Chapter 112: The Crimson Mark

The moment Ethan returned to his dormitory, he immediately brought Rose and Sofia into the sanctuary of the Survival Space.

The sight that greeted him inside made his chest tighten.

Rose sat rigidly on a crate, her hands resting flat on her knees. Her eyes stared straight ahead, empty and lifeless, as though someone had stripped away everything that made her human.

Sofia knelt beside her, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

"Ethan, why is Mom like this?"

Her voice broke with desperate grief.

"Mom, please look at me. It’s Sofia!"

Rose didn’t respond. Her face remained a mask of absolute vacancy.

Ethan stepped closer and carefully examined her forehead. That was when he spotted a faint red mark just beneath her hairline.

It resembled an intricate flower bud, its delicate lines appearing and disappearing beneath her skin. Every few seconds, a dim crimson glow pulsed through it like a slow heartbeat.

Something about the mark made his skin prickle with unease.

Before he could investigate further, Tessa hurried over from the corner.

"Let me try."

She placed both palms against Rose’s shoulders. A soft, soothing green light spread from her hands, bathing Rose’s body in a warm, healing glow.

The effect was instantaneous.

The exhaustion on Rose’s face gradually faded, and the minor abrasions and muscle fatigue she had sustained while forcing plants to grow began to mend. Small cuts closed over, leaving only faint pink lines behind.

But the red mark on her forehead remained completely unchanged.

If anything, the healing energy seemed to make it more distinct against her skin.

Tessa withdrew her hands, frustration clouding her face.

"It’s no use. My Life Link can repair physical tissue and structural damage, but this mark is directly connected to her mind. I can’t reach whatever is pulling her strings."

Ethan frowned, his jaw tightening.

He reached out and carefully touched the glowing mark with his fingertip.

The moment his skin brushed hers, Rose’s entire body jerked violently.

Her empty eyes flickered.

For a brief, desperate instant, something familiar returned to them.

"Ethan..."

Her lips trembled.

"Sofia..."

Sofia immediately grabbed her mother’s shaking hand.

"Mom! I’m right here!"

Rose’s gaze shifted toward her daughter. A flicker of raw, clawing desperation appeared in her dead eyes.

"Run..."

The word barely escaped her parched throat.

Then she suddenly clutched her head with both hands and let out a strangled groan.

Her whole body shook uncontrollably. She dug her fingernails into her hair as though trying to tear something physical out of her own skull.

"Mom!"

Sofia reached out to hold her, but Ethan caught her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Wait!"

Slowly, Rose’s trembling subsided.

The desperation vanished from her face, replaced instantly by that same terrifying, hollow emptiness.

She lowered her hands and sat completely motionless once more.

Ethan stared at her intently.

So she was still in there.

Whatever vile method had been used to seize control of Rose, it hadn’t completely erased her consciousness. She was fighting a silent war inside her own mind, struggling desperately to regain control even if she could only manage a single word at a time.

That realization made the situation infinitely worse.

Someone had hijacked her mind, and Rose was trapped inside her own body like a prisoner, unable to do anything except resist an invisible master.

Sofia collapsed against her mother’s knees, sobbing openly.

"Please, Mom. Don’t leave me again."

She reached out to touch Rose’s face.

Rose suddenly snapped her arm away with unnatural speed.

Several thick, crimson-lit vines burst violently from her fingertips, thrashing through the air.

"Watch out!"

Ethan seized Sofia’s arm and yanked her backward just in time.

The vines whipped through the empty space, narrowly missing her face. One thorny stem brushed against her forearm, leaving three deep, bloody scratches.

Sofia cried out in pain.

Tessa immediately lunged forward, pressing her hands over the fresh wounds. Green light surged across Sofia’s skin, and the heavy bleeding stopped within seconds.

But the wounds didn’t close properly.

A faint, sickly red mist lingered around the scratches, sinking deep into the damaged flesh.

Tessa’s expression turned pale.

"The healing isn’t working right."

She concentrated harder, pouring more energy into the link. The cuts gradually knitted together, but the strange red discoloration remained trapped beneath Sofia’s skin.

Ethan’s jaw tightened into a hard line.

Rose had almost killed her own daughter.

And she hadn’t even been conscious of her actions.

He looked back at the pulsing crimson mark on her forehead.

*Whoever did this to her, I’m going to find you.*

Before he could examine the mark further, sudden movement on the Survival Space’s monitoring screen caught his eye.

Ethan turned toward the display.

Four men in pristine white lab coats had entered his guest dormitory upstairs.

Their movements were stiff, rigid, and deeply unnatural. None of them spoke or looked around. They simply walked in unhindered, stopped in front of the stone wall, and pressed their palms flat against the masonry.

Then, as though responding to a singular, silent command, all four raised their hands and focused their spiritual energy.

Tiny green shoots emerged from the cracks in the stone.

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

The shoots thickened almost instantly, their leaves unfolding at an impossible, accelerated speed.

Then, the dormitory door opened again.

A woman in a white lab coat stepped inside, her face completely concealed behind a vibrant red veil. She casually tossed an egg-sized red meteorite between her fingers, catching it with effortless grace.

The stone pulsed with a malevolent crimson light.

Ethan’s expression hardened into ice.

The glow was identical to the mark on Rose’s forehead.

A military guard patrolling the corridor noticed the woman and hurried over, frowning.

"Dr. Lilith Cross, why have you left the secure laboratory? General Nash gave strict orders that you weren’t supposed to—"

He never finished the sentence.

The woman raised her head behind the veil.

A blinding flash of scarlet crossed her eyes.

The soldier froze mid-stride.

His expression went utterly blank, his arms dropping heavily to his sides. Without uttering another word, he turned around and walked away with stiff, mechanical steps.

Dr. Cross didn’t even bother glancing after him.

Ethan watched the scene unfold on the screen in total silence.

*Mental control.*

The woman could seize absolute control of another person’s mind with a single glance. Rose’s condition suddenly made a terrifying kind of sense.

But the meteorite in her hand suggested something far deeper.

The red mark wasn’t just a physical brand of control; it was a psychic tether linked directly to whatever power the woman wielded.

Dr. Cross turned toward the exact wall where Ethan’s hidden space boundary lay. Her gaze settled on the spot, as though the concrete and the dimensional barrier meant nothing to her senses.

"Space Ability User," she called out calmly, her voice carrying clearly through the stone. "Hand over Number Thirty-Seven, and I’ll make your death quick."

Ethan’s expression grew lethal.

*Number Thirty-Seven?*

He glanced back at Rose.

Her body was trembling violently again. The red mark on her forehead had brightened until it looked like a burning ember trapped beneath her skin.

Dr. Cross smiled softly behind her veil.

"Not interested in cooperating?"

She tilted her head toward the four hypnotized men.

"Then let’s show him what a real Plant Ability can do."

All four men raised their hands in unison.

Brilliant, emerald light erupted from their fingertips.