent, don’t you care at all what’s on your own dinner table?"
"Nutrient paste has long been divided into grey strips and white strips," Li Xiaomin said, "Usually when you go to a store, you ask beforehand whether it’s grey or white. Grey means it has everything in it, dead human starch, irradiated fish pulp, cockroaches. White will be much cleaner, but not by much."
"But they’re going to switch the nutrient paste to new packaging! They’ll deceive you all!"
"Packaging is just to fool corporate people," Li Xiaomin dismissed, "Before we buy, we squeeze it a bit, and also cut it open to see. Larger granules mean it’s white, and the color is more mottled; finer granules mean it’s grey, which is obviously ground finer, and the color is pure, totally mush. We all understand."
"You’ve never eaten nutrient paste, have you?" Li Xiaomin asked.
"You should interview the corporate people your dad fired when you have time," Li Xiaomin stepped on the gas pedal, "We’re 15 kilometers from Kakuya Media, lie back."