Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Chapter 72

Her voice grew hoarse with anger, but she forced herself to turn toward Hunter G, the only person in the room who had previously shown any willingness to listen to her.

"Hunter G, say something! You were the one who made a deal with me, and you know I kept my end of it by handing over the herbs. You also know that I promised to share information about the zombies. Are you really going to stand there and let them do this to me?"

For a brief moment, Ingrid still held on to the hope that he would intervene. Surely, he wouldn’t allow them to go this far when he knew how dangerous the procedure could be. However, he still looked at her with that cold, unreadable expression, showing no sign that he intended to help.

The indifference in his eyes made Ingrid’s stomach sink. It was as if he no longer saw her as someone deserving of basic consideration, and whatever fairness she had thought he possessed had disappeared the moment these older men decided to exercise their authority. She stared at him for another second, hoping he would change his mind, but he offered her nothing. Instead, he turned his attention away from her as though the matter had already been settled.

"Bring her to the examination room," Jowe’s grandfather ordered. "Have the equipment prepared immediately, and make sure she is properly restrained before the procedure begins."

Three hunters entered the room almost at once. Ingrid instinctively tried to move farther back on the bed, but her injured body was too slow to respond, and the men reached her before she could do anything. One seized her right arm while another grabbed her left, their fingers digging painfully into her skin as they pulled her away from the bed. Ingrid winced and tried to wrench herself free, but their grip only tightened, leaving her with no choice but to endure the pain.

"Let go of me!" she demanded, twisting her arms in a desperate attempt to escape. "I said I don’t consent to this! You can’t just drag me away and do whatever you want!"

The hunters ignored her protests and began pulling her toward the door. Panic rose inside Ingrid as she realized that none of her threats had worked, and the people who could have helped her had either turned against her or chosen to remain silent.

She couldn’t use her spatial storage in front of them, and revealing any of her other abilities would only give the Guild more reasons to investigate her. For the first time since waking up in this world, she felt genuinely trapped.

’Lorna!’ Ingrid called frantically in her mind. ’What am I supposed to do now? If they search my memories, they’ll discover the system! They’ll find out that I came from another world, and then I’m finished!’

She waited for Lorna to respond, desperately hoping the system had some way to protect her from the procedure. Instead of offering an immediate solution, Lorna let out a cheerful giggle that sounded completely out of place given the situation.

’Don’t worry about a thing, Ingrid!’ Lorna replied brightly.

Ingrid nearly lost her mind. ’What do you mean, don’t worry? They’re literally dragging me away to have my memories searched! How am I supposed to not worry about that? Do you have some kind of protection prepared, or are you just going to laugh while they dig through my head?’

Lorna giggled again, offering no explanation whatsoever.

Ingrid’s eyes widened as the hunters dragged her through the doorway. ’Lorna, what the hell are you planning?’

The hunters showed no intention of slowing down, even when Ingrid continued struggling against their grip. They dragged her through several corridors, ignoring her angry demands to be released, until they reached a secluded section of the Hunter’s Guild that she hadn’t seen before. The farther they went, the quieter the surroundings became, and the absence of other people only made her growing anxiety worse. When one of the hunters pushed open a heavy metal door, Ingrid’s protests died in her throat as she caught sight of what lay inside.

The room was filled with machines she couldn’t identify. Some stood against the walls, their screens displaying strange lines and numbers, while others were connected to thick cables that ran across the floor. Several people in white coats were stationed around the equipment, watching the screens and adjusting different controls as though they were preparing for an important operation. Ingrid had no idea how any of it worked, but she immediately understood that this wasn’t an ordinary medical examination room.

A woman in a white coat noticed their arrival and approached them. She glanced at Ingrid briefly before turning toward Jowe’s grandfather, who had followed them into the room with the other two older men.

"The machine is ready," she reported. "We’ve completed the preliminary checks, and the equipment is functioning normally. We can begin as soon as the subject has been secured."

’The subject?’ Ingrid thought incredulously. ’Is that what I’m called now? Have these people completely forgotten that I’m a human being?’

"Good," Jowe’s grandfather replied, barely sparing Ingrid a glance. "Strap her to the machine and begin the memory search. I want the results as soon as possible, so don’t waste time."

Ingrid immediately began struggling again, but the hunters holding her arms were much stronger than she was in her current condition. They dragged her toward a reclining metal platform positioned in the middle of the room, where several restraints had already been prepared. When they tried to force her down onto it, she twisted violently, nearly slipping out of their grasp before another hunter seized her shoulder and pushed her back.

"Get your hands off me!" Ingrid shouted, trying to kick one of them away. "You can’t do this! I’m not giving you permission to search my memories, and I swear you’ll regret it if you go through with this!"

Her threats made no difference. One hunter pinned her shoulders against the platform while the others secured her wrists and ankles with thick restraints, leaving her unable to move freely. Ingrid pulled against them until her wrists hurt, but the straps held firm, and the more she struggled, the tighter they seemed to feel against her skin. By the time the hunters stepped back, she was completely immobilized, staring up at the ceiling while her heart pounded against her ribs.

She was scared, really scared. If this thing failed, it would be over for her forever. She won’t be able to see Lysander, nor grow stronger. If she survived this, she’ll make sure that they regret what they did to her!