The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

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"But I must say that besides children, I also accept another kind of stake, which is, well... the heads of the contestants."

"We do not possess that kind of thing."

Haida shook her head.

The Hunters are indeed keen on collecting heads as trophies, but only for valuable and memorable targets. Moreover, she awoke in the New God's Banquet Hall and was only able to return to reality through the summoning of the New God's Ring; she had no opportunity to interact with the participants of the End of the Sacrifice.

Pocket Cat lowered its eyes and sighed in a tone that could be described as sad.

"It seems I will have to go back empty-handed this time. What a pity! I really want to say something like 'I look forward to seeing you again' in this situation, but tonight is the last night of the three-day harsh deadline of the ancient moon wheel. It is too extravagant to dream of seeing the dawn together."

"Let me think, all I can say is 'Good luck to you.' Although our time together has been very short, and the nun's way of communicating is so cold, I feel that we may have already built a deep friendship... Don't worry that your sharp words will hurt me; on the contrary, I'm glad that you can be so honest with me."

Based on our interactions so far, this guy is a chatterbox who's very outgoing and friendly.

After saying this, Pocket Cat immediately started walking away.

Just then, the blade of the power sword "Nirvana" swept past his side, shaving off a tuft of whiskers from his cat-like face.

“I don’t recall saying you could leave.”

Haida's steady, cold voice rang out softly.

“Violence? You intend to use violence in our wonderful relationship… I must admit, I’m already a little unhappy. But there’s nothing we can do about it. Both you and I are destined to face the curse and misfortune of cruel reality. In that respect, we have something in common.”

Pocket Cat's throat bobbed, emitting a loud, rattling purr, like a feline intimidating an enemy.

Heda was tired of pointless words; for this nun, action was a far more efficient and powerful language. She gripped the hilt of her sword and slashed vertically at the unsettling headgear of the Pocket Cat.

The sound of the wind was cut by the sword blade, and the explosion resounded throughout the museum hall.

"Oh dear, nun, you almost killed me! Are we really going to continue this dangerous game?"

Pocket Cat narrowly avoided the sword strike, avoiding a direct hit, but the ripples from the wind alone were enough to slash his face.

You can see blood slowly oozing from the wounds on the guy's hood; his mask fits his head so tightly that you can't see any gap between them.

When her own sword missed its mark, Haida showed no surprise.

In fact... she did it on purpose.

Pocket Cat's physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary humans, but they did not exceed the limits of mortal flesh, nor did they exceed Heda's expectations. If the nun had activated her Primitive Body from the beginning, the opponent would undoubtedly have been torn in two.

She held back only because she wanted to take advantage of the moment when the Pocket Cat was busy dodging, and use her psychic empathy to try and understand its thoughts.

She did see some fragmented images.

The ever-changing pale moonlight, the long, empty, and gloomy void, the distorted human faces on the moon's surface, and the blood and wailing of a child wrapped in a sack... In addition, Pocket Cat discovered this mind-disrupting trick and quickly broke the sympathy between them after leaving a few sarcastic remarks in his usual style.

Haida could sense that the Pocket Cat possessed a certain degree of self-awareness, but followed a rather rigid behavioral logic.

—To find and trade children who possess divine potential, and then to stifle them.

“Sister, as a spy, your methods are quite sophisticated. I almost didn’t even notice. It’s really exciting to be known by others without knowing it. I’m almost tempted to open my back to you. Hey, but let’s get back to today’s bloody topic.”

Pocket Cat was still smiling obsequiously, only his tone was more fervent.

The battle had barely begun when Heda had already decided to end this unpleasant encounter. And the nun's initial sudden hostility was by no means a whim… after hearing this man say that the bargaining chip he was receiving was a "child," she had already decided to carry out the purge.

A pale, blurry figure silently swept past.

"Snap—" Pocket Cat suddenly felt weightlessness.

When he came to his senses, his upper body had already fallen to the ground, leaving only his lower body still standing in place. A gruesome wound stretched from his shoulder blade all the way to his side, with blood, organs, and severed intestines flowing rapidly from the cut.

In close-quarters combat where the sole purpose is to kill, the invisible and silent [mechanized spirit] can often secure victory with a single blow.

Pocket Cat's mouth, which seemed to be perpetually smiling, was constantly oozing blood, yet he showed no fear, nor any sign of pain. As for liberation... that was even less of a possibility.

It was as if death was nothing out of the ordinary for him.

Just as Pocket Cat's consciousness was about to dissipate, he saw the girl behind the nun walking towards him. Her amber eyes revealed a certain emotion, neither joy, nor sorrow, nor shyness.

All that can be seen is a pure thirst for knowledge.

"Hey~ I misread it. I could have misread it. What an embarrassing and unprofessional mistake... You are not the human girl I crave. Cough, let me think how I should describe you, one of my master's peers."

"...I'd like to know, who are you? And what has piqued your interest in this festival?"

Flamel did not answer.

Before she could get close, Pocket Cat's body had already lost all life.

Her approach stemmed from curiosity about the man's physical condition, followed by an irresistible urge to conduct a preliminary autopsy. Even though it was merely a fragment representing a sorrowful personality, she still retained most of Fran's habits and interests.

"Sure enough, his cat mask grew out of his face."

Flamel reached out and examined the wounds on Pocket Cat's face, quickly drawing a conclusion. Her curiosity satisfied, she seemed to be in a better mood, and the melancholy in her eyes appeared to have lessened somewhat.

Heda, however, was more concerned with the words Pocket Cat uttered before its demise.

He addressed Flamel as "one of my master's peers." Although the man had seemed somewhat eccentric from the start, like a clown, such men are often ruthless and purposeful, and his final soliloquy was clearly no laughing matter.

Did he finally see through Dr. Fran's true nature at the last moment?

As for which ancient god Pocket Cat's "master" specifically refers to, Haida has not yet reached a conclusion.

However, in her psychic state, she glimpsed the vast moonlight that obscured the entire world from the other person's consciousness, from which she could guess that this guy probably served the moon goddess named Rael.

After requesting Sigrid to completely incinerate the Pocket Cat's remains, Haida's gray-chestnut eyes gradually darkened.

...We've wasted some time, and to avoid any further complications, we must get into the white bunker as soon as possible.

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羹~

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Information Thinking [The Last Sacrifice]

The secret doors of the Bohemian Museum have been opened, and the answers to the questions hidden within this city of ruins lie behind them, no longer concealed.

The wind gradually picked up, brushing against my face and bringing a cool sensation.

Haida's eyes narrowed slightly, and her nostrils flared as she quickly captured and analyzed the information contained in the airflow.

The air temperature inside the sealed room was visibly lower than the outside temperature, which was quite normal, given that the destination was called "White Bunker," presumably some kind of underground military facility with a concrete structure...

Of course, temperature is only the most direct information; she needs to pay more attention to other properties of the air in the sealed room.

The strong earthy smell suggests there's a sizable, exposed mudstone structure ahead. Aside from that, the other aromas are fairly common, including gasoline, engine oil, rubber, and the metallic scent of rust from pipes and gears.

"Follow me."

There was a great deal of thought and analysis, yet only a fleeting moment passed.

Heda did not hesitate at all, and swiftly stepped forward, then turned and called to Sigrid and little Flamel.

After walking for a while, a huge pit leading straight down into the ground came into view, and the muddy smell that Haida had smelled earlier also came from this place.

The amount of work required to completely solidify a pit of this size using concrete is obviously too great, and the Bremen army occupying the area naturally doesn't have the extra energy and resources to devote to such trivial work... They have more important things to do.

Rather than a "task," it was more like a "mission," to the point that ordinary people serving in the army constantly expended their spirit and life to devote themselves to it, like moths to a candle or firewood falling into a campfire.

"There is a ladder here."

Sigrid discovered a long wooden ladder leading straight to the bottom of the pit and immediately spoke up to warn the culprit.

"But do we really have to climb down from here? We can't even see the bottom..."

There is no other way.

Haida nodded slightly and shared her opinion.

At this moment, Flamel kept craning his neck to look down into the pit. The wooden ladder led down to a dark and impenetrable place, and being in it felt like being swallowed by some enormous creature.

She wasn't afraid of the dark, nor did she care much about the oppressive and cramped atmosphere. The only thing that troubled her was that she seemed to have some physical difficulties in climbing all the way up.

While it's unlikely that you'll lose your grip on the ladder and fall, you'll inevitably have to climb a section and then rest.

Just then, Flamel suddenly felt a lightness beneath her. When she came to her senses, she found herself being pulled into Heida's arms, her waist supported.

The nun's movements were powerful and steady, and even though she was using only one hand, Flamel did not notice any swaying.

Heda was holding onto someone with one hand and gripping the wooden ladder with the other, seemingly in a position where climbing would be difficult. This made Flamel somewhat curious; how exactly was this nun going to get down...?

However, all doubts vanished the moment the intense feeling of weightlessness struck.

However, Haida slid rapidly towards the bottom of the pit in this rather strenuous posture, and every so often she would use her palms as brakes to slow down, and then repeat the process over and over again.

If it weren't for the fact that Flamel's body couldn't withstand the strain, she probably would have jumped straight down from the top of the pit.

However, this was fast enough; the climb, which would normally take tens of minutes, had been reduced to just over thirty seconds. Once they landed, Flamel immediately clutched his chest, desperately trying to suppress the rising urge to vomit.

Heda did intentionally slow down every so often, but for Flamel, the experience was still a bit too thrilling... like experiencing a drop tower ride without any safety equipment.

Fortunately, she had amazing self-control and didn't vomit directly on Haida. Lu

"I should have gone slower."

Seeing Flamel's condition, Heida blew away the heat from the intense friction on her palms, then gently patted her back to soothe and alleviate her discomfort.

"Take some medicine; it should make you feel better." Si

Suddenly, the nun remembered that she hadn't used her medicine supplies recently. She immediately took out a "Cure Your Illness 3000. Type II" pill, which Fran had given her, from her pouch and slowly fed it to Flamel along with a glucose solution.

The girl obediently swallowed the green capsule. It must be said that the drug this guy developed himself was indeed very effective. In just a few breaths, her slightly bluish complexion returned to normal.

Sigrid also climbed down the long ladder at this time and came to the bottom of the pit.

The craftswoman knew that with her current physical condition, jumping directly off wouldn't cause any problems. However, due to a certain human instinctual fear of heights, she ultimately chose a safer method.

"This place gives me a very strange feeling, as if... there is some kind of separation between the top and bottom of the pit, and the two places are not actually in the same area."

As she spoke, she looked up.

Looking up from below, the end of the long staircase is also swallowed by a deep darkness, just like when viewed from above.

"There are also abnormal spatial circulations within the Bohemian Museum, and it's normal for there to be partitions between different areas. Be prepared, because once you actually enter the White Bunker, you might not be able to return."

Haida gave a habitual warning, then looked up at the massive machine bay door directly in front of her.

Without a doubt, it was the final obstacle to entering the White Bunker.

The nun had no interest in fulfilling the prerequisites or guessing the code. Rather than racking her brains to solve the puzzle, she preferred to use the easy and convenient general solution... just like her equally taciturn father who was equally keen on violent demolition.

"Sister Haida, wait a minute!"

Seeing that the guy had already drawn the power sword "Ne" that was strapped to his back, Sigrid immediately spoke up and persuaded Heda, who was ready to fight, to stop.

"There are monitoring devices and operating terminals next to this machine door. Please let me study them first. Understanding the mechanical principles of this world may be helpful for our subsequent actions."

"It's up to you, Sigrid."

Haida loosened her grip on the sword hilt and gave a deep, reassuring reply.

The power sword "Nirvana" had no complaints about this. In fact, it had never liked doing this kind of demolition work. That was clearly the job of an entrenching tool... Oh, compared to drinking the blood and spirit of a powerful enemy, smashing concrete was really boring and beneath it.

"Mmm."

Sigrid immediately strode to the operating terminal, and after several attempts, she molded the tip of her index finger into a properly sized access driver, inserted the device, and began calibration and debugging.

"The operating terminal is connected to three telematics monitoring systems. The door will only unlock after all of them are confirmed to be turned on. The technology is not advanced, and the difficulty of cracking it is also relatively average... However, the connection status of these monitoring systems is a bit strange."

"Although it's a mechanical device, it feels like a mystical ritual. Is this some kind of condition for the formation of the 'logic' of the mechanical god?"

After Sigrid joined the Fog Street Clinic, she participated as Sigrid's assistant in every mechanical and alchemical project. These included researching and deciphering the Tombstone Book of the Necromancer, repairing the bodies of AIs from the Dark Ages, and forging power swords...

For Miss Craftsman, hacking into and controlling the terminal in front of her was not technically challenging at all; she spent most of her time figuring out how to make it backward compatible with the somewhat crude electrical equipment of this era.

"The technology involved in the process is not particularly advanced, but each component is extremely refined, and it should be considered to be at the pinnacle of this era."

Within minutes, Sigrid had completed the physical and procedural intrusion into the control terminal and then opened the vault door of the white bunker.

However, instead of leaving immediately, she attempted to access the telecom surveillance system's database through the control terminal. Just as she was about to successfully uncover the secrets of the white bunker, the connection between the control terminal and the computer array was suddenly unilaterally severed.

This is not simply a physical severance, but rather a seizure of control.

Sigrid did attempt to break in again, but to no avail, leaving her with an indescribable sense of powerlessness, even with her expertise. The breaker seemed to be manipulating the program with natural language and subjective will, making every encrypted node impenetrable.

"The program is almost as if it has been given humanity... no, perhaps it should be called divinity."

Sigrid touched her forehead, then withdrew her fingertip and disconnected from the control terminal.

"What happened?"

Seeing that she seemed lost in thought, as if she had something on her mind, even though she had opened the bunker door, Haida immediately asked her what was wrong.