Into the Volcano / Suika the Insect Exterminator

"Oh ho ho, old man."

Hellagur nodded to the Suika.

"Suika, I didn't expect to see you here."

"To be precise, why did you take so long to arrive, and with such a commotion? You startled me; I thought Amiya had been attacked."

Doctor stepped out from behind Hellagur and said helplessly.

"It's not my fault... Amiya was indeed attacked, though not in the way you're thinking."

Suika spread her hands and complained.

Hearing the conversation outside, the other doors opened one after another.

Those who came out were all Rhodes Island operators.

There is the Skyfire and Provence, which, along with the Suika, is Catastrophe Messenger.

Ifrit and Cutter.

There's also the innermost empty space and the Gummy.

Upon seeing the group Suika greeted each of them.

"Hmm, I see the Propaganda Emperor is here too. If you're here as well, where are Exusiai and Texas?"

Suika looked around but didn't see Apuru Pie or Texas.

"Rhodes Island and Great Yan have been communicating a lot lately, which has caused logistical problems. They've been busy delivering goods and haven't been able to come. This time, only my boss and I came to the music festival."

Kong paused for a moment after saying this before continuing.

"The boss had me sign an operator contract with Rhodes Island before, so I came here with everyone from Rhodes Island this time."

"So you weren't with the Emperor?"

"The boss is always elusive, he can disappear in the blink of an eye, I can't follow him no matter what." Kong rubbed her temples helplessly, looking quite playful and cute.

Suika nodded. Given the Emperor's temperament, he probably wouldn't have the patience to bring a little girl across Terra to attend the music festival.

Given that he happened to know that Rhodes Island was coming, the chances of him simply handing them over to Rhodes Island were actually quite high.

Suika looked at Gummy.

She wasn't familiar with the people of Ursus. To be precise, she hadn't expected that even though she had completely changed the plot, these Ursus girls would still join Rhodes Island just like in the original story.

However, after hearing Amiya's explanation, she learned that dozens of students, including Gummy, were infected by Originium when the Catastrophe struck because they couldn't escape in time.

Once Ursus learned that they had become Infected, they banished them from the city, leaving these students to fend for themselves in the freezing cold.

If they hadn't happened to run into Talulah, they might have all perished in the snow.

Considering that they were waging guerrilla warfare, the Reunion Movement couldn't support so many people all at once. Fortunately, Rhodes Island wasn't far away, so Talulah sent people to transport them all to Rhodes Island.

And so, these Ursus girls, who should have had nothing to do with Rhodes Island anymore, returned to Rhodes Island.

"Hello!" Noticing Suika staring at her, Gummy awkwardly looked herself over, and only after finding nothing wrong did she cautiously speak.

"Hello, my name is Suika, it's nice to meet you." Suika nodded to her.

"You must be Suika!" Gummy exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Suika's self-introduction.

"Hmm?" Suika tilted her head.

Gummy walked over and bowed deeply to her.

"I've heard about what happened in Chernobog from everyone on Rhodes Island. If it weren't for you, the people in the city would probably have suffered even more."

Suika waved her hand.

"It was also to save Doctor, and the Old Nobility of Ursus were really behaving inhumanely."

... In my opinion, they are only slightly more morally upright than the garrison in Little Hill County.

"That slight increase is because they still have a sense of shame."

Chapter 582 Deep into the Volcano

"Little Hill County? What happened to Little Hill County?"

Upon hearing Suika's words, the Doctor became interested.

"It's not a good place to talk, let's go inside."

After entering Amiya's house, Suika recounted what had happened in Little Hill County.

After hearing this, everyone looked like their worldview had been completely shattered.

Just as Suika said, no matter how utterly depraved the Old Nobility of Ursus were, they were still using the power of Catastrophe to turn the entire city's inhabitants into Infected.

Victoria's soldiers actually used dirty bombs to bombard the city.

Such things are not uncommon in Terra's long history, but they were always done against enemies and other countries.

Victoria's decision to use this method domestically could severely damage the credibility of Victoria entire country and its military should the matter be exposed.

After all, in everyone's subconscious perception, soldiers, as a violent force, have the basic professional ethics and duties of protecting the country.

Bombarding one's own city—what kind of home are you protecting, and what kind of country are you defending?

After listening, Doctor looked at the Terra map in his hand, staring at the area in the center marked with the word "Victoria," and sighed.

"Sigh, Victoria's going to be in chaos again."

"Doctor, how about we..." Amiya said with some concern.

Doctor shook his head

"Everyone's out here to relax, so there's no need to think about work."

Since Kal'tsit hasn't sent a message for us to return, it means there's still room for maneuver.

After hearing Doctor's explanation, the people in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, I was even planning to do a field investigation on the volcano today..." Skyfire said, patting his chest.

Provence, standing nearby, nodded in agreement.

"Volcano expedition? How about I come along?" Suika asked, raising her hand after hearing their conversation.

"What are you looking at? I'm Catastrophe Messenger, but you're my colleague." Suika finished speaking, everyone realized that the girl in front of them was not only terrifying in combat, but also a Catastrophe Messenger had traveled around and had rich experience in the wild.

"Okay, let's go together then. Having a colleague will make the work much easier," Provence said with a smile after realizing what he meant.

"I want to go too!" Ifrit exclaimed eagerly upon seeing this.

Doctor thought for a moment. With Blaze's arrival, the team wouldn't lack combat power, and with Suika taking care of things over there, there shouldn't be any danger.

"Okay, but you have to listen to Suika."

If Suika tells me you disobeyed orders when you get back, I won't allow you to leave the main group again.

"Okay, I promise to obey orders!" Ifrit beamed with joy upon seeing Doctor's agreement.

After breakfast, Suika and the other three went to the foot of the volcano.

Provence handed over the data he and Skyfire had collected over the past few days to Suika.

"This is the information I've gathered over the past few days, and it makes me feel like something's wrong with this volcano."

Suika picked up the data and looked at it. It was a series of data records, recording information collected from monitoring points near the volcano.

"You've collected so much data in just a few days!" Ifrit looked at the things in Suika's hands; the strings of numbers on them were enough to make one's scalp tingle.

"Of course not, the Catastrophe Messenger also share data with each other."

This data was collected by the monitoring stations set up here by our predecessors.

You see, starting from this time, the density of Originium particles around the volcano began to gradually increase.

Although everything is still under control, it is still very abnormal, because the concentration of Originium should not be increasing in a stable environment, especially since this is a coastal area where sea breezes would carry away a lot of Originium particles.

Therefore, I believe that this volcano may have already awakened, but more definitive evidence is needed.

"After all, there are too many people in Siesta below. If we want the authorities to announce an evacuation, we need to provide sufficient supplies."

Provence answered calmly.

Suika nodded

"You're right, there is indeed a problem. In a coastal area with plenty of wind, the concentration of Originium should not be increasing."

The fact that a steady rise could be detected, yet remained within a safe range, is entirely due to the sea breeze saving the lives of the people here.

Seeing that Suika agreed with his opinion, Provence's smile widened even more.

The four of them followed the mountain path to the mountainside and found a cave.

Provence said, "We've arrived. This is the entrance to the mine. According to the locals, most of Siesta's obsidian comes from here."

Apart from Suika, the other three took out special Originium Dust gas masks from their backpacks, put them on, and then took special cave exploration lights, fixed them on their heads, and then went inside.

The further they went in, the higher the temperature became; Provence could already smell the burnt fur on its tail.

Looking at the other three, they all seemed completely unmoved.

She could only say that there are differences between people.

But Skyfire and Ifrit are fire-wielding sorcerers, so it's understandable that they have high resistance to high temperatures. So why does Suika also seem to be completely unaffected?

Out of curiosity, she asked about it.

"Oh, the place I used to live in was called the Old Hell. There were lava rivers all around it, so I got used to the high temperatures."

Suika said that high temperatures are nothing to crickets; she even wants to find lava and jump in for a bath.

"Are there places like this in the Eastern Country?" Provence was quite surprised after Suika finished speaking, as he already knew from Hoshiguma that Suika was not from Elafia but from the Oni of the Eastern Country.

"Haha, Terra such a big place, there must be some strange things, like that Foehn Hotlands that no one has ever crossed before..." Suika chuckled when she saw the other person's serious expression.

"Keep your voice down, there seems to be some noise ahead." Skyfire, who was walking at the front, suddenly raised his hand.

The others behind them immediately shut up and quietly walked forward.

After passing through a narrow mine pit, the area ahead of the group suddenly opened up.

But looking at the scene below, Skyfire and the others felt that if possible, it would be better not to be so cheerful.

Not far below them, countless orange-yellow Volcanic Originium Bug were densely packed together.

"Damn it!" Looking at the swarm of Originium Bug below, Ifrit felt a chill run down her spine and couldn't help but curse.

"So many Originium Bug... this must be their lair..."

The mine was dug too deep, directly into the Originium Bug's lair. No wonder this mine was abandoned.

Volcanic Originium Bug are different from Originium Bug in the outside world. Living in a high-temperature environment all year round, they absorb Originium dust very actively, and will explode if not handled properly.

And with so many Originium Bug below, if a chain reaction of explosions were to occur...

Chapter 583 The Insect Repeller's Suika

"It seems the environment here is very likely related to these Volcanic Originium Bug... Ecological environment influences geographical environment... Does anyone here know anything about this topic?"

Skyfire looked at the dense swarm of Originium Bug at his feet and complained.

"Not interested. What about you, Provence?" Suika waved her hand. She wasn't an academic; she was a true pragmatist.

Provence shook his head. "This doesn't fit my expertise... How about you do it, Skyfire?"

Skyfire shook his head. "I have no interest in volcanic research..."

Suika peeked out from the side as if she had triggered a keyword.

"Volcano research? I do know people who do that."

"Hmm?" Skyfire and Provence looked at Suika with eyes that seemed to say, "How come you can always find someone you know for everything?"

"I once met a couple in Leithanien who specialized in volcanoes and related matters. They might be interested in what's happening here," Suika replied.

Provence, standing nearby, seemed to be deep in thought. "The couple who study volcanoes... you're not talking about the Naumann couple, are you?" Provence exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

"You know him!" Suika looked at Provence in surprise.

Provence pointed to Ifrit, "Not only me, Ifrit knows her too, to be precise, many people on Rhodes Island know her."

"You mean they're on Rhodes Island!" Suika immediately understood the meaning behind Provence's words.