Chapter 223: Second Key (4)
In the darkness, there was Durandal who was prostrate with her body covered in purple stripes. She looked at it all with a desperate expression and gasped for breath.
Suddenly, Director Ragna appeared in front of her with an unknown expression and said.
"Bianca... You'll definitely be fine..."
__
"Hah!"
Durandal instantly opened her eyes with bated breath, she then looked at the ceiling only to realize that she was currently already in the hospital in patient clothes.
She looked down at her hand that had no purple stripes with a look of confusion.
"You're finally awake. "
Someone's voice suddenly sounded from beside her making her immediately turn her head with a wary expression.
She was staring at a snow-white haired man with advanced tactical clothing and violet eyes that had a prism-like luster that looked very beautiful, except that it was all covered by the thick eye bags under his eyes.
"... Who are you?" asked Durandal carefully.
"... Good to see you awake Dr. Bianca, my name is Kouro, I'm the one who brought you here." said the man with a monotone voice and a flat expression.
Durandal felt that the man in front of her was more like a soldier with severe PTSD. No, judging from his clothes he was indeed a soldier similar to Paul Long.
To think that this man who she thought was the same age as her could be down like this, she felt a little pity.
"You must have a lot of questions now. Prof. Otto is waiting for you outside, he might be able to answer all your questions." Kouro said while giving her a change of clothes.
Durandal nodded her head gently and got out of bed before taking the change of clothes, she then looked at Kouro for a moment in silence.
"...Can you turn around?"
Kouro blinked a few times with a calm face and was silent for a moment before saying as if realizing something.
"Oh."
He then turned around without saying anything more.
Durandal who saw this felt that Kouro's actions were interesting.
She then dispelled her strange thoughts before changing her clothes.
....
A few minutes later after changing her clothes, Durandal came out of her room followed by Kouro behind her.
Kouro had told her that Prof. Otto was waiting for her in the same room where she found Ragna's body.
This gave her a bad feeling about the state of the girl she had saved earlier and made her footsteps quicken.
They then arrived, inside where Otto was waiting with the girl lying on the same bed that the late Ragna had slept on.
"You look good, Dr. Bianca. Your recovery is quite fast. " Otto said with a calm expression.
"But... I wish I could say the same thing to this girl. "
Durandal walked over with an unknown expression, she stared at the girl who was now a corpse.
"Your serum only delayed the inevitability of her Honkai's illness. I tried to cut off the infected parts of her body.... But she wasn't strong enough. She could not survive the surgery and eventually died." Otto said with a calm expression.
"Don't blame yourself, Dr. Bianca. You've done very well. "
Durandal who had been silent with an unknown expression suddenly raised her head and asked him.
"I'm curious Prof. Otto. I remember, I was infected with the Honkai disease while helping this girl while out there... But I woke up without having any infection pattern at all. It's obvious that it was you who cured me."
"But... You are also the one who said that there is no cure for this disease. " Durandal continued and looked at Otto with a wary expression.
Otto smiled in response to her words, "Yes, you're right. I lied to you, I created a cure for Honkai's disease. "
Durandal's eyebrows immediately furrowed, she looked at Otto with an angry expression and said, "Then why?! Why did you operate on her? You could have used that medicine! With that medicine you will-"
Her words were immediately interrupted by Otto with a calm voice.
"Dr. Bianca, let me explain, I intentionally did not give the medicine to this girl. "
"Why not?!"
"Because the medicine is expensive. " Kouro said suddenly in a monotone voice that was originally just watching the two of them.
Durandal immediately turned to look at Kouro with an expression of disbelief, "Expensive?... Just because it's too expensive? We have no right to judge someone's life!"
"...The medicine was created using 1000 lives of people infected with Honkai disease. " Kouro explained in a calm voice.
Durandal's expression instantly changed after hearing this, she put on a blank expression and turned her head to look at Otto as if expecting that Kouro's words were not true.
Sensing her gaze, Otto took a drink of his alcohol before explaining, "Most victims of Honkai disease will die a short while after being infected. But their bodies produce antibodies to the disease only in small amounts. "
He then put down his bottle of alcohol and was seen taking out an empty serum from his pocket before continuing.
"And... Since we can't understand how the pathogen works, the only thing we can do is... Extract the antibodies into a serum. On average, it takes 1000 infected lives for one serum to cure 1 person. "
He then raised his head and looked at Durandal with a sharp expression.
"But the number of infected people is very small and the disease always kills them immediately. Therefore, Dr. Bianca, what do you think is the price for this medicine?" he said while showing the empty serum to Durandal.
Hearing Otto's explanation, Durandal's expression seemed to waver slightly before muttering, "But... You should have given the medicine to this girl. "
Otto then patted her shoulder and said softly, "Do not doubt my decision, Dr. Bianca. I believe that you are the person we need to fight Honkai. Let me tell you that this serum came from one of your closest friends. "
"Director Ragna donated her body to Moth. Thanks to her, we were able to successfully obtain enough antibodies to save you."
He then turned to stare at the corpse of the girl beside him before continuing, "And this girl will also be an angel. Her body will be used to save others."
After that he looked back at Durandal with a serious expression, "And Ragna has now become your guardian angel, Bianca. You should know that, wishful thinking and miracles will not save us from Honkai. "
While saying this, Otto somehow glanced at Kouro who was looking at them with a calm expression before turning his attention back to Durandal.
"The Doctors, Nurses, and the bodies of infected victims like this girl are the walls to prevent total annihilation from happening. "
"Dr. Bianca, accept the fact that the antibodies flowing in your body are not cheap. Your shoulders bear the burden of 1000 victims and Ragna's last wish. "
"There is only one way to repay that gift. Fight Honkai and save millions of lives. " Otto said.
Durandal was silent with her head bowed as she listened to all his words, tears had welled up in her eyes but she tried to keep them from falling.
Otto who saw this then continued, "Some people think that my methods are inhumane, unethical, and dark. "
Otto's expression then turned serious and his eyes burned with the fire of revenge and determination, "But the only thing I really care about is defeating Honkai. No matter the cost. We are fighting a war for the salvation of mankind. "
Otto then raised his only hand which was his right hand and shook Durandal's hand tightly.
"I accept your proposal. Welcome to Moth, Dr. Bianca. "
Durandal looked speechless for a moment at Otto's sudden action before holding Otto's palm tightly.
"I will do whatever it takes to defeat, Honkai, Professor. " Durandal said with a determined expression.
....
As Otto was about to leave along with Kouro beside him, Durandal suddenly asked him.
"I have a question, the soldier holding the greatsword that saved us before... "
"That must be Rita. She is Moth's strongest and best soldier. " Otto said without turning around.
"I heard that you two used to be friends, so I had guessed that you would ask something about her. I've prepared a file on what she's been doing all this time. "
Otto opened his cell phone and sent the file containing data about Rita to her.
"Consider this a gift. By the way, this man was to be Rita's best partner. " he said while patting Kouro's shoulder.
"Was?" asked Durandal.
"Yes. Unfortunately Kouro has made a big mistake and he is currently a special prisoner, after we return, he will go to his prison cell again. " explained Otto in a slightly joking tone.
Kouro's flat expression didn't change in the face of Otto's joke, he just blinked without saying anything.
Durandal's expression changed slightly as she stared at Kouro with an unexpected look, she didn't expect that this person had made such a big mistake that he had to be specially detained.
"Tsk... Boring. " Otto muttered seeing Kouro showing no reaction, he then looked at Durandal and said.
"Regarding Rita, do you remember the big fire that burned almost the entire Australian continent 6 months ago? Rita herself took care of it. Of course, the doctor from our intel division gave a pretty convincing fake story. "
"Civilians will feel safer when they believe it's just seasonal bushfires. Wait, you're not a civilian anymore, so you should know the truth. "
"The big fire was caused by something we call ---------. Oh! Right, I haven't told you about ---------, have I?"
As Otto said that Durandal suddenly felt her vision darken and felt cold.
__
In a room full of advanced technology
Otto looked at Durandal who was currently inside a capsule filled with transparent liquid wearing an oxygen mask and a tight-fitting suit with several large wires to monitor her body's health.
"Bianca, we detect fluctuations in your brain waves, are you okay?" He asked.
"[Sorry Professor. I'm fine, I'm just... Thinking about the past.]" Durandal said in a clear voice.
"That's fine, but you have to remember this, Bianca. When you enter the observation center, you might lose control a little and memories will appear without warning. " Otto said calmly.
Paul with his head raised was seen beside him configuring something before saying, "The final inspection is complete, Professor. The system is ready and waiting for your command. "
Otto nodded his head and muttered, "We have to find where she's been hiding all this time... We must find her before she finds a way to break through our consciousness. "
__
It started when --------------- appeared after Durandal joined ----. It began with a strange case of a mysterious sleeping sickness that suddenly appeared in all parts of the world.
All the victims entered a state of unconsciousness while using the Internet. Otto and other researchers failed to wake the victims even after trying hard.
The researchers ---- then tried scanning the brains of the victims and found that they were all dreaming and the wave pattern analysis concluded that they might all be having the same dream.
Chief scientist Dr. Mei ordered research team No. 5 led by Professor Otto to analyze this oddity.
With this, ---- started analyzing the victims' search history.
Some frequently searched keywords were identified. The list also changed daily.
But the situation in the real world was so dangerous, the number of victims grew to 2 million within 30 days, after which the disease was first reported.
Every medical facility was overwhelmed, many victims did not receive medical treatment, it could be said that it was a common sight in the middle of the street that there were countless people who were unconscious.
Most of them died quietly in their own dreams.
Dr. Mei and Prof. Otto then announced their important discovery, this sleeping sickness was caused by unconfirmed ------ radiation.
And the creature that caused this is called ---------------.
The creature has a weapon to 'Infect' from a keyword that the target types on the internet. The target who reads the infected keyword will suffer from the infection and fall into an endless dream.
This begs the question, what is --------------- and where is it hiding? Can we defeat this creature? And why does it change those keywords every day? Is it looking for something?
Then they realized it. While they were researching, she was also hunting them.
And --------------- quickly found the keywords needed to find them, she attacked quickly putting they soldiers and researchers to endless sleep.
Before the situation got worse, Dr. Mei administered a "Consciousness Confinement" to the surviving members of Prof. Otto's team.
"Confinement of Consciousness" can be roughly described as an Anti-Memetic that induces a certain mental block, the users will ignore keywords or can be said to be "Confined" so they will not be affected.
But it does not provide absolute protection, in fact, it becomes more powerful as the creature adds more keywords to its list.
'It will break through our confinement.'
'This was our only chance to strike back.'
__
"Relax, Bianca, your brainwaves are back to normal. The observation center will begin in five minutes. Please repeat your objective mission. " Otto said.
"[Understood, start repeating my objective mission, after the observation center starts running, I will take off my "Confinement", look for a way into the dream and find her. After 10 minutes, the observation center will return me from the dream." said Durandal.
"Good. But remember that we don't know whatever is in there, remember the details of the mission and embed it into your conscious and unconscious mind. " said Otto while holding his iron bottle of alcohol.
"One more thing, I apologize... I'll buy you a drink when you get back, later. " Otto said with his head slightly bowed staring at the metal bottle of alcohol.
Durandal's eyes seemed to widen for a moment before smiling, "[Don't worry Prof. Otto, this is my choice, I volunteered for this mission.]"
"[For some reason... I'm currently thinking of Kouro right now. If he becomes MANTIS, he can definitely do better in carrying out this mission.]" She continued.
"Right, unfortunately he couldn't even if he wanted to." Otto said.
Kouro was the only human who had full immunity to Honkai so he could avoid the plague and some other things that were quite troublesome for the frontline soldiers.
But this is also a disadvantage for him because he does not have Honkai energy so he cannot use equipment that uses Honkai energy.
This causes Kouro to only be able to use conventional weapons that are not very effective against Honkai, especially since he is also unable to participate in Project MANTIS due to his immunity to Honkai.
It is true that being MANTIS has its own risks that can endanger lives, but considering that being MANTIS can defeat thousands of Honkai with bare hands and even be able to fight with ---------, it seems like it is worth it to bear the risk.
Unfortunately Kouro does not have a match with the Honkai Beast gene even the most suitable one for him is less than 1% which is different from other normal soldiers who even the lowest one has a 35% match.
Even if they force the MANTIS project on Kouro, the Honkai Beast gene will always be destroyed when it replaces Kouro's gene.
This has left scientists and researchers confused.
Either Kouro is an enemy of Honkai, or Honkai itself is hostile to Kouro.
In fact, Kouro has such great abilities and skills that he can defeat a MANTIS in one-on-one combat without weapons.
Kouro is limited by the advantages or perhaps the curse he has so that he is currently the only human soldier fighting on the front lines against Honkai alongside the MANTIS.
If he could become a MANTIS, Otto believed Kouro could be on par with Rita or even surpass her.
Otto then shook his head and dispelled those thoughts before raising his hand and saying.
"...Enough talk, start the test now!"
[Center is turned on]
[Starts releasing the Consciousness "Confinement" of 3 Psychological MANTIS units]
[Started Oneiric connection]
[Observation 27 linked in the dream]
[Link Established]
...
Staring at Durandal, Otto let out a long sigh and muttered, "I hope to eliminate it quickly. This "Consciousness Confinement" is making me dizzy, I can't even taste my drink."
"Time has called me, I am now an old fool. I turned my own student into a MANTIS... And I just threw her into the gates of hell. "
"Don't blame yourself, Professor. As Dr. Bianca said, it was her choice. Any qualified member who accepts modifications for the purpose of this mission. " Paul said to him from behind.
Hearing the words, Otto then replied with an unknown expression, "Well, Mr. Paul Long. You want to say that this is the only chance to strike back?"
*BANG! *
Otto looked shocked, blood began to drip from his mouth which fell to the floor, he held his bleeding stomach in pain before turning around slowly.
"What... have... You did Paul!? "
With the gun in his hand steaming, Paul didn't answer and instead threw down his sunglasses revealing his eyes that had turned dark while his irises were light gray and his pupils were black and had been shaped like reptilian animals.
"Urgh... Those eyes, have you been controlled by her? " Otto muttered.
"That's right, Professor. I hid inside his mind before you forced him to take the medicine. "
'Paul' was seen sticking out his tongue revealing a medicine capsule that had not been swallowed at all.
He spat out the medicine and then pointed his gun at Otto's head with a grin.
"After I destroy this observation center, there will be no one to stand in my way anymore. "
*BANG! *
Weekly Power Status
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