Chapter 25: Part (3): Eye of the Storm

“Press it down! Press it down hard! Push it down!”

The nurse’s voice echoed in my ears, her anxiety and trepidation barely concealed.

Mili pressed her hands together tightly against the injured man’s abdomen, her fingernails almost digging into his flesh…

This feeling is like tightly gripping a damp sponge—

But what came out of the sponge wasn’t water…

It’s blood.

Large gushes of bright red liquid kept gushing out, gathering, and flowing down from between his fingers…

Warm and sticky.

My whole body felt enveloped in a strong smell of rust; the pungent, sweet smell mixed with the metallic odor assaulted my nostrils, making me dizzy.

But she dared not let go.

The girl’s hands were covered in blood, and the hot touch made her heart pound in her chest as if it would jump out at any moment…

“Don’t be afraid! Don’t stop!” the nurse shouted encouragingly while busy preparing other equipment. “He can only live if you hold the blood! If you let go, he’s doomed!”

The girl gritted her teeth and tried to widen her eyes, but her vision remained blurry.

Sweat mixed with blood splattered on my face, dripping down incessantly, scratching my skin and making it itchy.

The wounded soldier was a young man, his face as pale as paper, his breathing rapid and weak, his chest heaving like a broken bellows.

His abdomen was ripped open by shrapnel, leaving a gash the size of a palm, through which his intestines were faintly visible…

Unstoppable…

It just won’t stop!

Why can’t I stop it?!

“Hold on…” Mili murmured softly, her voice trembling.

“Please…”

The blood is still flowing.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t hold it down…

“Is there still no operating room available?” the nurse called out anxiously into the distance.

“No! The patient in room number three just went in!”

“Where’s number four!?”

“They’re still trying to save him!”

“Tsk!” the nurse cursed, turning to look at Mili: “Keep pressing! Xiao Hei! Don’t let go no matter what!”

The girl could only nod slightly.

Although her arm was so sore and numb that she had lost all feeling, she still pressed it down firmly.

The medical station was filled with painful groans and chaotic footsteps.

Mili turned her head in bewilderment and looked around. New wounded people were pouring in from outside.

Most of them were soldiers, but there were also some civilians.

Their injuries varied in severity—some had extensive abrasions, while others were bleeding profusely…

Stretchers were carried in one after another, leaving bloodstains all over the floor.

There are no empty beds left, even in the hallways.

The injured were placed directly on the ground, and medical staff knelt on the floor to provide first aid.

A nurse carrying a box of blood plasma rushed by and almost bumped into Mili.

“sorry!”

“…”

Chaos, bloodshed, bewilderment…

This is war.

“Those who are still conscious, put them outside!” a doctor shouted, waving his hand from the front desk. “Bring the seriously injured and unconscious ones to the operating room! Hurry!”

As long as the patient remains conscious, it means they can hold on for a while longer, and treatment can be postponed…

For those who lose consciousness, life and death often hang in the balance.

“You did a great job.” In a daze, the nurse patted her shoulder, and Mili snapped back to reality.

“Hang in there a little longer, the operating room will be here soon…”

The girl didn’t say anything.

But she could sense that the lives of those under her command were slipping away.

No matter how hard she tried, the blood kept gushing out…

There’s nothing I can do…

We could only watch helplessly.

“Hemostat! Where’s the hemostat?!”

“The patient’s blood pressure is too low!”

“Prepare to inject adrenaline!”

More than a dozen stretchers poured into the entrance again.

“Head Nurse! Another batch is arriving!”

“Over here! Come quick, we need to help! We’re short-handed!”

—They were all soldiers.

Some were missing limbs, some had gaping holes in their chests, and some had thick, tangled bandages wrapped around their heads…

The medical station was already operating beyond its capacity.

The nurse quickly glanced at it and began to classify the patients:

“Send this to room number three!”

“This can be postponed!”

“This…” She stopped in front of a stretcher, her face instantly darkening.

Mili stared intently at the nurse’s location, her heart clenching suddenly.

It’s that soldier!

That afternoon, the young soldier was still shyly asking himself for porridge, wanting to bring back some rice crusts for his family!

But now, his chest, abdomen, arms, and legs are riddled with bloody holes, his tattered inner lining is completely soaked in blood, and the exoskeleton leg armor that hasn’t been removed is still on his knees…

The other person was covered in countless wounds, bleeding profusely.

“How is he?” The nurse stopped beside the stretcher and quickly checked him.

“Stray bullets have caused multiple wounds…” the medic carrying the stretcher reported.

“But none of them were deep, and none of the major organs were damaged.”

“—However, he has lost a lot of blood and needs immediate wound cleaning and suturing!”

The nurse glanced back at the operating room, gritted her teeth, and ordered, “Push them to room number five!”

“But Room 5 isn’t…”

“We can’t worry about that now! Hurry up! If you sew him up, he might survive!”

The stretcher was hurriedly pushed away and quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Mili really wanted to go and see, but her wounded men were still in critical condition, so she couldn’t leave.

In the end, all we could do was watch from afar as that honest-looking young soldier was carried away to another location, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye…

“Oh no!” The nurse who rushed back glanced at the gurney and exclaimed to herself.

Mili looked down and saw that the soldier in front of her had started to dilate his pupils and had stopped breathing at some point!

She panicked: “What…what happened to him?”

The nurse paused for a moment, then gently took Mili’s hand:

“Let go…”

That’s enough.

“No…impossible…!”

“I’ve been pressing it the whole time—!”

“You’ve done your best, Xiao Hei.” The nurse’s voice was very soft. “Sometimes things really are unpredictable, don’t worry about it so much…”

Mili stared blankly at the blood on her hands, her mind a complete blank.

People who were still reacting just now, are now like this…

Dead?

“Here, wipe the blood off your goggles.” The nurse took a wet wipe out of her pocket and handed it to her.

“I’ll grab his waist, you lift his neck, and get him down. We’re about to leave.”

“There are still many people who need us.”

…

South of the city.

Urban area.

Mophicia trudged through the rubble and debris of the street, her purple eyes gleaming in the firelight.

“My Lord! Squad report,” the captain jogged over with a gun slung over his shoulder, “The sniper positions along the way have been mostly cleared! We can enter the city now!”

“Very good.” The young goddess nodded in satisfaction.

“I almost forgot, tell them to try not to touch the civilians in Eisenburg.”

“But didn’t you say before…” the captain said, somewhat puzzled.

The girl turned her head, a gentle smile on her face:

“I didn’t initially expect weapons control in Eisenburg to be so strict—”

“If you want to face the wrath of the [Queen of the White Night] and be hunted to the ends of the earth by her and her army… feel free to give it a try~”

The captain shuddered and quickly shook his head to indicate that he understood.

“Also, Divine Envoy, we’ve spotted the Valkyrie’s trail three kilometers outside the city.” He continued, quickly catching up with Morpheus. “We suspect Lin Lan is heading towards the location where we breached the city wall earlier.”

“Hmm… the little knight is a bit too early, what a pity—”

Mophicia chuckled lightly, ignoring her.

She was certainly not worried about whether Lin Lan had betrayed her or not.

—Because this is precisely the biggest reason why Lin Lan agreed to form a temporary alliance with her.

On the contrary, she would find it strange if Lin Lan did not betray her.

This guy’s deep-seated obsession isn’t so easily erased…

The captain followed behind, completely bewildered, unable to fathom the young divine messenger’s thoughts.

“My Lord, Divine Envoy!”

Just then, Divine Court soldiers returning from a reconnaissance team came running up from afar, panting, to report to them:

“Sir! Something has been discovered in the east!”

“Hmm?” The girl stopped, her eyes lighting up. “Speak.”

“There’s a strange woman with gray hair, wearing only a bulletproof vest, engaging our advance team in firefight!”

“Only one person?” The captain frowned.

“Yes, sir!”

“But…she’s amazing…”

“Even a squad of over ten men couldn’t handle her, and she even killed several of them…”

The captain asked in disbelief, “How is that possible? She’s just a lone wolf. What kind of armor is she using?”

“She used… a cold weapon…” the scout continued to report, recalling the events.

“Scimitars, crossbows… pistols—all taken from my men!”

“But the squad couldn’t hit her at all.”

Cold weapons?

In this era of rampant firearms?

A dozen fully armed elite warriors of the Divine Court were actually suppressed by a woman who was almost unarmed.

absurd.

Mophicia, however, thoughtfully put her hands behind her back:

“Gray-white braids…”

“A member of the ‘Silent Merchant,’ perhaps?”

“Sir, do you know her identity?” The captain looked sideways with slight surprise.

“It should be the ‘Traveler’ in the ‘Traveling Merchant’ category—one person is comparable to a caravan…”

“…”

“The traveling merchants truly live up to their reputation.”

“Those who can run on the wasteland are truly gifted and bloodthirsty, just like mercenaries.”

“Exceptionally gifted…” the captain silently repeated her words.

“Their physical mechanisms, or special skills, demonstrate extraordinary abilities,” the girl explained simply, her voice still gentle yet filled with keen interest.

“Some people have exceptionally keen hearing, able to accurately distinguish footsteps from 500 meters away in the chaos of a battlefield…”

“—It can even accurately determine the opponent’s height and weight, and even the type of weapon is no problem for it;”

“Some people have extraordinary vision, able to walk as if it were daytime even at night;”

“There are also some creatures that are naturally drawn to animals, even mutated wild beasts, who will obey their every command and serve them…”

“These are all the darlings of the genes.”

The captain’s eyes widened.

“That [Wanderer’s] abilities…” Morpheus analyzed, “should be eyesight and reaction time?”

To put it simply—

“It’s about dodging bullets.”

“Dodge bullets?” The captain swallowed hard in disbelief.

How could a person be faster than a bullet?

“Of course, a person can’t be faster than a bullet,” the young divine messenger shook her head gently. “You only need to be faster than the finger that pulls the trigger.”

“There are differences in actions and reactions between people. Her dynamic vision may have reached the pinnacle of human capabilities.”

“As long as you can capture the opponent’s movement inertia and see through their thoughts, you can predict their shooting angle and the trajectory of the bullet in advance.”

“However, this requires a lot of practical experience and superhuman reaction speed…”

“Then what should we do? Should we send more people to wipe them out?” the captain whispered to her, sharing his thoughts.

“Need not.”

Morpheus waved to the captain.

“Lead the way, let’s go meet her.” She paused, a smile playing on her lips.

“No wonder he dared to venture into the battlefield alone…”

“An interesting woman.”

However, if the Silent Merchant appeared here…

So the person she protects…

The girl suddenly turned around and held out her hand to the captain: “Give me your pistol.”

“ah?”

“Give me.”

“Oh… Oh!”

The captain dared not disobey and quickly handed her the pistol from his waist.

“Have all troops change direction,” Morpheus took the pistol, checked the magazine, and immediately gave the order. “How many medical points are southeast of Eisenburg?”

“Three…”

“Go there, everyone.”

“Yes, sir!” the captain immediately relayed the order.

The team quickly adjusted their route and headed towards the new target.

As she passed through the area of ​​fierce fighting, Morpheus stopped in her tracks.

As the distance closed, the gunshots became clearer, and occasionally the crisp sound of metal clashing could be heard.

—It was the sound of cold weapons clashing…

“It’s just ahead,” the scout whispered, pointing ahead.

Through the cracks in the ruins of the building, Morpheus saw the scene of the battle—

On the distant street, a figure with gray hair braids nimbly weaves between buildings.

The scimitar in his right hand flashed through the darkness, as if alive, swimming past the throats of one Divine Court soldier after another, blood flying everywhere…

The crossbow bolts were incredibly accurate, each one capable of taking a life.

Her movements were as agile as a cheetah that lived in the jungle all its life. Whenever a gun was about to be pointed at her, she would dodge in advance, and the bullet would whiz past her…

The soldiers of the Divine Court were in a state of chaos because of her. The few who were still alive were pinned in a corner and hacked at, struggling to defend themselves with daggers.

“How terrifying…” the girl exclaimed softly.

“However, even the strongest individual… ha~”

Morpheus raised her pistol, narrowed one of her purple eyes, and aimed at the figure dancing gracefully in the battle.

Kaya was focused on dealing with the enemy in front of her and had not yet noticed the threat in the distance.

Humans ultimately only have one pair of eyes.

Bang–!

Gunshots rang out in the night sky.

Kaya was slashing a soldier’s throat with her sword when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right calf. She then groaned and staggered.

She could only use the curved knife stuck in the other person’s neck for support, let go, roll, and quickly hide behind cover, a pained expression on her face.

The girl turned and left.

“Ignore them.”

Let’s go.