QT: Against My Will-Chapter 621 - 12.01- Dai An Wants a New Pet - Interstellar Voyage
• Dai An found herself trapped inside a large, rusted cage. The air was thick with the stench of decay, and a sense of hopelessness pervaded the atmosphere.
• The world outside the cage was a macabre scene — corpse-like prisoners strewn around her, tore at one another, their actions fueled by a primal, all-consuming need to satiate their hunger.
• Then, one of the wanderers approached her cage. In his hand was a sharp, gleaming knife.
• Dai An’s heart raced as he reached through the bars and cut a small piece of skin from her arm. The wanderer turned to the prisoners and tossed the piece of her skin into the air.
• The prisoners lunged towards the small, gruesome offering like starved rats pouncing on a piece of steak, driven by a primal need.
• Dai An focused her thoughts, channeling them like a laser beam towards the warden. Her mind seemed to extend beyond the physical confines of the cage, reaching into the consciousness of the warden.
• At first, the warden’s face was twisted with confusion, but as Dai An exerted her will, his expression slowly began to change. His movements became jerky, like a puppet struggling against its strings. Dai An could feel the pushback, the warden’s mind resisting her intrusion, but she pressed on.
• Dai An directed him to go out of the cage, her thoughts commanding him. The warden, now under her control, moved robotically, his hands trembling as they fumbled with the lock.
• He approached the huddled, starving prisoners and began to pet the prisoners as one might an animal, "There, there," he cooed, his words strangely comforting. "You shouldn’t be fighting each other." Then he took one of his torture tools that resembled forceps and began to pull out his tooth as a treat for his hungry pets.
• The prisoners, confused and terrified, recoiled and shrank away from his touch, their eyes filled with a mix of fear and disbelief.
• In her makeshift theater, Dai An felt a semblance of control and creativity, a respite from the darkness that threatened to consume her.
• In the meantime, one of the prisoners stammered towards her cage, the piece of her flesh clutched tightly in his bony hand. In the dim light of the prison, he used the flesh as a grotesque offering, extending it towards Dai An’s cage.
• Dai An lifted the prisoner’s hunger in exchange, not with nourishment but with a form of power over his mind.
• The following day, the warden brought with him a sewing kit and a weathered, dusty old book. Its pages were yellowed with age, and the cover adorned with faded illustrations of a bygone era. Instead of instilling fear and terror into the prisoners, he first sewed the rotten skin back onto Dai An’s arm, then opened the book and began to read in silence.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
• As Dai An absorbed the secrets of spells and magic over the years, she contemplated her current lifestyle.
• ’~If my soul stays here for too long, someone might get suspicious about how I didn’t reincarnate yet, and start to snoop around.’
• She wondered how her reincarnation would fare if she chose to keep most of her proficiency in learning magic and cultivation.
• ’~It should manage.’
• The warden moved swiftly behind the remains of Dai An’s body. Acting as her hands, he meticulously sliced the skin on her back. After affixing the skin to the cold walls of the cell, he severed her ribcage from the spine. Each rib morphed into the semblance of wings, like a silk moth emerging from the cocoon of her former life.
• As the crimson tide of blood flowed from her sacrifice, it cascaded into the cauldron, filling it to the brim. Once full, it began to emit a soft, pulsating glow, the air around her seemed to tremble with ancient magic.
• ’~In this rebirth, my soul, now free, will embark on a journey anew. But my spirit, forged in the fires of trial and suffering, shall remain. It will stand as a testament to my past, to the battles fought and the scars earned.’
• The moment Dai An sensed the departure of her soul from this realm, she took a drastic step. She sacrificed a part of herself, one that was saturated with her most vivid memories.
• ’~In this rebirth, my soul, now free, will embark on a journey anew. But my spirit, forged in the fires of trial and suffering, shall remain. It will stand as a testament to my past, to the battles fought and the scars earned.’
• A sharp, dual pain surged through her, leaving a hollow void behind.
• Despite the pain, Dai An understood the necessity of erasing traces of her new existence.
• The place where her soul once resided, there now emerged a pulsating blob of dark energy, ’The path you chose to walk only leads to despair and eternal torment,’ a haunting voice taunted, attempting to pierce her resolve with doubt.
• ’~I’m Dai An. Dai — to wear with dignity; An — to embody peace,’ Dai An affirmed herself, a powerful incantation of self-belief.
• This was the essence of Dai An’s spirit – the epitome of her enduring will and strength.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
’~Bing Shi.’
’Yes?’
Shina lay there in her room, her body almost entirely still except for the occasional twitch of a finger. To any onlooker, she presented the image of someone paralyzed, perhaps even braindead.
Dai An didn’t become a powerful spirit just to return to her human roots. The idea of learning how to operate a physical body as if it was her own was still unappealing to her.
’~I’ve decided. I want a silk moth.’
’A silk moth?’
’~Yes, a spirit familiar that looks like a silk moth. They are so cute and majestic at the same time. I learned from my old memories that I always wanted to start a silk farm.’
Because of Bing Shi’s Kuro, and her husband’s collection of pets, which resembled a whole zoo, Dai An longed for a pet of her own. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
’How do you obtain one?’
’~I don’t know, but I have all the time in the universe to find out.’
Felicia and Laura entered Shina’s room while carrying a tray with breakfast.
Shina was laying in bed, flipping through the pages of a book that hovered in the air. Various pieces of equipment on her desk moved autonomously, each responding to her unseen commands.
It was as if she had eyes in every corner of the room, allowing her to monitor and direct the activities without directly looking at them.
While Laura was giving Shina a full body massage, Felicia fed Shina a liquid meal through an IV. Their Lady was truly devoted, sacrificing even her meal times for her goals.
In her own little bubble, Dai An was deep into cultivating her powers, as per usual. With her focus unwavering, she worked diligently to refine her abilities, just like she always did.
