"Folinic, that's the situation. Take a few operators with you and set out later."
While Daniel and Nian were at Vulcan's forge, Kal'tsit had summoned her disciple, Folinic. Although, in theory, all members of Rhodes Island's medical department, including Shining, Nightingale, and Silence, had received guidance from Kal'tsit and could be considered her students, Folinic was different. After officially passing Rhodes Island's medical operator exams, Kal'tsit had personally issued her a graduation certificate. Strictly speaking, Folinic was Kal'tsit's formal disciple, just like her mother had been.
"Teacher, what should I do?" Folinic didn't leave immediately. After a long silence, she finally spoke. Although her expression remained calm, her eyes betrayed a simmering anger.
"That's for you to decide." Kal'tsit naturally noticed the anger in Folinic's eyes and understood its source. She was quite satisfied with Folinic, as her disciple was as resilient and hardworking as her mother had been. However, this also worried Kal'tsit, as she feared Folinic might follow in her mother's footsteps.
Even though Kal'tsit had taught Folinic many things over the years, emotions were difficult to control. Folinic's mother had once had a chance to survive but chose revenge instead, ultimately only achieving half of her goal before her death. However, she had still managed to exact some revenge, as the mastermind behind her death had been killed by Talulah.
"I understand, Teacher Kal'tsit. I won't let you down."
After another moment of silence, Folinic turned and walked away. Watching her disciple's retreating figure, Kal'tsit sighed softly. While she was pleased that Folinic wouldn't let her anger and hatred dictate her actions, she was also concerned. Folinic seemed to be emulating her, and Kal'tsit hoped Folinic would remain herself rather than becoming a second Kal'tsit.
"Big Sis, I'm hungry. Oh, Amiya."
While Nian and Vulcan were discussing forging techniques, a figure rushed into the room. Upon seeing Amiya, she greeted her and then grabbed a honey cake from a nearby cabinet, happily eating it.
"This is Ceobe. You can call her 'Little Ceo.'" Amiya quickly introduced her.
"So it's her. I really didn't recognize her. Then again, this is inside Rhodes Island. There's no need to be fully armed here."
If Amiya hadn't spoken up, Daniel wouldn't have recognized the casually dressed girl with long golden hair as the Ceobe who always carried multiple weapons. However, he quickly realized that in the game, Ceobe was always depicted with all her weapons, but in reality, she wouldn't carry them around all the time.
For Ceobe, hunger was the most important thing in the world. So, whether it was Daniel, Nian, or even Amiya, none of them could compare to the honey cake in front of her.
"Blaze is back. It's almost time to set off."
As they continued their tour of Rhodes Island, the news of Blaze's return signaled that it was time to head to Chernobog. As an elite operator, Blaze would naturally participate in this operation. In the original timeline, Blaze had wanted to take Mint's place in this mission, as she was one of the few who opposed Mint engaging in such brutal combat at such a young age. However, due to her injuries from fighting FrostNova, she had been unable to participate in the Chernobog operation.
"Wei Yenwu is being unusually generous this time. Is it for Ch'en?"
Along with Blaze came several trucks loaded with supplies, replenishing Rhodes Island's shortages. As a trade hub, Lungmen had an abundance of resources, both for daily life and industrial use.
"FrostNova, there are some things I didn't explain clearly earlier."
While Amiya and the others were inventorying the supplies Blaze had brought back, Daniel found FrostNova and explained his identity and some of his plans for the future.
"Regarding the future of Reunion and Chernobog, I have some ideas." Daniel outlined his vision for Reunion and Chernobog, focusing particularly on the issues facing Reunion.
"I want to know what you think. Do you want to change the status of all infected, or just ensure your own survival? If it's the latter, I have a suggestion." Daniel then presented his proposal.
Initially, FrostNova hadn't shared Talulah's lofty ideals. She and Patriot had simply wanted to ensure the survival of more infected.
"Live in a world without Oripathy." FrostNova fell silent.
When considering how to handle the infected, Daniel had come up with an idea: transferring some people from Terra to his Great Tang world. By bringing individuals from various races, over time, his Great Tang would become a diverse society, much like Terra. Such a world would be fascinating.
As for the potential issues, with Daniel overseeing things, any problems would only cause minor ripples, not major upheavals. By integrating people from Terra, he could also test whether "breaking through the void" was still possible in a higher-level world. In his view, "breaking through the void" was a result of the world's low level, unable to accommodate those who had reached such heights. But if the world's level increased, things might change.
For example, in the world of *Fengyun*, the power levels were much higher than in Great Tang, yet no one had ever "broken through the void."
In other words, integrating Terra's residents was an experiment to see if the world's level could be raised. Even if it failed, it would simply mean adding a few more races to the mix. The Chinese civilization was highly inclusive, capable of assimilating numerous races.
At most, some Confucian scholars might initially find it hard to accept, but after a few decades or even a century, everything would normalize.
"If we want to change the status of all infected, how do we do it?" If this had been before meeting Talulah, FrostNova would have immediately chosen to live in a world without Oripathy. Even if she didn't go herself, she would have sent her Yeti Squadron and other companions there.
But now that she had met Talulah, even though Talulah had been corrupted by the Immortal Black Snake, her ideals had spread.
"First, you need to understand one thing: Talulah made a mistake by focusing solely on improving the status and lives of the infected without considering the situation of ordinary people."
"On this land, it's not just the infected who are oppressed. Ordinary people are also exploited by nobles and the wealthy. The difference is that the infected are used as a scapegoat to divert attention from these issues.
FrostNova, imagine if there were a cure for Oripathy. What do you think would happen? Would the cured infected be treated normally? No, those in power would find ways to destroy the cure and ensure the infected remained, as they need the infected to divert attention and create conflict between ordinary people and the infected.
Without the infected, if everyone were ordinary people, who would the conflict shift to? Naturally, it would be between ordinary people and the nobles and wealthy."
Daniel's explanation to FrostNova was straightforward, as she hadn't received much formal education. In fact, FrostNova and the Yeti Squadron had only learned to read after meeting Talulah and Alina, who had been teaching the children.
Patriot was an excellent soldier, but in other areas, he fell short.
As Amiya had once said during her pre-Chernobog operation speech, even if a cure for Oripathy were developed, it wouldn't necessarily be widely distributed.
After all, for capitalists, the infected were the most convenient tools. They could be paid half or even a third of what ordinary workers earned, and employers would still boast about their generosity for hiring the infected.
Of course, this was under normal circumstances. For the infected, having their wages deducted under various pretexts, receiving no benefits, and being denied compensation after death were all standard practices.
Whenever something went wrong, it was always blamed on the infected. This was almost a universal excuse, as seen in the case of a certain pink-haired operator who was later framed by people posing as infected.
"First, I plan to turn Chernobog into the first mobile city where infected can live normally. However, I'll need your help to convince Patriot. He probably won't trust me."
Patriot was notoriously stubborn, and the only person who could persuade him was FrostNova. No one else stood a chance.
"He really is an old stubborn man."
Mentioning Patriot, FrostNova couldn't help but sigh. Talulah's abnormalities had been obvious, and FrostNova had wanted to confront her earlier, but Patriot had always stopped her, just as he had when FrostNova wanted to kill Mephisto.
"It's quite fast, and the stability is impressive."
Standing on Rhodes Island's deck, Daniel observed the surroundings with curiosity. This was his first time on a landship.
What surprised Daniel the most was the stability of the mobile city and the landship. Even cars would experience bumps when driving off-road, but mobile cities and landships didn't.
"I didn't see you earlier." Sensing someone approaching, Daniel turned to see W. After her medical check-up, W had disappeared.
"I went to see some old friends. Since you're from another world, I have a question." W's expression was unusually serious, which surprised Daniel. This was the same W who dared to call Kal'tsit an "old woman."
Even in front of Daniel, W had always been bold and unrestrained.
"Go ahead." Daniel was curious about her question.
"In other worlds, is there a way to bring people back to life?" W's eyes betrayed a hint of anxiety.
"She really is the Princess's number one fan." Daniel immediately understood why W was asking this.
"Yes." Daniel nodded, but as W's face lit up with hope, he continued, "I understand your goal, but different worlds have different rules. The difficulty of resurrection varies greatly. In some worlds, it's easy, and I can do it. But in others, like this one, it's very difficult."
"Just difficult? Not impossible? That's great." W didn't look disappointed; instead, she seemed relieved.
"I want to know what it would take for you to help me resurrect Theresa. I'm willing to pay any price, including myself."
"Why do you think I'm that kind of person?"
While W was undeniably attractive, with a curvaceous figure, her upfront offer left Daniel somewhat speechless.
"I can sense your gaze."
"That's just normal appreciation."
W's comment nearly made Daniel cough. There was a saying about the temptation of demons, and W, being a Sarkaz, had the best figure among the people he had met so far. It was only natural to glance at her a few times.
"Would you like to appreciate it from a closer distance?" W leaned in closer.
"Only a fool would say no." Of course, Daniel didn't say that out loud.
"Right now, I can't resurrect her. If I promise you and then fail, wouldn't that be a loss for you?" Daniel's gaze briefly lingered on W's chest as she leaned forward, but he quickly looked away.
"That's fine. I don't dislike you anyway."
"You don't have to do this. I can promise you that if I gain the ability in the future, I'll help you." Resurrecting Theresa wasn't out of the question.
*Ahem.* A cough interrupted them. Daniel turned to see Blaze, who had appeared on the deck at some point.
"It seems I've interrupted you. Amiya called a meeting. According to the messengers, we're about to make contact with Chernobog."
"You can come to me anytime to fulfill our agreement." W quickly disappeared into the ship.
"Was I just teased?"
"Two directions. It must be Ursus's army."
In the distance, a mobile city came into view—Chernobog's core city. However, Daniel ignored it for now, instead using his Observation Haki to scan the surroundings.
Combining his intelligence with Kal'tsit's investigations, Daniel knew that the armies following Chernobog were likely Ursus's Third and Fourth Armies, controlled by the old nobility.
According to Kal'tsit's plan, they would directly confront Talulah, stop the core city, and avoid a direct clash with Ursus's regular army.
If Daniel didn't want Chernobog, this would have been a good plan. But since he intended to claim the mobile city, a confrontation with Ursus's army was inevitable.
Given that these two armies were the masterminds behind this incident, Daniel had no intention of letting them off easily.
"What are you planning to do?" Nian walked over to Daniel. While others couldn't sense his Observation Haki, Nian was different.
"Dealing with some enemies in advance." With that, Daniel rushed toward the nearest target he had sensed. Although it was "near," it was still about six kilometers away. If not for his enhanced perception range, he wouldn't have detected it.
"It's a high-speed landship. So, the other side must have one too. Ursus is really going all out."
When Daniel reached the target location, he found a camouflaged high-speed landship. If he hadn't known something was there, most people would have overlooked it.
Seeing the high-speed landship in person made Daniel understand why Kal'tsit had always avoided antagonizing national-level forces. The power of a nation was indeed beyond Rhodes Island's capabilities.
Even though Rhodes Island had several operators on par with the Imperial Guards, their equipment was far inferior. Of course, if Rhodes Island had hidden capabilities, that would be a different story.
"About five hundred people. Two ships mean over a thousand. You're just unlucky." With that thought, Daniel stealthily approached the landship.
"You're doing it wrong. You'll be discovered easily." Nian, who had followed him, suddenly spoke up.
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