Chapter Eighty-Six: Treatment Time (End)

The screech of brakes rang out. Feren turned his head and glanced out the window, where he saw the armored vehicles that had left earlier now returning. It seemed they had already discovered something was wrong here, though Feren was hardly surprised. His dramatic entrance earlier, combined with Delin’s thunderstorm assault, had wiped out most of the resistance outside. But the people inside were neither deaf nor blind. Now that they could no longer reach their commander, it was only natural that they would try to send for help.

Unfortunately for them, they were a little too late.

At the thought, Feren smiled faintly and turned back to look ahead.

Before him, the cylindrical core that had once served as the network node had already been completely dismantled, revealing the brilliant radiance sealed within. It was a golden disc about the size of half a palm. At first glance, it resembled the stone tablets ancient civilizations once used to record writing. In fact, strange characters had indeed been etched upon the disc, but their forms were utterly unfamiliar, belonging to no nation in this world and appearing nowhere in the history of human civilization.

Feren did not care about any of that. A specialist should do specialized work. He was a doctor, not an archaeologist. What he needed was not to decipher or analyze the writing on that glowing disc. There was only one thing he had to do.

The disc now hovered in the air, radiating a bright light. One glowing stream after another of data coiled around it in luminous rings, making it seem like a cocoon wrapped in layers of light. Anyone facing such a mysterious and wondrous sight would likely be enthralled by it.

Yet Feren’s expression remained as leisurely as ever. His smile did not change in the slightest, not even the curve of his mouth shifting by the smallest amount. Instead, he simply raised his right hand. With that motion, a faint flash of light flickered, and in the next instant, a scalpel appeared in his grasp.

Tap, tap, tap...

Urgent footsteps sounded from outside. The black cat lying beside Feren lifted its head, twitched its ears, and looked toward the source of the noise. But Feren seemed completely unconcerned with the soldiers rushing toward the core area. Like a surgeon in the middle of an operation, he deftly used the scalpel in his hand to sever one data line after another.

Each time he cut through a data line, the glow of the luminous disc would instantly dim, only to brighten again a moment later. And Feren waited quietly until the light returned before continuing his work.

Focused. Calm. Unwavering.

Bang!

The tightly shut door was smashed open, and soldiers armed with weapons stormed into the core area. Their footsteps grew ever clearer, yet Feren did not react at all. He only kept his eyes fixed on the disc before him and brought his hand down once more.

Then a furious shout rang out behind him.

“Don’t move! Hands up!”

At the command, Feren stopped. Still smiling, he slowly turned around and looked at the soldiers standing behind him, the entrance already sealed off behind their ranks. Seeing the man before them, the federal soldiers also treated the situation as if facing a great enemy. They gripped their rifles tightly, expressions tense and uneasy.

Along the way here, they had seen the mutilated remains of their comrades, those gruesome corpses torn apart beyond recognition. Naturally, they would not underestimate this young man before them. Though they still did not know who he was, one thing was certain: he was definitely not an easy opponent.

They wanted very much to take him alive, but the situation was far too strange. The lead soldier hesitated for only an instant before swiftly making his decision.

“Open fire!”

At the order, several automatic rifles roared at once, spewing tongues of flame as hundreds upon hundreds of bullets poured wildly toward Feren.

At that very same moment, however, Feren’s hands lowered, then rose again.

In the blink of an eye, the two scalpels became silver-white threads, weaving a seamless shield before him. The blade edges moved so swiftly they were invisible to the naked eye, slicing bullets cleanly in half, deflecting them, knocking them away. Sparks flared intermittently as metal struck metal, creating a scene both strange and breathtaking.

It was the ultimate clash of speed and stillness. Everyone could see that Feren was merely standing there, his body not swaying in the least. Yet no one could make out his arms. They seemed to have vanished completely behind the silver light and the flashing sparks, while the bullets that should have torn him to pieces were simply gone.

“Fire! Keep firing! Don’t stop!”

The scene before them drove the federal soldiers nearly mad. They shouted at the top of their lungs, fingers pressing hard against the triggers as though they meant to vent all their rage and all their terror at the impossible sight in front of them.

But soon, something abnormal happened.

One soldier who had been firing wildly suddenly began to sway from side to side. He stopped shooting, clutched his head with both hands, eyes bulging wide. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. But very quickly, he let out a wail and collapsed to the ground, striking his head against the floor with violent force.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

At the same time, the other soldiers began to exhibit all manner of abnormalities. Screaming, they clutched their heads as their bodies started to convulse and twist. Everyone seemed to have turned into headless flies, running and crashing about in utter confusion.

The first man to open fire even bared his teeth, drooling as he emitted shrill screams and laughter. He kept shaking his head hard from side to side, until at last he snapped his own neck completely.

In less than thirty seconds, the cries of agony vanished entirely, leaving only corpses strewn across the floor and the black silhouette standing quietly in place.

“Waaah!”

Elluka’s eyes widened in alarm. She stared at the armored vehicle still hot on their heels not far behind them. Just moments ago, it had fired a rocket at them. If not for Elluka’s quick reaction, the three sisters would have been blasted to pieces.

But just as Elluka was preparing to strike back, she was startled to see the armored vehicle suddenly lurch forward as though it had lost control. It slammed straight into the rear of their car. The violent impact drew screams from all three of them. Then, before their eyes, the enemy vehicle twisted sharply, rolled over, and crashed to the ground as a heap of scrap.

What in the world was going on?

Elluka glanced back through the rearview mirror, and a horrifying sight met her eyes.

A bloodied soldier crawled out of the overturned armored vehicle. But instead of fleeing or attacking Elluka, he screamed like a madman, lowered his head, and slammed himself hard against the side of the armored vehicle. Again and again he charged into it with relentless persistence, until after the third impact, his head tilted to one side and he lost all response.

“This is... network addiction!”

Elluka felt every hair on her body stand on end at the sight.

So-called network addiction was a disease that appeared after the Great Catastrophe. It only emerged in areas where network energy had been cut off for one reason or another. The cause was simple: once network energy was severed, humans could no longer obtain sufficient power, and their brains would suffer severe damage. Then they would be contaminated, go mad, and die in agony.

In general, network addiction most often appeared in places ravaged by electromagnetic storms. In settlements that had failed to withstand such storms, corpses like these, twisted into madness and misery, were all too common.

Could there be an electromagnetic storm here? Or had the network in this area been cut off entirely?

Too frightened to think any further, Elluka pressed the accelerator almost through the floor. Even she could not tell how large the disconnected zone might be. All she could do now was flee as far as possible.

But... what about the commander and the others?

At the thought, Elluka grew worried. Everyone knew that humans could not survive in areas without network energy. Yet remembering the commander’s order from earlier, she forced herself to calm down. Since the commander had ordered them to evacuate immediately, he must clearly have known what would happen... probably, it would be fine.

Even so, unease gnawed at her, and it did not subside even after they returned to the Harmony. Elluka had already tried more than once to contact Feren, but there was no response. That left her increasingly at a loss. Had something unforeseen happened to this settlement, and had the commander, seeing that something was wrong, sent them away? Had he himself been too late to escape and become trapped inside? Or...

“I can’t wait any longer!”

After sitting in silence for half an hour, Elluka finally could not bear it any more. She stood up and walked to the door.

“I’m going to find the commander!”

“But, Sister Elluka... the commander told us to stay here and wait... and besides, the network there has already been cut off...”

“It’s fine. I think I can endure it... probably. No matter what, we can’t just sit here and wait like fools. I have to see what happened to the commander! Alive, I want to see him. Dead, I want to see the body!”

“Whose body do you want to see?”

At that moment, the tightly shut door suddenly slid open with a whoosh, and a black figure emerged from within. Feren slowly stepped aboard, with Delin still perched on his shoulder, gazing at the three sisters with languid eyes. Feren himself was spotless—there was not even a trace of blood on his clothes.

If Elluka had not seen with her own eyes that he had entered the settlement together with them, she would have assumed he had simply been sleeping on the Harmony all this time.

“Commander! Are you all right?”

Seeing Feren appear, Elluka was visibly excited. Hearing her, Feren smiled and nodded.

“Of course I’m fine. All right, get ready. We can leave this place and head for the next destination... Oh, and take this. Remember to store it safely in the vault.”

“What is this?”

Only then did Elluka notice that Feren was holding a suitcase. It was entirely black, with only a bright red cross painted on the surface. She took it curiously, only for her hands to sink at once—the contents were clearly heavy.

Seeing her question, Feren gave her a faint look and answered with a smile.

“Why, it’s our trophy.”