Chapter 138
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."
Clearly, Yukina had been waiting outside the examination room for quite some time. While Efnir received treatment and a physical examination, Yukina was also undergoing a post-war physical examination and wound treatment.
"I'm so worried about you... Naoko... I'm so worried..."
Yukina choked back tears, reaching out as if to hug Efnir, but then she hesitated when she saw the corner of the gauze peeking out from under Efnir's neck.
"Naoko..."
Yukina had white medical gauze on her eyebrows, below her cheeks, and at the corners of her mouth. Her clothes, Trace from the battle, were dirty and stained with blood.
Seeing the bloodstains and wounds on Yukina's body, Efnir felt a pang of pain in her heart.
Seeing Yukina hesitate to speak, Efnir gently cupped Yukina's cheeks, her fingertips softly wiping away the tears welling up in Yukina eyes.
Does it hurt?
Yukina shook her head.
"It's nothing... compared to Naoko, it's nothing..."
Efnir lowered her gaze, as if she wanted to say something, when her phone vibrated.
"Efnir, do you have time?"
The voice on the other end was that of Masaki Hina.
"We've made new discoveries in the analysis of your combat recordings! This information is extremely crucial, and if your physical condition permits... I hope you can come over."
Efnir and Yukina exchanged a glance and pursed their lips.
"Perfect timing, I was just about to come over."
"I'll send Siyejian to pick you up."
Headquarters and Command Center of the Orderkeepers Organization
Because of the emergence of Codename H and the major battle in front of Western Capital University, the headquarters was already in a state of great activity.
In the operations command center, Masaki Hina, dressed in a military overcoat, stood in front of the large screen, her gaze deep.
Efnir and Yukina arrived at the operations room, led by Shinomiyami Nami. Besides them, Fushihara Ayaka and Furan were also present, as were Elincia and Ayse, whose arms and foreheads were still bandaged. They all nodded to Efnir and Yukina upon seeing them.
Without exception, everyone present had participated in the operation to encircle and capture the hooded girl Codename H over the past two days.
At this moment, they were all waiting for Efnir to arrive.
Without a doubt, Efnir was the main fighting force in the operation against the hooded girl Codename H.
"How are you?"
"I'm concerned, "Masaki Hina asked.
The degree of harm that Apostle Form can cause to the body varies from person to person, and may even differ from person to person. The abnormality in Efnir's right eye once worried Masaki Hina.
This wasn't just because of the vague feelings Masaki Hina harbored for Efnir, but more so because of her concern for her friend.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Efnir smiled casually and glanced at the screen in front of her.
There, a video of a battle between Efnir and the girl Codename H was being shown.
"So, did you find anything?"
Regarding extra chapters
After much consideration, we've decided to make an extra update plan.
This extra update plan is based on our original update schedule and is an "additional update". Simply put, it means that while not reducing the original update plan, an "extra update rule" is added.
Here, I'd like to mention that the so-called "established update plan" refers to an update plan formulated with the goal of achieving full attendance in monthly updates on this site. Generally, it is the number of days in each month × 3000 (words).
Each of our chapters is generally 2000+ words, which means that we must update an average of 1.5 chapters per day to get the perfect reading attendance bonus.
This additional chapter plan was formulated on top of the original full attendance plan.
The explanation begins below:
[Time] The start and end times are: 03:20 AM on December 15, 2021, until 11:50 PM on the last night of this month.
[Rules] One extra chapter will be added for every 100 monthly votes cast within the planned time.
One extra chapter will be added for every 10,000 Fire Coins donated within the planned time.
The two can be combined.
Chapters included in the bonus chapter plan will be marked with an extra mark during updates. The bonus chapter repayment period begins when the plan is implemented, and any bonus chapters not completed this month will be carried over to the next month.
I will not maliciously delay fulfilling my bonus chapter quota.
[Note 1] As of the start time, the monthly donation data for this book is "17400" and the monthly ticket donation data is "903". This data is the initial data and is not included in the change data.
[Note 2] Thank you for your continued support. This bonus chapter will include an initial bonus chapter of "2 chapters". This means that even if we do not receive any rewards or monthly tickets, the bonus chapters will still be counted as 2 chapters in the bonus chapter plan, using the "2+N" calculation method.
[Note 3] The final data will be posted again at the end of the month.
200. The Dead City
"Regarding the city mentioned by Codename H, 'Liujin,' we have discovered some clues during our investigation."
Efnir and Yukina sat down in the empty seats prepared for them.
There were many people present, but the command center was very quiet. Each person had a tablet computer, paper, pen, and microphone in front of them, but everyone's attention was focused on the three people at the front: Masaki Hina, Fushihara Ayaka, Efnir.
The meeting centered around the three of them.
Without wasting any words, Masaki Hina glanced around, leaned slightly forward, and spoke calmly.
"Efnir, do you know 'Liujin City'?"
"I'm not entirely sure what this place is... I've never heard of it before. Come to think of it, isn't this the place that Codename H mentioned before he disappeared?"
Efnir stated the truth.
"That's right. As an important clue mentioned by Codename H, regardless of its authenticity, we investigated it to some extent."
"The Apostle is in Liujin City"—this was the message left to Efnir by the hooded girl Codename H before she completely disappeared. Although it's highly likely that she used it as a smokescreen to confuse people, for them now, any clue is worth investigating.
And now it seems that Masaki Hina did indeed find something out.
"You found a clue so quickly?"
Efnir was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, searching is much simpler than investigating."
Masaki Hina swiped quickly a few times on the tablet.
"Regarding Liujin City, you should understand once you see this."
Behind Masaki Hina, the large screen displayed a regional map. Anyone familiar with operations Beyond the Boundary would immediately recognize it as an aerial view of Xijing City and the surrounding area.
The map shrank as Masaki Hina's finger moved, until Xijing City occupied less than one-twentieth of the entire screen, and then a red circle appeared in the corner of the screen.
"'Liujin City' is located here, more than 200 kilometers away from us as the crow flies."
"This is... a 'Dead City'?"
Looking at the map, Efnir frowned slightly.
On the map, the words "Liujin City" are shown in gray, which means that Liujin City is a "dead city"—that is, a human settlement that did not survive the threat of Erosion Disaster and was eventually completely destroyed by Corruption.
There are many more cities like this on the map.
People who survived from the old century abandoned their original homes and, under the unification of the Human Federation, concentrated all resources and people to build fortress after fortress, which is the "city" that emerged in this era. However, resources in each region are limited, so the size of cities varies greatly, and most cities are quite far apart.
Due to the threat of numerous Erosion Entity in the Beyond the Boundary region, there is little interaction between cities.
Since the end of the old century, human society in this era has degenerated or evolved into a distorted form.
These cities are the last remnants of the Old Era.
But the Erosion Disaster did not stop there. In one Erosion Disaster after another, some cities were destroyed, which are known as "Dead City".
Efnir once traveled to a Dead City during an investigation mission Beyond the Boundary in search of important supplies and equipment left behind.
Her only impression of the "Dead City" was probably the word "death"—everywhere was a ruin, the former prosperity was covered by countless dust and weeds, the city had lost the color of life, and even corpses could not be seen much, because most of the dead would turn into Dregs and wander to areas outside the city.
Nothing will be left in the city.
Looking at the gray expanse on the map, Efnir recalled the devastation she had witnessed in the Dead City.
She spoke slowly, her voice low.
"Was this 'Dead City'... the work of the Apostle?"
"I can't determine it, but I think it's very likely. According to the Human Federation's records, the disappearance of Liujin City seems to have been caused by Erosion Disaster, but I've carefully examined the information about this city and found something suspicious."
Fushihara Ayaka added.
"According to the intelligence provided by the Human Federation, the last time Liujin City sent out a request for assistance was two years ago, on the day of the 'Western Capital University Special Erosion Disaster Incident.' A week after that, the Human Federation received the final confirmation report from the support team."
In other words, Masaki Hina had not yet been dispatched to Xijing City at that time.
And Efnir has just become "Ephnel".
At that time, Liujin City became a "Dead City," so Efnir and Masaki Hina knew very little about Liujin City. In contrast, Fushihara Ayaka knew more about what happened at that time.
But to put it another way, the timing is somewhat suspicious.
Efnir frowned slightly, pondering a certain possibility.
"The location where Codename H appeared... is exactly where the incident occurred two years ago. Is this a coincidence?"
"It's hard not to imagine that, according to the account of the girl you rescued, Codename H appeared in the square looking for something."
"Searching in the square?"
"I have already dispatched men to search the square. If there is anything there, I think we will find it."
Masaki Hina said.
"Furthermore, I found some oddities in the Human Federation's files—according to the logs retrieved by the Human Federation's investigation team from the Boundary Stele System in Liujin City, certain dates do not coincide with the time of the disaster. It seems that the Boundary Stele System had already suffered a serious malfunction before the disaster occurred. In other words, Liujin City was already in a desperate situation of Boundary Stele System paralysis before the Erosion Disaster, but this was not mentioned in the relief request. Does this seem similar to the situation we encountered?"
"Destroying the Boundary Stele... faking a signal, Human Federation's rescue to arrive just one step too late?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out. If we speculate in this way, then the culprit behind the tragedy in Liujin City is very likely the Apostle."
"Could it be... that the Apostle already existed from that time onwards?"
The Human Federation's Party's records of the Apostle' activities are mostly concentrated in the last few months; prior to that, no one knew of an organization called "Apostle."
However, the absence of a finding does not mean that the substance does not exist.
"Didn't the Human Federation notice such obvious suspicious points?"
"Of course we discovered it, and we marked it in the file. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to find the clue so quickly. But the Human Federation didn't conduct any follow-up investigations into this suspicious point, and the reason is obvious—"
Masaki Hina sighed softly.
"The Central Province is far from Liujin City. Liujin City's airport and Boundary Stele were destroyed simultaneously. The Human Federation's investigation team found it difficult to conduct a lengthy investigation in a Fallen Zone without any support base, let alone have the resources to recapture a Dead City with no survivors. Every year, several cities disappear forever from the map. The death of one person is painful, but the demise of a city is merely the replacement of a character. No one intended to mourn for a small city like Liujin City. The final investigation was hastily concluded. Simply put, after confirming that there were no survivors in Liujin City, the city was completely abandoned—this is the whole story of the Liujin City incident."
201. Clues Behind the Light and Shadow
A brief silence fell over the meeting room.
The fate of Liujin City is chilling. In fact, if the Apostle's plan had succeeded, Xijing City would very likely have already been reduced to ruins, becoming the next Liujin City.
"The Apostle are more powerful than we imagined."