Chapter 37: What Are You Expecting?!

Hearing the hurried footsteps from outside the corridor, Donia immediately dropped to the ground.

The advantage of her short stature was fully evident at this moment.

As soon as the door she had closed opened, she heard a woman’s scream.
“A patient has mutated out of control! Quick, someone!” a nurse shouted loudly, running anxiously to the other end of the corridor, wanting to attract more attention.

Donia silently got up.
She glanced at the large, twisted black furball on the bed; the Chalice of Malice in her hand instantly vanished.

The malice from the other party no longer contained humanity but was a kind of indiscriminate hatred akin to a beast’s.

Hutchinson no longer posed a threat to her, nor did she hold any value.
Donia quickly ran to the door, briefly assessed the situation, then started jogging backward.

If discovered, she could still come over and act as a “bystander,” thereby solidifying her identity and eliminating some suspicion.
Several guards in black uniforms rushed in.
Donia immediately changed her running direction.
“Little girl over there, hurry and leave! There’s a monster in the room ahead of you!” a guard shouted.

“Awoo—!”

A beast-like roar, as if to prove the guard’s conclusion, rang out from the intensive care unit’s room.
Donia’s face turned pale, her body trembled, and she stood frozen in place.

“Run!” the guard shouted anxiously.
A black figure faintly appeared from the other end of the corridor.

While Donia was still in a daze, it grabbed her shoulder and dragged her to the wall on the other side.

It was Miss Adele.

Several guards surrounded the ward.
Several knights, armed with long guns and clad in armor, also quickly arrived, pushing to the front.

All their attention was on Hutchinson, who had already become a monster.
Not a single person noticed the silly girl who was so scared she stood frozen when she encountered a monster.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Adele frowned slightly.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

Although Violet’s ward was also not far away, that was a specially designated area.

In other words, this was not necessarily the only way to visit Violet.

She grew suspicious.

“I…” Donia stammered.
“Clearly state what you’re doing here.” Adele instinctively applied pressure with her gaze.

“I just wanted to take a look at which room Hutchinson was in, by the way…” Donia said awkwardly.
“If possible, I wanted to mock her a bit before leaving.”

‘This does fit her character…’ Adele thought to herself.
Adele stared at Donia in silence for a few seconds.

Seeing that Donia didn’t try to dodge and her behavior was very natural, not like she was lying, Adele’s suspicions somewhat dissipated.

She subconsciously looked at the information board outside the ward.
Intensive Care Unit Room 4—Hutchinson.

A huge black mass, pierced by several long guns, was carefully carried out of the room, emitting a repulsive, evil aura.
“Little girl.” The guard said to Donia in a slightly reproachful tone, still shaken.

“Next time, remember to know your limits. You ran over as soon as someone shouted for help, and then you stood there in a daze. It’s only by sheer luck that you survived.”

“Oh… okay.” Donia was a little disappointed.

The guard’s corroboration largely dispelled Adele’s lingering suspicions.
Donia’s strategy of being candid by only telling partial truths successfully worked.

“Let’s go. I’ll accompany you to say goodbye to Miss Violet.”

Violet’s complexion was still quite good, at least it hadn’t deteriorated rapidly as before.

Donia specifically observed her degree of mutation.

It was still fluctuating around 32%.
As long as she didn’t suddenly withdraw her mirror transfer ability, Violet’s condition should remain relatively stable.

After bidding farewell to Violet, the two walked out of the Anomaly Management Bureau and arrived at the suburban train station.

At the edge of the platform, the cold wind howled, whipping up gusts of snow mist.

Donia instinctively hugged her arms.
“Are you cold?” Adele asked.
“A bit.” Donia said, shivering.
Adele frowned, looking at her for a few seconds, then sighed helplessly.
She silently took off her suit jacket and, under Donia’s surprised gaze, gently draped it over Donia’s shoulders.

“When we return, you can take off the uniform and give it to me. I’ll find someone to re-imbue you with ‘Fire Imbuement’.”

The oversized black suit jacket draped over Donia’s body like a large black cloak.

“I didn’t expect you to be quite thoughtful towards your subordinates.” Donia blinked, feeling the kindness.
“I just don’t want to be dragging a sniffling sick person around later.” Adele explained.

The steel rails, vaguely visible beneath the snow, looked like a mysterious path leading to an unknown world.

In the distance, a train, kicking up a blizzard, roared towards them.
People around also lit up with excitement.

“Look! It’s the Snow Country Express!”
They cheered, as happy as if seeing a train for the first time.
Its speed wasn’t fast, and the vent on the front for expelling steam wasn’t emitting thick smoke.

‘Probably another product modified with energy cores…’ Donia muttered to herself.

“Let’s go.” Adele handed the two pre-prepared tickets to the ticket collector.
She hesitated for a moment, then extended her hand to Donia.
“Watch your step.”

“Thank you.” Donia replied very politely, pulled onto the train by Adele.
In the eyes of outsiders, they might have looked like a pair of sisters with a good relationship.

Passing through carriage after carriage, the two finally stopped in a forward carriage.

Donia and Adele sat opposite each other.
The spacious, elongated sofa nearly occupied two-thirds of the train’s width, with the remaining space left for the aisle.

A thin layer of frost crystals covered the large, bright train window, and the warm sunlight fell upon Donia.

“It’s more spacious than I imagined.” Donia blinked, curiously looking around.

“I thought it would be packed with people.”
“The rear carriages are indeed like that.” Adele frowned slightly, as if recalling something.

“But our mission this time is quite important, and we must eliminate some troublesome factors.”

“So will we ride the train directly to our destination?” Donia asked curiously.
“Or will we get off nearby?”
“Nearby.” Adele replied succinctly.
“Then we’ll walk around.”
She casually tapped the table with her index finger, then slowly pulled out a thick volume bound in gray-black leather from her briefcase.

“This is a task your psychological mentor asked me to give you.”

“On the way, try to improve your tolerance for forbidden knowledge. Of course, you don’t need to force yourself to an unbearable degree like during the test; just gradually get used to the feeling of that noise and pollution.” Adele said.

Donia’s small face immediately drooped.

“What, you don’t like it?” Adele’s lips curved into a teasing smile.
“Shall we start now?”

Donia clearly saw a well-hidden hint of anticipation deep in Adele’s gray eyes.

‘What are you expecting, you maid! Didn’t you hate me last time when I asked for your help?!’

With a gentle sway, the train slowly started moving.