You were told to search and attack, but you're supporting Asara?

Night falls early in Bakshi.

The sky began to darken around four in the afternoon, and by five, the streets were almost completely dark. When Chen Xiao and Luna emerged from the Seventh Block, the sky above them was completely black, with only a few pale searchlights illuminating the spire of the Tower of Babel in the distance, like glow sticks stuck in the ruins of the city.

The two walked back the way they came, neither speaking. Luna walked half a step behind Chen Xiao, still holding the notebook recording Leila's rejection symptoms, but she no longer looked at it. Her gaze was fixed on Chen Xiao's back ahead, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she were thinking about something.

Chen Xiao noticed her silence but didn't speak. He was also thinking—about the mother and daughter huddled in the dimly lit room, about the blue light flashing below Leila's head, about the numb, almost hopeless expression in the woman's bloodshot eyes.

"Tens of thousands of Haff coins," Luna suddenly spoke up. "How long can that money sustain her and her daughter?"

Chen Xiao didn't turn around. "Of course it won't last long; the supply of materials outside the Hafk-controlled area is also unstable."

"And then what?"

"We are not saviors," Chen Xiao replied.

He knew that the mother and daughter were like a speck of dust in a chaotic world, only that he happened to stumble upon them.

Luna glanced down at the notebook in her hand. It was filled with detailed notes about Leila's rejection symptoms—headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, intermittent epilepsy, chronic inflammation at the implant site in the back of her head, and abnormal sensitivity to light—it looked like a proper medical record.

She knew that this record was far more rudimentary than the information Rometheus possessed.

The two continued walking, passing through an alleyway that had been partially destroyed by a bomb. The bullet holes in the walls were arranged like some kind of twisted code, and unknown weeds grew from the cracks, shivering in the night wind.

"You told me before—" Luna didn't turn around, her back to him, her voice extremely low, "about Claire's current situation. You said she's receiving treatment from Hafk."

Chen Xiao did not respond.

"Leila also received Haffk's treatment. Relink brain-computer interface, visual nerve reconstruction. The result was rejection, drug dependence, and she may be unable to get rid of it for life."

She turned around.

The shadows of the alleyway fell on her face, dividing her expression into two halves: one a hard, cold outline, the other hidden in darkness.

"Claire's injury is to her spine. If the 'treatment' Hafk gave her is the same kind as Leila's—" Luna stopped there, but Chen Xiao understood what she meant.

If Hafk implanted some kind of neural interface system into Claire, what about rejection? What about drug dependence? Will Claire, like Leila, end up curled up in a dark room with blue light flashing on the back of her head, becoming a living corpse?

"Luna." Chen Xiao looked at her.

"Claire's situation is different from Leila's," he said. "At least, it's different for her now."

"Now," Luna murmured the word.

Chen Xiao nodded.

Now. The word itself carries too much uncertainty. Claire is not yet a mercenary employed by Hafk, nor has she been transformed into a weapon. Right now, she is simply a patient with a spinal injury, receiving treatment provided by the Hafk Group.

"Can you find out her current situation?" Luna asked. This was the first time she had directly asked for help.

Chen Xiao looked at her. The shadows of the alleyway moved across her face.

"Don't even think about asking headquarters for help," he said. "Hafk's medical projects are highly classified. Relink was something the doctor himself was willing to reveal, which is why the information leaked. Claire might not be able to find anything."

Luna lowered her eyes. Her eyelashes cast a small shadow on her face.

"I understand," she said.

······

Chen Xiao pushed open the iron gate of the rescue station, and a wave of warmth rushed towards her.

It was much warmer inside than outside. Mai Xiaowen turned a portable electric heater to its highest setting, the orange-red light reflecting off the walls and casting a warm hue over the cramped room. She sat cross-legged on a cot, a military-grade laptop spread across her lap, the blue light from the screen illuminating her face. Headphones hung around her neck, the cable dangling in front of her chest like a thin snake.

"You're back?" Mai Xiaowen didn't even look up, her fingers still typing on the keyboard. "Forty minutes later than expected. I thought you guys were cornered by Hafk's patrol."

"We took a longer route." Chen Xiao took off his coat and hung it on the hook behind the door. "The road conditions in Bakshi are much worse than marked on the map. Three alleys were bombed and collapsed."

"Nothing's wrong." Mai Xiaowen finally raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the two faces. "The old town is collapsing every day. Last month, Hafk's Blue Eagle helicopter blew up the entire pipe network in that area, and now there's no running water. There are no more than ten habitable buildings left. Did you find that mother and daughter?"

Chen Xiao nodded and sat down on the folding chair opposite the cot. Luna didn't sit down; instead, she walked to the window, leaned against the wall, and hid half of her body in the shadow of the curtains.

Mai Xiaowen glanced at Chen Xiao, then at Luna, her expression suspicious.

"How is it?" she asked.

Chen Xiao didn't answer immediately. He took the map out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on his lap. He marked the location of Seventh Street with a small cross. Next to the cross, he wrote two words: Leila.

"She's still alive," he said. "The rejection reaction after the brain-computer interface was severe. Her vision has recovered somewhat, but it's unstable. She experiences headaches, dizziness, and intermittent loss of light perception. Her mother said that the worst time was when Leila couldn't see anything for three consecutive days; her eyes were open, but all she could see was white."

Mai Xiaowen's fingers stopped on the keyboard.

"What about the medication?" she asked.

"She's taking it. Anti-rejection medication, prescribed by Hafk Hospital, it costs eight thousand Hafk dollars a month," Chen said with a smile, folding up the map. "Her father's savings have long been spent. The 'experimental allowance' from the doctor is also gone. The money for the medication is what her mother earns by washing clothes for others."

"But there is no running water in the old city of Bakshi, so you have to go to a water supply point three kilometers away to fetch water to wash your clothes."

The light from the computer screen flickered on her face. She lowered her head, her fingers returned to the keyboard, and she began to type. She typed a few times, then stopped. Deleted. Started typing again. Stopped again.

"I'm writing a war report," she suddenly said. "Would you mind if I included the findings of your investigation?"

"Of course," Chen Xiao said, watching Mai Xiaowen's fingers furiously typing on the keyboard.

Mai Xiaowen lowered her head and began typing, while Luna leaned against the wall by the window, gazing at the hazy night sky outside and watching the flashing aviation warning lights.

About twenty minutes later, Mai Xiaowen stopped typing.

"I'm done writing," she said.

She closed her laptop, took the headphones off her neck, and placed them on the computer.

"Would you mind if I took a look?" Chen Xiao suddenly asked.

Erduolong presents "You Asked Me to Search and Retreat, Yet You Support Asara?", exclusively published by Cola Novels!

Chen Xiao nodded and sat down on the folding chair opposite the cot. Luna didn't sit down; instead, she walked to the window, leaned against the wall, and hid half of her body in the shadow of the curtains.

Mai Xiaowen glanced at Chen Xiao, then at Luna, her expression suspicious.

"How is it?" she asked.

Chen Xiao didn't answer immediately. He took the map out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on his lap. He marked the location of Seventh Street with a small cross. Next to the cross, he wrote two words: Leila.

"She's still alive," he said. "The rejection reaction after the brain-computer interface was severe. Her vision has recovered somewhat, but it's unstable. She experiences headaches, dizziness, and intermittent loss of light perception. Her mother said that the worst time was when Leila couldn't see anything for three consecutive days; her eyes were open, but all she could see was white."

Mai Xiaowen's fingers stopped on the keyboard.

"What about the medication?" she asked.

"She's taking it. Anti-rejection medication, prescribed by Hafk Hospital, it costs eight thousand Hafk dollars a month," Chen said with a smile, folding up the map. "Her father's savings have long been spent. The 'experimental allowance' from the doctor is also gone. The money for the medication is what her mother earns by washing clothes for others."

"But there is no running water in the old city of Bakshi, so you have to go to a water supply point three kilometers away to fetch water to wash your clothes."

The light from the computer screen flickered on her face. She lowered her head, her fingers returned to the keyboard, and she began to type. She typed a few times, then stopped. Deleted. Started typing again. Stopped again.

"I'm writing a war report," she suddenly said. "Would you mind if I included the findings of your investigation?"

"Of course," Chen Xiao said, watching Mai Xiaowen's fingers furiously typing on the keyboard.

Mai Xiaowen lowered her head and began typing, while Luna leaned against the wall by the window, gazing at the hazy night sky outside and watching the flashing aviation warning lights.

About twenty minutes later, Mai Xiaowen stopped typing.

"I'm done writing," she said.

She closed her laptop, took the headphones off her neck, and placed them on the computer.

"Would you mind if I took a look?" Chen Xiao suddenly asked.