"Sarkaz, huh," Nian peeked out, placing a hand over her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked curiously at the scene ahead. "What are you doing looking for Sarkaz?"
"Treating illness," Xia Yu said as she stepped forward, preparing to head in.
Then, seeing someone from the LGD walking over, Nian quickly reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Um, Doctor Bailu, this lady is..." Chen Huijie looked at the elegant woman before her, her eyes darting between the horns and the tail as she asked hesitantly.
"Hello there, Officer," Nian said with a smile. "This child hasn't caused you too much trouble lately, has she?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Huijie instantly remembered that Bailu had mentioned she had many sisters.
So this was one of them?
"No, not at all," she quickly forced a smile. "Doctor Bailu has been a great help to Lungmen. We are all very grateful... Ah!"
Before she could finish, Xia Yu gave her shin a silent, light kick.
"You don't recognize her?" she said, staring at Chen Huijie.
"Uh, no. Who exactly is this lady..." Chen Huijie was completely bewildered.
"This is why I hate Wei Yenwu. He thinks everything is under control," Xia Yu let out a cold snort. "And yet he didn't even tell you, his successor, about such a major matter."
"Listen well. If you shake hands with her today and act a bit too friendly, people from the Yan Department of Sui Affairs will come to talk to you tomorrow! Or, they might go directly to Wei Yenwu. This Miss Nian is a world-renowned Grand Artisan. She's a 'high-level talent' that Baizao keeps as close an eye on as their own 'heart and soul.'"
"She has over a dozen siblings, every one of them famous. Wei Yenwu wouldn't even dare meet her in private for fear that Baizao might misunderstand—she's that kind of person!"
The situation certainly wasn't that dire, but that didn't stop Xia Yu from exaggerating.
Chen Huijie was left utterly dumbfounded.
"Oh my, you flatter me," Nian said with a smile, snapping her fan open to cover her mouth. With a charming laugh, she added, "Actually, I'm not really that amazing."
"I wasn't talking to you!" Xia Yu turned to look at her. "Is being a brat that much fun?"
"Yes, it's very fun!" Nian chuckled. "Since I'm in for a nagging anyway, I might as well make it worth my while!"
"Miss Nian, right?" Chen Huijie took a deep breath and extended her hand regardless. "Hello."
"Eh, even though her description was a bit excessive," Nian reached out curiously and shook her hand, "you actually dare to speak to me?"
"I am only myself," Chen Huijie said, unmoved. "A Superintendent of the Lungmen Guard Department, with no other identity!"
"But other people won't think so," Nian said pointedly.
"Let them think what they want," Chen Huijie acted as if she didn't care at all.
"Interesting. You've successfully caught my attention," Nian snapped her fan shut and looked her up and down a few times. "So, Miss Chen Huijie, interested in a cameo role in my movie?"
"My apologies, the LGD's work is very busy," Chen Huijie shook her head.
"That's a real shame," Nian shook her head, then looked at Bailu. "By the way, you just said you were going to treat the Sarkaz. It suddenly occurs to me—could the Divine Doctor who's become so famous in Lungmen lately be you, Little Bailu?"
"Didn't you know that a long time ago?" Xia Yu glanced at her. "Hmph, I've always used that Painting Scroll openly."
"It's Oripathy, after all," Nian's smile faded. "If even Oripathy can be cured..."
"Then the deal your sister made with us wouldn't be a loss, right?" Xia Yu let out a chuckle. "But I have to disappoint you. This isn't my power; it's a wisp of a Shadow left to me by Sister Tarnished."
"Furthermore, it can't cure Oripathy. It can only reverse the degree of the patient's erosion. To cure Oripathy, medical skills will never be of any use."
"But even that is staggering enough," a trace of solemnity flashed in Nian's eyes. "In the terminal stages of Oripathy, more than half of the body has already been converted by Originium... if there is a technology that can convert it back..."
"Officer Chen Huijie, can you believe it? This is equivalent to taking a Beastfowl egg that has been made into an omelet and using some means to restore it to the point in time when it was just a simple egg."
"Is this really something Originium Arts can achieve?"
"...That's also what the major academies in Lungmen find most incomprehensible," Chen Huijie said, glancing at the indifferent Doctor Bailu. Only after seeing no displeasure in her eyes did she continue.
"From the very first day, many people questioned the authenticity of the treatment. But as batches of patients were reborn, they had to admit the truth, yet they simply couldn't understand how it was done."
Chen Huijie sighed. "Lately, the application reports from those great scholars and professors have piled up on my desk. They all want to come and research this, er, medical technique."
"I told you, there's nothing to research," Xia Yu shook her head. "The last of the People of Gold have walked into the sea. Erdtree Incantations have had their heritage completely cut off."
"Without Grace, and without being a chosen Tarnished, they cannot understand Incantations."
"Is there really... no hope at all?" Chen Huijie looked at Xia Yu expectantly.
"Perhaps Sister Tarnished would have a way," Xia Yu spread her hands. "But she has already left the continent of Terra. Don't look at me; I don't know Golden Incantations either. I'm just using Sister Furina's Vision to manifest a Shadow of Sister Tarnished."
"That sounds like a real pity," Nian sighed. "Why did that Miss Tarnished have to go to sea..."
"Heh, if she didn't go to sea, the entire Yan would have exploded by now," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her. "Alright, let's end the small talk here. Are they still not cooperating?"
"One part clearly wants the treatment," Chen Huijie explained with a sigh. "They're all people who want to make a living in Lungmen."
"But those Sarkaz Mercenaries still have their doubts."
"Take me to see them," Xia Yu couldn't understand which part of the Sarkaz's brains had misfired.
Until she arrived before the Sarkaz settlement.
A tall, sturdy figure was saying something to the tense Sarkaz Mercenaries.
At first, Xia Yu thought it was incitement, but looking closely, it seemed more like persuasion.
Until she arrived in front of them.
Uh, isn't this our big Sarkaz girl?
She's out here making a living this early?
"Officer, my apologies," seeing them arrive, the tall figure spoke in a muffled voice. "I haven't convinced them yet..."
Xia Yu looked at the hammer tied with red ribbons and called out tentatively, "Mudrock?"
"..." Hearing her name, the tall figure looked over in confusion. "This lady knows me?"
"...It really is you," Xia Yu sighed. "Are even the children of earth and stone forced to leave their homes these days? Is the situation in Kazdel that bad?"
"...You might have misunderstood something," Mudrock's tall frame instantly tensed up, showing a hint of vigilance. Behind her, her old comrades all inconspicuously shifted closer to their weapons.
"I am just an ordinary Sarkaz. I have nothing to do with the esteemed Royal Court of the Gargoyles."
"But you have at least some Gargoyle blood, right?" Xia Yu spread her hands. "You have the talent."
"So, you are?" Mudrock acted extremely wary.
"A doctor," Xia Yu answered casually. "By the way, how is the situation with Babel right now?"
"...Her Highness Theresa's organization?" Mudrock froze for a moment. "We aren't very clear. Our squad has been away from Kazdel for a long time."
"Let's just say that's the case," Xia Yu shook her head. "Looking at you all, it seems you aren't planning to cooperate with the treatment, right?"
"Apologies, we still need to discuss it," Mudrock had originally wanted to cooperate because several members of her squad had very severe Oripathy.
But now this person had called out her name in one go and seemed to know everyone very well, which made her instinctively vigilant.
After all, the last mission had nearly caused them to fall in Ursus...
"I don't have time to waste with you," Xia Yu took out her Vision. In the blink of an eye, Little Tarnished manifested before them. "Therefore, I choose to solve the problem the Sarkaz way."
"Once I've beaten you all down, you won't resist the treatment anymore."
Mudrock suddenly gripped her hammer.
The comrades behind her shouted, "It's a trap! They never intended to let us go!"
"Formation!" Mudrock quickly retreated, moving into the middle of the mercenaries' encirclement. "Buy me time! I'll have 'friends' help us break out!"
"This..." Chen Huijie watched, dumbstruck. They were chatting just fine a moment ago; why had a fight suddenly broken out?
But she still quickly began to direct the surrounding LGD officers.
"Need Big Sister's help?" Nian leaned in toward Xia Yu with a grin.
"Now you're 'Big Sister' again?" Xia Yu gave her an annoyed look, then turned to Chen Huijie. "Have your people keep an eye on the other Infected."
"Leave these people to me!"
Chen Huijie wanted to say more, but the summoned Little Tarnished had already pulled out the Moonlight Greatsword and begun her charge!
"Switch weapons!" Xia Yu shouted in exasperation. "Are you planning to kill them all with that?"
Hearing this, Little Tarnished braked hard, then tilted her head. With a 'pop,' the Moonlight Greatsword vanished from her hand. She then pulled out a Giant-Crusher. The tiny figure held a hammer larger than her entire body with one hand, a total contrast in scale.
Mainly, her body was too small; even holding a Reduvia looked like a longsword.
But Little Tarnished shook her head again; the hammer was still too big.
After swapping through a dozen weapons and still being unsatisfied, she simply pulled out two Great Turtle Shell shields in her annoyance under Nian's bewildered gaze. Holding one in each hand, she charged toward the Sarkaz.
"This is..." The Sarkaz on the frontline watched in stunned silence as the tiny person charged with two giant turtle shells. He subconsciously raised his heavy sword and slashed.
Then, both the man and his sword were sent flying.
Behold the power of a Quality Build, boy!
Though her size had decreased, her stats hadn't been nerfed one bit!
Little Tarnished was like a cold-faced killer, expressionlessly holding the two Great Turtle Shell shields, smashing every Sarkaz in her way into the ground like a game of whack-a-mole.
If someone had a stronger constitution and hadn't lost their strength after one hit, she'd hit them again.
The scene was simply brutal!
Once the twenty-odd Sarkaz Mercenaries blocking her path had all been knocked down, she finally approached Mudrock.
The latter had also finally summoned her 'friend.'
A rock colossus several meters tall looked at the tiny speck before it and smashed its fist down.
Boom!
Under the expectant gazes of the mercenaries, the massive fist completely covered the terrifying enemy.
The mercenaries still standing thought it had worked because of their line of sight.
But the mercenaries already on the ground watched with eyes nearly splitting as they looked under the rock colossus's fist.
That little god of slaughter's body hadn't even wavered!
The rock colossus raised its hand and smashed down again.
Boom!
Boom!
Just like whack-a-mole.
"This..." Chen Huijie looked at Doctor Bailu. Did she really not need to step in?
But before Bailu could speak, Little Tarnished on the field could no longer take it.
She directly dismissed the shields, pulled out the Bone-Blade Greatsword, and slammed it upward against the falling fist.
Boom!
In yet another clash, the rock colossus was actually knocked off balance.
Seizing the moment, Little Tarnished pulled out a grayish-white orb of light and pressed it directly into her chest!
[Remembrance of the Lichdragon Fortissax!]
Instantly, bright red lightning filled the entire area.
Amidst that lightning, an Ancient Dragon with four wings, its back covered in thorn-like spikes, its entire body black and red and as rough as stone, appeared on the field.
It reached out, ignoring any resistance, and grabbed the rock colossus, lifting it high and squeezing tight.
Crackle...
In an instant, the colossus that had been so overbearing just moments ago turned into a pile of rubble on the ground.
All the Sarkaz froze. Even the LGD Operators surrounding the area were dumbstruck.
"This is..." Chen Huijie subconsciously gripped Chi Xiao.
"Lichdragon Fortissax," Xia Yu sighed. Looking at Little Tarnished, who was standing upright holding a bolt of red lightning in each hand, she shouted, "If you let that go, they really will die!"
Hearing this, the Lichdragon let out a very dissatisfied spray of red lightning, knocking down all the remaining standing Sarkaz. It then dispersed the red lightning in its hands and severed the connection to the Elden Ring.
She returned once more to the form of Little Tarnished.
But now, no one dared to underestimate this tiny summon.
Just based on that posture from a moment ago—covered in lightning while the sky and earth went dark—one knew that even if the entire LGD died out, they might not be able to take this thing down.
"This kind of technique..." Nian's eyes were burning with desire. She grabbed Xia Yu's hand. "You must let this little lady come for a cameo in my crew! I can custom-make a role just for her!"
"This special effect! This momentum! This contrast! She's simply a natural-born star!"
"That's enough," Xia Yu glanced at her, then looked ahead.
"I tried to talk sense into you and you wouldn't listen, so don't blame me for getting physical," she looked at Little Tarnished. "Incant for me!"
Mudrock struggled to stand up, but Little Tarnished had already taken out the Golden Order Seal.
In an instant, a golden light illuminated the entire block.