Chapter 256

"Rosemary is a good girl; she's not incapable of distinguishing between good and evil... In fact, it's precisely because she can distinguish between good and evil that she acts with such brutality in battle... That's the most basic human emotion, the bottom line of modern morality... As the saying goes, 'How should one repay kindness?'... One should repay kindness with kindness, and repay injustice with justice."

Speaking in the Great Yan dialect that made Ascalon's eyes glaze over, this kind of thing, which had been translated several times, was still a bit beyond the comprehension of Sarkaz had spent almost his entire childhood in war... especially since he had been so focused on training Sarkaz strength that he hadn't paid much attention to his academic studies.

But the message was indeed conveyed, even though Medic still saw a wary look in his colleague's eyes as he looked at the Rosemary.

"That child grew up amidst profound suffering; she is as pure as a mirror. How this land treats her is how she will reflect back to those who caused this suffering... Compared to the child's excessive outpouring of power due to unfamiliarity, you should look at her as a person."

"Her... self?"

"Yes, our Rosemary, she stood tall and made her decision. She can distinguish between good and evil, she has her own future she wants to achieve, this is her normal life, this is just an ordinary Little Cat... So, everything is normal, no problem." (Six)

With a wave, Nana bid farewell to the thoughtful members of SWEEP, and naturally, she saw Kal'tsit in the Doctor's private medical examination area.

But... another

"Kal'tsit?"

Holding the documents, Nana was quite surprised by Kal'tsit's expression. She had never seen such clear emotions, such conflicted eyes, as if her heart was Feline with pain.

"Nana? Ah... it's Medic... it's okay..."

She looked as if she had walked alone for tens of thousands of years, only to find that all her actions had been in vain. She wore the expression of a bewildered child, arms crossed, holding back tears... forcing herself not to cry.

"I'm fine..."

"Even though you say that, you don't look like you're alright."

As she spoke, Nana put down her documents and handbag... carefully moved a stool over, stood on it, and hugged the emerald-green Feline, who was half a head taller than her, into her arms.

"What... what happened to the Doctor? Is there... something wrong with her?" Dad

When Nana asked her question in a very low voice, Kal'tsit lowered her head and buried herself in Nana's arms. Was she trying to restrain herself or did she simply not want to hold back at all? Nana didn't know; she just wanted to hug Kal'tsit, who seemed on the verge of collapse.

The two remained silent for a while before Kal'tsit spoke in a muffled voice, in a volume only the two of them could hear. "Death."

"No problem."

PS: Waaaaaaah, cat meow!

↑Medic from the Babel era makes a limited-time comeback; Nana is also a member of the Babel!

That's it, the book's basic logic is gone (laughs).

The 8th Spring of Siracusa: 288 Saving a Heart from Sorrow

Although Nana often appears calm and collected, her Command System, known as the 'Halo,' has been activated. Having already Halo her 'self,' she has gained access to a wealth of information that she never dared to dream of before.

For example, the Doctor was marked as a key protection target by the Command System, and Kal'tsit was classified as an "ally" and marked as an "experimental assistant".

However, her inherent nature as a weapon, coupled with her early life as an assassin, meant she rarely sought to verify such information from the outside world. But Nana knew that she and Kal'tsit were the same kind of people.

After all, it's clearly written on the Halo that Nana would never doubt the Previous Civilization system, which has the same priority as her underlying logic.

However, Nana never delved into this intelligence.

All she knew was that Kal'tsit's past was much longer and more complicated than her own, and that she could trust and rely on her. Kal'tsit had helped her, and she could be her support in return... Apart from that, Nana had never delved into Kal'tsit's past, the things she cared about, or why she was so sad now.

The personality she developed in the city of Columbia is characterized by a cold indifference that is Self-Protection. Apart from the Little Cat family that she was half-forced into getting to know by her agent, Nana rarely crosses the social distance of 'strangers'.

Even Jessica, with whom she has intimate physical contact, can be naked together, and has a very good understanding with Nana in both work and life, is still just a familiar stranger to Nana... However, this is the closest living person to Nana besides Rosemary [family].

For Nana, Kal'tsit, who was like a blood relative to her, was no different.

For Nana, whose Command System had been in a default state in the past, not understanding meant she wouldn't get hurt, simply because she had already confirmed that this land didn't have that much warmth.

But... as his interpersonal relationships become more complex, and as he gains a deeper understanding and longing for sadness and love, even a cold-blooded killer will try to embrace that cloud-like Little Cat.

Now, having shed his assassin's uniform, he would embrace his fellow countrymen who were overflowing with sorrow.

However, feeling Kal'tsit in her arms barely managing to say things like "It's okay," "No problem," and "I'll take care of the plan," which were clearly problematic, Nana couldn't help but wonder if there was anything else she could offer besides a hug.

In the past, in order to adapt to various environments, my agent taught me a lot of 'art' that I couldn't understand before. Although I have made good use of this knowledge in my work, I have rarely experienced the so-called 'emotions' it contains.

Now, Nana suddenly understood.

In the quiet medical examination rest area, Nana, gently patting Kal'tsit, recalled a short Columbia poem.

[If I can keep my heart free from sorrow, I have not lived in vain.]

As the 'Mech Communication Level Permission' of the Halo System automatically changed from six to one in Nana's line of sight, Nana, unusually, looked at Kal'tsit with a slightly aggressive gaze:

"Is there anything I can help with?" This change was so abrupt compared to Nana's past self that Kal'tsit, who was slightly choked up, actually choked up.

Emerald Feline stared at Nana with a worried look for a long time. Nana frowned slightly at the worried look in Feline's eyes, which seemed to be looking at her as if she were an idiot.

"I'm serious... Kal'tsit, I don't know how you see me, but I do know that we're closer than you think... I'll help you, so..."

"So, you've already helped me a lot."

She seemed to have returned to her original self, Kal'tsit. But looking at the smile and gentle eyes that she rarely showed to ordinary members Nana blankly for a while, and then assumed that her comforting words had indeed worked.

She was worried that Kal'tsit was just giving her the runaround...

"This isn't just a perfunctory response, it's the truth... You brought back the Doctor, which has already been a huge help to me..."

"So, it really is the Doctor who has a problem?"

Kal'tsit's mouth agape slightly at Nana's inexplicably sharp perception of strange places, then she sighed with amusement:

"No, she's fine... I just confirmed a few things... and then found myself dealing with even more things."

Seemingly hesitant, yet also as if brewing something, Kal'tsit looked at Nana with a mixture of worry and anticipation:

"I have never doubted your willingness to help me... It's just that you have never been a person who excels in thinking or information. Rather, it's your current consideration for others that seems unusual to me... That's why I've never consulted you about anything, because knowing many things would only add to my troubles."

"But the Doctor is like this now too..."

Seeing Kal'tsit sigh again, Nana frowned slightly as she recalled her own surgery:

"Defects in the medical environment, and memory damage caused by brain hypoxia, should theoretically still have a possibility of repair... Didn't I bring back a medical pod? Why not try to explore its repair capabilities further?"

"... But that would have to be memory impairment truly caused by oxygen deprivation..."

Isn't she one?

Seeing Kal'tsit's eyes suddenly dim and seem somewhat tired, Nana shook her uneasily:

"Her memory impairment was indeed caused by oxygen deprivation... right?!"

After a moment of silence, Nana knew she probably wouldn't get an answer to that question.

However, as a military aircraft, if one route was blocked, it would immediately change to another, demonstrating efficiency and decisiveness—a principle that followed Nana throughout her life.

"Then, let's talk about something else... how can I help you?"

"Because the Doctor gave you independent authority, there are many things you can do to help me... Speaking of which, your authority in the PRTS system is level six... So... what about 'that system'?"

"That?"

Seeing the way Kal'tsit was looking up at her head, Nana suddenly understood what she was referring to.

Will you still be manipulated by that system?

"No, it's now completely assisting me... and coercion... if it refers to forcing me to act under certain conditions, it seems to only happen when the Doctor's personal safety is involved... He said I am now independently responsible to the Doctor."

"I see... Then I'll say a few keywords, Nana, you tell me and see her reaction."

Seeing Nana nod nervously, Kal'tsit looked even more nervous Nana.

The two nervous cat heads nervously supported each other, and then Kal'tsit slightly opened her mouth and uttered a word that Nana had absolutely no idea what:

"The Preserver."

"Huh? Uh... no signal?"

"... The Deep Blue Tree?"

"Offline."

Seeing Kal'tsit's pained expression, as if she had kicked a table leg with her little toe, Nana shrank back, but it seemed the questioning wasn't over yet.

"... Heavenly Fulcrum..."

"No... wait, this means... running in standalone mode? What does that mean?"

Seeing Nana's puzzled expression, which even seemed to brighten the halo above her head, Kal'tsit ruffled Nana's cat ears and continued to ask:

"...(unidentifiable background noise)..."

"???"

Seeing Nana's confused expression, Kal'tsit repeated herself, but Nana's cat ears were bent forward and deformed, and she still couldn't hear what Kal'tsit was saying.

Seeing that Nana's left eye was showing signs of Collapse, Kal'tsit reverted to her expressionless state.

"It's alright, I've already confirmed the final status of the project based on your performance, don't worry about it."

Nana pursed her lips slightly, but said nothing about Kal'tsit's safety.

What do you mean by "don't worry about it"? She's worried about it terribly right now.

Although Nana wanted to complain about Abandoned Age VIII and the Riddler getting out of Terra, Nana could only bitterly admit that it might not be because Kal'tsit was speaking riddles, but because she herself could not "hear" the relevant information.

After all, the Halo Command System had already issued a warning about an unknown attack.

"So, what are these?"

"It was a plan by Previous Civilization to fight against the apocalypse... and we were not part of that plan."

"They... have gone out of control?"

Even so, Nana, who was playing with her fingers, immediately realized what was going on:

"No, the one who's out of control... is it ourselves?"

Although she had already experienced it, Kal'tsit sighed and patted Nana's head again, noticing Nana's tendency to be so sensitive to strange things.

"Don't say that about yourself... We were just an accident, while they... perhaps they broke down over the years. It's regrettable, but it's normal..."

"So Kal'tsit is having trouble with these things?"

Without answering, Kal'tsit glanced at the documents Nana had brought and immediately got to work.

After reviewing and signing the documents, leaving the section requiring the Doctor's signature blank, Kal'tsit picked them up, looking as if she was about to leave immediately.

"It's just that if we don't do anything, no one will know the danger they pose... Nana, even though I already know the powerlessness of an individual, I still want to try... to stop something, to try something..."

Seeing Kal'tsit transform back into her usual reassuring Kal'tsit, Nana revealed a gentle expression she had learned from Cole... perhaps now deeply Nana within her:

"So, Kal'tsit, you look so tired, is it because you regret it?"

"... No, I still believe that all my choices were correct actions based on rational judgment... Even though many times in the future I will reflect that I didn't do enough at the time, or that choosing another path would have been the right choice."

"But time can't be turned back, so we can only keep moving forward... So, don't show that hurt expression alone anymore. I'll help you, Kal'tsit. We're 'the same kind'."

"Hmm." Liu

Nodding, Kal'tsit left Nana alone in the Doctor's private medical examination area, completely reassured.

As the door opened and closed, Kal'tsit's voice faintly reached Nana's ears: i

"I never doubted it."

Nana wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she thought she saw Kal'tsit's earlobes turn bright red... Could this bonsai-colored Feline also show a shy expression?

Scratching her head, Nana felt she had seen something very strange.

Only after realizing she was truly free did Nana discover that Kal'tsit had taken her files. "Wait, Doctor, aren't you here? Why did you take the files?"

"Okay, maybe she really is just shy..." (Umbrella)

With that said, Nana, adhering to the principle of "since we're already here," headed deeper into the medical examination area. Logically, if Kal'tsit had left, then the Doctor's medical examination should have been over long ago... So the question is, what's with this Bloodfiend in front of the Doctor, all smiles and excitedly holding a blood collection tube?

"Hiss--Huff--This is for medicine, not for cravings... Just one tube, just one tube..." Dad

Although the scene before her looked exactly like a drug addict relapsing, Nana glanced speechlessly at the now-shut-down, complex blood testing equipment, then at the samples that, since the physical exam was over, would obviously be given any Warfarin to drink. Nana leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching the spectacle with amusement.

Because Nana was really uncooperative, Warfarin also dropped her more theatrical pose:

"Ugh, Medic, you're so uncooperative... If you had stopped me, I could have held the Doctor's cute little face and said something like, 'A cute Doctor like you was born to be eaten by Bloodfiend.'"

"So, who wrote the script? Closure?"

As the Doctor, terrified and confused, fled from Warfarin's grasp and hid behind her, Nana smiled and comforted her:

"Although Dr. Warfarin always brings up her Bloodfiend identity, she's a long-time employee of Rhodes Island, and her medical ethics are impeccable. She was just joking with you."