Rhodes Island does not exist.

"If you want."

“…Never mind.” Warfarin waved her hand. “I don’t want to be friends with someone who always stops me from doing experiments. The pressure will break me.”

"Let's talk about it later." The doctor nodded slowly and calmly, then quickened his pace and walked to Warfarin's side.

Perhaps Warfarin intentionally avoided the Doctor by deliberately avoiding him.

But regardless, at least at this moment, the two are standing together.

We're now standing on the same horizontal line.

"Oh? You've already come up?"

Just then, a voice that was quite familiar to both of them came from the side, and the voice turned its gaze to Warfarin and the Doctor.

That's Exia, or rather... Exia.

"Oh." Warfarin was the first to greet Exusiai. "Where's Fleur?"

“Rest in your room.” Exusiai and Warfarin naturally began to talk. “She’s been getting more and more sleepy lately, I don’t know why.”

“I’ll check her out when I have time, and I’ll also ask her what’s been going on lately.” Warfarin nodded.

"Then I'll leave it to you," Exusiai said, expressing her gratitude.

This seemed somewhat unbelievable to the doctor.

"I know you're a doctor, but can you cure weirdos?" The doctor looked at Exusiai, who had completely lost her form and was now just a phantom floating in the air, and then at Warfarin, who looked similar to herself and had a normal appearance.

“Why not?” Warfarin shrugged. “They are all just creatures that walk on the earth. If they have a problem, there must be a reason. So we just need to eliminate the cause of the disease to cure it.”

“…Yes.” Hearing those simple words that didn’t sound like they would come from Warfarin, the Doctor couldn’t help but smile wryly. “If Oripathy could be cured like this, we wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

He deliberately lowered his voice, so low that only he could hear it.

"I need to go to the tenth floor." As the Doctor finished his monologue, Warfarin had also ended her conversation with Exusiai and entered the farewell phase. "He brought me some information, so I need to verify its authenticity now."

"The tenth floor... is that the experiment related to our target?" Exusiai's expression changed slightly upon hearing Warfarin's words.

It seems that Warfarin's research is indeed of great importance to them.

“Yes.” Warfarin’s expression was grave. “If what he said is true, then our experiment may have to fail.”

"……I see."

After about five seconds of silence, Exusiai chose to accept.

"Aren't you disappointed or resentful?" Warfarin looked at Exusiai, her words even tinged with a hint of unease.

"It's alright." But Exusiai's expression remained perfectly composed, and her posture remained as stable as before, without swaying or shaking. She could even manage a smile.

“Since we are living here now, and our bodies have lost all their original rights, we can only accept it for now, accept all of this, and then slowly find a way to get rid of these curses and get rid of this place.” Her eyes seemed to burn with a warm fire.

“It’s okay to lose one path, maybe we can find another, right?” She reached out and gently stroked Warfarin’s shoulder. “As long as our original goal hasn’t disappeared, we still have a chance.”

“There’s still a chance, yes, we still have a chance.” Warfarin and Exusiai exchanged glances. “However, I’m only afraid of one thing right now.”

"What are you afraid of?" Exusiai asked.

“I’m afraid we might not have enough time.” Warfarin looked up at the dark ceiling and let out a short sigh.

The sigh was short and urgent, but its lingering resonance was as long as a gentle breeze.

"time."

Upon hearing this word, Exusiai's usually calm body trembled slightly.

“Yes, yes…you’re right, you’re right.” She wanted to say something more, but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to say it. “So we still need to speed things up, right?”

"Correct."

Warfarin nodded, then waved to Exusiai.

"I'm going to the tenth floor. I'll come back to see Furong then."

"Have a safe trip."

Exusiai offered the simplest words of advice.

Chapter 289, Two Hundred and Eighty-Seven: An Ancient Being

Sometime in the past, at the Rhodes Island base within Ursus, under the setting sun after the battle.

"PhD."

W tossed a high-energy stone bomb into his hand.

Its jet-black streamlined shape floated up and down in the air; a layman would surely worry that it might explode.

But insiders don't worry about that.

Because insiders know that if that thing is really going to explode, then there's no use worrying about it.

Therefore, the doctor did not show any concern.

"Is there a problem? Tell me."

He simply went about his business quietly, tidying up the supplies in the camp tents as usual.

“You acted as a battlefield medic today.” W grabbed the Originium bomb that was still in mid-air and threw it into his waist pouch.

"Because my original profession was as a doctor," the doctor replied.

“But your primary role now should be that of a commander, a commander responsible for battlefield control and tactical planning, not a field medic risking his life on the front lines.” W’s eyes no longer held that usual sinister smile, but were replaced by absolute calm. “You are doing something that is not your duty, and that duty could lead to your death.”

"And my death could be the breakthrough for our team?" The Doctor finished the sentence W hadn't said.

"Ha, it seems you do have some self-awareness." W finally showed a hint of that smile, and clapped at the doctor. "Excellent, that's how a doctor should be."

"But you know, I won't die."

The doctor turned his head back to his work, while deftly packing bundles of luggage with both hands.

“Everyone will eventually die.” W stood up from his slouching posture against the wall, staring at the Doctor and saying, “Your confidence should not be an excuse for crossing the line.”

“And you don’t need to use such an awkward way to hide your concern for me.” The doctor looked up at W and smiled, adding, “Thank you, W.”

"Tsk."

W was clearly furious at the doctor's words.

"And there's more." Before W could reply, the Doctor spoke again, "You just said that everyone will eventually die, and I agree with that—but my end may come a little later."

"Are you spouting those nonsensical charlatans again?" W glanced at the Doctor twice, then turned away from him. "I asked Dr. Kal'tsit, and she said that your health report shows that your condition has always been very bad. If it weren't for the various plans that the medical department has given you, you would be lying in your private room by now."

"My health diagnosis report looks terrible because I get up at four in the morning to eat instant noodles in my mouth, often stay up late, overuse my brain, and don't like to exercise. But I have to say that overusing my brain and not exercising are two sides of the same coin, since I have to sit for long periods of time."

The doctor recounted his numerous misdeeds with great familiarity, but at the same time, his expression didn't change much, and then suddenly reversed.

"—But these are just bad habits in life, and have nothing to do with whether I will die—but thank you for your concern, dear Ms. W."

The doctor thanked W again.

"Are you going to keep pretending to be clueless?" This time, W finally couldn't sit still any longer.

She grabbed the high-energy stone bomb she had just thrown into her bag, then quickly flew two steps to the doctor's side, bringing the bomb into close contact with his face.

As for the doctor, he was not flustered by this behavior.

There was even a sense of ease, like eating a regular meal.

It's fortunate that there are no other operators in the Doctor's tent right now, otherwise W would probably have directly caused a considerable conflict.

“Listen, Doctor.” W pressed his hand, cheek, and the Originium explosive in his hand close to the Doctor and whispered in his ear, “When I first said I saw you act as a field medic, you should have understood what I was trying to say.”

"So, what did you see?" But the Doctor remained calm and composed, even lingering on W beside him for a moment out of the corner of his eye.

"Tell me the truth." W stared at the Doctor, turned his face towards the Doctor's front, and gently pressed his arm against the Doctor's chest to keep him under his control.

"Although you have treated many people with medicine and have a lot of experience in providing free medical assistance in the past, you actually don't understand medicine at all, nor do you understand the professional knowledge involved, right?"

Her tone wasn't one of aggressive questioning, but rather a slow, inescapable pressure.

It's like dark clouds pressing down on the city, threatening to crush it.

When the sky is collapsing, however slowly it may be, those under its shade should feel fear.

“But practicing medicine doesn’t require this knowledge.” The doctor looked at W, his words equally assertive. “If it’s just about giving medicine and injections, there’s absolutely no need to use this knowledge.”

“You’re right.” W nodded, but his eyes didn’t leave. “But you need it for surgery on Rhodes Island, and for attending meetings of the medical department, but you don’t seem to have been there even once.”

“Kal'tsit can go,” the Doctor replied.

“No, no.” W shook her head vigorously, looking quite disappointed with the Doctor’s answer. “Doctor, I understand why you want to hide from others. But I am a Sarkaz.”

“Let me be blunt. What you’re using isn’t medicine at all, but something exactly like Sarkaz secret techniques.” W’s tone and eyes were unusually serious. “I’ll say it again, what you’re using isn’t medicine, it’s not any medical procedure, it’s a Sarkaz secret technique that diverts your own life force to those late-stage Oripathy patients so that they can live a few more years.”

"Or perhaps it's not some Sarkaz secret technique, but just an ancient Originium Arts." W chuckled. "But even this kind of Sarkaz secret technique has a recorded history of over a thousand years. How ancient must your Originium Arts be?"

"honestly."

She slowly shook her head, her eyes filled with a helpless smile.

“Since joining Babel, I have never doubted your motives and inclinations, until one day I realized that you were not a normal person at all, so I began to investigate you and follow you, until today.”

"—Have you ever thought about that?"

The doctor suddenly spoke, his calm voice completely different from before.

"You were able to investigate and follow me entirely because you had my permission?"

-

Thank you segment.

Thanks to the webmaster of IdleJPG for the spicy strips and monthly pass, thank you.

Chapter 290, 288. The Essence of the Cylinder Block

The times burn like a bonfire of farewell, and we watch the light and the shadows.

-

The doctor and Warfarin walked down the stairs together and opened the door to room 1002.

The view inside the room was the same as always, without any change.

"How did you conduct the experiment? Tell me about it." Warfarin walked into the room, placed her tool case in the open space in the center of the hall, and then took out the medical instruments from it.

"It's simply a matter of putting the rotten flesh inside and then taking out the healthy, restored flesh. That's all," the doctor explained simply.

“Okay, then I’ll do it again.” Warfarin nodded, then turned her attention to the pile of scraps she had left on the ground.

"Did you just pick it up with your hands?" she asked, looking at the scraps.

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "Is there a problem?"

"Putting aside the issue of whether it's dirty or not, aren't you worried about the bacteria growing in this pile of rotten flesh infecting you?" Warfarin's eyes were filled with disbelief.

"I don't know, I've never thought about such a thing." The doctor shook his head.

“Let me confirm this first.” Warfarin took out plastic gloves from her toolbox and put them on. “You are indeed human, not some weirdo like us, right?”

“I think so,” the doctor nodded.

"Even so, you don't cherish your own life? Even though you also have a mission to fulfill?" Warfarin found it hard to understand.

“...It might sound a bit unbelievable.” The doctor cleared his throat and looked at Warfarin. “But I’ve never contracted these illnesses from bacteria or viruses, so I don’t think they would work on me.”

“Then you’re probably not human,” Warfarin concluded bluntly. “You’re neither human nor a monster, but some kind of being beyond both… I guess.”

"If you say so, then so be it," the doctor said noncommittally.

"Alright, I need to replicate your previous actions now before we can proceed with planning what to do next." Warfarin picked up a pile of leftover scraps with her gloved hands and threw them all into an empty bio-tank.

The next period of time was for observation.

Although Warfarin had probably observed this scene for countless days, today she still stared intently at the changes in the biological tissues in the tank.

It felt like the first time.

And so, time passed.

"almost."

Looking at the chunk of meat in the tank, whose internal organs were clearly intact, Warfarin nodded.

Meanwhile, the Doctor, who had been watching Warfarin from the sidelines, also observed everything that was happening.