On the Ark.

Lin Ye fell silent.

“It’s my fault too,” Kal’tsit said. “If I had kept Eyjafjalla on Rhodes Island two months ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that ‘Potion Y’ could be developed in such a short time. If I had kept Eyjafjalla on Rhodes Island back then and kept her crystal density at 0.5u/L, none of this would have happened.”

Lin Ye shook his head and said, "There's no use talking about this now. Let's discuss how to save her."

Lin Ye's words surprised Kal'tsit a little. She couldn't help but glance at Lin Ye, but said nothing.

"So far, no patient with an Originium crystal density exceeding 0.7u/L has survived?" Lin Ye looked at Saria.

Saria hummed in agreement: "At least not in the records. As long as the density of Originium crystals in a patient's blood exceeds 0.7u/L, it will reach 1u/L in a very short time, thus triggering a self-destruction."

“But some people survived just before they were about to self-destruct,” Lin Ye said softly. “So the mortality rate isn’t one hundred percent.”

Seria looked at Lin Ye: "Are you referring to the patient you saved?"

“Yes.” Lin Ye took a deep breath and then said, “I personally used ‘L potion’ to pull her back from the brink of self-destruction, so I can be sure that the mortality rate for Originium crystals with a density exceeding 0.7u/L is not 100%.”

The three exchanged glances, and then Kal'tsit slowly said, "This is why we called you here. Because we have 'Potion L,' which is more potent than 'Potion Y.' We believe that, so far, only 'Potion L' has the potential to save Eyjafjalla, but... 'Potion L' also has a very high mortality rate, exceeding 95%. Although compared to a 100% mortality rate, that less than 5% survival rate is already remarkable, we still want to know if there is any way to increase the cure rate."

How to improve the cure rate?

Before Lin Ye could speak, the office door was pushed open.

“It’s simple, find the only one who was cured.” That was Warfarin’s voice.

Lin Ye turned his head and saw Warfarin walk into the office.

"Honestly, you only think of me at times like this," Warfarin said, pursing her lips. "But thinking of me won't help. There's absolutely no way I can solve the problems with 'L-Reagent' within two weeks unless you can bring the only surviving patient to me so I can study her body and discover something to improve it. Of course, that's only a possibility, but if we can't find that woman, there's absolutely no chance. We can only feed 'L-Reagent' to Eyjafjalla at the last minute and pray that she's one of the five percent."

After Warfarin finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye remained silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

"I will find her."

Chapter 605 The Individual and the World (3K)

On the border of Ursus, in an unnamed small town, a man with Originium fragments on his face paced anxiously back and forth in front of a dilapidated tile-roofed house, seemingly waiting for something. Soon after, he felt the surrounding temperature drop significantly and heard the soft crunch of boots on the snow. He immediately looked up and followed the sound. Seeing a woman walking through the snow, his face lit up with surprise, and he quickly went to greet her.

"Big sister, you're finally back." The man's surprise lasted only a few seconds before turning serious. "You'd better go inside quickly, Dad is already..."

He had only spoken half of his sentence when he felt the temperature around him drop even lower.

Then Frostnova slowly spoke, her tone filled with barely concealed anger: "Why did this happen?"

“Something unexpected happened.” The man lowered his head and said in a low voice, “When Dad was leading us to find supplies, we ran into the Ursus regular army. Although Dad quickly defeated them, he still overdid it…”

Froststar had no patience to listen to the man finish speaking. She walked past him and pushed open the door, leaving him with a cold silhouette and a trail of lonely footprints in the snow.

"Cough cough cough..."

As soon as she entered the room, Shuangxing heard the uncontrollable coughing. She immediately looked in the direction of the sound and soon saw the man curled up in the flickering candlelight.

“Yelena…” The man, also known as “Old Man” in the Yeti Squad, was a former Ursus warrior with the name Patriot. In Frostnova’s heart, he had always been a man as strong as a mountain, but now he seemed like an ordinary old man who was on his deathbed at any moment. Even his words were filled with unconcealed vicissitudes and weariness. “You’re back.”

Froststar pursed her lips, then took a deep breath, trying her best to suppress the chill emanating from her, before slowly walking towards Patriot. Even so, as she approached Patriot, the flame on the oil lamp beside him flickered even more violently.

"Why not burn charcoal?" Froststar asked.

Patriot smiled and said, "Where would we find so many resources?"

Froststar gritted her teeth: "What time is it, and you're still thinking about resources..."

“You have to be mindful of that at all times.” Patriot coughed twice more. “This is a rule I set from the beginning: in order for more people to survive, resources should be available to more people. That’s why we’ve persisted until now, isn’t it?”

Froststar said in a low voice, "I don't want to be lectured by you right now."

Patriot laughed and said, "Yelena has grown up. She's already everyone's eldest sister. She really doesn't need me to educate her anymore."

Froststar didn't speak, but turned and left the house. Patriot didn't stop her, knowing what Froststar was going to do, and could only give a wry smile. About three minutes later, Froststar returned to the house carrying a bucket of burning charcoal, which she placed in front of Patriot. The fire in the charcoal instantly raised the temperature in the room, making Patriot's expression slightly better, but only slightly.

“You are our most important leader,” Frostnova said. “You cannot fall here.”

Patriot said, "I'm not going to fall so easily, Yelena."

"But you're not convincing at all right now."

Patriot laughed again: "You're getting more and more eloquent, Yelena."

“I’m not joking with you,” Frostnova said. “You can’t fight anymore; your body can’t take it anymore.”

"I told you this a long time ago, didn't I?" Patriot sighed softly. "But you didn't listen to me, did you?"

Froststar paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I am in good health."

“Hmm…though I’d ​​like to say you’re just putting on a brave face,” Patriot said, “I can tell you look much better than the last time I saw you.”

Does your complexion look much better?

During this time, Frostnova had heard this phrase more than once, mostly from members of the Yeti Squad, which felt like a return to her childhood. She knew the reason: the special drug had pulled her back from the brink of death, and not only that, her infection level had been greatly reduced, resulting in a significant improvement in her health. She even felt that she was now no different from a normal person.

That reagent really works; she's the biggest example. If she could, she wanted the members of the Yeti Squad, and even the old man in front of her, to receive that treatment. She wanted to see the Oripathy of those around her cured, and even wanted to see the world free of infected people.

But she also knew that, according to Lin Ye, she was the only one who had survived using that reagent so far. For most people, that reagent was a more deadly poison than Oripathy. At least Oripathy didn't kill them instantly, but everyone else who used that reagent, except for her, died immediately.

However, she believes that even so, countless infected individuals would be willing to gamble on the odds in their final moments, since they have nothing left to lose. On the contrary, they would see the person providing the medication as a savior, because they truly have hope of survival.

However, the savior turned out to be Lin Ye.

Half of the Yeti squad, whom Frostnova considered family, died directly or indirectly at Lin Ye's hands. Although she knew this was the battlefield, and once enemies were made, this was inevitable, Frostnova was torn. On one side was the potential savior of the infected, and on the other was the blood feud of her loved ones. Frostnova didn't know what to choose.

"Yelena?" Patriot's voice snapped Frostnova out of her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

Froststar shook her head and said, "It's nothing."

"Are you worried about Afu and the others?" Patriot said. "They're very capable people. Even without you, they can definitely manage the town well. You did a great job this time. 'Sap' town is indeed a better place to settle down and live than here. With them there, you'll definitely be able to..."

“I’m not worried about them,” Frostnova interrupted Patriot. “I’m worried about you.”

Patriot paused for a moment, then gave a helpless smile: "I've already said that there's nothing wrong with my body."

“If there were no problems, I wouldn’t be here,” Frostnova said. “I’ll go find Talulah and tell her to stop assigning you work, at least not this dangerous kind of work.”

"How can that be?" Patriot said, trying to sound casual. "You don't really think I'm so old that I can't do anything and can only rely on others to take care of me, do you?"

You know perfectly well that's not what I meant.

“I know what you mean, Yelena. I know you’re worried about me,” Patriot said softly. “But that worry is unnecessary. Although I want to say something to comfort you, I really don’t want to lie to you. You’re right, my body is indeed not as strong as it used to be. Sooner or later I will die from Oripathy… or perhaps it won’t even be sooner or later, that day is not far away. But so what? Yelena, everyone has to die eventually. I just hope that before I die, I can dedicate everything to the future of the Infected.”

"The future of the Infected..." Frostnova repeated Patriot's words, then paused for a moment before softly saying, "Dad, do you think the Reunion Movement is the future of the Infected?"

“At least for now, I don’t see a better future than this.” Patriot looked up at Frostnova’s slightly bewildered eyes. “But why would you suddenly ask me this question? Did something happen outside? From the moment you came in, I sensed you were somewhat restless. Are you thinking about something?”

Froststar was about to deny it, but then she felt that if she kept it from even the Patriots, she would be too lonely in this world.

So, after pondering for a while, she raised her head, met Patriot's gaze, and asked, word by word, "If the future of the infected conflicts with personal hatred, what would you choose?"

The patriot was somewhat surprised: "Why would you ask such a question?"

“I… just want an answer from you,” Froststar said softly.

"Is that so? That's an interesting question." Patriot thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of future?"

“It could save the future of all those infected,” Frostnova said, “but it’s fraught with danger and uncertainty.”

"And what kind of hatred is that?"

"Hatred... I don't know. It's probably a hatred that came about by chance."

The patriot laughed: "Can hatred be described like that?"

"Because I can't find a good adjective."

“I see.” Patriot looked up at the ceiling. “Although I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘mistaken hatred’, in my opinion, whatever the hatred is, it’s insignificant in the face of all the infected people in the world. Even if it’s just a tiny bit of hope.”

Froststar paused, then asked, "Is that what you think?"

“Yes, I choose to stand on the side of righteousness,” the Patriot said softly. “Because hatred is only mine, but hope is the whole world’s.”

Froststar fell silent.

After a long while, she slowly nodded: "I understand, Dad."

……

Half an hour later, she left the cabin.

Seeing that Patriot was already asleep, Frostnova gently closed the door, then turned around and looked at the woman waiting in the snow.

Talulah.

Chapter 606 The Future of the Infected? (3K)

"Talulah." Frostnova walked towards Talulah. "I have something to tell you."

Talulah nodded slightly: "I know, I also have something to say to you."

Frostnova stood in front of Talulah, watching the snowflakes fall from the sky onto Talulah's shoulders, and slowly said, "You can no longer give Father battle orders."

“I knew you were going to tell me this,” Talulah said. “But I’ve never given Patriot any combat orders. I’ve always given orders to his team, but Patriot got involved. I can’t just abandon the whole team for Patriot, can I?”

Froststar was speechless.

Because she knew Talulah was right; the Patriots' team was one of the main forces of the Reunion Movement and could not be left idle under any circumstances. And if the Patriots' team encountered a difficult mission, they would inevitably step in, just like this time, creating a vicious cycle.

So Frostnova said, "You can give him some easier tasks."

Talulah looked into Frostnova's eyes and asked, "Do you think survival is an easy thing?"

Are you trying to argue with me?

Talulah shook her head: "I have no interest in that, I'm just stating the facts. Patriot and his team are already doing relatively easy tasks. I've already delegated the more dangerous tasks like exploration to others, like you. And that's the limit of what I can do. For survival and development, everyone in Reunion should do their job. We don't have the resources to support people in their old age right now."

Upon hearing Talulah's words, Frostnova's eyes narrowed slightly, causing the surrounding temperature to drop further. A chill surged in from all directions, condensing into frost with a crackling sound, before creeping up Talulah's legs. But soon, this frost was shattered by an unknown force.

“I didn’t come to fight you.” Talulah looked into Frostnova’s eyes and said slowly, “There’s something I’ve emphasized many times: if we Infected can’t work together, then there will be no place for us in this world.”

Frostnova remained silent for a moment before withdrawing her power.

In truth, Frostnova knew that the pressure she exerted on Talulah was futile, because Talulah's strength was no less than her own, which was why she could remain unfazed by Frostnova's frost. Moreover, Talulah's infection level was much lower than Frostnova's (before using the 'L' potion), so her physical condition was much better than Frostnova's. If it really came down to a life-or-death struggle, Frostnova wasn't confident she could defeat Talulah.

Moreover, she had no reason to fight Talulah; she simply released some power to express her dissatisfaction when Talulah said that the Patriots were retiring.

“You shouldn’t say that about Father,” Frostnova said coldly. “Without Father, Reunion wouldn’t have achieved what it has today.”