Chapter 363: Saving Lives


    ?


    [Alright, on the way to checkpoint three, we''ll pass by point 227, point 232, and point 264, we''ve got a few groups there to save. If we count this one, we''ll be seven people in. Which is not bad considering it''s your first time.]


    The Spotterplimented them as he led them through the train tracks, their feet leaving behind the blue blood of Berta Scorpions.


    [All groups? Lucky!]


    Their Watcher giggled, carrying an unconscious man on her shoulder as she kept pace in their middle.


    [Yeah, we''ll be hitting our quota sooner than expected.]


    Elijah agreed while gazing at the distance, his daggers ready.


    [...]


    Sofia remained silent while Aria only showed a face that said, "You better be thankful!" As if their luck was due to her.


    [We''re almost at the second drop-off point. It''s a hotspot; be careful.]


    Bang... bang... bang...


    As his words resounded, they began to hear gunshots in the distance, and the closer they got, the brighter their surroundings became, all due to the newly ced light bulbs.


    "We''re Hunter Group Seven! Watch out!"


    Not stopping their feet, they ran through the battle, dodging the scorpions and jumping away from the train tracks onto the tform.


    ''Two,'' in quick steps, took off and dropped the body near the entrance so that the trauma team would have an easier time getting him out.


    She then rejoined her cohort, moving past two cohorts that stood in files, raining down fire on the Berta Scorpionsing in from the train tracks.


    They, not wanting to walk into their deaths, took another route through the tform as it had an open path leading to checkpoint three, which was just beside this one.


    Ping!


    [Watch out; two big onesing, five feet, from the left.]


    Their Spotter warned them, and as was usual in thest few hours, Sofia quickly responded, aiming her anti-material rifle at the wall, tracking the Constructs, waiting till they squeezed out through one of the wall''s many holes.


    [Got it.]


    Bang!


    One bullet was enough for both, killing them just as they peeked out.


    But they weren''t done.


    As Emir would say, shit was just getting started.


    Ping!


    [Three more, ten feet, right-scratch that, four, no, five.]


    [I''ve got the three.]


    [I''ll get the rest!]


    Elijah, once matching their Spotters stride, rushed forward and extended his hand. "Spectral Sycthe."


    Materializing a long scythe within his grasp, he threw it at the approaching constructs.


    It moved as if it were a living thing, tracking them while spinning perfectly so that each swing cut through them.


    Crack!


    But after the third, the tracking stopped, and it hit the ground, bouncing off into the wall. "Ice bolt!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The remaining two didn''t live for much longer however, as the Watcher''s ice shot out and tore through a scorpion''s head, then froze it, forming an ice spike that cut the one next to it.


    [Next?!]


    Ping!


    She was answered in moments as their spotter highlighted another three scorpions, this timeing from the back.


    [''Five,'' eleven feet behind, those three are yours.]


    Aria stopped moving and turned around, swinging her staff towards them while chanting:


    "Root Surge!"


    All the fauna in their immediate surroundings congregated at where the staff pointed, joining her own conjured roots as they broke through the ground and sprouted right underneath the scorpions, growing around their feet, rooting them in ce.


    But those roots didn''t stop there, as Aria rejoined her cohort, her roots continued to dig deeper into the scorpions, slowly inching their way to their mechanical hearts.


    Once there...


    Squeeze.


    The roots tightened, slicing them into multiple halves.


    Ping!


    [Ten in the front... Let''s go left. Too much of a hassle.]


    While saying that, he updated the map on their HUDS, showing a new path through a small opening that the constructs used.


    That opening gave them a tour inside the walls, as they maneuvered directly to point 227, only killing a few scorpions on the way.


    When they got out, they were met with a massive but empty hall, presumed to have been


    where those of the old world purchased their tickets or shopped.


    It was as bare as it was quiet, prompting Aria to take a jab at their Spotter:


    [Of course we''rete!]


    But ''One'' didn''t stand for that and replied:


    [This group requested help about twenty minutes ago, and since they have gold-level


    insurance, we''re more than early.]


    He called her dumb without explicitly saying it, and she thankfully didn''t catch on, dying


    their rescue even further.


    [You think they''re behind that half-broken door over there?]


    ''Two'' pointed at a short distance eastward, at the hall''s middle, near the edge.


    [Hm... Probably.]


    [Let''s find out then!]


    Elijah, still not fully corrupted by Emir, rushed forward till he reached the door and knocked


    on it harshly, announcing their arrival.


    "Second Life''s rescue team is here! Are you still alive? Do wee in?!"


    He assumed a ramming position, about to smash through the barely standing door, assuming


    that no one would answer, but a woman''s voice eventually cut through his voice''s echo:


    "W-We''re here! Alive, y-yes, alive!"


    She sounded beyond ecstatic as she shuffled her feet forward until she reached the door, barely able to open it.


    ''One,'' helped her and entered first, breathing out roughly as he witnessed the state of her


    cohort.


    A manid his back on the wall, both his arms cut off, only a single leg remaining, while some of his guts leaked out of his open stomach, his augmented suit barely managing to keep him


    whole and alive.


    Another was without guts, or rather, almost his entire hip area and stomach were removed, as if yanked out, leaving his exposed lungs rising and lowering while he fought for dear life. Thest man had it easy; only his neck was injured. Blood poured out like a stream through his clutched hands that desperately attempted to keep the wound closed.


    Elijah winced, Sofia raised a trembling brow, and Aria began to vomit.


    Those reactions were expected since none of the seven they saved was even close to matching


    those three in level of injury.


    It truly was a disgusting sight.


    But to ''One'' and ''Two...'' this was simply another day.


    They had a few questions to ask before jumping in to give them first aid.


    "What about the woman? Cassy? There were five in your group."


    bergasted, the limping woman looked at ''One'' at a loss for words, but seeing his provisional demeanor, she quickly answered:


    "D-Dead... Her eyes were cut blind. We... we lost two."


    He nodded, then turned his attention back to the three men, gesturing for ''Two'' to scan them.


    She did just that. Taking out her terminal and hovering it over their dying bodies for a second, only removing them after it beeped.


    ''Two'' then proceeded to point at the man with the bleeding neck and the man with the cut-off


    limbs.


    "Only those two."


    Her calm words fell like thunder to their ears.


    In other situations, it might not have been such a big deal, but now... they meant one thing.


    Those two she pointed out were the ones they would heal; thest man had no life insurance.


    He was not a part of the team.


    She had just announced that they would leave him out to die...


    "I... you... yes. Only them."


    And they couldn''t do anything about it.


    They had to ept. That was how this world worked.


    "Understood. We''ll begin now."


    True to his words, ''One'' worked in earnest,ying down his rucksack and emptying much of it.


    What fell out of the rucksack were three advanced first aid kits, two intable bio-healing


    bags, and numerous packs of synthetic blood.


    "Two."


    "On it."


    Croak...


    The pitiful man begged them to save him, or at least tried to; his throat no longer functional.


    He could only watch helplessly as they began treatment on the other two. They started by wrapping their wounds with a silk-like, nano-infused material designed to


    staunch bleeding and initiate cellr repair.


    Once the bleeding was controlled, and their holes covered, they stuffed them with old-world medicines of the priciest kind, despite the patients'' weak, coughing protests. Meanwhile, the two bio-healing bags behind them started to inte to their full sizes.


    When they reached a length of three meters, the tan and blond duo opened them by pulling down small zips at the top, revealing sterile interiors.


    After that, they carefully picked up the injured andid them inside the bags.


    Each healing bag featured an integrated intravenous system, including a central needle for


    blood transfusion.


    They picked the right blood-type bag from the pile and then connected everything together,


    needle to vein, and blood-bag to bio-healing bag.


    Automatically, the bags sealed around the injured men, initiating a controlled infusion of synthetic blood and a cocktail of regenerative nanobots while also administering precise doses of medication, promoting rapid healing and stabilization.


    "Done."


    "He''s all good."


    With no change in temperament, ''One'' nced at the still-shaken ''Three.''


    "Get them up."


    Elijah breathed out, then stepped forward, quickly followed by Sofia, as they carried each side


    of the bag.


    Aria, not one to be left behind, wiped away the traces of her vomit and went for the remaining


    one.


    ''Two'' joined her, picking up one side as they grouped up with the first and second-ranked


    students.


    The limping woman took a pitiful nce at the dying man, then quickly joined them, leaving


    ''One'' alone in the room.


    He, after a chuckle, waved his hand at them and said:


    "You guys go on ahead; I''ll need a moment."


    His cohort didn''t argue back and did as he said, moving to the second drop-off point.


    "H-hahh...."


    With a stuttering breath, he watched them leave, and only when they were out of sight did he


    lean back on the wall and let out a soft cry.


    "E-Emir... I can''t do this..."


    His eyes couldn''t help butnd on the dying man, drawn as if they were metal gravitating


    toward a powerful ma.


    This... He would be left to rot in the depths of this outpost. Forgotten to time.


    "It''s too much. I''m not cut out for this."


    Slowly, his hands neared his face and pulled on his skin, stretching it.


    Like a mask, his skin started to peel off, revealing a very familiar face.


    It was Jake''s.


    "I''m sorry..."


    With all the strength he could muster, he managed to look away, his gaze reaching the roof.


    "I''m really sorry."


    He wiped his sweat and let out a long sigh.


    "But I... I have to do this. Emma has to do this. We must."


    Jake stretched the skin mask, equipping it in the next second, his demeanor returning to calm.


    "There''s no one else."


    His brown eyes returned to the dying man, and he took out his silenced pistol.


    "Consider this a mercy." Thwap!