I'm in Terra

Unlike the usually calm Victoria, Miss Bee Hunter was quite curious. She had been in Adlai's cabin for four or five days and had never noticed that there was someone living there, and from the sound of their voice, they seemed to be quite ill.

"It's probably an infected person. Don't get involved." Victoria snorted, using his eyes to stop the eager Hunter Bee. Whether the person hiding inside was Adlai's family, friends, or simply a patient, it was not appropriate for either of them to disturb them.

That’s what Victoria originally thought.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough——————”

The two people in the house originally wanted to pretend that they didn't hear the coughing in the bedroom, but they didn't expect the noise inside to become louder and louder, and even heard Adlai's somewhat worried exclamation.

The two, who had originally intended to stay out of the situation, exchanged glances and rushed into the house without hesitation. Pretending not to notice someone was hiding in the house was polite, but if someone died, it wasn't a matter of politeness.

As soon as they rushed into the inner room, they saw a frail and pitiful girl sitting on a small bed, coughing up blood. Beside her, Adlai, holding a pot of medicinal soup, was frantically massaging the girl, hoping to relieve her pain.

"What's wrong with her?" Victoria stepped forward to support the girl and gently patted her back with his left hand.

Adlai nodded gratefully to Victoria, then freed his hands to gently massage the girl's body. "Harmony has developed mineral sickness. The decoction I made was apparently effective yesterday, but for some reason it suddenly lost its effect today."

"The oripathy has been suppressed for too long, and the condition has taken a toll." Victoria supported the girl's chin and patted her back.

"Her infection is quite serious. Simply suppressing it will only make the next outbreak more severe. I guess you've used your medicine on her too many times, and she's developed a certain resistance... Shula, I have a few boxes of anti-infectives in the secret compartment of my car, just in case. The top one is a preventative, and the bottom one is a specific medicine. Bring two bottles of each. Hurry!"

"Got it!" The Hunting Bee standing at the door nodded vigorously, then quickly disappeared outside the door.

"Although I'm not a doctor, I do know a little about oripathy. The medicine I have in my car may not be able to suppress her oripathy, but it should be enough to save her life."

"Thank you, thank you!" Adlai pushed his glasses up, and his tears wet the lenses unknowingly.

Victoria didn't say much, and continued to help the girl clear her breathing. "Don't worry, thank you. Keep moving your hands. It will at least make her feel more comfortable."

"Oh? Oh!" Adlai came back to his senses and woke up as if from a dream, and quickly quickened his hands' movements.

Soon, the Hunting Bee brought back four injections. Victoria carefully identified them and took out a special medicine and injected it into the girl's blood vessel.

Within seconds of the successful injection of the drug, the girl who was vomiting blood in pain relaxed. Adlai breathed a sigh of relief and quickly helped the girl sit up on the bed.

Victoria examined it for a moment, then waved Shula away to put away the other injections. "It's not bad. Although the onset was rapid and sudden this time, the infection isn't particularly severe. Even without this medicine, we should probably be able to get through it. It seems the main problem is the aftereffects of suppressing the condition with medication."

"Thank you very much, sir. I don't know what I would have done without you." After carefully confirming that the girl's illness was over, her breathing was unobstructed, and she was temporarily asleep, Adlai gently helped the girl back into the quilt.

Only now did she have time to wipe her glasses which had long been stained by her tears and breath.

Victoria glanced at Adlai and coldly poured cold water on her. "Don't be so hasty to thank her. Although she was injected with a special medicine, things like mineral sickness can only treat the symptoms and not the root cause. She will still have a relapse later. Besides, that injection is not cheap. At least it's not something you can buy casually on the street. You have to be mentally prepared for this."

"I understand." Adlai nodded. As a doctor, and as a doctor who had actively studied oripathy, Adlai certainly knew how rare it was to find a drug that could suppress oripathy so quickly, and the price of such a drug... was probably not something she and Harmony could afford.

But Adlai still took the initiative to ask Victoria: "Excuse me, how much does this medicine cost? I will pay you."

Victoria did not answer in a hurry. Instead, he looked around at the cheap daily necessities and then slowly reported the number.

"Twelve thousand rubles. That's the official price quoted by the pharmaceutical company. Of course, I can't be taken advantage of. The actual price of that bottle of medicine is six thousand rubles per bottle."

Plop————

The moment she heard this number, Adlai couldn't help but collapse on the bed. To this day, the total amount she and Harmony had saved for car fares was less than 5,000 rubles.

Wine Pool and Meat Forest: 40 Try your best

"Difficulties?"

Seeing Adlai's depressed look, Victoria asked in a puzzled manner.

Of course she was in trouble. How many people living in a place like this could afford to spend five or six thousand rubles at once? Even if she could, her subsequent plan to visit relatives abroad would be affected.

And now Harmony happened to be in a coma, so everything had to be decided by Adlai himself.

"It's a bit difficult, because we just rented this cottage a few days ago, and we don't have much money now. I can only pay back part of your money for now, and the rest may take some time to pay back." After a brief hesitation, Adlai confessed their current situation to Victoria.

She believed that the Bee Hunter would not bring any bad people to her, and she also believed that since Victoria was willing to provide the potion, he must be a kind person at heart.

"Victory, Victory Kalashnikov. Works in the city hall, barely a minor official."

After hearing the girl's story, Victoria extended his hand and said, "I can agree to your request, but I have a few questions I want to know the answers to."

"Excuse me."

Adlai blinked curiously, his gaze inevitably darting towards the Beehunter behind Victoria. But Beehunter gave him a baffling shrug, indicating he wasn't sure what was going on either.

Victor pretended not to notice the eye contact and led the others out of the bedroom. "As far as I know, Luxembourg has cleared a lot of rubble to build temporary shelters. Both the space and the flow of people there are much higher than here, and the prices are even cheaper. Why would you rent a house in this remote place?"

"Because Harmony's condition is quite complicated, in addition to her oripathy, she also suffers from an extremely rare disease. Therefore, she can't stay in crowded places." Adlai pushed his glasses. "Harmony is the girl inside. We are very good friends."

"Complex illness? I see." Victoria nodded in understanding, then asked, "Have you thought about how to treat her next? Judging from her current condition, her oripathy could relapse at any time. Without professional treatment, I'm afraid that special drugs alone won't be able to suppress the disease, and your financial situation doesn't support her taking large doses of medication."

"I know. We had originally planned to go abroad after we had enough money for the trip, but we didn't expect that Harmony couldn't hold on before we had enough money..." Adlai replied.

"Going abroad? Do you have relatives who are foreign nobles?" Victoria sat on the chair, tapping the table lightly. "Because of discrimination against infected people and the influence of national policies, Ursus does not have any hospitals suitable for infected people. But if it were another country, maybe you could find a specialized hospital with money."

"No, Harmony and I are just two ordinary adventure enthusiasts. We don't have any noble relatives." Adlai blushed and denied Victoria's speculation. "It's just that I met an operator from a foreign medical company a while ago. After learning about my situation, she recommended that I go to her company. She said they specialize in treating infected people, and that Harmony and I would be well-placed there."

"An agent from a foreign medical company?" Victoria pondered the somewhat complex term, feeling a faint joy in his heart. "Then where is she?"

"Dead." Adlai lowered her head, the reflection of her glasses hiding her expression, but her slightly trembling body and the tears that fell unconsciously revealed the girl's mood at the moment.

"During the war a while ago, a group of soldiers suddenly rushed in and took control of the street. She sent us to the alley behind the store, but she herself..."

A pair of hands that were not thick but very warm were placed on Adlai's head and rubbed gently, and at the same time a handkerchief was handed to Adlai.

"Condolences."

Victoria hadn't expected that the Rhodes Island operators hiding within his territory would actually die in the battle, but that was understandable. Rossia had initially breached the city gates with a surprise attack, and Carter had no time to evacuate the civilians, forcing him to engage in a hasty battle. This was one of the main reasons why Luxembourg was so severely damaged.

Of course, these are all things of the past, and now Adlai has to face a more cruel reality.

"Although it may sound cruel to say this, have you ever considered this?" Victoria continued, noticing the girl in front of him gradually regaining her composure. "Even if I didn't ask you for the money for this potion, you wouldn't be able to take Harmony abroad with your current savings. And after that lady passes away, you won't be able to find the headquarters of the company she mentioned, right? And most importantly, can Harmony hold on until then?"

Snap————

Adlai's heart was completely confused.

She couldn't deny every word Victoria said, because these were bloody realities. Harmony's situation was urgent, but she had nothing prepared except an address. Even the money she had worked so hard to save seemed so meager.

Just when Adlai was about to fall into despair, a clear voice brought her back to the world.

"Boss, can you help her? Although she is small, she is quite skilled in medicine."

Hunting Bee, who had been sitting in bed in silence for a long time, suddenly spoke. She swung her plump little feet and tried to recall her new friend's strengths. "Adlai's massage technique is excellent, and the herbs she uses are very effective. She's also very cute."

"Is being cute considered an advantage?" Victoria slapped Hunting Bee on the head in annoyance, but in his heart he was thinking about giving his good buddy a chicken drumstick when he got back.

Seeing Adlai's eyes, which were both sad and hopeful, Victoria patted Bee Hunter's butt and lay down on the bed. "I never help useless people. If you want my financial support, prove it to me. I've been working overtime and staying up late these days, and I'm exhausted. If you can help me recover, I'll consider supporting you and your friends."

"Leave it to me!" Adlai nodded heavily, wiped his tears, put on gloves, and stood solemnly beside Victoria.

She knew this might be her only chance in her life, and she would seize it.

Not only for Harmony, but also for the big sister who helped them.

PS: Actually, the real meaning of the title of this chapter is that after Hokusai opened the pigeon, he tried his best but was unable to defeat Xingzhou.

awful

Wine and meat: 41 Lazy cancer

Close your eyes and feel quietly.

Delicate hands roam over your sturdy shoulders, pressing your acupuncture points with varying degrees of pressure. Occasionally, they apply some newly cooled ointment to your body, which is enough to make you feel the heat in your body constantly wander as the hands apply it, bringing you a brand new experience you have never experienced before.

It seemed like several hours had passed, but it also seemed like he had only been lying down for a few minutes. But when Victoria opened his eyes again, waves of freshness emanated from inside out, making him instinctively understand why Hunter Bee praised Mo Yao's craftsmanship so highly.

This is definitely not just a combination of herbs and massage techniques. Due to years of physical exercise and regular use of wine pool for self-healing, Victoria has a very high degree of control over his body.

He knew that this massage technique that could make people feel refreshed was definitely not something that could be achieved by medical skills alone.

Either it's some kind of Originium technique, or... some kind of 'witchcraft' or even 'power'.

Considering that both Moyao and Harmony were once explorers and likely had visited various ruins, Victoria even believed the latter was more likely than the former. After all, Moyao wasn't infected, and it didn't look like he could afford a spellcasting unit.

Seeing that Victoria remained silent in deep thought, Adlai, who had just finished a course of treatment, asked cautiously, "How is it? Mr. Victoria, are my medical skills okay?"

"Of course there's no problem. I have to say, I feel a lot better after your treatment." Victoria came back to his senses and gave Adlai an affirmative answer.

"But I'm curious about one thing. Where did you learn these medical skills? Of course, if there are any taboos, I won't force you. This is just pure curiosity."

Adlai shook his head and told the truth, "There's nothing taboo about it. I learned herbal medicine from my grandmother when I was a child. I've only improved the formulas a few times during my adventures and learned some tricks from the ruins. It's not a profound knowledge."

"I see. That's quite impressive." Victor pondered for a moment, then, urged by Bee Hunter's gaze, offered a plan he had already prepared. "Well, for Shura's sake, I'll give you two options. You can consider them."

"First, I can help you send Harmony to the medical company you mentioned and cover the treatment expenses. In return, you have to work for me during the treatment to offset these debts. Once the debts are paid off, I can also provide suitable jobs for you and Harmony. Of course, if you want to leave after the debts are paid off, I have no objection."

Adlai nodded, looking somewhat interested. "That sounds great. What about the second option?"

Victoria smiled. "The second option is that I will send you and Harmony to that company together and provide you both with any financial, material, or even military assistance you need. Didn't you say you've passed that operator's test and are qualified to take the exam? I can send you both to that company together. But the price is that after Harmony's condition stabilizes, or after you've completed your studies there, you two must return to Ursus and work for me and this territory."

"..." Adlai looked at Victoria curiously: "Aren't you afraid that we will just run away?"

Victoria laughed in silence.

"A company employee willing to lay down his life for someone he'd only known for a few days, a young woman willing to drag her seriously ill friend across the country seeking medical treatment. You're being overly conjectured. I've taken many gambles in my life, some incredibly dangerous, others perfectly within my control. For someone as easy to understand as you, I wouldn't even need to use the word 'gamble.'"

Adlai looked at Victoria with some suspicion, then turned to look at the silent Huntsman Bee: "...Are you really just an ordinary official?"

Victor gave a standard aristocratic greeting. "Victor Kalashnikov, the newly appointed Lord of Luxembourg. Of course, you can simply treat me as an ordinary official; I'm not much different from them. As for Miss Shula, she's my bodyguard and sparring partner. To be honest, when she recommended me here, I never expected to meet someone as interesting as you. I'm glad to meet you."

Adlai took off his gloves and cautiously shook hands with Victoria. "I'm also very happy to meet you. You are completely different from the Ursus nobles I've heard of. As for the two plans you just proposed, can you give me two days to consider them? I also need to discuss it with Harmony before I can give you a reply."

"Of course, I'll come again tomorrow." Victoria nodded: "Shula, let's go."

"Oh, huh?! I haven't pressed it yet?" Hunter Bee was stunned and then protested dissatisfiedly.

"Come back tomorrow. I have other patients to take care of." Victoria, already feeling refreshed, rubbed Bee Hunter's head and cleverly ignored her request. "You can come tomorrow morning. You can catch up with Adlai and it won't affect my afternoon treatment."

"Tsk~~~" Hunter Bee pouted in dissatisfaction and said goodbye to Adlai reluctantly.

After returning to the car, Hunting Bee first carefully put the medicine in his pocket back in its place, then leaned on the passenger seat and asked absentmindedly, "Come to think of it, how dare you offer such generous terms? Aren't you afraid that the other person will run away?"

Victoria smiled confidently, "I'm a very good judge of people. I can tell who's sentimental and who's ungrateful just by chatting with them for a few words. With someone like Adlai, if you help her, she'll remember you forever. Besides, that girl named Harmony is no ordinary person either. When I was helping her just now, I took a quick peek using my Dimensional Transcendence. That girl's consciousness is incredibly vibrant. If she hadn't been ill, I'd have guessed she'd be quite a formidable figure."

Of course, Victoria didn't mention the most crucial reason. In reality, both Adlai and Harmony were merely gifts to him. His real goal was to establish a connection with Rhodes Island. By relaxing policies regarding the infected, he could secure free medical assistance. Where else in this world could such a good thing exist besides Rhodes Island?

"As expected, you never suffer any loss." Hunting Bee stuck out his tongue and put his leg on Victoria's. "But since you're so generous, why don't you help me think of two sponsorship proposals? I promise I won't run away!"

"Come on." Victoria glanced at Hunting Bee unhappily, but his hand touched her plump thigh honestly. "Guys like you should only be assigned to help Ah Tao clean the house, or stay in the office as a doorman. If I really let you out, you won't know when you'll die outside."

PS: I am too lazy to do this, but I tried my best to finish the third update.

(Praise me now.)

(Winter quilts are really invincible, right?)

Wine and Meat: 42 Hidden Secrets

"Mr. Victoria, we have made up our minds and will follow the second plan you proposed."

The next afternoon, when Victoria once again stepped into the dilapidated hut, Adlai gave their answer.

"Don't you want good friends to separate? I understand." Victoria nodded. He had guessed from the beginning that Adlai would make this choice. The so-called first option was just a courtesy from the strategist.

It's like the legendary three options: the best option is too harsh and the worst option is too bad. After asking around, the middle option is finally chosen. The same goes for the two options given by Victoria.

"So when are you planning to leave? Do you have a destination?" Victoria came to Adlai and subconsciously touched Adlai's furry ears.

Adlai blushed, but didn't slap Victoria's hand away. "That company is called Rhodes Island. I heard from my elder sister that it's based on a mobile ship. She didn't tell us how to find the mobile ship. She just told us to go to the branch office first and then contact the mobile headquarters through the branch office."

"So where is the branch?" Victoria gradually stopped kneading Adlai's ears. Of course, this wasn't because he was tired of touching Adlai's ears, but because... a sharp gaze was piercing Victoria from inside the house.

"In Chernobog." Adlai twitched her ears reluctantly, somewhat curious about why Victoria had suddenly stopped. Although Adlai felt a little shy about having her hair combed by a man she had only met twice, she didn't refuse Victoria's approach.

It's not just because Victor's technique is sophisticated and comfortable, but more importantly, there's an indescribable fragrance on Victor's body, a fragrance that makes people feel at ease.

"Big Sister told us back then that Ursus originally had several branches, but later, due to policy or other reasons, only the one in Chernobog remained. As for the other branches, they were all closed down and turned into contact points like Big Sister."

"Chernobog?" Victory raised an eyebrow. It was an unexpected yet reasonable answer. Rhodes Island's other branches should have been gradually closed down with Kal'tsit's escape. As for why Chernobog still had a branch...

I'm afraid it has something to do with the Doctor and the Black Coffin.

As he thought about it, Victoria turned around and waved towards the shadows deep in the room: "This should be the first time we meet, right? Miss Harmony, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The slightly ajar bedroom door opened. After being pointed out by Victoria, Harmony decided not to continue peeping. She left the shadows and officially appeared in front of Victoria.

Long black hair, delicate yet chillingly cold cheeks, and a few bangs hanging down from her forehead, covering the girl's eyes. But one could vaguely see that Harmony's eyes were also pitch black.

Her ears were different from the big furry ears like Mo Yao's, but were pointed ears like an elf.