The Gravity Girl

Amidst her dejection, a blush gradually crept onto her cheeks.

"Dr. Kal'tsit, your face is so hot!" Amiya feigned ignorance, "It's cold like this, let's go back to bed!"

Although she cannot truly read memories, nor does she intend to actually do so, the ability to perceive emotions is enough to serve as Amiya's invincible social weapon.

That's good.

That's good!

Although the original plan has been completely messed up, as long as we get to that place!

Harboring naive and innocent feelings, Amiya devised the following plan:

Using the Prophet that he had just dreamt of the prophet in the dungeon and was frightened awake in the middle of the night, he then claimed that he was afraid to sleep alone, thus securing a place in Kal'tsit's den.

However... it's clear that the plan went off track almost immediately.

Right now, Amiya is giving her older sister Kal'tsit a wonderful reassurance.

"Come on, but be quiet, don't wake him."

Yay!

Despite all that has happened!

But the goal has been achieved!

"Um!"

Suppressing her excitement, Amiya carefully placed the bunny pillow on Oute's desk in the dim light.

The blanket was pulled back again, but this time, Amiya curled up comfortably between Oute and Kal'tsit.

"Go to sleep, you have a lot to do tomorrow."

Kal'tsit gently patted Amiya's head, closed her eyes, and the little bunny nestled in Kal'tsit arms.

The scents of Oute and Kal'tsit mingled into a comforting aroma that lulled Amiya into a deep sleep. She then curled up against Oute like she was clinging to a bunny pillow.

At the end of the deep dream, she saw a tall tower reaching into the clouds. She saw the emblem of Rhodes Island rusted, vaguely forming a spiral spire.

A large hand extended its index finger and gently touched the emblem, causing the towering spire and the rust on the emblem to collapse.

She saw it again...

The text, formulas, and charts on the report flew wildly, merging into a storm. That storm turned from the wilderness, circled around, and then began to turn back.

The ants were caught in the storm and torn apart.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that they are not ants at all, but rather ragged people, their skin covered in Originium crystals.

Everything seemed to rewind and replay, only this time, Amiya saw how the words, formulas, and diagrams were written, and the hand holding the pen was no different from the god who pushed the tower. Only this time, Amiya saw that behind that large hand was a not-so-strong arm, and a white-haired man.

She did not fabricate a single, completely false lie.

Fear and nightmares are real.

But in their embrace, Amiya felt a warm hand stroking her head.

"All forms of rule must consider costs: the cost of establishing rule and the cost of maintaining it—the simpler it is, the more difficult it is, and the more difficult it is, the simpler it is."

That person who patted my head was such a killjoy.

Chapter 220 Gravity-Type Girl

On the bed, just like the previous mornings, Kal'tsit had already left, while Specter was still sleeping soundly, enjoying the double bed alone.

In front of the desk, a giant Cautus plushie dressed in Rhodes Island uniform is innocently placed on a chair, its back to the desk.

Through the frosted glass door of the bathroom, the faint sound of running water could be heard.

The mirror reflected the toothpaste foam from the corners of Oute and Amiya's mouths.

Although Amiya did not intentionally imitate them, the two brushed their teeth in remarkably similar motions and rhythms, almost identical.

"Mmm... that's... great." Amiya rinsed her mouth and then mumbled.

The little rabbit's eyes were squinted into slits, and its mouth was agape in a wide grin.

Only now does she truly feel the reality of Oute's return to her side.

Looking at Amiya's smiling face, Oute was a little confused. "Is this toothpaste that good?"

Generally speaking, it shouldn't be like that, right?

Why don't you give it a try?

He hesitated for a moment, but still quietly swallowed a little toothpaste foam.

A chill ran down my throat to my stomach—to be honest, it made me feel a little nauseous. But that's not surprising; some people feel nauseous just from the toothpaste they come into contact with while brushing their teeth, let alone swallowing it like Oute did now.

Could it be that Cautus's physiological attributes are so different from mine?

Wait, this is Kal'tsit's stuff, it might even have catnip mixed in...

No, that's such a strange way of thinking...

Could it be for some other reason?

"Doc Otter!"

Sensing Oute's brainstorming session, Amiya quickly put down her cup and toothbrush.

After she looked closely, she realized what Oute had just done.

"Pfft, Doc Otter, what are you doing?"

"... Try it out."

Amiya initially tried to hide her smile, but Oute's classic "perfectly reasonable, I can't see what you're wondering" expression ultimately made the little bunny burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Eeya!"

With a blank expression, Oute inserted his index finger deep into Amiya's rabbit ears and tickled the fur as lightly as possible.

"It itches! Giggle!"

Knock knock.

After realizing that no one was opening the door, Kal'tsit opened it herself.

She placed breakfast for two on the desk, then tucked the bunny plush pillow into the blanket. The Specter coiled around it like an octopus.

The Originium in her spinal cord exists in a liquid state. Even with Oute's current abilities to deactivate it, it is impossible to surgically separate the spinal fluid from the liquid Originium. As a result, the inhibition of her physiological functions by the Originium remains long-term and widespread.

Kal'tsit sighed as she listened to Oute and Amiya still bickering in the bathroom.

"Stop playing around, Doc Otter, Amiya."

Kal'tsit's muffled voice came from the bedroom, and Oute and Amiya exchanged a smile.

With a large number of personnel remaining at Number Fourteen Facility, Rhodes Island appeared somewhat deserted.

The supplies originally procured under the guise of "cross-border trade" were mostly placed at the construction site of Number Fourteen Facility. In order for the refugees to spend the winter in this "Ursus territory," a large number of Rhodes Island employees also stayed at Number Fourteen Facility to continue working, while the Rhodes Island main ship set sail again to return to Lungmen to continue purchasing large quantities of supplies, including food, fuel, salt, and tea.

These were the items Rhodes Island purchased when it left Lungmen.

Amiya stopped in her tracks.

"Ah!"

"What's wrong?"

On the way to the war room, the little rabbit suddenly stopped. This caught Oute off guard, and he bumped into her.

Although Amiya was the one who cried out in alarm, it was actually Oute who was in more pain.

That's a Super Terra.

"... Doc Otter." Amiya took a deep breath, then said as calmly as possible, "Those refugees, will they survive?"

"I cannot stop their natural deaths," Oute gave a startling answer, "A significant portion of the refugees have reached the end of their physical lifespan. If we had moved even slightly slower, they would likely have died in the turmoil of Chernobog from prolonged extreme malnutrition and hypothermia."

"Our rescue was quite timely, but now a full week has passed, and many citizens haven't even had a chance to be rescued."

"Those who were rescued..."

Oute shook his head.

"The climate of Chernobog is dominated by the water, heat, and air pressure of Ursus. Even short periods of hunger and cold are enough to push certain groups to their death."

Subtly different from the original timeline, because Oute dealt with the Black Snake quite quickly, the Chernobog infected population, which was already dwindling under the violent suppression of the Reunion Movement, still has a considerable number.

Even more concerning, many of the elderly, infirm, and disabled who should have died during the turmoil are still breathing.

"Doc Otter, what I wanted to ask was..."

Those documents weighed heavily on Amiya's mind.

The complex calculations and charts are not used to predict the course of Catastrophe... but rather to guide them.

"Catastrophe? The 'Boomerang's' operational mode is restricted, and most of the damage it causes is continuous. Only Chernobog is directly attacked. Neither Number Fourteen Facility nor Lungmen will suffer much damage if they are well prepared." Oute without any concealment.

"... I see."

Oute's straightforward admission caught Amiya somewhat off guard.

She had assumed that Oute would, as he had done before with Kal'tsit, W, and the others, use completely unrelated facts to cover it up...

But when faced with this question, Oute actually told the truth!

"Is it to save them faster and better?"

Oute shook his head. "That's at most a secondary objective."

"Chernobog has a wealth of resources to exploit. Although it has already suffered a disaster once, the Ursus Empire is unlikely to easily abandon this industrial city. Perhaps it will be self-governed by the infected, or perhaps it will be forcibly cleaned up and disinfected, but this Mobile City will be reused."

"At that time, the marks left by our dismantling of the Chernobog keel were extremely conspicuous."

"But if more Active Originium were used to cover it, the trace would be obscured by the Active Originium. And the process of cleaning up the Active Originium would destroy the evidence."