Although they had successfully repelled the Emperor's Blades, both Lucas Reeve and Patriot knew very well that this was only the beginning. Furthermore, after killing two Emperor's Blades, the Reunion Movement had essentially become a thorn in Ursus's side. The subsequent attacks would only be more ferocious, and the situation remained far from optimistic.
However.
The Infected were celebrating as if it were the new year.
For them, living one day at a time was all that mattered. The future? Not many would consider it. Or rather, once one became Infected, they had essentially lost their future. Many Infected, without timely treatment, would die from an Oripathy outbreak within ten years. The older one was, the shorter their survival period. A young person might luckily live for ten or twenty years after contracting Oripathy, but for a middle-aged or older person, surviving for five years was already a blessing.
Oripathy had robbed them of their future.
So, what the future held...
They never considered it.
However.
While these ordinary Infected didn't need to think about it, leaders like Talulah and Patriot had to.
"Father."
Supported by the Yeti Squadron members, FrostNova ran over, dragging her weary body. Talulah, supported by Alina and the Shieldguards, also walked to Patriot's side. All the other Infected excitedly gathered around Patriot.
FrostNova was incredibly happy at this moment.
Because, in the battle just now, the brilliance radiating from the fusion of Patriot and Lucas had been far too intense. This brilliance had also transformed into a fire of hope burning fiercely in people's hearts. After all, FrostNova could clearly feel the change in Patriot's body.
In the past, although Patriot stood tall like an iron tower, FrostNova could clearly sense a hint of his 'decline'. Affected by Oripathy, Patriot, who should have been in his prime, was gradually approaching the state of 'old age'—a word that shouldn't even exist for a long-living species like the Wendigo.
But now.
Patriot's posture was much straighter. Even after removing the powered armor and greatshield he wore year-round, Patriot's own body still stood as tall as a small mountain. A long-lost youth and vitality seemed to have reoccupied his body, as if he had become a hundred years younger in an instant.
Patriot could also clearly feel the changes in his own body.
Though he didn't show it, he was very happy inside.
This way, he could protect the Reunion Movement and his daughter for a longer time.
Huu...
Talulah breathed a sigh of relief and gave Lucas a slight smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Reeve. If it weren't for you, we would likely have been in grave danger..."
Talulah's gratitude was exceptionally sincere.
As Talulah finished speaking, the gazes of hundreds of people in the Reunion Movement unanimously turned towards Lucas. The fear in their eyes was gone, replaced by gratitude and curiosity—curiosity that souls actually existed in this world.
In reality.
Souls weren't that scary.
It's like in many horror movies; the reason ghosts are scary is purely because they look terrifying and pop out unexpectedly. If the ghost's image in the movie was replaced with a cute loli... or a sexy succubus, the horror movie's style would change in an instant.
And Lucas's appearance was indeed quite good.
Handsome and profound.
Even while floating in the sky, he exuded the effortless grace of a banished immortal descending to the mortal realm—serene, not spectral.
Faced with Talulah's gratitude, Lucas waved his hand.
"It's what I should do. Besides, I was the original target of these enemies."
Since the bracelet that housed Lucas's soul had suddenly cracked, it could no longer store his soul. Lucas temporarily took up residence in Alina's body, which made Alina very happy. After all, this way, she could chat with Lucas every day again.
Since their next resting point had already been discovered by the Emperor's Blades, it was naturally impossible to go there anymore. They chose to continue moving to find a new spot.
And during this period, Lucas also returned to Columbia for a trip.
Because...
During the joint battle with Patriot earlier, Lucas had heard Jessica calling for him. He figured she must have finished her training and was wondering why he had suddenly disappeared.
When he returned to Columbia.
Lucas had originally thought Jessica would press him about what happened and where he went. He had even prepared to just come clean if she asked. But surprisingly, Jessica didn't ask anything. She just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him emerge and happily discussed what to have for dinner with Ceobe.
And Ceobe now seemed to only like desserts.
Honey cakes of various flavors, honey melons, ice cream, cakes—Ceobe could even chug down a whole bottle of plain water mixed with white sugar.
Even Lucas couldn't help but be amazed by this constitution.
For an ordinary person eating like this, their blood sugar would already be higher than their blood pressure. But every time Ceobe had a check-up, her physical condition was excellent, with no problems at all. One could only say that the constitutions of different people cannot be generalized.
In the following days, Lucas was also incredibly idle.
There wasn't much going on with Jessica.
His daily tasks were basically chatting and training with Jessica, and sometimes chatting with Franka when she and Liskarm came over.
And things were quiet over with the Ursus Reunion Movement as well.
After the Emperor's Blade incident.
That Black Serpent over there seemed to have settled down a bit, not causing any trouble for a whole week. And a few days ago, after an arduous trek across the ice fields, the large Reunion Movement found a relatively good place to use as a camp.
However, 'good' was only relative.
It couldn't compare to their original village.
But, thanks to Lucas, the Reunion Movement wasn't too worried about food for the time being. If they were frugal, they had enough. However, when they tried to expand the numbers of the Reunion Movement in the future, the food problem would still need to be solved.
Lucas was just one person, after all.
It was impossible for him to single-handedly supply the entire organization's food. Right now, Lucas was just an emergency backup. Talulah and Patriot also held meetings all day to discuss what to do next, as they couldn't possibly survive in this frozen land forever.
And...
During this time, to arm the entire Reunion Movement, Patriot also began to personally oversee military-style training for some of the able-bodied Infected. However, the current Reunion Movement didn't have much need for pure martial prowess, as they had the Shieldguard and Yeti Squadrons. So, the training was mostly focused on special and support operator roles, such as infiltration, scouting, and reconnaissance—abilities that were crucial for the team.
Lucas earned over 5000 more Prayer Power in a week.
Excluding the ten thousand he had already used, his total Prayer Power had now reached fifteen thousand points. Although it was much faster than before, it was still a bit slow. At this rate, he would only get about twenty thousand a month, and curing Oripathy required 1.7 million. By that calculation, it would take a full eight years. Moreover, something like Prayer Power was related to the degree of a person's faith and gratitude.
As time went on, the initial level of gratitude would gradually decrease, and the Prayer Power gained would also continuously drop. If he relied solely on the Reunion Movement, it would take at least ten years to gather 1.7 million. So Lucas was already planning to start a new 'business'.
However, no amount of planning was useful without other souls awakening. Lucas estimated that a new soul fragment should awaken in the next few days or within a week or two.
Also.
Since Patriot's own powered armor was in tatters, a few days ago, Lucas had used Jessica to order a set of today's most cutting-edge, advanced powered armor, a staff-style greatshield, and a staff-style long spear from Raythean Industries.
The importance of equipment was self-evident.
Top-tier equipment could provide a significant power boost to a strong individual.
Of course.
Naturally, Lucas couldn't just freeload off Jessica, even though Raythean Industries belonged to her family. To compensate Jessica, Lucas specifically fused another portion of his Spiritual Power into Jessica's body, indirectly enhancing her physical fitness.
And Jessica was very happy.
Because in her view, Lucas was finally taking the initiative to ask for her help, which meant she finally had a chance to help Mr. Reeve.
Jessica's greatest superpower.
I am rich.
As for the reward...
Hehe...
Jessica covered her blushing face. Strange scenarios were already starting to play out in her head.
———————
Rhine Lab.
"Ifrit!!"
After returning to Rhine Lab from outside, the penguin lady didn't go back to her Science Investigation Section first, but instead headed to a laboratory in the Structural Section to look for a little girl.
"Hah!!"
A cute, white-haired little girl in a lab coat came bouncing over to Magallan.
"Maggy!!"
She threw herself into Magallan's arms, nuzzling her face against her chest nonstop. But the front of Magallan's work uniform was hard as a rock, and Ifrit felt like she'd just headbutted a sheet of iron.
"Maggy, present, present, present~~"
Ifrit was very fond of this Miss Magallan, because Miss Magallan had been to many places and would always tell her about the wonderful things she had seen and heard upon her return. She would also often bring her gifts, though most of the time, the gifts were very strange. For example, the first time, she brought her a beast's tooth as a gift. The second gift was the eyeball of a rare beast. The third time... a story...
If there was a downside...
It was probably that this Miss Magallan liked to invite her to eat Surströmming... Ifrit's not-so-bright mind could never figure out why Miss Maggy would eat such a smelly food with such relish. She still remembered the first time Miss Maggy invited her to eat that thing; she almost threw up, and the smell of Surströmming that filled the entire room made it hard for Ifrit to sleep soundly that night.
"Is Silence here? She's not here, right?"
Magallan cautiously looked around, afraid that Ifrit's stern-faced guardian would suddenly pop out.
"Nope, Silence went out with a big group of nasty white coats."
"Phew...."
Immediately.
Magallan took a very small necklace from her pocket and placed it in Ifrit's small palm.
The necklace wasn't large.
In fact...
Unlike the bling-bling, sparkling necklaces in jewelry stores.
This necklace was strung together entirely with coarse thread, with a pendant that looked like a polished piece of animal bone.
Ifrit's face instantly fell with disappointment.
As expected....
Big Sister Maggy always brings me weird gifts.
This necklace was completely different from the shiny ones in the jewelry stores outside. Ifrit had only seen those sparkling pieces of jewelry once, and no girl dislikes shiny things. Ifrit was no exception.
So.... ugly....
Magallan hurriedly explained.
"Ifrit, it's not that Big Sister Maggy is bragging, but this thing is super rare in Sargon! On this trip, I went to a tribe in Sargon, and the people in the tribe said this necklace can grant wishes... Wearing it can bring you good luck and make you happy every day, you know~"
After hearing Magallan's description.
Ifrit's original disappointment vanished like dark clouds, her face filled with joy.
"Really?!! Thank you, Maggy!!"
Ifrit quickly put the somewhat unsightly bone necklace around her neck and silently made a wish, hoping that one day she could escape the clutches of these 'white coats', go to an amusement park, and watch a movie!!
Magallan scratched her head. Seeing Ifrit's happy expression, Magallan was also very happy.
Wishes....
She had just made up a reason to coax a child.
But, rather than coaxing.
It was more like she wanted to give Ifrit a little psychological comfort....
Magallan knew about Ifrit's physical condition, alas...
As for this bone necklace, Magallan had simply bought it from a stall in a small town in Sargon. The shopkeeper had insisted that this bone necklace was a family heirloom and could grant wishes.
Anyway, Magallan just wanted to laugh.
Grant wishes.
Did they really think everyone was Lucas Reeve?
It had to be said.
Jessica's luck was really good.
"That's about it, Ifrit, Big Sister has to go now. If Silence comes back, she'll scold me again!"
"Oh~"
Ifrit was a little dejected as she watched Magallan leave.
She slowly rubbed the necklace on her neck and silently made a wish. I hope... Ifrit can recover quickly and live happily outside with my dearest Silence and Saria.
Just as this wish was made.
*Click.*
It was the sound of a door opening.
"Ifrit!!!"
A stern voice came from the side.
"Have you finished your homework? I'm here to check it!"
"!!!!"
Ifrit's face stiffened.
She automatically and temporarily removed the adjective 'dearest' from Silence, changing it to...
Scary Silence and Dearest Saria.