Rhodes Island does not exist.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you so much, Ah Lianya Saezuki Lenghui "zzzyyy" for the monthly pass and the razor blade, thank you.

Chapter 222 A slightly late notice (but not too late)

I sent a notification to the reader group earlier, but I forgot to mention it here.

I have to go on a business trip for a few days recently and will be back around the 20th, so updates will be temporarily paused. I will come back and finish this current update later.

I hope you enjoy the new activities, but don't let the community's pace distract you; just stick to your own ideas.

Wishing everyone good luck with the anniversary limited edition.

Let me give you a preview.

An important person and an important item will appear.

Above, loeandpeas.

Chapter 223, Part 221: Viscous Time

The greatsword swept across.

The not-so-thick blade stirred up all the surrounding dust with the arc-shaped slash that its master had used almost all his strength. Then, as the force dissipated from the tip of the sword, it was scattered, making all the Originium dust in the surrounding area seem as if it had been vacuum-washed, revealing everything that was originally clear.

But sweeping away the dust was not Skadi's intention.

She simply unleashed the power within her bloodline to its maximum, attempting to drive away the intruder on her back in this ruthless manner.

She paid a heavy price for this.

The blade, deeply embedded in her ribs, was severed by the immense torque of her body's rotation, but this also shattered her own ribs, leaving fragments of the blade inside her body.

However, the Reaper managed to withdraw from Skadi's killing range in time and drew two more blades from his waist.

For her, there was almost no loss.

"Tick."

Blue, viscous droplets dripped down Skadi's sides, and white bones could even be seen from the gruesome wounds through the tears in her clothes.

"What...are you trying to say?"

Skadi's already pale skin appeared even more somber at this moment. As if she had heard the doctor's unspoken warning, she turned around and looked in the doctor's direction.

By this time, the pain from the lavender was almost numbing the doctor, but the more this was the case, the more he knew he couldn't let his guard down.

But what can he do?

The harvester's movement and behavior speed have exceeded the speed at which he can provide early warnings.

If the Reaper hadn't been targeting Skadi, the Doctor himself would have been the one killed by the blade.

"I wanted to warn you, but obviously I missed it." The Doctor forced a smile at Skadi.

“I suggest you don’t do that.” Skadi shook her head, leaning on her greatsword to keep herself upright, while a red light surged in her eyes. “If the battle can only continue by relying on instinct, then the commands of others are just a burden.”

"But we're not there yet."

The doctor shook his head, his gaze sweeping over everything around him.

Both of them noticed something.

The Reaper that had just launched an attack has now disappeared back into the environment, concealing its form.

This is meaningless to Skadi.

After all, she could pinpoint the Reaper's location based solely on her intuition.

"Be careful... the Reaper may very well be..."

"boom!"

However, before she could finish sharing her intelligence, a spinning high-energy grenade flew towards the two of them with a muffled thud as it left the barrel.

If melee combat is hindered, then return to a ranged position to launch a suppression, and continue to advance and reap the rewards after successfully suppressing the enemy.

At that moment, the Doctor realized the Reaper's fighting style.

But simply being aware of it is not enough.

Knowing the opponent's intentions is not enough.

It is sufficient to completely prevent the opponent's actions before the intention is put into practice.

This is still very difficult for current PhD students.

Just as it happened, although the Doctor was able to observe the Reaper's surprise attack on Skadi, his lack of combat skills prevented him from issuing a warning immediately.

Late news isn’t news at all, let alone battlefield intelligence, which requires high timeliness.

"Whoosh-"

Acting on instinct, Skadi dodged the grenade the moment it flew toward her.

The spinning, whistling Originium grenade just missed Skadi and landed in the space behind them.

Unfortunately, this is just a small children's playground.

"boom!"

The grenade's casing shattered the moment it hit the wall.

It appears that it was designed by the Reaper to have a highly sensitive trigger fuse, but fortunately, this time the explosive charge inside the grenade was not the same fragmentation charge as the previous grenades.

"Ding ding ding ding——"

A small amount of Originium debris bounced between the walls and the ceiling, while the Doctor reacted instantly to the explosion, lying down and shielding the locked circuit beneath him to protect her.

"Damn it, it's this stuff again." Skadi, standing two steps ahead, sounded slightly annoyed. "Doctor, are you still alive?"

"Alive." The doctor smiled wryly and waved his hand while lying prone. "This time, lying down was pretty lucky; it also protected the locking circuit."

"That's good." Skadi nodded, her gaze returning to a faintly visible figure amidst the smoke and dust outside. "It seems she's preparing to switch to melee mode again to launch a surprise attack on us."

Blue blood splattered on the ground as Skadi spoke, creating a few small splashes.

Although the number of Originium fragments that flew out was not too large, a few still hit the Doctor. However, the injuries were not fatal, so he was able to grit his teeth and persevere.

After all, compared to Skadi, his injury was only superficial.

Thinking of this, the Doctor couldn't help but worry about Skadi.

How long can she keep putting on a brave face?

If you die, so be it, you can always be resurrected, so it doesn't matter... But what about Skadi?

If Skadi dies here, will she never exist here again?

Questions about death slowly surfaced in the doctor's mind.

He didn't dare to think about it.

I don't want to think about it.

For those still alive in this world, thinking about death too early is unwise. And as long as you have breath in your body, it is always too early to talk about death.

"Disappeared."

Skadi's voice suddenly rang out.

And indeed, the doctor's green-glowing eyes caught a glimpse of an approaching shadow.

The shadow's dash, synchronized with the throbbing pain in its right hand, propelled it forward in a serpentine motion toward Skadi.

“Skadi said that commands from others are a burden in the face of instinct.” The doctor’s mind raced as he considered the process.

indeed.

When a person is engrossed in something, they naturally don't want to be disturbed by others.

But that's on the condition that she can actually do it well.

—If Skadi could really neutralize the Reaper's attacks on instinct alone, then why was she pierced by the Reaper's twin blades before?

As he pondered this question, the green light in his eyes gradually intensified.

In that instant, the Doctor seemed to see a solid red line weaving together like a spider web, connecting the raging Reaper with the motionless Skadi.

"What's this……?"

As the red lines appeared, the flow of time seemed to slow down in his eyes, to the point that even the figure of the Reaper became clearer.

So, what are those red lines?

Gazing at the red threads intertwined between the two and gradually shortening as the Reaper moved, the Doctor felt the answer was about to be revealed.

-

I'm back, tired and exhausted.

Let me summarize the thank-you messages from the past few days.

Thank you to everyone from Shanqingshuixiu, Yizhi Seshiro, Lazy Procrastinator, Quegenjin, Rhodes Island - rustcarmen, Nanyuanhui, and Syracuse for the razor blades, spicy strips, and monthly tickets. Thank you all.

Chapter 224, Two Hundred and Twenty-Two, Overflowing

Skadi.

You traveled thousands of miles from your homeland in the deep sea to this desolate wilderness, just to escape your unsettling past.

Skadi.

Life does not perish; it merely changes its form at the end, continuing in a completely different form.

Skadi.

We have met and gotten to know each other before, and we will surely meet again in the future.

But we can't live together like this forever, so let it be, this is fine.

-

"Ding!"

My wrist has lost sensation.

That was the consequence of an unconscious action.

The doctor felt as if he had rediscovered a past habit, and acted impulsively without thinking.

But is this impulse necessary?

It is necessary.

"Ok?"

A surprised, questioning sound came from deep within the harvester's throat.

She didn't know how the Doctor had appeared between her and Skadi in an instant and blocked her swift attack with that seemingly dilapidated pickaxe.

The doctor himself didn't quite understand either.

He simply saw the Reaper's clear silhouette in the air, saw the line connecting the Reaper and Skadi, and then rushed out to stand between those two lines.

—At least the outcome was good.

"PhD?"

Even Skadi didn't react in time; her blue blood gushed out and splattered on the ground, forming a puddle.

She had originally intended to rely on her instincts to block the Reaper's attack, but the Doctor acted before she could react.

"Don't ask, I just did what I subconsciously thought was right." The Doctor lowered his arm, which had become numb from blocking the Reaper's attack, and forced a smile at Skadi.

“You shouldn’t have come to protect me.” But Skadi just shook her head. “Our roles have been reversed… and you have people to protect. You shouldn’t have abandoned the closed loop.”

The little crazy girl was lying quietly on the ground, with flowing light and shadow appearing on her body.

The Reaper, who had stumbled back several steps after his attack was blocked, cast a strange look at the man who had suddenly appeared between him and Skadi.

"It's ok."

The doctor said to Skadi, "I should be able to do it."

“What can you do?” Skadi asked.