"Why the long face, Kal'tsit?"
Theresa smiled as she handed a bouquet to the resigned Doctor before her. "Smile a bit. Your poker face all day makes the temperature in all of Babel drop several degrees."
"Everyone's afraid to speak loudly when they're around you."
"Theresa..." Kal'tsit took the bouquet helplessly. She glanced left and right before sticking it into the pen holder on her desk.
Well, you might ask why a bouquet could be stuck directly into a pen holder.
Naturally, it was because a certain Demon King who didn't much like carrying pens would frequently come by to 'borrow' one. No one else in Babel was bold enough to swipe Kal'tsit's pens.
Not everyone could endure that gaze of hers, which was sharp as a blade.
"I'm still worried about the Doctor's side..." She hesitated.
Theresa, meanwhile, lowered her head and began to arrange the flowers. Under her skillful hands, the blossoms of varying heights formed a distinct landscape.
"Things will be fine on the Doctor's side. You have to trust Ascalon," a gentle smile remained at the corners of her mouth. "She's an excellent disciple we trained ourselves. Nothing will go wrong."
Hearing this, Kal'tsit fell silent.
It wasn't that she feared Ascalon couldn't protect The Doctor, but rather... Kal'tsit didn't know if her choice was correct.
Priestess... she knew all too well how terrifying that woman was, but the Doctor...
The Doctor...
Feeling restless, Kal'tsit wanted to shove her pen back into the holder, but seeing the neatly arranged bouquet, she could only give up in resignation.
Oripathy... the Infected... and this vast land.
For these ten thousand years, Kal'tsit had been trying to save it.
But after going in circles, she had still achieved nothing.
But if it's the Doctor... he should be able to do it. After all, he's so brilliant, so knowledgeable...
With the mindset of calling in a guardian to fix things, she had tried to awaken The Doctor.
But was she really right to do this?
Kal'tsit had been feeling uneasy in her heart.
"There, there," Theresa didn't know what she was truly worried about. She never used her authority as the Demon King to pry into a friend's thoughts, so she assumed Kal'tsit was worried about the Doctor's safety.
"Nothing will go wrong with Ascalon."
"But I still feel... sigh," Kal'tsit lowered her head irritably, slumping powerless onto the desk.
If she were in front of others, or even when alone, she would never show such a weak side. Only before Theresa... only in front of Theresa...
Could Kal'tsit be a little 'unrestrained'.
"Ever since you returned from the Snowfield, you've become very strange," Theresa sighed. She pulled up a chair to sit beside Kal'tsit, slumping onto the desk just like her and turning her head to look at her.
"You've been restless all day. What exactly did Buldrokas'tee say to you? Or rather... is something big about to happen?"
"...Have you heard of the Golden Order?" After two seconds of silence, Kal'tsit finally chose to speak. "A Golden Order that vanished in the distant reaches of history, represented by Gold and Deep Blue Sorceries, manifesting specific sigils when casting, believing in an Order, and having waged war against the Giant Dragons?"
"Uh, that..." Theresa thought for a moment. She hadn't heard of it. She did a quick search within the Black Crown, but there was still no information.
"No. As for things named after gold, in my memory, there's only the Pegasus Royal Family of Casimir."
"And Giant Dragons... are they Feranmutes?" Theresa blinked. "The news about the Giant Dragons—is that what you told me about from that incident in Ursus?"
"Yes. I saw those destroyed Warships with my own eyes," Kal'tsit's gaze turned solemn. "It was an attack from the heavens. Its power could even slice one of Ursus's active Armored Ships in half."
"Currently, there is no weapon on the continent that can threaten Him."
"Compared to that, I'm more concerned about that Art used to treat the Infected," Theresa said, her eyes full of curiosity. "Honestly, even though you told me yourself, I find it hard to believe."
"Does such an Art really exist in the world? Reversing a terminal case of Infection back to a newly infected state... it sounds like a scam."
"But the cured Infected cannot be faked," Kal'tsit gave a bitter smile at this. "Some of them still have slight scars left behind where Originium Crystals used to be."
"Tens of thousands of Infected with their conditions miraculously unified. To achieve this, one would have to forcibly infect ten thousand people at the exact same time. But if that happened, how could those people who were forced into becoming Infected be so full of gratitude?"
After all, the Infected were reviled by everyone. If you ruined someone's life, you'd be lucky if they didn't try to kill you.
"And Buldrokas'tee's body has returned to its prime. He became an Infected back during the Kazdel period!"
"Is it really that miraculous?" Theresa sighed upon hearing this. "It's just a pity that the Miracle Doctor's whereabouts are unknown... Hey, I don't believe it. Little Buldrokas'tee must be covering for them."
"Since they were willing to do something so significant for them, how could they not know the person's location?"
At this point, a hint of loneliness appeared in her eyes. "But thinking about it, it's normal. After all, this ability... it's truly enough to make anyone envious."
"No, perhaps it's not that complicated," Kal'tsit sighed. "Before leaving Ursus, that Black Snake found me and asked me a question."
"What question?" Theresa blinked. Kal'tsit hadn't mentioned this before.
"He asked me about the origins of the knight named Xia Yu, who is called the Doctor," Kal'tsit's expression was grave. "He said that person claimed to be an old friend of mine."
"She even knew some past events about me, but I really don't remember such a person!"
Even after racking her brains, she couldn't recall when she had met such a talented individual.
If she really knew her, why bother awakening The Doctor? She would have gone straight to her. The hope of resolving Oripathy rested on that person!
"That Black Snake is up to no good," Theresa said slowly as she watched Kal'tsit's conflicted look.
"But one thing is certain," Kal'tsit recalled that woman's expression. "She called that knight a savior Hero who sacrificed herself. That emotion didn't seem fake."
"But from the intel I have, that knight had a major conflict with the Black Snake. The latter even lost an entire fleet in the Snowfield. Even so, he still admires her..."
In fact, it was quite simple. The personalities among the Black Snakes were not all the same, and the paths they walked differed. Furthermore, since Xia Yu had left Ursus so decisively, he certainly wouldn't be stingy with words of praise.
How should one put it? Falling at the hands of a savior Hero who once sacrificed herself to save the world was quite different from falling at the hands of some nameless nobody.
The Black Snake had his pride, after all.
"Just when we finally see a glimmer of hope, we can't even find where she is," Theresa said troubledly. "Fortunately, we still have the Doctor."
"Yes, we still have the Doctor." At this, a hint of longing appeared in Kal'tsit's eyes. If it's the Doctor, he can surely do it!
Meanwhile, the Doctor they were talking about was currently and persistently reaching for Xia Yu's waist.
Slap!
Xia Yu testily swatted his hand away.
"You don't look like a drunkard," she said, puzzled. "Why are you fixated on my gourd?"
"But that wine is seriously delicious!" The Doctor said with a righteous air. "Good sister, just let me have one more sip!"
"I'm begging you, one sip, just one! If I don't get your wine, I feel like bugs are crawling all over me. Good sister, I... ah!"
Unable to take it anymore, Xia Yu chopped him on the head with her hand. "Knock it off already!"
"Look at yourself right now, Doctor!"
"You're the brilliant scholar of Prehistory. Don't let alcohol rot that priceless brain of yours!"
"But that wine is really delicious," The Doctor held his head, looking aggrieved. "In my whole life, I've never tasted anything so..."
"Who are you fooling?" Xia Yu shot him a look. "As a top scholar of that era, would you be lacking a drink?"
"Aren't we down and out now?" The Doctor smiled cheekily as he tried to lean in again, only to be shoved away by a disgusted Xia Yu.
Bothered beyond endurance, she eventually picked up Amiya from Charlotte's side.
"Don't corrupt the child!" Xia Yu glared at him. "Amiya is still young. How can you bring out wine in front of her?"
At this, The Doctor sighed. Well, it looked like he wasn't destined for that luck.
Meanwhile, in the carriage nearby, Ascalon, Charlotte, and Mudrock all swallowed their spit simultaneously.
While eating dinner last night, they were fortunate enough to receive a small cup of wine. That taste... tsk tsk.
Ascalon felt that even Her Highness Theresa had likely never tasted such good wine.
Especially since she could feel some old, lingering injuries in her body gradually healing under the warm current brought by the wine. She knew this wine was even more extraordinary.
Charlotte looked helplessly at the bothered little sister Bailu, then looked at The Doctor who could only retreat helplessly in the face of Amiya, secretly snickering.
These two, who were clearly big shots, could actually be so willful.
"Sit tight!" Suddenly, Ascalon spoke up. "Something's wrong up ahead!"
"Hmm? Okay, I understand." Mudrock froze for a second before immediately picking up the walkie-talkie to alert the other vehicles in the convoy.
Current Mudrock was still quite green and couldn't see the abnormality ahead. In the entire convoy, only Ascalon had noticed.
"Is there trouble?" Charlotte gripped her hammer and looked out the window.
"Yes, an ambush." Ascalon opened the window and vanished from the carriage in a flash.
"Just the usual bandit tactics. It seems they saw how many vehicles we have and think we're an easy catch."
Though she had left, her voice drifted down from the roof.
Just then, the wasteland bandits, noticing the convoy becoming cautious, stopped pretending. Over forty ragged vehicles rushed out from a blind spot in the navigation channel, closing in on the convoy's flanks.
"Boss, that equipment looks like a tough nut to crack." In a command vehicle that was clearly different from the other junkers, a bandit scout looked solemnly at their leader, Locke.
"And they noticed us immediately after entering our encirclement. It looks like they're elites."
"Elites? I specialize in hitting elites." Boss Locke had just finished a big score not long ago and was currently in high spirits. He waved his hand. "Go! Force them to stop!"
"Let these people know whose territory this is. They have the nerve to pass through without paying the toll!"
After he finished, two cars immediately drove toward the convoy tentatively.
This was their usual procedure: use two cars to test the opponent's strength.
"To pass through my territory so brazenly," Boss Locke said, gritting his teeth. "They completely disregard me!"
Looking at the row of heavy trucks and surrounding armored vehicles, he felt this was a god-given opportunity.
So many good vehicles. If he could get his hands on all of them...
This was why he chose to force a stop; he couldn't bear to lose those vehicles.
But Ascalon wasn't going to indulge them.
With several flashes of light, the two cars that came to test them exploded one after another.
Looking at the bandits who lacked any military discipline, she fell silent for two seconds.
At first, Ascalon thought it was a hit squad from the Military Commission, but as it turned out...
They couldn't even block one of her moves. Weren't these just small-time punks?
If it's bandits... she hesitated for two seconds. Stopping to fight them was the safest bet. After all, they had an entire Mercenary group here; they weren't lacking in numbers.
But if this was just a trap meant to trick her into stopping so they could be surrounded...
Fortunately, she wasn't the convoy's employer.
Now, the employer spoke up.
"Mudrock, stop the vehicles and prepare for battle!" Xia Yu looked at those bandits. "Honestly, anyone thinks they can rob us? They should look in a mirror before leaving the house!"
"You want to rob us with those junkers?"
Mudrock was very obedient and organized everyone to slow down and prepare for combat.
Primarily, she knew the strength of the little auntie before her. She could summon a Giant Dragon whenever she wanted—how could they possibly lose to a bunch of bandits?
Ascalon wanted to stop them, but seeing as the convoy was already slowing down, she could only concede helplessly.
Moreover, she had a clearer understanding of Bailu's status within the Mercenary team.
She really called the shots. But it was normal—who asked her to have the unique skill of treating Oripathy?
It was only natural for the Sarkaz Mercenaries to worship her.
Just like that, the convoy slowed down on the wasteland and stopped. Dozens of vehicles formed a circle, placing the heavy truck serving as the command vehicle in the center.
Those bandits also approached. A group of bandits on motorcycles unloaded their bikes from their trucks and then maliciously sped around the crude camp on their motorcycles.
This was their usual trick, using this method to remind the opponent that they were surrounded and to put psychological pressure on them.
But this time, they encountered Xia Yu.
She directly took out the Spirit-Calling Bell and summoned Little Tarnished.
The latter stood atop the vehicle, raising the Sacred Seal in her hand high!