Chapter 222

When she saw Efnir again, Kanade Kotone was still a little reserved, but she was much more natural with Nishizaki Yuki.

"Good evening," Efnir greeted Kanade Kotone, glancing at the coffee in her hand and the large stack of file folders in her arms. "Where are you going?"

"Coffee delivery..." Kanade Kotone's eyes slid towards Nishizaki Yuki. "It's for Miss Nishiki..."

"Call me Director."

"You two seem to be getting along well," Efnir smiled, looking at Nishizaki Yuki. "Planning to work all night again tonight?"

"Yes, there are still some things that need to be done as soon as possible."

"Well, although it's a bit inappropriate for me to say this, I still hope you can take better care of yourself—you don't look too well."

Since Nishizaki Yuki went to the Garrison District, she has only rested for a short while on the return trip.

Nishizaki Yuki is very responsible. Although she always appears cold and keeps her distance from most people, her serious attitude towards work and her meticulous care for the wounded are evident to everyone.

"Thanks, I will..."

"Qinyin, you should also urge her to rest more."

Kotone's face immediately fell; how could she possibly persuade Nishizaki Yuki?

"Well then, I won't take up any more of your time," after exchanging a few pleasantries, Efnir prepared to leave, as Nishizaki Yuki still had many things to do.

Before leaving, Efnir asked, "Yuki, how long will this state of mine last?"

"About a week," Nishizaki Yuki thought for a moment. "If we apply the conclusions from the Underground Research Institute, there's no risk as long as all the indicators return to normal within a week."

In other words, Efnir will have to live under the close surveillance of the soldiers for another week. Of course, the surveillance won't be that close; at least there won't be any cameras in Efnir's room. After all, Efnir is just a relatively powerful ordinary person now, so there's no need to go to that extent.

"If recovery doesn't occur, adjunctive therapy will be needed—but those medications... to be honest, I'm not keen on using them, even if you're the agents, you might find them too much to handle."

Agents have extremely high resistance to the effects of drugs. Ordinary treatments are difficult to treat agents, and the dosage must be increased several times or even dozens of times. Highly toxic substances also have a limited effect on agents. Canary and Ayse once carried out a mission in a chemical plant. During the mission, they inhaled a large amount of toxic gas, but did not experience a serious poisoning reaction.

A drug that can even take a toll on an agent's body is clearly not something to be taken lightly.

"A week..." Efnir suddenly asked, "Then how does that count?"

There was absolutely nothing suspicious about Efnir's data.

"Don't make things difficult for me," Nishizaki Yuki sighed. "No matter what, at least treat everyone equally."

In other words, there's no time to lose; it's seven days now.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Efnir said, taking it all in stride. "If it can be proven that I won't be affected by the radiation, wouldn't that, to some extent, overturn the institute's experimental results? That would mean the 'Shard' aren't so terrible after all, which is good news."

"That's true, but you'll probably be busy with the investigation afterwards—if you're unaffected, the commander will likely keep asking you to take charge of the underground investigation."

Before Efnir could even feel happy, Nishizaki Yuki poured cold water on her joy.

After Nishizaki Yuki to Anilas, Efnir went to visit Anella and the others.

Anilas seemed to be in stable condition, but the others were not behaving as normally, especially Maple. Because she had injured Lan during her emotional outburst, her guilt was amplified, and she felt very remorseful. She looked somewhat haggard.

The headquarters sent a psychologist over and prescribed some conservative medications to assist in treatment. Overall, the situation is relatively good.

Efnir briefly explained the situation to Anilas and reassured them.

Afterwards, Efnir visited Canary, Furan, Jasmine, and others. Jasmine was the most seriously injured among them because the vehicle she was in had its ammunition compartment detonated during the Angel attack, severely injuring her on the spot. Apart from her, the others also had injuries, but their recovery was relatively more optimistic.

They will all remain at headquarters for further treatment.

Before leaving, Efnir called Furan aside and told her about Shadow's (Saori's ) current situation.

"If all goes well, I'll be able to move around freely in a week. At that time, I'll try to arrange for you and Saori to meet."

"Efnir said."

[This is the third chapter today; theoretically, there should be two more chapters today.]

134. Huali Xiang

The night was quiet.

In a residential area near Xijing City University in the East District of Xijing City, on the balcony of an apartment, Futaba Erii sits in a wheelchair, gazing at the night sky in the direction of Western Capital University.

At this time of month, the moonlight is mostly hidden, making the starlight in the sky stand out and bright.

Futaba Erii moon, quietly feeling the gentle night breeze caress her cheeks. For the past few days, she had come to the balcony at this time every day to look at the night sky, her heart struggling and hesitating time and time again.

--A month has passed since Futaba Erii was caught in the Erosion Disaster in front of the Xijing City square and fought the agent against the mysterious girl, and her injuries have not yet healed.

Those injuries weren't fatal, but for Futaba Erii, what she had experienced over the past month was undoubtedly something she had never experienced before—several fractures throughout her body, a leg injury that prevented her from walking on her own, and Corruption rate that had risen to a level that was extremely dangerous for a relatively ordinary person.

Moreover... Erii's face is scarred, which is undoubtedly a cruel thing for a girl who is only 20 years old.

The only not-so-bad news was that she didn't have to pay any medical expenses for all of this—these expenses were covered by the medical fund and the Orderkeepers Organization's medical department.

But for Futaba Erii, none of this was as agonizing and painful as the inner turmoil she felt.

She didn't stay in the hospital for long. She underwent surgery to remove Dregsification tissue, leaving her with a horrific scar, and then voluntarily requested to be discharged.

Ironically, Futaba Erii chose to be discharged from the hospital simply because she was afraid of running into that person there.

Yanase Naoto.

Or rather, Efnir.

When Efnir came to visit her in the hospital, Futaba Erii chose to hide for the first time— Futaba Erii no longer knew what kind of expression she should use to face her.

For the first time, I watched her go to the battlefield from that distance, watching her covered in blood, yet I was powerless to help her; even my shouts would be drowned out by the sea of people. Compared to myself, who could only lie there dumbfounded, watching my beloved struggle in that bloody mess without being able to do anything, "Fifina" stood beside Efnir with dazzling arrows.

When Fifina gazed at Efnir, the look in her Futaba Erii with envy and jealousy.

Futaba Erii finally realized that she could never fight alongside Efnir in that way, and she would never live to see that day, because the "Eligible" was determined by birth and could not be changed through effort—and Futaba Erii's suitability was far from meeting the required standard.

From the very beginning, there was a bottomless chasm between Futaba Erii and Efnir; they were not from the same world and could never be together.

For the first time, Futaba Erii genuinely believed that someone like "Fifina" was more qualified to stand beside Yanase Naoto than she was.

But it was her first love, a love she had given with all her heart Futaba Erii tried to comfort and convince herself, but she couldn't accept this ending—even though that person still didn't understand her feelings, this unrequited love was destined to end without a trace, yet she couldn't let go of it easily no matter what.

The sliding door made a screeching sound as it rubbed against the tracks, and then the younger sister's childish but sweet voice came from behind, "I'm saying, sister, if you really care that much, just confess! You weren't like this before. You liked someone, but you always hid away. It's just a few words, but you acted like you were trying to figure out someone's bank password. Where did that lovestruck, clueless sister go?"

Although my younger sister has a very sweet voice, a truly captivating voice, the things she says are often not funny.

"Huali Xiang," Futaba Erii smiled wryly, turning around as she pushed her wheelchair around. She looked up at her younger sister, who was wearing a thin nightgown, "How many times have I told you? You're not feeling well, don't come to the balcony at night."

Because of something that happened when she was a child, Huali Xiang's health has always been very weak.

"I only came to keep you company because I saw you looking so pitiful all alone." Futaba Huali Xiang looked away, picked up her phone, and fiddled with it, her words contradicting her true feelings with practiced ease.

"Let's go inside."

Erii pushed her wheelchair and urged her younger sister to go back inside.

In fact, Huali Xiang, Erii's younger sister, is a student at Western Capital University, just two years younger than her. Due to health reasons, Huali Xiang rarely goes to school and often stays at home, studying or playing games.

When Erii had her accident, Huali Xiang saw the news on the news, tried calling but no one answered, so she went out alone.

Erika still vividly remembers the heartbreaking sight of her Huali Xiang's face as she cried desperately by her bedside that day. After that, Huali Xiang fell ill again, only recovering a few days ago. Erika didn't want her younger sister to catch a cold again.

"I heard that more troops were gathering on the border yesterday," I said.

"Is that so..."

Futaba Erii paused for a moment, then pretended not to care.

Although she had made up her mind to stop bothering that person and sever her unrequited love for him, she still couldn't help but want to find out if she heard any news that might be related to him.

Don't you care?

"It has nothing to do with me." Erii shook her head and stopped asking.

"Just give up like that?"

"Um."

The two sisters entered the house, and the air fell silent.

Huali Xiang's tone turned somber, "If that's the case, you shouldn't have gone to her in the first place! Why are you backing down now?"

"Anyway... I won't be her first choice, so it's probably better to say nothing from the start..."

Erii believed this to be self-awareness.

However, she did not notice the several changes in Huali Xiang's expression behind her, which ultimately turned into one of desolation and bitterness.

"Stop lying. You still like her. It's been a month, and you say it every day, always saying it. Every time you give me so much hope only to leave me disappointed," Huali Xiang lip, her eyelashes lowered. "But you've never really thought about letting go... Liar."

Having her secret exposed, Futaba Erii turned around in her wheelchair and retorted, "I didn't..."

However, Huali Xiang's eyes were already red, and tears were streaming down her cheeks, a sight that stunned Erii.

She tensed up, "Huali Xiang, what's wrong?"

"You're lying..."

"I..."

"If you really gave up, did you ever take your eyes off her? If you really did, how could you not see my gaze upon you...?"

"Huali Xiang, what are you saying... What's wrong with you?"

Erii was still completely unaware of Huali Xiang's confession. She was more concerned about whether her younger sister was feeling unwell and whether she might suddenly fall ill and need to be taken to the hospital. Such things had happened before, but things were different now. She herself was barely able to move around, let alone take care of her younger sister.

If that's the case, then I'll have to contact my aunt who teaches in Yucheng in advance for help.

"Are you feeling unwell? Let me see..."

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Erii pushed her wheelchair to Huali Xiang's side and reached out her hand, but Huali Xiang stepped back to avoid it.

"Sister, didn't you notice?" Huali Xiang slowly raised her tear-streaked face, her moist eyes meeting Erii's. "The way I look at you, and the way you look at her, are exactly the same... I love you, sister, but why won't you ever look at me even once..."

135. Can't sleep

The wheelchair stopped in front of Huali Xiang's door, where Erii had been standing there stunned for a long time.

--After confessing her Huali Xiang rushed into the room.

Erii sat there alone, lost in thought.

The night remained quiet, but Erii's heart was anything but calm.

Meanwhile, Efnir arrived at her assigned single room and lay down on the bed.

She's been very tired these past few days, but she still can't sleep well.

She took out a laptop, connected it to the headquarters network, logged into her personal account, and then took out the USB drive that Nishizaki Yuki had given her from her pocket, plugged it into the laptop, and began to continue reviewing the research records she hadn't finished reading.

Just then, Yukina sent a message.

(Is Naoko asleep?)

("Not yet.")

Efnir replied.

("Kanade- kun just came over to change my dressing.")

Yukina seemed to still prefer to call Kotone "classmate," but in fact, both Kanade Kotone and Yukina hadn't been to school for a while—after they joined the organization, the school kept their student status, making them "off-campus students who could graduate without going to school."

Efnir was curious about how their homeroom teacher, Futaba, would explain this situation to the other students, but that was the school's problem and had nothing to do with Efnir.

("Is your injury getting better?")

Efnir typed "send, "Yukina quickly replied.

("Much better, I can get out of bed and move around on my own, and I don't feel any pain.")

"Get some rest. I'll have someone prepare some good food for you tomorrow."