I'm on the Ark, and I start out as Gretchen.

"Sigh... So, can you tell me why you secretly followed us here?"

Seeing Gretchen's expression, Yelena sighed softly, then looked directly into her eyes and asked in a low voice.

Although Yelena had gained a direct understanding of the little girl's strength after hearing the descriptions of the two yetis, she wasn't particularly surprised overall.

Because she already knew that Gretchen was not an ordinary child; her abilities were special and her origins were unknown.

So, more than anything else, Yelena wanted to know why little Gretsch had come all the way here with them. After all, the distance this time was anything but short.

"Yes, because I want to protect you, all of you. I don't want Yelena's health to deteriorate any further." Hearing Yelena's voice, Gretsch earnestly repeated what she had said before, but which had been taken as a joke.

"Is that so? I understand."

Seeing the seriousness and determination in Gretchen's eyes, Yelena did not blame her. Instead, she gently smiled and softly patted the little girl's head again.

Gretchen's answer didn't surprise Yelena too much, or perhaps she already knew the reason the moment she saw the little girl here...

At this moment, Yelena completely abandoned her adult "arrogance" towards children and regarded the little and adorable Gretsch in front of her as a little comrade-in-arms who could fight alongside her.

"Hey, Yelena, aren't you angry anymore?"

Gretsch gently rubbed Yelena's calloused hand and asked in surprise, as if she hadn't expected Yelena to calm down so quickly.

"I'm angry with you, you little rascal? Not really. If I were to be angry, it would be at myself. After all, I didn't take good care of you."

After saying that, Yelena blinked her beautiful eyes. Then, softening her voice again, she said, "Besides, little Gretchen was trying to help us, wasn't she?"

"Yes, I will keep working hard. With me here, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Hearing Yelena's gentle words, Gretchen's previously fluctuating mood vanished, and her large violet eyes were filled with joy once again.

"Okay, we'll protect you, little Greta, too."

Gazing into Gretchen's big eyes, which were practically sparkling with stars, Yelena couldn't resist reaching out and gently pinching her soft little face.

……

Watching his older sister interact with the little girl, Ivan quietly leaned close to Alexei's ear and whispered, "I told you, my older sister would never blame little Gretchen. You still say I'm talking nonsense."

Even if my older sister didn't say it, you told Gretchen before, which is absolutely true.

"That's a fallacy, there's no denying it." Alexei retorted quietly, rolling his eyes at the person who had moved closer to him.

"Nonsense is not fallacy!"

"that is!"

----------------

Soon after, the other members of the Yeti Squad arrived one by one. After confirming the situation at the mine, Yelena led everyone straight into the mine to deal with the mess left by the Tyrant.

Upon entering the mine and assessing the situation, confirming that most of the enemies had been eliminated, the Yeti squad began searching for any remaining foe and seized key locations within the mine, including the warehouse.

"Sorry, it seems Uncle Tyrant has almost cleared out the enemies..." Gretsch glanced at the busy Yetis around her, then turned to Alyona beside her and said apologetically.

Previously, Gretchen had let the Tyrant act first in order to show the Yetis her power and prevent them from stopping her.

This approach makes it impossible to find Alyona's enemies and force her to take action herself.

“I saw him, he’s dead. So it’s okay…” Looking at the little girl beside her who was earnestly apologizing, Alyona smiled for the first time in years.

"Hmm, you're bleeding. Oh, right, the wound... needs to be treated."

Although Gretchen thought Alyona's smile was beautiful, she frowned slightly when she noticed that the smile aggravated the wound on her face, causing it to bleed again.

Gazing at the bright red mark, Gretsch remembered that the girl seemed to have wounds as well... It had been too dark in the woods before, and after changing into warm clothes, Alyona hadn't cried out in pain at all, and her mental state was relatively good.

This led to the little girl completely overlooking this point...

"Feel sorry……"

A hint of annoyance and self-reproach flashed in Gretchen's eyes. After apologizing again, she gently took the girl's hand and walked towards Lois, who was not far away.

“Sister Lois, Alyona is injured… Do you have any medicine with you?” Gretsch gently tugged at Lois’s sleeve and asked.

Lois, who was taking inventory of the warehouse with several Yetis, felt a pull on her sleeve, paused slightly, and then smiled and said, "What a coincidence. Although we didn't bring many healing potions, the mine has quite a lot in stock."

"You guys continue counting, I'll be back in a bit."

"okay!"

"go Go."

After saying goodbye to the other Yetis, Lois picked up the first-aid kit she had just found and looked at the two little ones, saying, "Alright, come with me over there. I'll treat this little boy's wound."

"it is good."

Gretchen nodded gently upon hearing this, then took Alyona's hand and followed Lois's footsteps.

……

When they reached a secluded corner and Lois began to actually treat Alyona's wounds, her initial joy at finding so many supplies vanished instantly.

Because Alyona was wearing Gretsch's clothes and seemed to be in good spirits, Lois thought the little girl hadn't been hurt.

She even marveled at her own luck, that she had managed to escape and meet Gretchen, this little angel.

But after treating the wounds on her face and removing the two layers of clothing from Alyona's body, Lois was so angry that her eyes twitched and her fists hardened.

For a moment, she really felt that it was too good for these scumbags to be so easily killed by Gretchen's tyrant.

Not only Lois, but Gretsch, who was standing to the side, also started to twitch her usually expressionless face, and her mood plummeted like a rollercoaster.

She now shares the exact same thought as Lois; she feels that it's letting those people off too easily...

Under the light, Alyona's physical condition was fully revealed to the two of them.

He was emaciated due to severe malnutrition, and his body was covered with various scars, especially his back, which was covered with dense whip marks, both new and old.

Some had healed, leaving ugly scars; some had scabbed over, but then the scabs were removed; some had become infected, with pale yellow fluid sticking to her old, close-fitting clothes…

P.S.: Please urge them more. There wasn't much urging for the last one, so this one is taking a bit longer to write.

Chapter 35 Gretchen's Wrath

"..."

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt much..."

Noticing the anger in Gretchen's eyes, Alyona smiled again and gently tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not noticing sooner that the injury wasn't this serious..." Alyona's smile and words did nothing to cheer Gretsch up; instead, the little girl apologized again, blaming herself.

“I told you it’s okay, Gretchen… Gretchen, you saved me, didn’t you?” Alyona said, shaking her head indifferently.

In her eyes, this was a really trivial matter. It was just some minor injury; it wouldn't be a problem to deal with it later, and she was already used to it.

“That’s different… Nobody likes pain. If only Mother Aponia were here.” Gretchen was both angry and heartbroken looking at Alyona’s expression and attitude.

She even thought that if she could become Aponia right now, she could take care of these infected people.

...care in every sense of the word.

However, as she thought about this, Gretchen remembered something.

She quietly opened a panel that no one else could see, then flipped to Möbius's page, and just as she expected...

Mebius unlocked it sometime ago.

This discovery slightly improved Greta's currently bad mood.

After that, apart from staying by Alyona's side, she focused all her attention on the research panel.

Then, Gretchen quickly noticed many details. For example, the information about transformation that she only discovered after unlocking her new identity.

Take Mebius as an example. Gretchen can now not only transform into her directly, but also split her own consciousness to create a Mebius "avatar" that is in tune with her mind.

This setup is incredibly convenient and practical for the little girl... because in this situation, she's essentially two people, able to do two things simultaneously using different identities.

Greta had been worried that even if she could become Mebius, she wouldn't have the time or a professional laboratory for her research.

But now that she knows she can split into two, she's started thinking about where would be a good place to put Möbius. At the very least, she needs a lab where she can get free access.

Then, besides this little detail, Gretchen discovered something else that surprised her.

That is, she found two small icons in the lower left corner of Mebius's panel, one depicting a mature older sister snake and the other a cute loli snake, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Putting aside whether they are cute or not, children's appearances alone are not so convincing in public.

If Gretchen wanted to use her identity as Mebius to seriously research things, she felt that the giant snake would be more convenient.

After flipping through the panel a few more times, Gretchen closed it, pulling herself out of her thoughts and focusing all her attention on Alyona.

But no matter how many times you look at the crisscrossing wounds and scars on Alyona's body, it still makes you very angry... Gretchen is no exception.

Although her small face remained expressionless, anger still churned within her large violet eyes.

"call……"

After taking a deep look at Alyona, whose body was trembling involuntarily from the pain but who was not making a sound, Gretsch gently looked away and walked out.

"Hmm? Little Gretchen, where are you planning to go?"

Upon noticing Gretchen's actions, Lois paused slightly, then looked at the little girl walking away with a puzzled expression.

“Let’s go for a walk and then find something to eat. Alyona must be hungry too.” Gretchen turned slightly and explained to Lois in a soft voice.

At the same time, her lower abdomen also started to rumble.

"Goo~"

Of course, Gretchen went out not just to find something to eat, but it's undeniable that she was indeed hungry.

A long time has passed since noon... At this time normally, whether at the Moth of Fire or at the Reunion camp, she would have already finished dinner.

To put it dramatically, Gretchen would normally be feeling sleepy by this time and it would be time for her to go to bed.

However, because of what just happened, she was very angry and her mind was perfectly clear, without the slightest bit of sleepiness.

"Whoosh-"

After leaving the warehouse and being greeted by the cold wind, Gretchen's emotions calmed down a little.

After standing there for a short while, the little girl stopped hesitating and headed towards the campfire. There, the Yeti were already busily preparing a large dinner.

The reason for the large number of people was that, in addition to the Yeti team and Gretchen's group, the dinner also included the infected people in the mine.

"Oh, Gretchen, are you hungry? Come here, let your brother get you some food."