Chapter 112

Really?

Medic found it unreliable.

Most importantly, through the observation of the Rhodes Island crew by Durin using a professional camera modified onto the tactical equipment of Tactical Gear Number Five, and even when Rosemary took photos of the Shieldguards and others seemingly waiting on the roof of the Exploration Vehicle, there was no information mutation that prevented them from seeing their faces or even caused their bodies to distort.

Therefore, there must be something wrong with the people who set up the checkpoint.

"How about I go and talk to them?"

Shaking his head to stop FrostNova from making a suggestion that would only cause her trouble, Medic gestured for the combat personnel to disembark. As Hoshino, understanding the signal, began installing the extended chainsaw, Medic then addressed Liskarm and Franka:

"Go check behind the barricades... then come back... if everything is fine, then FrostNova and I will talk to them... about the Pollution on their bodies and how to treat it."

"That's what the boss said..."

After exchanging a glance with her partner, Franka, feeling there was nothing wrong, smiled and said:

"Can we go over and take a look?"

"Sure, we said you can pass any checkpoint."

After watching the Reunion Movement members leave, Liskarm and Franka simply ignored them and went back to sit by the campfire.

"... That really is 'casual'..."

"Stop reminiscing... Medic, this is Liskarm, we've crossed the roadblock... These are spikes for small vehicles, they look like they were handcrafted from scrap metal..."

[Is there anything noteworthy on either side of the road?]

"We're going over bushes... um... there's metal under the snow..."

Liskarm tried wiping it with the sole of his boot, then frowned and said:

"It looks like... a disassembled car door?"

"The parts you step on from a distance also seem to be vehicle parts... but they seem to have been dismantled very meticulously... doors, frames, axles are scattered everywhere... Medic, at this rate, it might take us a long time to assess the situation here."

[... Reinforcements are on their way, hold your ground.]

Although they didn't know what "Medic" meant, their tactical awareness allowed them to quickly grasp each other's hands and kneel down on one knee to stabilize themselves as much as possible.

Then, with a thunderous roar, a gust of wind swept across the road.

Franka, with the help of the swordsman's dynamic vision, could barely make out that it was a Tactical Unit next to her little princess.

"Wow~ This support... is pretty exciting... Liskarm? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Even though she had already gotten up, her partner seemed not to react. It wasn't until Franka turned around that she realized, as if speechless, why her partner, who was so rigid that his brain seemed to be made of wood fibers, hadn't reported it immediately.

"Uh, Medic?"

[I see it, Liskarm, don't stand there, come back with Franka...]

"... Um."

She responded softly, then nodded. Liskarm considered herself to have seen many disgusting scenes; she had even worked in the sewers without flinching... However, looking at the steel graveyard of faces before her, and the distant sight of snow being torn away, revealing piles of white flesh like stored food or props, Liskarm still couldn't suppress her nausea.

"Franka left, these guys are fucking weird..."

"Well, we knew something was off about them, but we didn't expect them to be this weird... Even with Rosemary's large-scale Tactical Unit diving down on them, there was absolutely no reaction..."

Before she could finish speaking, as the campfire at the outpost came into view again, Franka suddenly froze on the spot.

In Franka's view, the once white sky, the white Snowfield, the white coats of the Reunion Movement... it seemed that the entire white world had suddenly turned black...

But the darkness did not engulf everything; Franka could still see the land clearly. After all, she had seen the 'Shadow Overlay' before she set off... Yes, it seemed as if the whole world had become Shadow Overlay.

Ignoring the raging black flames, and as the inverted, Reunion Movement limbs twisted and flickered toward her, Franka could no longer maintain her smile.

"Are you leaving?"

You cannot leave.

No one can leave from here.

"This is how the order was given."

As the black humanoid revealed his face to Franka, looking at the 'round' head that resembled a black hole, outlined only by white light, from which black flames like those of a campfire emerged, Franka instinctively drew her sword.

"... Franka! Franka, are you awake?! Franka!"

[Franka- senpai suddenly started attacking that Reunion member.]

"I can see... Liskarm? Liskarm, are you alright?"

[I'm fine, but Franka... uh... it's Pollution, my vision went black... Franka suddenly rushed over...]

"Franka doesn't seem to hear me. What Pollution levels are in your field of vision?"

[... Everywhere... the sky turned black, the snow was all black, the flames were black... Oh, the Shadow Overlay... the world I see is just like the Shadow Overlay! Franka, don't go near me!]

Watching the fox struggling in the distance, held by Liskarm's hand, still trying to attack the Reunion member, but even though Franka was acting strangely, drawing her weapon and screaming, the Reunion member still approached unhurriedly... Medic immediately made a judgment.

"Jessica fired a warning shot! Reunion Movement doesn't react, then target non-lethal areas! Liskarm, keep Franka away from the Pollution. Once Blaze arrives, close your eyes and ignore everything!"

Feeling the Originium Arts Huang beside him boiling over, Medic watched the Reunion Movement members who had ignored the Rosemary Tactical Unit's flight and now ignored Jessica's warning shot... He glanced at FrostNova beside him.

"... There's no other way, Jessica, fire! Blaze, go and bring our comrades back!"

"OK~ I'm going!"

As the large cat beside him burst into the battlefield with a blast of heat, Rosemary's voice suddenly reached Medic's ears:

[Medic sister... Fuelin alien jiusi guilt dam Lanka she...]

Medic had been pondering what the Pollution was, and why nothing happened when they went there, but suddenly Franka and Liskarm were in a state of severe Pollution... Little Cat's cry almost made Medic suspect that he had also been Pollution long ago, and that what he had seen was actually an illusion presented to him by the 'The Unnameable'.

But soon, Medic discovered that, regardless of whether it was true or not, what she needed was her partner's absolute trust in her, and the ability to 'observe reality' based on the doubled resistance of the Consciousness Chain Ring to Pollution.

Transforming tangible Pollution into intangible pollution essentially only requires a complete eradication.

"Little Cat... just follow my instructions. Don't look around or care about what's happening on the battlefield... I'll adjust the spell parameters for you, but if our vision is Pollution, we might end up like Franka, only able to see Pollution... Little Cat, do you remember?"

[... we... use eyes connected by blood...]

Nodding, Medic was somewhat surprised. He had been a little anxious after Jessica's gunshot... but with the Little Cat's soft voice and seeing Huang's expression as if he were being chased by something terrifying, Medic felt only a calm urge to laugh.

Perhaps I should extract these combat logs and let them see for themselves how ridiculous they were during the Pollution?

No... that would be too malicious... Medic's character should be a gentle mother.

Thinking this, Medic apologized to FrostNova, who was standing helplessly to the side. Just as the White Rabbit was still wondering, Medic used his hands to draw a square... which perfectly encompassed the strange Luca camp.

As the black-haired girl made the same strange move, the Reunion Movement, which had previously leisurely watched Huang take the two away, seemed to have also sensed something.

Just before his head slowly melted in Medic's field of vision and began to burn with black flames, Medic's 'ritual' was completed first.

"Crush them."

[As you wish.]

Immediately afterwards, a crimson meteor fell from the sky.

The black flames that had just ignited in Medic's eyes were immediately extinguished.

Looking at the square sinkhole in front of him, Medic knew that the Ursus Seismological Bureau was probably about to start exploring some more unsolved mysteries.

But Medic didn't have time to think about whether he should apologize for causing trouble for the earthquake detectors on this land... After confirming that the black flames in his eyes had dissipated and that the world was not Pollution or deformed, Medic then summoned Rosemary to appear near him.

Then, the Thought Chain Ring connected at its strongest... Medic instantly saw what Franka saw.

That was... the dark world that was beginning to return to normal.

"Hmm, it seems... physically crushing the attached substances can indeed reduce the conscious effects of Pollution... but, I'm still sorry, Franka... I seem to be late."

Franka hesitated for a moment as Medic extended his hand towards her before finally taking it:

"Um... So, what I'm seeing now is real? Or an illusion?"

"You're still dreaming, wake up!"

As Franka, surrounded by onlookers, suddenly opened her eyes as if a drowning person had regained their breath, Liskarm, holding a shield beside her, asked fiercely:

"You filthy fox! Tell me, who's the person in the picture on the shooting target in your room?!"

"Uh... Huh? My shooting target... No, isn't your room my room? Isn't the shooting target in my room the one you use? The picture on it... isn't it always me? You shoot it when you're unhappy... Lady Franka, I don't care about such trivial matters~ Liskarm, do whatever makes you happy..."

"Franka!"

Feeling the immense pressure of the shield and her body crashing down on her, Franka frantically patted Liskarm's back... but Liskarm, his voice trembling with tears, only called out Franka's name... and she continued to pound on her.

Against the backdrop of Huang's raucous laughter, which he probably learned from Warfarin, and Jessica's cheers, Medic stroked the obedient Little Cat beside him, then looked at FrostNova: Wife

"I'm sorry... but... I think they're beyond saving."

"No... it's okay, I saw it too... the last one..."

The White Rabbit hesitated for a moment, but then finished recounting the last thing she saw: a shirt.

"My people... were consumed by black flames... was that it?"

"... The flames might just be a symbol of 'activation'... If I had to describe it... it might just be that he was swallowed by 'blackness'... But what I care about more is this... cemetery."

Following Medic's gaze, he looked at the distant pile of garbage where the snow had been lifted... wreckage of vehicles, frozen human corpses, clothing, and luggage were neatly piled into small mountains... This was clearly not a natural accumulation, or a shape that could be randomly arranged... Such a neat scene, almost obsessive-compulsive, only made Medic feel disgusted.

"Tell me, who exactly 'ordered' him to set up a checkpoint here?" X

Without forcing FrostNova to answer, Medic continued: Qi

"By clarifying this matter, the source of the Pollution... and even the origin of the suffering of those the Infected in this area... will likely be determined."

"... So you already have someone you suspect, don't you?"

Seeing that Medic didn't seem to be denying it, FrostNova gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and asked: )

"Who... who... did such a cruel, even blasphemous, manipulation of my compatriots..."

"...' Pollution '... if it's not a pristine sample from the Far Northern Snowfield... then its origin, most likely, probably... can only be those guys..."

After touching the Tactical Unit Five, which had been modified to have optical observation capabilities, Medic summoned Cole and had him operate the device, which then shot into the sky.

Although it was just a spur-of-the-moment, large-scale observation, thanks to his experience, Medic quickly spotted the black flashing point thirty kilometers away, looking in his direction, using the Originium Dust Shadow Overlay Camera mode.

Switching back to ordinary optical lenses, the faint outline of the Ursus officer's coat disappeared between the lens and the static.

"... The Emperor's Blades... have you truly gone mad, or... are you deliberately spreading these things?"

Medic touched the Firearms Arts grip in the leg holster inside her skirt pocket and pursed her lips:

"I'm starting to get a little curious."

PS: Were the Inner Guards absolutely loyal? That's a question for the Roman legion commanders to answer... After all, after attempting to influence the succession to the throne, whether the Inner Guards were still the Emperor's Blades' is debatable.

Of course, this is a fan fiction, similar to Patriot Returning, it's just a wild idea, so please don't take it too seriously.

PS2: Meow Meow Cat

Cat pounces!!

Hand over the votes!

4th Crimson Warm Winter: 117 Pollution Sealing Strategy

After recovering the Tactical Unit and confirming the extent of the Pollution, Medic, as a precaution, decided to have the Exploration Vehicle bypass the roadblock. Finally, Franka was arranged to return to the mobile base under Liskarm's care. As White Rabbit, in a heavy voice, summoned the Shieldguards adjutant, Medic considered having Yato call Sister Mary to answer the phone.

"... That's about it. Based on the erosion of individual consciousness by 'Pollution,' Sister Mary, I may need your assistance."

Please let me know if I can help.

Are you familiar with the Sankta Blessing Ritual?

[You mean... the one used to strengthen the believer's connection with the Lord... but...]

"Yes... It's said that it's an enhancement unique to the Sankta race. After all, the miracle of Laterano Holy City is a miracle that belongs only to the Sankta. But as for the most frequently used Mass, a proper nun should know its procedures and be able to conduct it skillfully."

[Yes... that's correct... but...]

"But you mean that without Halo, one cannot feel the glory of the Lord, right...? Then, if that's the case, why are there non- Sankta monks on this land?"

"Sometimes it doesn't matter if you know that miracles won't befall you, but as external things that affect people's 'hearts,' compared to the maddening Pollution, the miracle of the Pure White City is clearly more soothing to the heart."