I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

"Call the medical team!"

He shouted until his voice was hoarse.

The temporary camp of the sixth line of defense.

This is a cluster of tents built on a hillside behind the coastline.

The makeshift hospital beds were lined up in rows, with the wounded stretching from one end of the tent to the other.

The sea breeze seeped in through the gaps in the tent, carrying a mixture of salty, fishy, ​​and bloody smells.

Pei Yuran and Lin Jinyu were assigned to the same tent.

Two cots were placed side by side, less than an arm's length apart.

Gu Yan moved a folding chair and sat between them.

His left leg was unconsciously touched by Yu Ran's hand, while his right leg was hooked by Jin Yu's fingers.

Neither of them had woken up yet.

He looked at them.

Yu Ran's face was frighteningly white, even whiter than the plain white dress she usually wore.

Her lips were split, and she had a gash on her forehead from the shockwave, which had already been bandaged.

Her right arm was wrapped in bandages from shoulder to wrist, and beneath the bandages were the meridians burned by the backlash of spiritual energy.

Jin Yu's injuries were more severe.

Half of her long blonde hair was singed, and there was a burn on her left cheek, extending from her cheekbone to her ear.

Her left hand was in a splint, she had two broken ribs, and her internal organs suffered minor shock injuries.

The medical officer said that both of them would need to rest for at least half a month.

Gu Yan held their hands, Yu Ran's with her left hand and Jin Yu's with her right.

Their hands were very cold, so cold that it made his heart clench.

"spy."

Lin Jinyu was the first to wake up.

The first thing she said when she opened her eyes wasn't "it hurts," or "I want water," but these two words.

She stared at the top of the tent, the sharpness of battle still lingering in her golden pupils.

"The Kuroshio Current arrived with perfect timing."

"We've just arrived at the fifth line of defense, and all our forces are having a meeting on the aircraft carrier."

"They took advantage of this time to advance from the weakest point in the defense, the northeast corner."

"They know our deployment, our troop rotation time, and where General Joseph's fleet is stationed."

"This is definitely not a coincidence."

Pei Yuran woke up halfway through her speech.

She listened to Lin Jinyu's words with her eyes closed, and then spoke very softly.

"Support the fleet's route."

"Kuroshio knows the real-time coordinates of every one of our ships."

"Priestess Ikana's protective barrier only lasted for fifteen minutes before it was breached by a concentrated attack."

"They know her weaknesses."

"I know she's using life force, not spiritual power."

Gu Yan did not speak.

His fingers tightened very, very slightly in their palms.

"I'll look into it."

He said.

"You are not allowed to go."

The two people spoke at the same time, and then simultaneously turned their heads away from each other.

The atmosphere inside the tent became subtle.

Lin Jinyu turned her head back first, looking at Gu Yan, her golden pupils showing weakness from her injuries and an uncontrollable ferocity.

"In your current state, going out would be suicide."

"My mental energy is completely depleted; I can't even defeat a B-level calamity."

"What are you going to use to investigate?"

"What will you do after you find out?"

"Stay put and wait for me to recover from my injuries."

"I'll check it myself."

Pei Yuran didn't speak, but her hand gently tugged at Gu Yan's palm.

Gu Yan looked at her; her eyes were still closed, and her eyelashes were trembling slightly.

She didn't need to say "I'll go too," her meaning was clear.

She is going too.

Gu Yan sighed softly.

He released their hands, stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and let the sea breeze blow on his face.

Dawn was approaching, and the wreckage of the fleet still floated on the distant sea, with wisps of black smoke drifting into the sky.

He stood there for a while before turning around and sitting down among them.

"You should focus on healing your injuries first."

"We'll investigate together once you're able to stand up again."

"I won't act alone."

"Will this work?"

Lin Jinyu snorted, which was taken as agreement.

Pei Yuran didn't speak, but her eyelashes fluttered twice, and Gu Yan knew that was her way of saying "good".

For the next few days, Gu Yan spent all her time in this tent.

With a shortage of medical personnel and too many wounded, he volunteered to take care of two people.

Every morning, I change Yu Ran's dressings. Her meridian burns require regular nourishment with ice-type spiritual energy, but as an ice-type ability user, her body is too weak, and she can't even mobilize her own spiritual energy.

Gu Yan placed her palm against her wrist and used the meager spiritual power of the Mirror Flower Seal to guide her spiritual energy back to its proper place little by little.

His mental strength was too weak, and he could only help a little each time, but Yu Ran never urged him.

She simply lay there quietly with her eyes closed, her eyelashes occasionally fluttering, like a cat basking in the sun in the snow.

Changing Jinyu's dressing is another matter.

Her burns were on her face, and every time the bandages were removed, they would tear at the wounds.

She winced in pain, but refused to make a sound.

Gu Yan's touch was very gentle. She bit her lower lip and stared intently at his face with her golden pupils, as if staring at him would make the pain go away.

Gu Yan felt a little uneasy under her gaze, and her movements became even lighter.

She replied, "Don't be so slow, like you're embroidering. It hurts, but hurry up."

He was a little faster.

She added, "Just go faster when I tell you to, it hurts so much!"

He slowed down again.

She glared at him, turned her face away, and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.

"casual."

Pei Yuran lay on the bed next to him, her eyes slightly open. Her icy blue pupils moved from Gu Yan's face to Lin Jinyu's face, and then back to his face.

She didn't speak, but Gu Yan inexplicably felt that there was a very faint smile in her eyes, a smile that only he could understand.

"Yu Ran, what are you laughing at?"

"I didn't laugh."

Her voice was still cold, but the curve of her lips betrayed her.

Lin Jinyu suddenly became famous.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"I almost lost my life to save you, and you're laughing at me?"

She tried to sit up, but the injury to her ribs made her gasp in pain as soon as she was halfway up, and she lay back down.

Gu Yan quickly pressed down on her shoulder.

"Don't move, your ribs haven't healed yet."

Lin Jinyu glared at him.

She laughed at me.

Gu Yan said, "She didn't laugh."

Lin Jinyu said, "She smiled, I saw it."

Pei Yuran closed her eyes and spoke softly.

"You're seeing things."

"Burned by fire-based superpowers."

Lin Jinyu was so angry that she wanted to lift the bed sheet, but Gu Yan held her down.

She could only lie there, her chest heaving violently, two small flames burning in her golden pupils.

Looking at her like this, and then glancing at Yu Ran who was resting with her eyes closed beside her, Gu Yan suddenly felt a headache coming on.

"You two, can't you give me a break?"

"cannot."

The two of them spoke in unison.

Then Lin Jinyu paused for a moment, and Pei Yuran's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The two of them fell silent at the same time, and the tent was so quiet that the sound of the distant waves could be heard.