Chapter 24: Part (5): Man-made Disaster

“The hospital is severely understaffed! Many wounded soldiers have been sent from the front lines!”

Mili blinked in confusion, her eyes slightly evasive.

The other person looked her up and down:

“You should know a little about medical care, right?”

“Judging from your appearance, you seem to be a girl from the inner city. Your family is probably well-off.”

“…” The girl hesitated, then swallowed her words, which was taken as an admission of the nurse’s words.

“It’s alright, nothing difficult,” the nurse said gently with a smile, assuming she was shy and trying to dispel her worries.

“I’ll take you with me so you don’t get lost—you’ll mainly be helping me push the bed, stop the bleeding, disinfect, and stitch up wounds…it’s very simple!”

“Most patients have external injuries, which are not difficult to treat.”

Rice grain hesitated for a moment.

I can’t go anywhere right now, and since I’m here to save lives anyway, there’s no reason for me to refuse…

She finally nodded.

“Very good!”

The nurse’s face showed a relieved smile.

She quickly moved all the chairs out, arranged for the injured patients, reported the availability of beds, and then pulled Mili into a relatively clean changing room not far away.

“Come on, put this on.”

The nurse pulled a clean white outfit from the cabinet and handed it to her, saying, “Your skirt is too cumbersome, and it’s all dirty.”

Mili silently took the clothes and changed.

The white top and trousers were a size too big, making her look even thinner.

She hastily rolled up her dirty, worn-out saintly dress with her arms and shoved it into the closet.

“What’s your name, little friend? How should I address you?”

“…”

“You’re so quiet, how about I call you Xiao Hei?” The nurse looked at Mi Li, who had changed her clothes.

“And you have too much dust on your face, do you want to wash it off?”

“Otherwise, when you sweat later, it will all stick to your face like sewage, and it will damage your skin.”

The girl shook her head and refused.

“Okay, but you have to wear this.” The nurse handed her a medical mask and goggles, and quickly tied her hair up, covering it with a bowler cap. “Make sure you’re well covered up, otherwise this dust might infect the patients’ wounds.”

Finally, he handed Mili half a pack of wet wipes: “If you can’t stand it, wipe yourself clean quickly.”

Mili took the mask and put it on, and also put on her goggles properly.

She was almost completely wrapped up, with only her face, which was covered in plaster, visible.

“Let’s go, Xiao Hei.” The nurse patted her shoulder.

“Stay close to me.”

…

“We have arrived, Your Excellency.”

At the corner where the west and south walls meet, an armored vehicle, having run over countless charred remains, came to a stop in front of the gap in Eisenburg’s steel wall.

Under the heavy wheels, flesh and blood were mangled, severed arms were crushed to pieces, and a nauseating crunching sound was heard.

The gray-haired girl unscrewed the valve on the armored vehicle’s door, stepped lightly off the vehicle onto a piece of corpse that was now just a chest cavity.

Her purple robe billowed into the air, her expression remaining calm and serene, as if she were stepping not on a corpse, but on ordinary stone steps…

The other doors also opened, and several bodyguards quickly got out to clear away any threats in the surrounding area.

With the addition of some guards who broke away from the front lines, a small team of several dozen people quickly gathered around Mophicia.

The group was fully armed, their faces covered in camouflage, and their eyes gleamed with fanatical devotion.

As the armored vehicle drove away, the smell of diesel fuel mingled with gunpowder smoke, blood, and various other indescribable pungent odors, creating an incredibly strong and suffocating atmosphere that made people dizzy…

Morpheus walked through the gap in the city wall and stepped into Eisenburg’s territory.

The squad quickly split up to the left and right, taking the lead into the city to eliminate any danger or ambush for Morpheus.

They moved swiftly and coordinated perfectly; they were all seasoned veterans…

The broken city walls were still emitting faint smoke, rubble and broken steel bars were scattered all over the ground, twisted and jagged like claws…

The streets were littered with tattered rags and collapsed metal, riddled with shell craters, and some sharp shards were still dripping blood…

Intermittent gunfire and explosions could still be heard in the distance; the battle in the city had already begun…

The girl looked down at the city ravaged by gunfire, her eyes appearing exceptionally deep in the firelight.

“My Lady, Divine Envoy.” The captain of the personal guard walked to her side, his face covered in the black ash and bloodstains left by the war.

“Should we go and meet Lin Lan?”

“Communication is completely cut off. What’s happening on her end…”

Morpheus simply took out her communicator and glanced at it.

The signal status displayed on the screen made her smile slightly, but she immediately shook her head in rejection.

“Need not.”

The captain was stunned, looking at the young divine messenger with some confusion.

The girl turned her head and looked at him with a smile: “Do you find it strange?”

“yes.”

“She won’t be in danger,” Morpheus said with a gentle smile, stroking the communicator in her hand. “At least not now.”

She looked up at the central tower deep within Eisenburg, her purple eyes gleaming eerily in the firelight.

Do you think I would do something I’m not sure about?

“This subordinate dares not presume to speak…”

Have you ever heard of zero-sum games?

“No… I don’t quite understand, sir.” He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Mophisia turned around to face the veteran who had fought for the Divine Court for many years.

Her voice was as melodious as a nightingale’s, yet carried a chilling certainty.

“The sum of the gains and losses for both parties will always be zero.”

“A gain for one party inevitably means an equal loss for the other party.”

The captain nodded, seemingly confused.

Although I still don’t quite understand what that means…

“When we deployed the signal jamming coverage over Eisenburg, I already gave instructions to the heads of each station.” Morpheus tapped her communicator lightly. “Once our people see the Saintess being taken out of the city, the jamming stations in the corresponding areas will be shut down immediately.”

“This way, we can not only know whether the little knight has found the target…”

“—We can also determine her evacuation direction.”

The captain’s eyes widened, his mind racing as he tried to keep up with her pace, gradually beginning to understand the terrifying nature of the plan.

“But right now, all the jamming stations are still operating normally.” Morpheus held up the communicator; the red light remained stable, and her voice was cheerful. “What do you think this means?”

“The Holy Maiden…is she still in the city?”

“Not only that.” The young divine messenger turned and walked into the city, her steps light and leisurely.

“The double we planted in the safe house has also been detonated.”

“Now both the dungeon’s backup plan and the Queen’s palace can be ruled out…”

The captain followed behind her, increasingly shocked as he listened.

“Combined with the information about the Holy Maiden’s previous almsgiving in the city, and based on her last known location—we can easily pinpoint her activity range.” Moficia stopped, her purple eyes gazing at the brightly lit outer city ahead: “The Holy Maiden has escaped the Queen’s control.”

“My Lord…” the captain’s voice trembled, “You foresaw all the possibilities?”

“It’s just simple probability theory,” Morpheus said with a faint smile.

“When all variables are included in the calculation, the result becomes controllable.”

She raised her hand to signal the group to continue, her gray hair dancing lightly in the night breeze.

“Then…then…what if Commander Lin hides the Holy Maiden?”

“Two possibilities.” The girl held up one finger:

“The first one is what I just mentioned—she couldn’t find the saintess.”

“Secondly, Lin Lan found the Holy Maiden, but did not take her away.”

“—This is also easy to solve.”

“If she insists on staying in Eisenburg, it will inevitably drag on until Serafina, whose support transport vehicle is still 20 kilometers to the east, arrives, and she will eventually be caught like a turtle in a jar…”

“—She needs me to get the saintess out of the city unharmed.”

“Therefore, Lin Lan should be in a stalemate with the guards inside the palace right now.”

“Whether she finds the saintess or not, she cannot escape immediately…”

“And we have already entered the city.”

“The divine messenger’s plans are flawless!” The captain gasped, his awe and fear of the young divine messenger before him reaching their peak.

“Don’t be too complacent; underestimating your enemy will lead to your downfall.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. And now…?”

“Find her before they do—find our little saintess.” Morpheus’s voice was calm and measured, yet the joy emanating from it grew ever stronger. “After all, she is the true key to victory in this game…”

More intense explosions came from afar, flames shot into the sky, and the night sky was dyed blood red.

Scattered pebbles and tiles fell at the girl’s feet with a crackling sound, but she ignored them.

“My Lord, Divine Envoy.” The captain followed behind her, speaking hesitantly.

“If the saintess is really in the city, how do we find her?”

“Although Eisenburg isn’t very large, we need to investigate it one by one…”

“It’s alright,” Morpheus interrupted him. “She will appear on her own.”

The other party was puzzled.

“She’s a kind girl…” The girl’s tone was chillingly indulgent, “She would definitely step in to save innocent people if she saw them suffering…”

“Especially when she learned that all this suffering was caused by her.”

“Hospital……”

“Orphanage…”

“Relief center…”

“These are the places where she is most likely to appear.”

“Pass down the order,” Morpheus said. “Divide into three groups and focus your search on these locations.”

“Once the target is spotted, no rash actions are permitted. Report immediately and then send someone to infiltrate the group…”

“yes!”

He immediately gestured to the rear, and the team, having finished checking the surrounding environment, quickly dispersed again, filed in, and disappeared into the shadows of the street.

Moficia stood alone at the crossroads, curiously observing the busy residents of Eisenburg, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding hustle and bustle.

Many people carried stretchers and carried the wounded on their backs, their faces filled with anxiety and fear.

As the captain looked at the beautiful, angelic girl in front of him, a chill ran down his spine.

What terrifying cruelty and cunning this is…

Countless lives were lost in this war, but to her, they were nothing more than pieces on her chessboard.

The hospital was brightly lit and bustling with people.

“My little saintess…” Moficia took a deep breath and murmured softly, her tone as gentle as a lover’s call.

Where are you?