Inside the makeshift tent.
Chen Yutong drew Little Sheep's blood using the equipment from her medical kit, pressed a cotton swab against the puncture, and secured it with medical tape.
Seeing that Little Sheep hadn't made a peep, Chen Yutong stroked her hair and praised her gently. "You're very brave. When I was your age, never mind needles—just the sight of blood would make me dizzy."
Flattered, Little Sheep offered an embarrassed, timid smile. "Actually... I was still a little scared. But after seeing so much of it, it doesn't seem quite as terrifying anymore."
The entire annex felt as though it had been soaked in a vat of blood.
Not just blood, but corpses as well. No matter how much they cleaned, there always seemed to be more.
When she had first emerged from the basement, she had nearly fainted from fright. Even now that she had grown accustomed to it, the suffocating stench hanging in the air remained difficult to endure.
Watching Chen Yutong place the test tube containing her blood into a small silver box, Little Sheep asked softly, "...Can my blood cure those people?"
Studying the testing parameters shifting across the display screen, Chen Yutong rubbed her chin in deep thought for a long moment, muttering to herself, "...It's not certain yet. However, your body indeed possesses a certain antibody capable of inhibiting the active enzymes secreted by Na fruit hyphae. This will help us develop a vaccine or antidote against this peculiar fungus."
Not all living organisms were affected by the Na fruit. A tiny fraction of individuals experienced no reaction whatsoever after consuming it, relying on antibodies within their bodies to inhibit hyphal infection while their digestive systems broke it down entirely. The probability was roughly one or two in ten thousand.
Little Sheep was not the sole antibody carrier in this settlement, but most of the others had been carved up and eaten during the earlier chaos, alongside those who had resisted the brainwashing of Frequency Band 03.
Consequently, this little girl, who possessed the antibody and had miraculously survived, was of extraordinary importance.
The psychic interference device could brainwash Na fruit addicts who entered a "trance," and the combination of the two was the root cause of the tragedy at Pinecone Wood Farm.
If they could formulate a vaccine or antidote that suppressed the growth of Na fruit hyphae, they would naturally be able to dismantle the Church of the Torch's brainwashing across the parish's settlements.
Of course, physical technology could only resolve physical issues; repairing the mental damage of indoctrination would still require a considerable amount of time.
The Church of the Torch's dominion over the region had not been established solely through Na fruit. They had exploited the ignorance of serfs under the plantation economy to amass a vast following of believers.
Rather than saying their rule was achieved through Na fruit and psychic interference devices, it was more accurate to say that only after establishing absolute control did they gain the freedom to implement such measures unhindered.
Tragedies like the one at Pinecone Wood Farm had almost certainly occurred more than once.
Looking at the older girl lost in grave contemplation, Little Sheep asked curiously in a low voice, "Are you a doctor, Big Sister?"
"Hmm... probably not quite," Chen Yutong mused for a moment, her brow relaxing into a smile. "Healing the sick isn't really my specialty. I fall more into the research category."
"Research?" Little Sheep tilted her head.
"Yes." Chen Yutong gave a gentle nod. "You could think of it as using existing knowledge to explore unknown puzzles."
Little Sheep nodded, half-understanding.
It felt...
Incredibly impressive.
Even though she still didn't really understand what an "unknown puzzle" was.
Noticing the admiration rising on the young face, Chen Yutong guessed her thoughts and smiled, reaching out to stroke her hair.
"Do you want to learn?"
"Yes!"
Little Sheep's eyes lit up, her small head nodding excitedly.
Yet, perhaps realizing that such an abrupt request might cause trouble, her bright eyes suddenly dimmed again.
Shyly, Little Sheep whispered, "Um... I don't know anything. Would teaching me be a lot of trouble? If it gets in the way of your work, Big Sister, please forget I asked."
"How could it be trouble? If anything, having an assistant would be wonderful."
Once the floodgates were open, Chen Yutong couldn't stop herself, continuing with a laugh, "Around here, we don't have as many rules and regulations as the Academy, but most people think with their muscles... Not that they're bad people—some of those idiots are actually quite sweet—but there are far too few who can actually discuss academic problems. I can't believe they handed such a massive project to a newcomer like me."
Stroking the fluffy hair, she met the apprehensive eyes and said softly, "Besides... I won't stay young forever. When I become an old grandmother, my unfinished work will have to be handed down to people like you."
The radiant glow of joy returned to that youthful face, and beneath the eager sparkle in her eyes, a glimmer of unprecedented hope took root.
In all her memories, no one had ever said such things to her.
Or, more precisely, no one had ever considered her important—not even herself.
What she thought or did had never mattered; she needed only to play the role of an obedient daughter, a compliant hostage, and a playmate for the young mistress... like an ornamental vase set upon a windowsill.
Yet now, she suddenly felt her life had regained meaning. She no longer had to simply wait for a predetermined fate.
Her cheeks flushed, Little Sheep nodded vigorously, speaking with firm resolve, "Mm! When that day comes... leave it to Little Sheep!"
Though she knew childhood dreams were often fickle, Chen Yutong didn't pour cold water on her enthusiasm. She merely smiled and patted the girl's head.
"All right. Keep at it!"
***
At the tent's entrance.
Chen Yutong led the rosy-cheeked Little Sheep past the door flap and patted her shoulder gently.
"Will you be fine going back on your own?"
"Mm!" Little Sheep nodded earnestly. "I remember the way."
Chen Yutong smiled and nodded, continuing, "Once you're back, make sure to talk things through with your good friend Yin Yin. I think... she might not have truly meant what she said, and she might even be regretting those words right now."
At the mention of Yin Yin, Little Sheep's head drooped despondently. After a moment, she whispered, "Yin Yin... did she really not mean it?"
Seeing Little Sheep asking so earnestly, Chen Yutong considered it for a moment before replying, "Human beings are complicated creatures. Many thoughts run through our minds in a single day—some negative, some positive... What someone says in a heated moment isn't necessarily what they truly believe deep down; it might just be a stray thought that popped into their head. That's why adults learn to control their emotions. You two are still children, so it's completely normal that you couldn't keep them in check."
At that point, she smiled warmly.
"After so much time, Yin Yin has probably calmed down. As long as you communicate patiently, I'm sure you two can clear up the misunderstanding."
Little Sheep nodded, partially understanding, and lowered her head in gratitude. "Thank you... I understand."
"All right, off you go."
Watching the girl turn and leave, Chen Yutong wore an affectionate, maternal smile as she waved gently.
Such a sensible, good child.
Suddenly, she felt a slight urge to adopt one...
Just as she pulled her gaze away from Little Sheep's retreating figure, a soft cough came from nearby, followed by a teasing remark.
"How did I become an idiot who only thinks with his muscles?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Chen Yutong flushed and turned to look at Lao Bai, who was leaning against a nearby pillar.
"When did you get here... Wait, you heard that?"
Lao Bai cleared his throat dryly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just came over to ask how things were going, and I happened to hear it right as I reached the entrance."
Besides, the tent was pitched right in the central courtyard of the annex.
Even if he had wanted to step aside, there had been nowhere to go.
"I'm the one who should apologize..." Chen Yutong looked thoroughly embarrassed. "I didn't mean anything by it, honestly. I was just joking..."
"Haha, no worries, no worries. I'm not that petty," Lao Bai grinned. "So, how's the antibody? Is it usable?"
Chen Yutong nodded, then gave a slight shake of her head. "Yes. We've observed clinical inhibition of the Na fruit hyphae, but completely counteracting the effects of the Na fruit will probably take some time."
Lao Bai nodded and asked, "What about now? Are you planning to head back to base, or...?"
"Stay here, of course," Chen Yutong answered without hesitation. "Surprising as it is, this place has the best experimental equipment around, not to mention so many 'patients.' If we want to develop an effective vaccine as quickly as possible, this is the ideal testing ground."
Lao Bai quipped, "Looks like we'll have to stay here for a while, then."
Chen Yutong felt a bit apologetic. "Sorry for troubling you guys."
"Don't mention it. This is the least we can do."
Grinning, Lao Bai paused, his teasing expression gradually fading as his tone grew grave. "Still... I have to make this clear to you: the danger here isn't over. While we repelled the joint assault by the Torch and the mutants, they largely suffered from a lack of large-scale combat experience. It's hard to say what comes next."
Chen Yutong nodded seriously. "Mm... I understand. If things go wrong, I'll follow orders and evacuate."
"Then I'm relieved."
Lao Bai smiled and was about to say more when the signal light inside his helmet flickered faintly, followed by a teammate's voice over the comms channel.
"Boss, about five hundred meters from the north gate, two motorcycles are heading our way!"
Hearing the report, Lao Bai's expression turned instantly stern. Tapping his forefinger against his helmet, he asked, "What color?"
"Can't make out the color clearly... but they're definitely human. From their gear, they look like local wastelanders, but showing up at this hour is bizarre."
Pinecone Wood Farm was not an open settlement. Usually, anyone who wasn't a familiar traveling merchant wouldn't even dare approach.
Many of the slaving bands active in this area were controlled by the farm's owner.
"Wait for me to get there."
Ending the transmission, Lao Bai turned to Chen Yutong. "We've got work. I need to head to the settlement entrance right away."
Nodding gently, Chen Yutong smiled. "Mm, go ahead. Don't worry about me. If there's any progress, I'll let you know immediately."
"If anything happens, contact me or any of my teammates right away."
Leaving those words behind, Lao Bai wasted no time and departed toward the perimeter of the estate.
At that moment, near the north gate of Pinecone Wood Farm, two motorcycles pulled up by the roadside, and two travel-worn men stepped off their bikes.
With rifles slung across their backs and ammunition pouches strapped to their motorcycles, arriving in such attire in the middle of the night would draw suspicion at any settlement.
Yet as they arrived, no one came forward to question them. Everyone at the gate bore expressions of profound heaviness, or rather, utter numbness.
They were digging trenches beside the farmland, wheeling carts piled with corpses to the gate, dumping them into the pits, and shoveling dirt over them to bury the dead.
At first, Li Jinrong hadn't noticed the bodies, but once the pungent reek of blood hit him, he spotted the mounds of remains piled beside the haystacks.
Most of the corpses were mangled, many gnawed beyond recognition, looking as though they had been snatched straight from the jaws of beasts.
His Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Beside him, Xiao Yue was in the same state, his face even paler. His mouth twitched for a long moment before he managed to force a hoarse sentence from his throat.
"Damn it..."
"What the hell happened here?!"
It was virtually...
Hell.
Just then, a suit of power armor strode out from the open gates and halted before him.
The helmet visor retracted, revealing a familiar face to Li Jinrong.
"Lao Bai."
Lao Bai gave a nod. "We meet again."
Li Jinrong glanced around and took a deep breath. "What on earth... is going on here?"
"An experiment by the Church of the Torch. Unfortunately, we got dragged into it," Lao Bai said, a shadow of gloom crossing his features as he looked toward the mountain of corpses nearby. "Originally, if we had just taken control of the farm owner here, we could have defused the bomb planted here piece by piece. But they beat us to the punch."
Xiao Yue stared blankly at him. "An experiment?!"
Lao Bai replied, "An experiment regarding psychic interference devices and Na fruit... You came from the south, so you must have heard something about what they do."
Surprise flickered across Li Jinrong's face. He stood frozen for a long while before speaking with difficulty, "I've heard about it, but never the specifics of their experiments. The settlements in Haiya Province are even harder to approach than the ones here... Damn it, what are they trying to do? What kind of sick experiment is this?"
He had indeed heard of the Church of the Torch's experiments; after all, those zealots operated with virtually no pretense of concealment.
Yet witnessing thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of bodies, he still couldn't fathom what manner of experiment this was supposed to be.
Still, the evidence lay right before his eyes.
Not far from the heap of corpses lay a mountain of bloated flesh—a massive giant piled on the ground like rotting meat, reeking of decay.
If his memory served him right, that was a bio-soldier created by the Church of the Torch using modified mutants, a model seemingly called "Goliath."
A few people dressed as farmers were silently swinging pickaxes, digging dirt to excavate a pit large enough to bury it.
Fortunately, it was winter.
Otherwise, the stench would have been far more overwhelming than it already was.
Lao Bai fell silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "I'm no less confused than you. Aside from those madmen themselves, I doubt anyone knows what kind of heaven they're trying to reach."
Even less did anyone know what price would have to be paid to get there.
After interrogating that Executor named Li Jie, he had come to understand completely...
Those zealots were impossible to reason with.
Li Jinrong forced words from his throat. "...They must be stopped."
Lao Bai nodded. "We think so too. If we let them continue festering, they'll drag everyone down with them sooner or later... Today it's Jinchuan Province, tomorrow the River Valley, and who knows how far the trouble will spread after that."
"We have our own troubles to deal with. The Tide that has plagued us for a century and a half will soon return, but our Administrator believes we must take action."
"Let's talk—about cooperation."
With that, he turned and walked toward the gate.
Xiao Yue glanced at Li Jinrong beside him and whispered, "What does he mean?"
Li Jinrong answered in an uncertain tone, "It's probably an overture for cooperation."
He had indeed wanted to latch onto the massive tree that was the Alliance. If they could secure the Alliance's support, they would at least gain a stable rear.
However, he hadn't expected the Alliance to take the initiative.
Xiao Yue looked at him, hesitating. "Wouldn't it be better to report to the organization first?"
He knew the boss suspected there might be a Church of the Torch mole embedded within the Iron Tower. Just as they would plant spies in the church, the other side would naturally think of the same tactic.
Moreover, with the Church of the Torch's vast manpower and technological reserves, they could pull it off far more discreetly and insidiously.
Still, the two of them alone could not speak for the entire Iron Tower.
Besides, at least some people were still trustworthy.
Li Jinrong pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Let's hear what they have to say first."
With that, he locked his motorcycle, handed his weapons over to the guards on duty at the gate, and followed Lao Bai into the settlement...
***
The long night finally passed.
As the dawn sun crested the horizon, the *Heart of Steel* at last arrived over the outskirts of Jinhe City, overlooking the ground like a towering fortress.
Startled by its overbearing majesty, beasts and birds lurking in the forest scattered, fleeing away from it.
Disturbed alongside those timid mutants were the mutants lurking within the city ruins.
Yet, ignorant of fear, they had no intention of running away with their tails between their legs.
From the ruins, heads gleamed with sickly green grease, their bared teeth and contorted faces filled only with bloodlust and ferocity.
Fear was the one expression nowhere to be found on those faces.
Brandishing their crude weapons, some even fired rifles toward the airship more than ten kilometers away, barking out raucous jeers.
"Come on if you've got the guts! You two-legged cowards!"
"Let your mutant grandpas see how many heads you've got for us to chop!"
"%¥#@!"
"Awoo!"
Seeing that the airship gave no response, they turned back to the cages holding their prisoners, dragged out a dozen scrawny, wretched captives, and shoved them onto the rooftop of one of the buildings of the Champion Biopharmaceutical Research Institute.
It was one of the tallest surviving structures in all of Jinhe City.
Ignoring the men's and women's desperate pleas for mercy, they severed their heads with single cleaver strokes, bound their ankles with rope, and hurled them over the edge of the building, letting their blood cascade down the exterior walls.
Like a scarlet waterfall.
The reveling mutants let out excited roars—those who had drained the blood, those drenched in it, and those watching the spectacle from the sidelines.
To them, sacrificing a few head of two-legged livestock in blood was entertainment.
It was also a ritual praying for an "abundant harvest."
Locked in cages like cattle, the remaining captives shivered violently, their faces etched with sheer terror, while others simply ceased to react, sitting blank-eyed and lifeless...
The airship merely gazed down at them in silence, then dropped its anchor chain.
While the underlings paid little heed to a mere airship, Jia'en, the leader of the tribe, wore a flicker of astonishment upon seeing it, his caterpillar-like brow soon knitting in grave concern.
He finally understood what had happened the previous night.
Yet he could not fathom why the Alliance would mobilize on such a scale at this juncture.
The Apostle from the Church of the Torch had told him personally that once winter ended, a Tide of unprecedented scale would erupt in Qingquan City.
The Alliance should have been preparing for war right now.
By all logic, they shouldn't have had the spare capacity to interfere with their plans.
Standing behind him, the stooped Gemo spoke softly, "Our allies wish for us to eliminate Pinecone Wood Farm... Alliance forces have taken over the area, and the Bishop suspects they're up to no good, which could threaten their ongoing plans."
Hearing Gemo's voice, the corners of Jia'en's mouth curled into a cruel sneer. "He has the nerve to make demands of us? Doesn't he plan to explain what happened last night?"
Gemo sighed softly. "He expressed regret over last night's mishap. No one expected the Alliance to react so swiftly. Usually, those people formulate a plan before making a move, but this time they clearly dispatched their forces first... Additionally, the Church will compensate us double for the cybernetics and weapons lost in the battle."
Hearing that, Jia'en's brow finally relaxed slightly.
In Tribe Qi, strength equated to status; whoever had the biggest fist was the boss.
Therefore, equipment that could make an individual stronger was far more precious to them than those green-skinned expendables.
Tribe Qi had no shortage of warriors.
They had fought since leaving the womb; they learned to hunt before they learned to speak, and learned to eat human flesh before they learned to walk.
Every single one of them was a soldier.
However—
"Tell him I'll take the job, but marching out of the city right now is a bad idea. We'll have to wait for rain or fog at the very least," Jia'en said gravely, his gaze fixed on the airship. "Those gun barrels bristle like a porcupine's quills. Step out from here, and we'll take a pounding."
The city provided cover; without ground spotters to guide it, artillery fire inflicted fairly limited damage.
On the open plains, however, it was a different story.
Though a vast stretch of forest lay between Jinhe City and Pinecone Wood Farm in the eastern suburbs, one still had to cross a stretch or two of open, cleared land.
A dozen or twenty men might slip through, but a large-scale march of hundreds or thousands would undoubtedly be spotted, and last night's defeat would only repeat itself.
Sensing Jia'en's misgivings, Gemo gave a soft chuckle and continued, "There's no need to worry about that."
"The Bishop has a way to get us inside."
Chapter 587