Chapter 337: Wise: Luckily, I Prepared "Medicine"
Just as Wise felt his physical endurance scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel, a wave of nausea threatening to betray his tightly clenched throat, the environment finally shifted.
A harsh, brilliant light pierced through his squeezed-shut eyelids. This wasn't the sickly, neon-tinged gloom of the Hollow's interior; it was the piercing, unfiltered brightness of a normal sky. The heavy, suffocating atmospheric pressure that always accompanied Ether corruption rapidly dissipated, replaced by a dry, biting wind.
Immediately afterward, Miyabi's blurring momentum came to a jarring halt. Her boots slammed into solid earth, kicking up a spray of grit.
They made it! Finally!
A deep surge of relief crashed over Wise, so intense he practically wanted to weep. The torturous, bone-rattling ride slung over the swordswoman's shoulder was over. He felt her grip shift, gently lifting him before carefully depositing him onto the flat, slightly cool expanse of the rocky ground.
He forced his facial muscles to remain entirely slack, maintaining the flawless illusion of a dead faint. Yet, trapped in the darkness behind his eyelids, his other senses dialed up to maximum. The crunch of gravel echoed near his ear as Miyabi quickly closed the distance and crouched beside him. Two fingers—still carrying a faint, icy chill despite the lingering heat of their recent battle—pressed firmly against the side of his neck. She was checking his carotid artery, searching for the rhythm of his life.
Oh, crap! My pulse! Wise's internal alarm bells shrieked. After enduring that violently turbulent sprint and the stifling atmosphere of the Hollow, his heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped rabbit. It was entirely too fast, too vigorous for someone supposedly slipping into a corruption-induced coma.
Fortunately, a soft, barely audible sigh of relief escaped Miyabi's lips.
"His pulse is racing... strong and erratic," she muttered to herself, her tone shifting into an analytical murmur. "It must be an acute stress response. His immune system is violently resisting the Ether corruption. His vital signs are still highly active."
Wise mentally cheered. The Section 6 officer had successfully rationalized his glaring flaw into a positive medical sign.
Just as he allowed himself a mental sigh of relief, silently praising Miyabi's 'professional' over-analysis, a sudden, blinding spike of agony erupted right beneath his nose.
Miyabi's thumb had jammed directly into his philtrum with terrifying, unyielding force! The sharp, agonizing pressure shot straight through his skull, rattling his very teeth.
Total miscalculation! Wise screamed internally. He recognized the technique instantly—a brutal, old-school emergency awakening method designed to shock an unconscious person's nervous system back online through sheer pain. But he absolutely refused to be violently jolted awake by this terrifyingly strong elite officer. It was entirely too undignified. Worse, if he didn't react soon, who knew how much more pressure she might apply out of genuine concern? She could snap his teeth!
The charade had to end. If he kept playing dead, he was going to get 'rescued' straight into a severe facial injury.
Right as Miyabi shifted her weight, preparing to double down on the sustained pressure, Wise squeezed his vocal cords, letting out a perfectly timed, hoarse groan of pain.
His eyelids fluttered wildly. Acting as though he were fighting against a mountain of exhaustion, he slowly forced his eyes open to a narrow slit. He glazed his pupils over, projecting the absolute perfect mixture of confusion, debilitating weakness, and unfocused haziness. He let his head loll slightly, his gaze sluggishly sweeping the environment. The suffocating, chaotic darkness of the Hollow was entirely gone, replaced by the sprawling, sun-baked dunes of the Outer Ring's desert.
"Are we..." His voice came out as a dry, raspy croak, every single syllable sounding as though it had been dragged over broken glass. "Did we... make it out...?"
A visible flicker of deep relief softened the sharp edges of Miyabi's eyes. She instantly snapped her thumb away from his bruised philtrum, giving him some much-needed breathing room. When she spoke, her usually cool, unflappable tone was gone. Instead, a subtle, fragile tremor laced her words, betraying the intense spike of adrenaline and lingering fear she had just endured.
"Wise? Are you alright?" she asked, leaning in closer. "Your corruption symptoms spiked drastically just a moment ago. You lost consciousness entirely, so I immediately evacuated you from the Hollow."
Hearing that faint tremor beneath her stoic exterior, and meeting those fox-like eyes swimming with genuine, lingering worry, a heavy stone of guilt dropped directly into Wise's stomach. Tricking someone this conscientious, this fiercely responsible and deeply concerned for her companion's safety, left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He forced the corners of his mouth to twitch upward, offering her a weak, pale smile. "So... that's what happened. I've ended up troubling you again, Miyabi... Thank you. You saved me... one more time."
He paused, letting his chest heave as if gathering the meager strength required to form his next sentence.
"Miyabi... could you do me a favor?" he whispered, his voice barely audible over the desert wind. "In the left pocket... of my jacket. There's some anti-corruption medicine. Could you... feed me a dose? I always keep some on hand... for sudden emergencies like this."
This, naturally, was the linchpin of his entire act.
The moment he had committed to feigning unconsciousness, anticipating an immediate evacuation from the Hollow, he had fired off a rapid string of messages to Belle through the Chat Group interface in his mind.
Belle, chaotic but brilliant, had acted with terrifying efficiency. Using whatever random materials she had on hand, she had quickly synthesized several sugar pills. They were identical in appearance, color, and size to the mainstream anti-corruption suppressants sold on the black markets of New Eridu. She had even carefully replicated the slightly chalky, rough texture characteristic of the genuine tablets.
using the Chat Group's shared dimensional storage, Wise had quietly materialized these 'specialized emergency meds' directly into his inner jacket pocket. The entire exchange had been utterly seamless, completely bypassing Miyabi's sharp senses.
Right now, Miyabi was experiencing the sudden, exhausting crash of adrenaline that always followed a desperate escape. Her mental guard was lowered by the sheer relief of seeing her companion awake. Coupled with Wise's Oscar-worthy performance of a dying man, she didn't harbor a single shred of suspicion.
Following his weak instructions, she reached out, her slender fingers slipping into the inner lining of his jacket. She quickly located the small, perfectly plausible plastic medicine bottle.
Popping the cap, she neatly shook a single 'pill' into her palm. Without a second of hesitation, she slid her other hand behind Wise's neck, gently supporting his head as she brought the tablet to his lips.
Wise played his part perfectly, parting his lips with a slight tremble and swallowing the 'life-saving medication'.
A sweet, slightly tart burst of artificial fruit flavor immediately bloomed across his tongue. The pleasant taste expertly neutralized the lingering bitterness of bile and the dry, stifling dust of the Hollow.
Not bad at all, Wise chuckled inwardly. Leave it to Belle to make sure the fake meds are strawberry-flavored.
The sugar slowly melted away, offering a tiny sliver of psychological comfort, though it did absolutely nothing to wash away the mounting guilt gnawing at his conscience.
Seeing him swallow the medication, the rigid tension in Miyabi's shoulders finally began to slacken. She pulled back, immediately drawing her tactical communicator from her belt and tapping into an encrypted Section 6 frequency. When she spoke, her voice had largely regained its usual crisp, professional efficiency, though a trained ear could still catch the slightly elevated tempo of her words.
"Yanagi, it's Miyabi. I have successfully evacuated the Hollow. My current coordinates have been transmitted to your device. Wise is secure with me. He experienced a severe episode of corruption-induced syncope, but he has just administered his personal suppressants and regained consciousness. What is your current status? Over."
A steady, impeccably calm, and deeply reassuring female voice crackled through the comms—Tsukishiro Yanagi.
"Copy that, Chief. Our sweep-and-clear operation on this end has concluded. We have successfully detained several hostile targets."
"We are currently wrapping up the final battlefield cleanup alongside Nicole and her operatives from the Cunning Hares," Yanagi continued smoothly. "We estimate our arrival at your coordinates in approximately fifteen minutes. Please focus on Mr. Wise's vitals and ensure his condition remains stable. Do not hesitate to call for emergency medical support if his corruption levels spike again. Over."
"Understood. His condition hasn't degraded to the point of requiring an emergency medevac just yet. I will monitor his vitals closely and maintain an open channel."
Miyabi terminated the connection. She lowered the device and looked back down at Wise, her expression softening into a look of quiet reassurance. "Yanagi and the others have finished their sweep. They're on their way."
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