Doctor will never die in a hellish situation.

"Who are you kidding? You're almost at your limit, just one last straw away." Qin Duanyu took something out of her pocket and waved it in front of him.

It was an antique pendant, engraved with intricate patterns, but it was covered with cracks all around, looking as if it might break at any moment.

"You...she even gave you this?" Patriot's hard-earned strength seemed to have been suddenly drained away.

This amulet was given to Frostnova before his departure. It contains the power of Sarkaz sorcery and can take the life force drain during the casting of spells until it breaks. He also has one with the same effect. If one of them breaks, the other will also be able to sense it.

Given Frostnova's personality, even if there's a very small chance she'll be captured by the enemy, she would never give the amulet to anyone else. The fact that she'd hand over such an important item means she's probably been completely fooled by this scoundrel of a doctor, the kind of person who would help count the money if he sold it.

“That’s right, because of her, because of the Yetis, we hope you can live.” Qin Duanyu’s tone suddenly softened, and she took a few more steps forward.

If it weren't for the fact that the White Rabbit's condition was too serious and the Yetis hadn't received training in climbing the city, he would have even considered taking a few people from the limited spots and bringing along these men who were enough to demoralize the Patriots.

However, the talisman that Froststar solemnly gave to Qin Duanyu before his departure also served the same purpose in a certain way. He could sense that this resolute warrior wavered when he saw the talisman.

No matter how strong the defense is, it can be completely breached if a crack is made in it.

"Amiya, begin, cast the spell!"

Chapter 92, Section 377: Absolutely not, I will not hand my daughter over to you!

"Sinking into the quiet blackness... Brother, sister, younger sister, younger brother, dreamland, oh dreamland, covers their bodies..."

Perhaps because of the severity of his injuries, perhaps because Qin Duanyu's words stirred up memories, or perhaps for some other reason, a gentle lullaby sounded in Patriot's ears, and the scene before him gradually blurred and dimmed, transforming into a somber hospital room.

He was struck as if by a heavy blow, his whole body jolted, and he looked at the hospital bed with trembling hands.

"Darling, don't be sad." The Ursus woman on the hospital bed, her face pale with illness, forced a smile and reached out to stroke his face. "I know you're as stubborn as a rock, and you won't be persuaded at all, so you'll still go to war, right?"

“I… am a soldier, a warrior!” Patriot choked for a moment before saying resolutely.

"Then, promise me, Bozokastie, promise me you won't die on the battlefield." The woman looked at the cradle beside her, her face growing even more tender. "I don't mean anything by it, I just want you to understand that even after I'm gone, you'll still have family with you. Look how sweetly little Ger is sleeping; he's the continuation of my life..."

Patriot opened his mouth, but couldn't utter any words of comfort.

“Excessive grief will destroy you. Our children will need care in the future, so please pull yourself together, my love!” the woman said, her image fading away.

He reached out to grab it, but missed.

I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you, I couldn't keep our promise, I don't deserve... your love. Patriot clutched his forehead in anguish, and faint traces of blood seeped from his clenched teeth.

The scene shifts to a living room filled with everyday life, where an emotionally agitated Sarkaz youth stands.

"Father, I beg you, stop siding with the Empire!" the young man said indignantly, his face pleading. "Orders? The Empire's orders are a joke; they're just using their lackeys to satisfy their own selfish desires!"

"Are you referring to...me?" Patriot asked coldly.

"I'm sorry, Father, I didn't mean to be sarcastic." The young man shook his head, then became agitated again. "The so-called laws are just a deception set up by the Empire. They are only persecuting the infected people in the country, trying to divert the Empire's internal conflicts with the blood of these unfortunate people!"

“I… am a soldier, a warrior!” Patriot hesitated for a moment before answering the same question.

"Why are you so indifferent? Because you haven't been infected, do you have no empathy at all?" The young man lowered his head in disappointment. "When one of us becomes infected, you'll know how ridiculous this law is! No, you're a Bozokasti, Oripathy won't bother a strong soldier like you! So what about me... Is there any race more susceptible to Oripathy than the Sarkaz?"

The young man said this, then turned and left the house.

The patriot wanted to chase after him, but his legs felt like lead, and he couldn't move an inch.

My child, you are right. I have lived these many years in vain, yet I see things far less clearly than you do. I failed to walk the right path, and I deeply regret it. I should have told you sooner that I was already infected, but I suppressed the protests, letting you die in vain. No, I killed you with my own hands! I am not worthy... to be your father.

Patriot's eyes welled up with tears, and a look of regret crossed his face.

The scene shifted again, becoming an endless white tundra. He sat in front of a campfire, next to a young girl from Cats. Perhaps because it was too cold, she drooped her long white ears and tilted her head, looking indescribably cute.

"Dad? We're not related by blood, it feels really strange to keep calling them that," she said in her childish voice. "If you have any way to stop them from hiding so far away out of fear, they can call you Dad too!"

"Are you threatening me?" Patriot was both annoyed and amused.

"Huh? Threaten? What does that word mean? You never taught me!" The girl looked puzzled, then asked innocently, "When you taught me before, you said my brother was smarter than me, but where is he?"

This question nearly broke Patriot's composure on the spot. He hugged the adopted daughter he had rescued from the mine tightly, completely disregarding her freezing temperature, and the tears that had been welling up in his eyes could no longer be held back...

"Dad, what's wrong? I won't say that again. I will definitely learn from ***, avenge Grandma, and kill those bad people who bullied us!" The girl asked worriedly as he held her tightly in his arms.

"But I am a bad person, an incorrigible one. People like me don't get any candy!" Patriot tried hard not to let his voice tremble.

“How could Dad be a bad person! If Dad is a bad person, then I want to be a bad person too. As long as I’m always with Dad and my brothers and sisters, that’s enough. We are family,” the girl said firmly.

My daughter, your father has done nothing for you, I have done nothing, I owe you so much! Even though he could clearly feel the temperature dropping, Patriot still refused to let go.

I……

wrong!

He abruptly broke free from the illusion and returned to the battlefield in the core city.

“Rhodes Island, Doctor, truly, excellent methods. You almost succeeded. But I will not be defeated!” He looked at the astonished Amiya, then at Qin Duanyu, and said, word by word, “I am a soldier, a warrior!”

If it were anyone else, they might have been overwhelmed by this series of illusions and completely lost their will to fight. But Patriot never tried to escape or forget. Instead, he chose to bear it, carrying everything that had happened to the dead, and using it as his driving force to fight until now.

If it's tragic, then it's tragic. If it's foolish, then it's foolish!

I've lived, I've resisted, and I've failed.

That's enough.

Even if it means death, we will stand until the very end.

"Come on, Rhodes Island, Doctor, defeat me! Let me meet the final end!" Patriot, his fighting spirit rekindled, was mentally prepared.

After a short wait, the expected attack did not occur.

"If it's a boy, we'll name our first child a Grovazel, and if it's a girl, we'll name her Helen," Qin Duanyu whispered in Patriot's ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear.

The three ordinary Ursus names he uttered pierced Patriot's heart like steel spikes.

He could easily reach out and grab the enemy commander by the throat, crushing him like a chicken, but Patriot seemed to have all his strength drained away, standing there blankly.

"You win!" After a long while, Wendigo, who had never wavered in the face of the barrage of attacks from more than ten elite operators of Rhodes Island and whose combat power was comparable to that of a monster, dejectedly lowered his hands.

What truly broke down his mental defenses was hope.

Yes, it's this damn hope.

Those painful memories could not diminish the patriot's fighting spirit, but they subtly awakened the softer parts of his heart, the continuation of life, family... things he had once gained and lost.

Froststar is still alive, and there is hope for the continuation of his bloodline. Grandchildren are things he has never dared to hope for or even think about. But Qin Duanyu brought these things up, making it impossible for him to maintain the hard shell of his heart.

An adult's breakdown often happens in an instant.

Just like a seasoned office worker who has seen the world, they might suddenly burst into tears because of a stranger's caring words and greetings.

"But my daughter will not be handed over to someone like you!" he said through gritted teeth.

In the eyes of the Patriots, this bastard who seduced Frostnova was a schemer whose methods were no less than Talulah's, and he seemed to have little interest in power, focusing all his energy on seducing girls.

I absolutely cannot die! I must rescue my daughter from this guy!

"Let's talk about it after you've recovered from your injuries, old man!" Qin Duanyu shrugged and turned to walk towards the worried Amiya.

Chapter 93, Section 378: Another Talulah? No, he's different.

The fighting had paused briefly on the main road leading to the core control tower.

The Rhodes Island operators and guerrilla fighters who were originally engaged in battle received orders to cease fire. They cautiously approached the fortifications and saw that the leaders of both sides were sitting calmly facing each other, showing no signs of fighting to the death.

"Doctor, how exactly did you convince Mr. Patriot?" Amiya tilted her head and asked curiously.

After Patriot was removed from the environment she created, the little rabbit thought that Patriot would fight until he was exhausted. However, Qin Duanyu simply leaned close to him and said a few words, and he gave up the idea of ​​dying.

"It's just some low-brow rhetoric, only good for bullying an old man with a bad head," Qin Duanyu said in a low voice, feigning mystery. "Maybe it's because Amiya is cute enough that she reminded him of Frostnova, so he doesn't want to die here?"

If the little rabbit knew the truth, it would probably get another flying kick.

"Lord, here, take this." As the person involved, Patriot naturally wouldn't explain the reason. He just glared fiercely at Qin Duanyu, then took out a strangely shaped object from his pocket and slowly handed it to Kal'tsit.

"The key?" Kal'tsit seemed somewhat surprised as she took the item from him. "Talulah actually entrusted you with something so important? No wonder, this way she can temporarily gain your trust and also give you the motivation to fight us to the death."

"It seems you did some preparation and investigation before entering the city." Patriot nodded. "That's right. I originally planned to defeat you, and then use your name to kill Talulah. Now, that's unnecessary; you've won!"

"Captain, what are you saying? We were just caught off guard. We just need to regroup and we can fight again..." The shield guard who had been knocked down by Qin Duanyu and his men said somewhat unwillingly.

"You mean, continue fighting for Talulah's lies? Become a tool of her schemes?" Patriot turned to look at his indignant subordinate and said calmly.

“No, that’s not what I meant… You said we’re not fighting for anyone, for any organization, but for our beliefs, for those who have been deceived and enslaved, for the injustice of this land…” Upon hearing this, the Shield Guard quickly shook his head and said firmly.

"In that case, we have a common goal! The culprit behind this series of events is the one controlling the tower," Qin Duanyu suddenly interjected, pointing to the towering building in the distance. "Gentlemen, the opportunity to end all this is right in front of us. Let's cooperate!"

"What are you saying? There's a limit to insults!" The shield guard stared wide-eyed at Qin Duanyu in disbelief.

This guy just ordered his subordinates to electrocute him until he was charred black and blue, and then led his men to beat the captain half to death. It's a miracle he didn't fight him to the death. And yet this guy actually came up with such an outrageous suggestion.

"Because I believe in you."

"Perhaps, for those hypocrites, those who seek fame and fortune, all they need to do is offer lofty and high-sounding reasons, but I think you don't need this nonsense." Qin Duanyu walked up to him and said sincerely, "Even if it is extremely difficult... no matter how noble and righteous it is, betrayal is betrayal. A group of people united by their beliefs will eventually make the right choice, rather than suffering endless torment to maintain something."

Hearing Qin Duanyu's words, the guerrilla fighters who were originally somewhat hostile to Rhodes Island fell into deep thought, and then all turned their eyes to Patriot, hoping that he could make a decision.

Patriot's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but both sides suddenly received a communication at the same time, interrupting the soldier who was about to speak.

"Doctor, the Reunion Movement has fallen into chaos. The entire control tower area—no, to be precise, the entire core city—is in chaos. They're attacking each other..."

"Captain, they've all gone mad! Rumors are spreading everywhere. The conflicts that you managed to suppress with your authority seem to have all erupted now, and they... they're killing ordinary infected people!"

The unexpected situation left Patriot with no time to think. He simply waved his hand and said, "Reorganize the ranks and maintain order! As for you, Rhodes Island, continue with your missions. I'm too busy to see anything."

These words were almost an explicit instruction, and the guerrillas immediately sprang into action, completely ignoring the Rhodes Island group.

Kal'tsit frowned and whispered to Patriot, "He seems quite resistant to the Doctor. If it's just because of his relationship with your daughter, this emotion shouldn't affect your judgment."

“He looks a lot like Talulah, the one from the past.” Patriot didn’t hide anything, glanced at Qin Duanyu in the distance, and fell into his memories.

The guerrillas seemed to have made a great name for themselves on the frozen plains and left behind a terrible legend, but Patriot, who had served in Ursus, knew very well that if Ursus really wanted to, it only needed an army group to wipe them out completely.

It was purely because the local rulers believed that asking Saint-Germain for help was tantamount to admitting their incompetence, and they did not want the imperial power to take advantage of the situation. Through various political maneuvering, they were given the opportunity to prolong their existence.

Until the silver-haired dragon girl led her party to the tundra.

With her amazing skills and charisma, she led the merged team to grow rapidly, bringing a glimmer of hope to the infected who had previously been fighting in vain and had no idea what their goal was.

Having witnessed the rise of the integration movement, he knew all too well that his sincere and firm personality, infectious speeches, and keen sense of the political situation were merely icing on the cake.