Lungmen was a vast and dreamlike metropolis. For the "country bumpkins" from the northern reaches of Ursus, it was a sight they could never have imagined, even in their dreams.
Neon lights flickered in the distance, and the faint roar of the city drifted through the air. For the members of the Yeti Squad, setting foot in a massive mobile city for the first time felt profoundly unreal. They had entered Chernobog and Kursk before, but by the time they arrived, those cities had already fallen to the Reunion Movement. What they heard then was not the sounds of daily life, but the screams of the dying.
FrostNova let out a soft sigh and tugged her hood lower. Though her Originium Arts were ice-based, she still disliked the unending rain. After taking medication, her body temperature would warm, but once she used her Arts, it would drop again, becoming cold as ice. The members of the Yeti Squad were unwilling to let her fight. They did not want their leader's Oripathy to worsen.
"So… this is the slums, right?"
FrostNova stepped forward. The buildings and shanties on both sides were dark, their lights extinguished. Only a handful of Reunion Movement members lingered here. After their failed attack that morning, they naturally avoided areas where Tomorrow's Development operators were active, retreating instead toward the city walls.
"I heard from Talulah that you Yetis would definitely come. Looks like you really did. How about we work together and clear this properly?"
In FrostNova's field of vision, several adventurers wearing Reunion Movement uniforms approached with grins, offering a casual greeting. FrostNova understood adventurers well. Like the people of Terra, they were all called adventurers, but each carried their own intentions and beliefs. As for those who had thrown in their lot with Talulah, FrostNova rarely had the chance to communicate with them.
She gave a neutral nod. The yellow-named and red-named players looked slightly awkward as they watched the Yeti Squad depart. Once they turned away, they resumed discussing plans for the next day's assault.
For all their atrocities, they had little desire to commit crimes against their own NPC faction. Killing their own would likely drain their loyalty points with the Reunion Movement and get them expelled entirely. This was the most exciting phase of the siege. There was no way they would give that up.
Even if some of the NPCs in the Reunion Movement seemed irritating, the yellow-named and red-named players chose not to stoop to their level. They preferred to stick together and play among themselves.
After the Yeti Squad left, a few of the adventurers let out relieved breaths. Adventurers were everywhere on this land now, but Reunion Movement adventurers were a breed apart. They were madmen. Though they possessed Originium Arts that spared them from true death, they treated their lives as worthless, savoring each moment of dying. Suicide bombings and self-detonation attacks were routine for them. Did they truly feel no fear at all?
FrostNova said nothing. Once past the entrance, she headed straight into the depths of the slums. Here, there were fewer Reunion Movement members. Instead, there were more infected children from Chernobog and Kursk. They huddled together beneath makeshift rain shelters, bodies curled and trembling, lips frozen pale and blue as they rubbed their hands together for warmth.
FrostNova pressed her lips together. "Big Bear, I remember you have matches."
"Got it, boss."
Big Bear clearly understood her meaning. His massive frame looming before the children startled them badly. Fear and panic flickered in their eyes. To them, the figures dressed in white looked no different from the white-masked members of the Reunion Movement. Would these people beat them, curse them, and force them to join as well?
They did not even have the strength left to run.
Big Bear brushed the rain from his body and pulled out dry matches from his pocket. With thick yet surprisingly deft fingers, he lit a campfire in front of the children.
"Don't worry. We're here to protect you."
As the flames rose, the faces of the Ursus children flickered in and out of the night. Looking at their gaunt, hunger-thinned faces, Big Bear could not help but take out his rations and share them. He was not the only one. The other members of the Yeti Squad did the same, sitting with the children and eating together.
These rations were all they had been issued. Five days' worth of food. There was no telling whether they would even have a chance to retreat in the end. FrostNova gently stroked one Ursus child's head as the thought crossed her mind.
She might never leave Lungmen alive.
She had a feeling that this was how it would end.
"Are there more children?"
"Yes. There are. They're over there."
The children whispered among themselves. In a short span of time, their number had grown to over a hundred. All of them were infected children from nearby areas, fleeing along with the crowds into Lungmen, with no idea what to do next.
This city was rejecting them.
Rejecting the infected.
FrostNova noticed that some of the children's wounds had already worsened. After becoming infected, they had never received timely treatment. In such harsh living conditions, their bodies had been pushed to their limits. The deterioration of Oripathy was inevitable, and their infections had grown ever more severe.
The Yeti Squad, however, had no medicine to treat them. FrostNova bit down on her lower lip, pain twisting in her chest. She did not know how to face the children with a smile under such circumstances. Perhaps only Alina's presence could have made those smiles bloom again.
"…I hear footsteps."
Greg lowered his voice. His hearing had always been sharp, and through the sound of rain he picked out approaching steps. "They're coming this way. From the sound of it, a small squad. Unknown origin."
FrostNova nodded slightly at his words. The only ones active in this area were members of the Reunion Movement, and she had heard enough about what they did to children like these. That was precisely why they had come here, and why this place mattered.
With that thought, she tightened her grip on her staff. Petrova quickly caught her hand.
"Big sis, leave it to us."
"…"
FrostNova did not answer. Instead, she moved behind the cover of a building and quietly looked toward the direction the footsteps were coming from.
Big Bear gestured for the children to keep quiet. He and several other squad members positioned themselves in front of them, while another extinguished the campfire that had just been lit.
In the rain, fluorescent flashlight beams appeared, and the Yeti Squad caught fragments of conversation drifting over.
"Is it really here, Istina? I don't see anyone at all."
"It shouldn't be wrong. Earlier today, Rosa and I checked this area together. Could they have been taken by the Reunion Movement?"
"Stay calm. The drones are still monitoring the Reunion Movement camps. No one has left…"
The voices cut off abruptly, followed by a powerful beam of light sweeping down.
"Who's there!"
FrostNova's face was illuminated by the glare. She narrowed her eyes as waves of icy, crystalline cold began to pulse with the glow of her staff.
"You're with the Reunion Movement?" x2
Both sides shouted the same words at once. After a brief silence, the light dimmed slightly, and FrostNova took the chance to see them clearly.
They wore rainproof coats fitted with mechanical elements. Beneath their hoods were young Ursus girls, no older than middle school students. Their youth, however, clashed sharply with the weapons clenched in their hands.
"Who are you?" x2
Big Bear and the others spoke at the same time as their counterparts. After an awkward pause, it was the girls who spoke first.
"My codename is Rosa. I'm from the Tomorrow's Development action group. And you are?"
At that familiar yet distant name, FrostNova's heart trembled. She felt Petrova's and Greg's gazes on her. Pressing her lips together, she hardened her resolve and answered in a cold voice.
"I'm from the Reunion Movement. The Yeti Squad."
She knew exactly what those words meant. Being part of the Reunion Movement meant bearing that shackle. How could she claim innocence?
She was Yeti Squad, and she had supported Talulah as she once was. That had never changed.
"So it really is the Yeti Squad. His Highness called it."
"Eh? When did His Highness say that, Rosa?"
"Zima, at the last meeting. Don't tell me you were staring at His Highness's face the whole time again?"
"Shut up, Leto."
The girls bickered among themselves for a moment before Rosa smiled again.
"His Highness mentioned in a meeting that there are still people within the Reunion Movement who truly want to fight for the rights of the infected, but who no longer fit with what the Movement has become. He mentioned the Yeti Squad by name, and instructed all action group members not to open fire if we encountered you, but to explain the situation instead."
"…."
The members of the Yeti Squad stared in shock. Warmth welled up in their chests, mingled with a sting behind their eyes. They were the true veterans of the Reunion Movement, the ones who genuinely sought justice for the infected. They were the original dreamers and doers. Yet Talulah had cast them aside, choosing a path they could never agree with.
"His Highness?"
"Ah… the King of Liberation, the King of Dawn, the Pioneer. Felix, actually. These days, most operators just call him His Highness."
Zima added quietly, "Though… I used to call him Brother Felix too."
FrostNova's lips trembled slightly. Cold rain washed over her body, yet inside, she felt warmth slowly beginning to rise.
"We're students from Chernobog," Istina explained carefully. "Our purpose here is to search for children afflicted with Oripathy and provide what treatment we can. His Highness already knows that we've encountered you, and he's ordered us to ask you to escort the children with us back to the camp."
"…"
Why did it feel like walking straight into a wolf's den? Yelena took a deep breath. Everything happening now felt unreal. After so much time had passed, he still remembered the bond they once shared.
"Big sis…?" Petrova asked softly.
FrostNova paused, then nodded. She had thought that entering Lungmen would mark the Yeti Squad's dead end, but now it seemed fate had not abandoned them after all.
Once the brief tension and banter faded, the Ursus girls from the action group showed a gentler, more responsible side. They knelt before the children, checking their infection levels. Though they lacked proper medical equipment, the drones could still analyze the Originium crystals on the body surface to estimate the severity of infection and distribute medication accordingly.
It was not a cure, but it eased the children's pain enough to give them strength to stand and follow the Tomorrow's Development action group out.
FrostNova said nothing, focusing on keeping the children organized. She could clearly feel Petrova, Greg, Big Bear, and the others relaxing, as if they had finally found true allies, even a place that felt like home. Perhaps they had once felt something similar in the early days of the Reunion Movement, but as Talulah changed, they had been forced to guard themselves even against their own side.
This sense of ease was long overdue. Though no one said it aloud, FrostNova, as their leader, felt it keenly.
"Let's move."
Zima waved her hand. The Yeti Squad exchanged glances and nodded, escorting the children as they quietly withdrew from the slums under the rain-soaked night.
After about ten minutes, a warm glow finally appeared ahead. Dozens of buildings enclosed a small plaza, where many tents had been set up. Beneath them burned welcoming campfires. Some Tomorrow's Development operators sat warming themselves by the flames, while more adventurers stood alert around the perimeter and atop rooftops, standing guard.
Rosa handed the children over to the medical operators, who brought them indoors to rest and be examined. Shining was still awake at this hour, working alongside dozens of medics as they began assessing the children's conditions.
"I'll take you to see His Highness," Zima said, taking on the responsibility.
Istina glanced at her as she turned and walked ahead. Who said I'm going just to stare at His Highness's face? I clearly have a mission, all right?
With each step toward the building, Yelena felt a sudden wave of fear. Years had passed, and he had become a king. He carried responsibility as he moved forward. And she… what had she done?
After rejecting his invitation back then, the Reunion Movement had gradually changed, until it finally crossed a line that could never be forgiven.
When she saw him again, what was she supposed to say?
That fear made it hard for her to take another step.
At that moment, Petrova gently pushed her.
"Big sis… he's waiting for you."
"…Yes."
Yelena turned back with a faint smile, then stepped through the door Zima pushed open.
Before her eyes appeared a face so familiar it brought tears, one she could not help but want to look at again, one that still made her cheeks flush.
"Since you've come," Felix said with a smile, "I won't let you leave again."
"Yelena. It's been a long time."
"…Mm."
A tear slid from the corner of Yelena's eye. By the time it hit the floor, it had frozen into a tiny shard of ice.
"It really has… been a long time."