"You got here pretty fast."
As Ch'en appeared, Daniel also saw Amiya, Huang, Exusiai, Texas, Franka, and Liskarm. This time, Violence wasn't present, but there were a few familiar yet unfamiliar faces beside Amiya.
Rhodes Island had too many operators, and Daniel could only remember the more famous ones. The others were just vague impressions, especially since many operators hadn't been implemented in the game yet.
Daniel wasn't surprised by their appearance. When he had subdued Skullshatterer Alex and the others earlier, he had noticed someone following them—or rather, W had deliberately let them follow her. After all, she hadn't planned to bring Misha back from the start.
"Amiya, it's been a while."
Daniel didn't immediately answer Ch'en's question. Instead, he greeted Amiya with a smile. W, standing nearby, immediately turned cold upon seeing Amiya.
W naturally knew Amiya. The two had often met at Babel Tower. Back then, W had never been kind to Amiya. In her eyes, it was because of this little rabbit that she had less time to spend with Her Highness Theresa.
"Long time no see, little rabbit. Why didn't that guy come?" The "guy" she referred to was, of course, the Doctor, who was currently second on W's hit list. Talulah hadn't yet made it onto W's kill list.
As for who was first, it was naturally Theresis. Theresa's death was, in W's eyes, inextricably linked to the Doctor.
It wasn't unreasonable for W to suspect this. Theresa had been assassinated on Rhodes Island, which was under Babel Tower's control. This was highly suspicious. Even without considering Rhodes Island's defenses at the time, Theresa wasn't someone who could be easily killed. After all, she was the Demon King.
Just look at Amiya now. She's just a teenage girl, yet with the power of the Demon King, she can hold her own against Talulah. Theresa, who was much older—her age was likely Amiya's age plus a zero—could undoubtedly wield multiple Demon King powers.
Moreover, before her death, Theresa had managed to pass her Demon King powers to Amiya. This clearly indicated premeditation.
"Miss W, it's been a while." Amiya looked at W with a complicated expression. When she had brought the Doctor back to Rhodes Island from Chernobog, they had reviewed the operation and realized what had happened. Although W had helped Rhodes Island, she had also caused the deaths of many operators, including the elite operator Scout.
If Daniel had appeared earlier, he could have prevented the tragedy at Chernobog.
"I'd rather we never meet again." W's gaze shifted to Huang, and she said, "What's with that look?" Huang's eyes had been filled with anger since she saw W.
"I'll settle the score with you for Scout's death sooner or later." As an elite operator of Rhodes Island, Huang knew all the details of the Chernobog incident.
"Settle the score with me? I should be settling the score with you! It's because of your incompetence that Scout died. Do you think I wanted that? He was one of the few tactical and sniper masters among the Sarkaz."
W's anger flared up. She and Scout had been old friends, both former subordinates of Theresa and members of the same race. If it hadn't been necessary, W wouldn't have wanted Scout to die. But at the time, Scout's death was unavoidable—it was necessary to satisfy Theresis.
The leader of the Sarkaz mercenaries at the time was a subordinate of Theresis. If he had ordered the Sarkaz mercenaries to attack Rhodes Island, it would have made the situation even worse for Rhodes Island.
Huang naturally understood this, which was why she hadn't immediately charged at W with her chainsaw when she saw her.
"You said Talulah is being controlled. Is that true?" Ch'en ignored the issues between W and Rhodes Island. Even the matter of Misha was set aside for now. For her, the most important thing was Talulah's situation.
When she learned that Talulah was the leader of the Reunion Movement and was attacking Lungmen, Ch'en had been deeply conflicted. On one side was Lungmen, which she had sworn to protect, and on the other was her blood relative.
"Of course, but now isn't the time to go into detail. W, where's FrostNova?" FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron had all perished in Lungmen, which was a true tragedy.
"You want to convince her? She's not an easy one to persuade." W seemed to instantly understand Daniel's intentions.
"I believe I can convince her." Daniel was very confident about this. If all else failed, he could just knock her out.
"Fine, I'll take you to her." After a moment of silence, W nodded in agreement.
"Leave this to you."
Seeing that W was willing to lead the way, Daniel immediately picked up the unconscious Skullshatterer Alex and pointed to the other unconscious Reunion Movement members, addressing Rhodes Island and Ch'en.
"I'll have someone stay behind to coordinate with the Nearl Guard Bureau." Amiya quickly nodded.
The Nearl Guard Bureau wasn't just represented by Ch'en. Hoshiguma and other members, including a certain little tiger, were still behind.
"Have the Doctor come over."
While Daniel and the others followed W to find FrostNova, inside Kal'tsit's office on the Rhodes Island ship docked in Lungmen's Fifth District, her voice suddenly rang out.
Kal'tsit naturally knew about Amiya's mission to the slums at Lungmen's request. However, since it wasn't a major issue and Rhodes Island had more pressing matters to deal with—namely, preparing for the Reunion Movement's upcoming attack—the Doctor hadn't joined Amiya.
But Kal'tsit hadn't expected things to take such a dramatic turn.
"Mobile cities. Every time I see one, it feels incredible."
Under W's guidance, the group arrived at a damaged mobile city module in the wasteland outside Lungmen. It was a small town. Mobile cities in this world weren't single entities but were formed by countless interconnected modules.
Since they could be connected, they could also be separated. When a Catastrophe approached, the mobile city would split apart, relocate, and then reassemble at a new location.
If it were just a few modules combining and separating, Daniel wouldn't have paid much attention. But this was an entire city, and the level of technology involved was impressive.
Of course, the technology of the lost ancient civilization was even more advanced. From Kal'tsit's words, the Sarcophagus in Chernobog was just a household physiological repair device. Yet, even without fully understanding how to use it, it could supply energy to an entire mobile city.
This suggested that not all of the device's energy was being used for the mobile city. Moreover, this was just a household device. One could only imagine how advanced that lost civilization had been.
In this regard, this world was somewhat similar to the Honkai world—technology was largely derived from archaeology. The Laterano's guns were a product of such archaeological discoveries.
"W, have you betrayed us?"
As soon as Daniel's group reached the edge of the ruined city, FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron appeared. The white rabbit, with her snow-white fur, looked expressionlessly at W. FrostNova had always been wary of the Sarkaz mercenaries.
"I haven't betrayed anyone. This time, I had no choice." W spread her hands, putting on a look of being a victim.
"No choice? Who could force you?" FrostNova's expression remained unchanged.
"She's probably talking about me, FrostNova." Daniel stepped forward.
"Be careful. The air temperature is changing." Huang immediately stepped in front of Amiya. Her Originium Arts made her highly sensitive to changes in the air.
In theory, Huang's Originium Arts were the opposite of FrostNova's—one was heat, the other cold. Unfortunately, Huang's heating ability wasn't strong enough to counter FrostNova's ice.
"FrostNova, I'm not here to fight you. But I doubt you'll stop just because I say so. So, I'm sorry. Room, Shambles."
As soon as Daniel finished speaking, he appeared behind FrostNova in an instant, his right hand resting on her shoulder, immobilizing her.
"This temperature is comparable to Kevin's." FrostNova's body temperature was extremely low, indicating that her Oripathy had reached a critical stage.
"Big Sis! Let her go!" Seeing FrostNova immobilized, the Yeti Squadron members panicked. The two closest to FrostNova immediately charged at Daniel.
"Calm down. If you don't want your Big Sis to die, you'd better not make any moves." As Daniel spoke, he waved his left hand, sending the two Yeti Squadron members flying to the side.
"What do you mean?" One of the Yeti Squadron members quickly gestured for the others to stop using their Originium Arts.
"Her Oripathy has reached a very dangerous stage. Don't tell me you didn't know."
This statement silenced the entire Yeti Squadron. They naturally knew about this, but as fellow Infected, they had no way to help.
"Wait here. I'll be back soon. W, make sure they don't start fighting."
After sensing the condition of FrostNova's body, Daniel hesitated for a moment before carrying her deeper into the ruined town. Despite mastering so many healing and recovery abilities, he still felt inadequate when facing Oripathy.
If it were just broken limbs or life-threatening injuries, they would be easier to handle than Oripathy.
"Room, Shambles."
Daniel took FrostNova to a secluded spot, smiled at her, and then sliced her into more than a dozen pieces.
The biggest issue with Oripathy was the Originium crystals inside and on the body, which couldn't be removed by normal means. Some had tried to dig out the surface crystals, but the result was that larger crystals quickly reappeared.
While surface crystals could be removed, the ones inside the body were impossible to deal with. Imagine having Originium flowing in your blood, or growing on your organs and intestines. It was a chilling thought.
No wonder Infected didn't live long and often suffered greatly. FrostNova was no exception. Her daily actions required enduring the intense pain caused by the Originium inside her body.
In the original timeline, FrostNova had faced Amiya, Huang, and GreyThroat. Huang had once asked FrostNova, "Don't you feel any pain?"
But while others couldn't remove the internal Originium, Daniel could. By cutting FrostNova into pieces, he could remove the Originium crystals inside her body.
This didn't require Daniel to remove them one by one. He could simply use the scanning ability of the Ope Ope no Mi.
"Your Originium Arts?" FrostNova, now just a head, watched as black Originium crystals flew out of her body. This scene left her speechless. She had never imagined that someone's Originium Arts could achieve something like this.
But the next moment, FrostNova's expression turned excited. In terms of Oripathy infection, Patriot's condition was even more severe than hers. However, due to his physical constitution, Patriot hadn't collapsed.
In fact, both FrostNova and Patriot had ultimately fallen not because of their enemies' strength, but because of their Oripathy.
"Alright, how do you feel now?"
After removing the Originium crystals from FrostNova's body and the more obvious ones on her surface, Daniel immediately restored her.
"I've never felt so light before." FrostNova, now back in control of her body, looked incredulous.
"But this is only temporary. You'd better avoid using your Originium Arts too frequently. And now, can we talk properly?"
"Sure, but I need you to do me a favor—treat someone."
"Patriot? No problem."
"Big Sis, are you okay?"
When Daniel and FrostNova reappeared, the Yeti Squadron members finally breathed a sigh of relief. They had been genuinely worried about FrostNova. The bond between FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron was such that they would willingly lay down their lives for each other.
"I'm fine. You wanted to talk. What is it you want to say?"
At this point, the only Reunion Movement members left in the ruined town were FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron. The others had been taken away by Mephisto and Faust.
"Of course, but before that, I think someone must be hungry. How about we eat first?"
With a clap of his hands, two wooden long tables appeared out of thin air. Daniel then placed a generous amount of food, pastries, and drinks on the tables.
"How can there be such delicious food?"
The Yeti Squadron members were ecstatic at the sight of the unfamiliar yet delicious food. Many of them were moved to tears. As Infected, they had never tasted anything so good.
"The Yeti Squadron are all children." At the other table, Huang looked at the Yeti Squadron members who had removed their hoods. Her expression turned from surprise to anger.
Ch'en remained silent. She, too, hadn't expected this. Although she had become an Infected due to an accident, her status as Wei Yenwu's niece meant she had never faced the discrimination other Infected endured.
"Now that you've found the person you were looking for, can you explain?" Ch'en, having calmed her emotions, immediately asked Daniel.
"Not yet. There are still two more people. Amiya, I assume you can contact Kal'tsit? Ch'en, you should contact Wei Yenwu. There are some things they'll definitely want to know."
"I'm Kal'tsit."
"I'm Wei Yenwu."
"Welcome, both of you. Now we can have a proper discussion."
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