Drylands

They looked at each other, bewildered. "The onboarding training... do you remember it?"

"... I'll clean the glass first."

"Hey! Do you remember!?"

Due to Rhodes Island's unique nature, it requires every field operator to be able to perform some simple medical tasks, provided that basic conditions are met.

Admittedly, this is highly irregular.

"Don't be nervous... Leonhardt, you've already finished the hardest part..." Leonhardt muttered, "It's just changing the IV drip..."

The patient was somewhat bewildered. "My name isn't Leonhardt."

"Yes, but my name is Leonhardt."

The patient froze instantly.

By the time Ansel rushed back, the Ayerscarpe had vanished.

Inside the tractor's cargo bed, a sickly young man from Elafia pulled up his long sleeves and positioned himself above his Originium crystal.

As the injection was administered, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed considerably.

"I hope you haven't used this reusable syringe on anyone else."

"Who goes there!"

The sickly young man quickly hid the small item.

When he saw who it was, he became arrogant. "What! It's you!"

"Hand over the painkillers you stole." The experimental weapon from the Rim Billiton black market was raised, and the slight leakage of electrical charge made Ayerscarpe's ears perk up excitedly.

"Using toys to scare people?" The sickly young man grinned. "I mean, according to that woman, these painkillers were meant for me anyway!"

"I just got it ahead of time using my own methods!"

Analgesic addiction.

However, I don't really have the right to lecture him. Let's leave it to Lai... let's leave it to Ansel.

The Ayerscarpe clearly shows that although Leonhardt was sent out as Catastrophe Messenger, the true leader of this squad is Ansel.

Upon finding the village, Leonhardt's mission was essentially complete. Next, the two of them would contribute to the expansion of Rhodes Island's medical operations.

Ayerscarpe kicked the sickly young man in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel down.

The young man from Elafia slammed his head against the side of the cargo container, and a large bump quickly swelled up. But with the painkiller taking effect, he seemed not to feel it at all.

Despite being firmly pinned beneath the Ayerscarpe, the sickly young man struggled with remarkable spirit.

"First of all, this is not a toy."

The Hovering Blades rose high, Ayerscarpe removed one, pressing it tightly against the sickly youth's neck. The experimental weapon RT-01 was indirectly connected to the sickly youth's neck through this blade.

"Aaaaaaaah! Stop the shock!"

The worst thing about this experimental weapon is that, due to design flaws, its performance would be greatly reduced if its leakage problem were to be solved.

But the person who accidentally obtained this weapon, Ayerscarpe, is actually addicted to electric shocks.

"Secondly, Dr. Ansel is a man."

"Aaaaaah!"

"Finally, these painkillers are for the entire village."

"Spare me!"

While enduring the same, or even more intense, electric Ayerscarpe, Duan Ya bound the sick young man.

"It's obvious you can't hide it on your body. Where are the painkillers now?"

Seeing that the Ayerscarpe was completely unresponsive to his pleas for mercy, the sickly young man laboriously rammed his head into the cargo bed.

"Dr. Ansel!" Caprinae pushed open the door again, excitedly exclaiming, "Someone's seen it! A huge ship!"

Ansel turned around in surprise, his long ears hitting the patient.

"Feel sorry!"

He rushed to the window, saw the iconic triangular castle, and excitedly exclaimed into the room, "The inhibitor problem is solved!"

But the patient in the room only slightly raised his head; his eyes remained cloudy.

Oute leaned against the deck railing, sketching out the reports from the East Country and Provence groups over the past two days on his terminal.

The location is almost pinpointed, but before that...

"Operator Jieyun, we need your expertise."

Oute looked up at the Qilin in front of him, who was holding an ice pop in his mouth and had clear eyes.

"You need me?" Lin Qingyan chewed up the rest of the popsicle and swallowed it. Her brow furrowed slightly as she asked, "Didn't I sign a search warrant with you?"

Let's skip the tedious negotiations.

The face that appeared before me, Liberi, was both unfamiliar and familiar.

Lin Qingyan had never seen such an expression on Doctor. Oute's face before, but she had seen it many times in the imperial court.

"Don't tell me the officials in the Three Legal Offices didn't read the terms when they signed," Oute said. "The value of this job is not equivalent to the benefits you receive."

"What you've gained is not just a well-paid job for an ordinary person, but also political privileges, and all you have to do is the work of an ordinary agent."

"...Compiling a set of laws is hardly 'ordinary'." Jieyun pinched the bridge of her nose. "I admit, some people are even willing to pay a high price to join such a job."

"But I came here to investigate a case..."

"There are no leads right now, are there?" Oute said. "Neither we nor Huang himself have any clue about those things."

"Since I've decided to stay by her side and wait for the right opportunity, spending a little time and energy on my academic research can't be considered a dereliction of duty, can it?"

Unbeknownst to many, the nature of this matter has subtly shifted.

"Indeed, the things that need to be considered as law enforcers and as legislators are different." Jieyun nodded. "Not to mention personally participating in a Universal People's Law that unifies the customs of all regions of Terra."

"It's not just about honor, it's also..." She suddenly realized, "Hey! This is clearly your request! How did it become my academic research!?"

Chapter 279 Dry Land

"... Route 3 has been fully explored, and no signs of habitation have been found so far," Tsukino said to the terminal while sitting on the hood of the car.

"Very good. Based on the intelligence from the other two groups, I have further pinpointed the locations of these villages."

"There's no need to explore lines four and five anymore; they've most likely been abandoned. Let's go straight to line six..." The terminal suddenly emitted a noise.

"Doctor?" Tsukino repeated, then sighed, "It looks like the signal has gotten worse again."

Then, Yan put away the fog-catching net and poured the collected water into the filtration equipment.

She patted the vehicle-mounted base station and said, "There's nothing we can do. The impact of Catastrophe is getting bigger and bigger! We're another group that's deep in the desert, so this is perfectly normal!"

"If we can't find these villagers in time, I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to evacuate," Tsukino said helplessly.

"Heave-ho!" The female college student deliberately acted cute as she jumped off the roof of the car. She went to the driver's side window and said to Yato, "Yato- senpai, should we drive to a place with better signal to continue the report, or go straight to Route Six?"

"Get in the car."

Yan called out to Tsukino, "Lady Tsukino! Let's go to Route Six!"

"Hold on a little longer." A hoarse voice came from the tall, fully armed soldier, who handed over a water sack. "We need to find a place to resupply."

A group of people dressed in Reunion Movement uniforms but without masks mingled with the Sarkaz mercenaries, forming a disorganized group.

They were covered in a layer of gray dust, as if they had just been battered by a sandstorm. From above, they looked like a withered branch in a vast wilderness.

The man in the Reunion Movement uniform got up, sipped the drink, and held it in his mouth without swallowing.

Only after they had walked quite a distance did he finally speak up, "I'm starting to believe that the Sarkaz are some kind of noble race..."

"Wearing such heavy armor, Captain, how come you're more at ease than us?"

But since quite some time had passed, Mudrock was somewhat bewildered. "Huh?"

A weak, soft laugh came from within the group.

"I think I can smell water..."

"Does the water taste?"

"Hallucination?"

"Nonsense!" A Sarkaz stepped forward, even falling to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he climbed up a dirt slope using both his hands and feet.

Seeing him staring blankly in that direction, Mudrock slowly approached. "Are you alright...?"

Beyond the desolate earthen slope, at the edge of the barren land, lies an equally desolate abandoned village.

Sarkaz collapsed to the ground, his earlier fervor and vigor vanishing with his knees.

"Dog shit..."

He wailed, "[Sachu] is useless! There's nobody here!"

A Ribba (a hyena, a member of the Spot kin) excitedly climbed up and said, "Since there used to be a village here, there must have been a water source! Maybe even a well!"

Is it possible?

Perhaps.

In any case, the Mudrock's Squad has regained its vitality.

After a morning, the East Country group finally found the village. This natural village did not have a nominal village head in the administrative structure, but it was clear that there was a family with considerable authority.

"... So, Catastrophe is coming soon!" Yan spread his arms wide, trying to make himself look bigger and more convincing.