"Noid!"
The commissioner rushed over, checking his vital signs. He wasn't breathing, and his pulse was very weak. His life hung by a thread.
She put the matter of the cube aside for now. Saving him was the priority.
"Is there a doctor here?!"
She started looking for help from the survivors there. Fortunately, among them was someone with medical knowledge who began to perform resuscitation, but it was all useless. Noid's pulse remained at a very weak level.
In the end, the commissioner could only go to the laboratory, ignoring her disgust with the products there to retrieve life-support equipment for Noid. That was the most she could do.
After that, she started organizing the survivors. Anyone who wanted to could stay or leave as they pleased. Those who stayed would help her find communication equipment to send a distress call to Rorgh City.
Even though the front line had a different radio wave system, the cultists must have a way to contact other areas.
The signal was picked up, and the information was sent to Front Line 17. Just a few hours later, a rescue team immediately arrived at the stronghold.
Sasha stepped out, her eyes quickly scanning everyone, but she didn't find Noid. She only saw the commissioner organizing the survivors.
"Ms. Sasha, please immediately take a person back to the city for treatment. This is a very important matter."
Following the commissioner's instructions, Sasha went to a hospital bed. Seeing that familiar face, she rushed over. She was so fast that the commissioner didn't have time to say anything.
"Who... who did this?! Please... tell me..."
Sasha's hair flew around her as she turned her head. Her pupils had turned golden, the unique ability of a modified human. The commissioner wasn't angry because she knew who Sasha was targeting.
"If you two are acquainted, there's no need to hide anything."
The commissioner slowly recounted everything, from when she first saw Noid to when he fell and lost consciousness. The details about the power of the cube and his ability to use it were also recounted in detail.
Throughout the conversation, Sasha remained silent until the commissioner left. She then turned back to Noid, her thoughts unknown.
Even though the rescue team had arrived, their work wasn't finished after just picking up a few people. They had to organize a team to clean up the place and retrieve important evidence and materials. As for the survivors, the ones in the breeding camp could no longer be saved, so they were given a form of euthanasia to help the poor people pass away peacefully.
As for the survivors in the warehouse, the rescue team gave them two options: they could leave, or they could follow the rescue team back to Rorgh City to start a new life.
The truth about the ground-up human remains used as food was kept a secret by the commissioner. She only had a few people incinerate them permanently. That stuff could not be allowed to exist.
A private flight on a specialized aircraft, piloted by Sasha herself, took Noid back to Rorgh City. After that, the treatment process began immediately.
The treatment lasted for about a day and a night. No method, whether classic or modern, worked. This wasn't like a persistent vegetative state. Patients in a persistent vegetative state still maintain the life of their organs. But Noid's signs of life were too faint, like the last thread holding him from death.
More miraculously, his entire body was in a state of suspended animation. But his cells weren't depleted, and his organs weren't damaged. This had never happened before.
Finally, Sasha took Noid back to his familiar room to take care of him.
It was now midnight. The entire room was quiet. Sasha was sitting by Noid's bed.
She looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness. The scene felt like a return to two years ago, to the first time Sasha met him. He disregarded his own safety to protect others. That's why she brought Noid back and became curious about him. Now, he still disregarded his life to protect others, looking even more battered than before, and she was the one who brought him back again.
Sasha wanted to touch his face. But her fingers only dared to get close to his skin. Noid was too weak now, to the point that she was afraid she might harm him if she touched him. In the end, she dozed off by the bed.
...
"This is today's interrogation report from the bishop."
An officer handed Sasha a stack of papers. She quickly scanned it, not wasting any time speaking.
"As usual, no useful information."
Since the bishop was captured, they had tried every way to make him give up information. In contrast to Toriel, who the interrogation team thought would be an extremely difficult subject, the bishop willingly gave a statement. Until they realized that the bishop said a lot, but the useful information accounted for less than 1% of it.
The bishop's interrogation notes had piled up, but after being filtered, only a few pages were left, and that was after they had to go through a lot of guesswork and supplementary adjustments.
The bishop sat in his solitary confinement cell. He had maintained this posture since the interrogation. That is, until he suddenly looked in a different direction and mumbled in his throat.
"They're here."
...
On a hill, old man Kaular was with a few children, planting a garden next to the church to serve as food for this winter.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The ground shook violently. Kaular's face was serious. Was this an earthquake?
"Kids, hurry and hide in the house."
He quickly told the children to gather up and go back inside. He ran to his old, dusty pickup truck, intending to grab some important supplies, but his face froze. Because in his line of sight, at the foot of the hill was an endless, uncountable horde of monsters. They were like a giant wave sweeping across everything, destroying all civilization.
"My God..."
Even though he had lived with this apocalyptic disaster for 12 years, Kaular had never seen so many doom creatures before. In his fear, he could only run back to the church and tell everyone to hide in the basement, praying that they wouldn't come here.
Unfortunately for them, a small branch of the doom horde still spread to them, tearing apart the church and the surrounding buildings. Even the small town below couldn't escape the same fate.
...
It was now the fifth day since Noid had returned, and he was still lying there peacefully, with no signs of waking up.
Because Noid couldn't do anything, Sasha had to change his IV and nutrient solution every day. Even though the doctors and researchers had said that he was an unprecedented case in medicine, even in history, and that there was no need to give him nutrients, Sasha didn't want to take any chances. She continued to change his nutrients and take care of him as usual.
However, today was not as calm. A phone call came, forcing her to leave.
"Sasha, the doom have made a new move."
"I know."
She gave him one last look, put on her uniform, and walked out the door toward the military base.
"They're back, Sasha. And in huge numbers."
She looked at the satellite images. The doom creatures were marching like a swarm of ants, and the dense number of flying doom creatures blocked the view. It was difficult to determine the exact number.
"The reconnaissance plane team has completely lost contact. It's highly likely they have been annihilated. This great war will be extremely difficult. Everyone, please be mentally prepared."
"At this rate, it will take them ten consecutive days to get here."
The commander's face was grim. Everyone in the strategy room had heavy expressions, even the modified humans.
Just then, an intelligence officer ran in, frantically reporting.
"Commander, we have detected signs of the Doom cult's activity. We cannot confirm the authenticity of the appearance of many complete cultists."
"Damn it, why now..."
The commander was silent for half a second, then began to allocate a portion of the military force to deal with the Doom cult as quickly as possible.
But things only got worse. The Doom cult's disturbances grew stronger, to the point of a riot. The terrifying doom army was getting closer and closer to Front Line 17. The army and the police were overwhelmed.
Sasha grabbed the bishop by the collar, her voice ice-cold.
"What are you crazies trying to do?"
The bishop just smiled, speaking slowly and with a hint of mockery.
"Sasha, this is war. We are two opposing factions. It's only natural that we would attack each other."
It was natural, but to do it now, of all times. She didn't believe they hadn't been planning this for a long time.