Rhodes Island does not exist.

“Using tools to barter for food…that sounds like something farmers in remote Ursus would do.” The Doctor shook his head. “But you’re the head of Rhodes Island’s purchasing department, how come you can’t even save up a single bit of supplies?”

“Doctor… I don’t know if you’re joking or serious,” Kroos sighed. “The supplies from the purchasing department are of course allocated to the logistics department first, and you’re the one who made the allocation plan for the logistics department. So if you really want to say where there’s anything to eat right now… maybe it’s only in the intensive care unit.”

Intensive care ward.

The doctor recalled that when he formulated the plan, he specifically provided extra rations for the Reunion Movement prisoners and the seriously wounded in the intensive care unit.

At the same time, he also realized why the fourth floor had been able to remain quiet for more than a week.

Firstly, the wounded and sick in the intensive care unit did not have the energy or resources to cause trouble; secondly, they were probably the best-treated group of people on the Rhodes Island ship right now.

So even after the refugees caused such a big commotion, no noteworthy news came from the fourth floor.

Even so, I'll still have to make time to go there after I finish what I'm doing.

Given the current special circumstances, even Rhodes Island's own people are capable of betrayal, let alone those in the Reunion Movement who have different ideologies from them.

"I said, do you have it or not?" Ignoring the previous topic, Kroos slumped halfway down the workbench, tugging at the Doctor's sleeve with both hands. "If this keeps up, I'll really be forced to drink engine oil to survive."

"As for food, there is none available at the moment."

The doctor decided to lie, in order to better allocate resources.

"But there are return gifts."

As he spoke, the doctor reached into the lining of his coat and took out an extremely ordinary pendant.

Since receiving that final gift from Provence, the Doctor's strategy for addressing Rhodes Island's current situation has gradually taken shape.

"What is this? A necklace?" Kroos was completely taken aback when the Doctor pulled out something like this, and was slightly surprised.

“Yes, it was a gift from a friend I knew before, and now I’m giving it to you.” The Doctor handed the pendant to Kroos. “It’s fine if you don’t want to wear it, but please accept it.”

This necklace was Levi's keepsake.

To avoid drawing too much attention to the matter from Amiya, the Doctor lied to her, saying he had lost it. In reality, however, it had been with him the whole time and had even been recording his body temperature.

Now, he is going to give this necklace to Kroos.

“I understand you want to reciprocate, but why a necklace…?” Kroos asked, a question mark appearing above her head as she gently held the warm, antique metal ornament in her hand. “I have a feeling this must be something important to you, right?”

"Its value is equal to the pickaxe you gave me." The doctor shook his head. "Don't think too much about it. I'll be at ease as long as you accept it."

"Oh……"

Kroos, somewhat bewildered, gently placed the necklace into her jacket pocket. Having failed to anticipate the Doctor's action, she was now in a rather awkward situation.

After all, necklaces are not something you can just give away casually.

Besides, it looks significant in itself, and it's on a completely different level from the old pickaxe I just randomly found.

There must be some hidden meaning behind what the doctor did, right?

The questions kept flashing through her mind.

But the professor forcefully steered the conversation back onto the main track.

"Getting back to the issue of food, as Rhodes Island's chief engineer, I think you should know more about this than the heads of the logistics department, right?"

Although the transition seemed abrupt to Kroos, the Doctor's tone was excessively smooth. It was like a man with low emotional intelligence who had just given his girlfriend a gift at their anniversary dinner and then immediately started talking about current affairs and politics as if it were perfectly natural.

The gift looked very expensive, which made her unable to criticize him for a moment.

Therefore, she could only continue answering the doctor's question.

"I don't have the energy to pay attention to such things. Besides, many cameras have been turned off since Rhodes Island entered energy-saving mode, so intelligence gathering is not as easy as before." She shrugged, replying with a sense of helplessness towards the Doctor.

"So what do you plan to do? Just keep sleeping in a state of hunger? Wait for that natural disaster that may never end?"

The doctor's tone suddenly turned into an interrogation.

From Kroos's perspective, it's like a boyfriend who, after giving a gift, started talking about current affairs and politics, and now he's conducting a neighborhood committee opinion survey.

Chapter 193, Chapter 192: Driven by Desire and Instinct

"So what do you plan to do? Just keep sleeping in a state of hunger? Wait for that natural disaster that may never end?"

Kroos shook her head in response to the doctor's question.

"Of course not, because the driving force of instinct is quite strong, so I definitely won't sit idly by and wait to die. If there is no food, I will go and steal it. When you are so hungry that you feel uncomfortable, even the most self-disciplined sage will go crazy, and I am obviously not related to the word sage at all."

She stated her main point.

“But the total amount of food won’t increase; it will only decrease as it’s consumed,” the Doctor said, staring into Kroos’s eyes. “The act of plundering is essentially a zero-sum game. Whether you win or lose, the sum of your numbers doesn’t change. So, what would you do if that number became zero?”

"Doctor, you're digging a hole for me," Kroos said with a wry smile.

"This isn't digging a pit; it's a rehearsal for the future, and a future that's visible to the naked eye." The Doctor's expression was one of unwavering stillness, his unstoppable gaze like a drill, making Kroos feel that even closing her eyes would be futile.

“We have lost the best natural disaster messenger and the most suitable place to observe natural disasters on the island,” the doctor said. “No one can be sure about the next natural disaster; everything is unknown.”

"In other words, Rhodes Island is now a locked room, and those locked inside must use all their strength to fight for their chance of survival. No one wants to die for no reason, so to avoid dying..."

"The only thing we can do is let others die."

Kroos sighed, "I told you not to dig a hole for me, you know I understand all these things."

“It’s not just you; I think everyone living on Rhodes Island right now is in the same boat,” the Doctor said. “It’s just that some people are unwilling to show it, while others are too hasty.”

"You mean those refugees... Their fate was terrible." Recalling the explosion not long ago, Kroos nodded. "But unfortunately, their fate probably doesn't offer much educational value for others."

"Clucil."

Perhaps it was Kroos's imagination, but she always felt that the Doctor's tone became much gentler when he called her name.

"Regarding what you said at the beginning, I'll ask you again," the doctor said slowly, "Are you really out of food supplies?"

"I don't have to lie to you."

Kroos shrugged. "You've already mentioned Rhodes Island's supply situation; the total amount isn't much. Under these circumstances, the priority should definitely be given to those in the intensive care unit... I've mentioned that before."

"Then, about three days ago, Kal'tsit came to me and asked if I could spare some of the available resources to supply the intensive care unit." Compared to the content of her words, her tone seemed somewhat casual. "I thought, since she's already asking me for help, I'll definitely help if I can, so I gave her some of my emergency reserves to take to the fourth floor."

"Some were divided up... how much is this roughly?" The professor felt that there was a lot of ambiguity in this vague quantifier.

“Some, some, maybe around 60 or 70 percent?” Kroos thought for a moment. “Anyway, I still had food to eat until yesterday… although that was the last of my stock.”

"I don't remember you being such a nice person." The doctor was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Sigh!" Kroos spread her arms wide, stretching towards the sky. "It's all because of you and Kal'tsit! Seriously, although your personalities are like the positive and negative poles of a magnet, you two are frighteningly serious about charitable matters. I really don't know if Rhodes Island could still operate without me."

“About this… I’ve always been grateful to you, really.” The Doctor bowed his head toward Kroos.

"Don't bow down to others so easily, Doctor. You're the face of Rhodes Island, you should have some self-respect." Kroos extended her arms to the Doctor and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Anyway, don't worry too much about me. As a Sarkaz, I'm not so easily defeated. There's always a way."

"No." The Doctor placed his right hand on the back of Kroos's hand that was resting on his shoulder, and smiled at her. "As for a solution, we have one now."

"Hmm? Is it food? It is food, isn't it!" A faint light flashed in Kroos's eyes. "I knew you had food hidden away. You actually tried to lie to me at first."

"If I had to say, it is true." The doctor slowly moved his right hand to the sleeve of his left arm, then pulled the cuff with his fingers, exposing his pale, almost sickly skin to the operating lights on the workbench.

"……Why?"

Kroos was stunned.

She couldn't immediately understand the doctor's intention in doing this.

“You are a blood demon branch of the Sarkaz, aren’t you?” the doctor said with a light laugh. “This branch of the race can be considered a long-lived species even on the entire continent of Terra, and in addition to having a long lifespan, they also have extremely strong self-healing abilities.”

"Even now, they're still spouting these biology textbook-like platitudes..."

Kroos murmured, but the Doctor ignored her and continued speaking.

"As for why Blood Demons are called Blood Demons, it's because they not only commit all kinds of evil and kill without hesitation, but also... feed on the blood of others."

"PhD……"

"Come."

The pale arm, with its sleeve completely removed, was waved in front of Kroos.

“I know what you plan to do in the future, and I know what you’re going to do.” The Doctor’s gaze gradually drew closer to Kroos. “So, if you really want to replace eating with blood to survive, then drink my blood.”

"Huh...? No, why all of a sudden?" Kroos was a little confused.

"Don't hesitate at all. This is my own choice, and it's what I've been looking forward to." The doctor looked at her and shook his head. "Come on, just bite down where the vein is."

“But I haven’t drunk blood in a long time since I came to Rhodes Island, and I still need to…”

“You don’t need to.” The doctor shook his head again, looking at her. “Instinct doesn’t require adaptation.”

"Take a bite, Kroos."

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you for the monthly pass.

Chapter 194, Chapter 193: The Experience of Blood

Blood Demons possess sharper canines than other races, and it is precisely because this feature is so easily recognizable that Blood Demons often choose to deliberately hide their canines.

But there's no need for that anymore.

"Don't regret it."

Revealing two rows of pearly white teeth, Kroos glanced at the Doctor, as if giving him a final warning.

"It was my idea in the first place, how could I regret it?" the doctor replied with a smile.

"Then, then I'm really going to bite down." Kroos turned her gaze back to the Doctor's pale arm and slowly opened her lips in an up-down direction.

Kroos was actually resistant to it.

If it weren't for her need to eat, she probably wouldn't have even considered drinking the doctor's blood.

The reasons for this are quite complex.

Firstly, from the perspective of the relationship between the two parties, she was not very willing to make the move.

Secondly, the doctor is no ordinary person, and it is unknown what effect drinking his blood will have on one's body.

Finally, there's something about herself—in the long years since she became an engineer, she had almost forgotten about her race's vampiric instincts, and now that she thought about it again, it would be hard for her to forget them.

She was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

But the current situation leaves her with no choice.

Even a doctor is willing to sacrifice himself for his appetite, so what's the point of me being so conflicted?

With that thought in mind, Kroos still bit down on the doctor's forearm.

"Click."

Two canine teeth pierced the doctor's skin, penetrating his muscle tissue and embedding themselves deep within the abundant flow of blood.

Warm liquid surrounded her teeth and flowed into her mouth with her instinctive sucking motion, instantly overwhelming her taste buds with a wonderful and sweet aroma, leaving her momentarily at a loss.

"Ugh?!"

As if her deeply buried instincts were broken by the violent smell, she was infected by that instinctive behavior and her sucking intensity increased rapidly. She began to suck every drop of liquid in the doctor's blood vessels without any scruples.

"hiss--"

Saliva and blood mingled together, churning into thick foam under the vacuum-like suction. The foam seeped from the corners of her mouth, flowing and spreading along the jawbone, sliding down to the abyss of her neck and collarbone.

But all of this is not enough.

That's clearly not enough.

The more blood she drank, the more excited she became. She even climbed her hands onto the doctor's upper arm, pressing her body against him to get a more convenient and pleasurable blood-drinking experience.

The sounds of air and liquid vibrating against each other at the corners of the mouth and the gaps between the skin created an atmosphere in the workshop that resembled a lovers' kiss.

But only the parties involved know that even actions born of love cannot compare to the pure instinct that is unfolding in this room right now.

Kroos has probably lost her mind.

Her bloodlust, which had been buried for decades, erupted completely under the doctor's guidance, leaving her mind blank.

Even so, even though he noticed the changes happening to Kroos, the Doctor had no intention of pulling his hand away.

He simply tolerated whatever Kroos did to him, like a doting parent.

Gradually, the foam and blood overflowing from Kroos's mouth stained her white engineer's t-shirt red, and her neck and collarbone area were also a scene of carnage, as if she had been in a slaughterhouse after a day's work.

But she was completely unaware of this.