Accepting the Commission
It also takes three days to return to Yarrow Camp from the World's Edge.
Linsey was already in a bad mood because her path was blocked.
But after obtaining the [Primordial Stubborn Stone] and then synthesizing the [Eternal Imprint], he is now in a pretty good mood.
He felt his steps become lighter.
Even looking at the desolate and lonely Wasteland around me, I felt a sense of warmth and affection.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
After Linsey crossed the desert in good spirits...
The scenery that came into view in the distance changed his expression drastically.
At this point, he was quite far from the Yarrow Camp.
But with Linsey's keen eyesight, he could barely make out that the sharp wooden fence surrounding the camp had been completely destroyed. As for the camp's interior, the buildings appeared to have collapsed one after another, and looking into the distance, some dark spots could be seen moving slowly.
"!"
"What's going on?"
Linsey's eyebrows were almost furrowed together, and her good mood vanished.
He immediately quickened his pace and sped towards the camp.
Linsey had a vague premonition that the terrible situation he had warned Yarrowen about when he left was about to become a reality here.
To think that hope on Wasteland land has turned into this.
Linsey even felt that the importance of repairing the World Staircase should be postponed.
After all, these are all living, breathing people!
Linsey sped forward at full speed, moving at an extremely fast pace.
The distance of several kilometers passed in the blink of an eye.
When he arrived at the Yarrow Camp, the reality before him left him speechless.
The Yarrow Camp was thriving just a week ago.
At this moment, not only was the fence destroyed, but almost all the houses inside had collapsed, and there were ruins everywhere, burned by flames.
As for the black spots Linsey saw, they were actually just ragged humans.
With weary and desperate eyes, they paced back and forth in the ruins of the camp. Some appeared to be rescuing their comrades, but most were simply going through the motions of physical activity, numb and listless.
"..."
Linsey walked into the camp in silence, and no one came up to ask him what was going on.
When we arrived at the very center of the camp.
Just as he had guessed, the supplies that kept the camp running were dug up and left only a few empty pits.
"..."
Linsey continued to look around.
Despair, numbness, deathly silence...
He opened the map.
A week ago, the Yarrow Camp had over a thousand people, but now the number is barely over a hundred.
Most of the markers have turned from green to yellow, and the few remaining Green Marker should be those of the people who met Linsey a week ago.
"Wait! Here...?"
Just then, Linsey noticed something unusual.
In the room where Yarrowen had hosted him, now a ruin, a Green Marker was buried!
"Someone was buried alive inside? And they're not dead yet!"
Linsey rushed forward without thinking.
He instinctively reached out to dismantle the rubble, but then stopped abruptly.
"If people above are digging indiscriminately while people are buried in the rubble, it could actually harm the victims below..."
Thinking of this, Linsey immediately activated the [Eternal Imprint], merging her body into the pitch-black underground.
A few seconds later.
In a corner of the ruined room, in a triangular space made of stone slabs, Linsey saw a figure curled up.
The Jellyfish Lamp, through complex underground refraction, cast a fragile, withered golden glow.
"Vivian!?"
Linsey recognized the other person; it was the little girl.
He approached through the soil and rocks and took the child in his arms.
[Eternal Imprint] only allows Linsey to burrow underground. He couldn't leave with Vivian in his arms, so he canceled the Earth Escape effect underground.
Creak—
In an instant, the pressure from the collapsing building crashed down on Linsey's back.
He lifted it upwards with all his might, and with a loud 'boom,' the ruins were directly pushed aside by his powerful strength.
The little girl, covered in blood, finally saw the sunlight again.
"..."
Vivian was almost speechless.
She opened her eyes and saw Linsey standing in the sunlight, her body propped up against the ruins, facing her directly.
"Forest..."
"Don't speak, you are very weak right now."
Linsey stopped Vivian from moving.
The little girl was too weak to swallow medicine, but fortunately he still had a way.
Linsey took some healing potions from her bag, Resource Conversion using her skill, and then used them directly on the other person.
Snap snap snap—
The medication took effect, Vivian's condition improved somewhat, but she was still pale.
Linsey examined it carefully.
[Human infant—affected by the Devourer's techniques, its Life Force has been damaged and is continuously draining from its body.]
"..."
"The Devourer's Technique? Continuously Drained?"
Linsey was stunned.
Having traveled before, he also prepared some medicine for injuries for the Art Festival in the City of a Thousand Sails, and even cultivated a batch of plants in his shop.
However, these things are all for treating injuries and cannot remove such special buff effects.
Especially Vivian's condition.
It was affected by the Awakener's skills that it has become like this; one can imagine the opponent's power.
"This is really difficult to handle..."
Linsey frowned in thought, but soon he noticed something.
Seeing the piece of equipment that had been with her for so long, a hint of reminiscence and emotion flashed in Linsey's eyes, but she made a decision in an instant.
"If this thing could save the life of a kind child."
"If my teacher knew, she would definitely support me."
[Rare Item: Source Material Branch]
[A wondrous artifact created when an awakened being was on the verge of death, capable of slowly and continuously maintaining physical health.]
A fragile twig, of low value.
Linsey placed the [Source Material Branch] in Vivian's arms.
The effects of the Devourer's Technique are exactly equal to the assistance provided by the [Source Material Branch].
With Linsey's generous medication, Vivian's condition immediately improved significantly, and she showed no signs of further decline.
Right now.
The physical comfort she felt overwhelmed Vivian, who was severely injured, made her want to fall asleep immediately.
But the child did not immediately lose consciousness.
She slowly opened her right hand toward Linsey, her voice weakening with a hint of pleading:
"Please, save everyone, save my dad."
"..."
The Warm Stone Necklace appeared before Linsey.
He looked around at the numb, listless, and desperate humans, then at the weak yet determined girl in front of him.
This time, Linsey did not refuse the gift; he took the necklace from Vivian's hand.
It is for the sake of these desperate people before us, and also for our own sake.
Linsey solemnly promised:
"No problem, leave this to me."
As the words fell.
A new line of text appeared on Linsey's Attribute Panel.
[The First Territory]
This wasteland is in dire need of rebuilding and urgently requires a wise leader to guide everyone out of this predicament.
[Mission Reward: Unlocks the Real-Time Strategy Module]