Rhodes Island does not exist.

"I'm not following you 24/7!" W's slightly fluctuating emotions were quickly suppressed. "Besides, how could I possibly know what happened before I officially started observing you?"

"Ha...then I can only answer you with two words."

The doctor shook his head, then slowly opened his mouth.

He said the two words that W least wanted to hear.

"No."

But W didn't give up because of those two simple words. Instead, he continued to press, "Is there any possibility of developing upgrade functions for that machine, perhaps based on yours..."

“w”.

The doctor's deep voice pulled her back from the other side of her imagination.

"……sorry."

She even learned to apologize.

Chapter 293, Section 291: Originium Leachate

The bio-tank placed in room 1002 was actually one of the projects that Rhodes Island had planned to develop earlier.

But in fact, the doctor did not know from the beginning that the biological tanks piled up in room 1002 were a project developed based on his own abilities.

After all, although Rhodes Island did have the intention of developing such a machine, it never actually manufactured a single finished product.

The only prototype was enormous. Compared to the biological tanks in room 1002, it was completely unrecognizable in appearance.

So it's no wonder the doctor didn't recognize the prototype of those biological tanks at first.

However, after learning about the effects of those biological tanks, the doctor realized that they and he were of the same origin.

However... this shared ancestry doesn't seem to be entirely true.

"If I had to say, this whole bunch of stuff is actually defective." The professor stood in the corner of room 1002, stroking an empty bio-tank in front of him, and muttered to himself, "After all, if things had gone according to the original plan, it would have been impossible for them to decompose so quickly after leaving the tank."

"Moreover, let alone giving life, these biological tanks are actually taking away life." His fingers traced the gaps between the biological tanks, finally stopping in front of a tank filled with chunks of fresh meat.

Looking at the still-twitching chunks of flesh, the doctor knew that although they looked quite appealing now, they would quickly turn into a pile of mud if left to stand for thirty seconds.

In other words, these bio-tanks are actually like a group of unscrupulous loan sharks. They briefly entrust beautiful life to inanimate objects, allowing them to regain vitality, while simultaneously keeping them firmly by their side. And once they discover that anyone wants to leave, they immediately begin to collect the debt.

And clearly, all the creatures that were confiscated eventually became inanimate again, even more rotten than before.

This made the doctor want to conduct an experiment.

Conduct an experiment to determine whether this biological tank is absorbing life.

For example, instead of putting nearly rotten internal organs into the tank, find fresh organs or pieces of meat to put in from the beginning, and then take them out after a period of time to observe the changes.

If even after doing this, those fresh internal organs still rot, then the doctor's guess has been confirmed.

"I think we can give it a try."

The preceding text is omitted; this is Warfarin's evaluation of the doctor's experimental plan.

"Didn't I say before that I had some other, slightly daring things I wanted to try?" Warfarin said to the doctor.

On a side note, Warfarin seems to be treating the doctor much better now than she did at the beginning.

"Yes, you did say that, so when you said 'daring things,' you meant this?" the doctor asked.

“Not entirely.” Warfarin shook her head. “Because my initial idea was to find some smaller anomalies and put them all in a biological tank.”

"...That's quite daring, that's the only way I can describe it."

The doctor was somewhat at a loss for words when it came to Warfarin's strategy.

"At least it's more plausible than what you're thinking, right?" Warfarin countered the doctor. "Finding a smaller monster in this place should be much easier than finding a live organ, shouldn't it?"

"That's true. After all, most of the monsters here are already rotten, and it's hard to find a fresh body." The doctor had to admit this fact.

"So, it's more reliable to put my idea into practice than to follow yours," Warfarin said.

"Well, they're all living things anyway." The doctor thought for a moment and nodded. "Ultimately, the only thing we need to test is how the bio-tank affects life."

“Then it’s settled.” Warfarin picked up her toolbox, which she had packed again. “We’ll split up and go out to find anomalies that fit the criteria, and then bring them back here.”

"Are you sure you're okay on your own?" the doctor asked instinctively.

"Huh?" Warfarin rolled her eyes at the doctor. "What kind of talk is that? Do you think I dug all the weird organs in this room out of the garbage dump? You're kidding, I worked hard to catch them."

"Excuse me……"

The doctor sincerely apologized.

Who would have thought that Mr. Blood, who once built the foundation of Rhodes Island's medical system, would now become a berserker who works part-time as a healer?

"Ah, right."

As if remembering something, Warfarin suddenly opened her closed suitcase again and took out two small items.

They were two glass objects that looked like syringes, but both ends were sealed.

Inside that glass tube was a flowing liquid, like amber.

The leachate of the purest Originium.

As an Originium expert, the doctor immediately recognized the true nature of this thing.

But how could Warfarin have something like that on her body?

"I'll give you one of these, take it." Warfarin handed the Originium leachate to the Doctor, and said, "Although I don't know exactly what this stuff is, it can effectively repel some powerful monsters. If used properly, it can even kill monsters directly. As for how to use it... well, that's up to you."

"I accept it, thank you."

After accepting the Originium leachate from Warfarin, the Doctor decided not to reveal the true identity of the fluid to her yet.

After all, if she were in a state of amnesia here, she might even have forgotten what Originium is.

Therefore, he did not choose to explain things to her here.

Anyway, she seems to have figured out how to use the source stone extract here, so let's leave it at that for now. There's no point in saying anything more.

However, everything I just said only applies to Warfarin.

For the doctor, this tube of Originium leachate is an invaluable resource.

Therefore, he certainly wouldn't spend it arbitrarily on exorcising the strange.

To eliminate the monsters, he had a more suitable tool—a pickaxe.

“Then let’s part ways here for now.” Warfarin closed her toolbox again and set off on her own path. “I’ll go look around where I am, and you go look around where you came from. If you find any news, come back here immediately. If I’m not here, go ask Xiao Ai.”

"How can you contact me?" the doctor asked.

"You?" Warfarin chuckled. "Why should I worry about you? You're human, you won't die anyway."

-

Thank you segment.

Chapter 294, Part 292: The Truth is Beautiful and Cruel

The doctor and Warfarin stepped out of room 1002 together.

But just as the two stepped into the corridor at the same time, Warfarin suddenly stumbled and fell diagonally forward.

"Beware!"

With lightning speed, the doctor immediately reached out his free left hand and supported Warfarin's upper body, saving her from falling.

"Phew... thank you."

Having found her balance, Warfarin quickly grabbed the doctor's left shoulder with her right hand, and after confirming that she was stable, she slowly thanked the doctor.

"Perhaps this was a bit rude, I apologize." The Doctor withdrew his hand from Warfarin's front and adopted a more elegant posture to support her.

“I don’t mind any of that,” Warfarin shook her head. “Besides, since you did this to save me, how could I repay kindness with ingratitude?”

"Ha, thinking about it, that makes sense. You used to have this kind of personality too." The doctor chuckled.

"Hmm?" Warfarin raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing the intriguing information. "Me from before?"

“…Well, how should I put it?” Realizing that there was no point in continuing to hide it, the Doctor confessed, “I come from a place also called Rhodes Island, with the same name as here, but the internal structure is completely different, and of course there are no wandering monsters or unsettling rooms.”

"Hmm." Warfarin leaned against the wall with the doctor's arm to steady herself and listened quietly as the doctor continued.

“There’s also a person named Warfarin on Rhodes Island over there, and she looks exactly like you, has the same voice and temperament,” the Doctor said with a smile. “So when I first saw you, I thought you were her.”

"do you know."

A faint smile appeared on Warfarin's lips as she slowly shook her head, as if savoring a stage play.

"If you had greeted me with that overly familiar attitude and said those lines to me the moment we met, I would have slapped you and thought you were crazy or a liar."

"but."

Her tone shifted, and a hint of tenderness appeared in her gaze as she looked at the doctor.

"Now, I'm willing to believe that what you're saying is true."

“Really?” the doctor said, looking at her.

“Do you remember what I told you at the very beginning? I said we all came with a mission. And the end of this mission is to go back, back to where I started.” Her tone was like a gentle stream, without any complicated emotions. “And in that place, in where I started, someone is waiting for me.”

"Yes, you did say that." The doctor nodded.

“So, when you said there was another me, I couldn’t help but think of this.” Warfarin leaned back against the wall of room 1002, looking up at the ceiling. “Perhaps the past me you mentioned is the place I should go back to. As for you… you said before that you also came with a mission. What is your mission?”

"I need to find something," the doctor said frankly.

"What is it?" Warfarin asked.

“I don’t know,” the doctor shook his head. “It’s the only thing I’ve forgotten so far, and I’m trying to remember.”

“So, our mission is to leave, while your mission is to stay. That’s the most fundamental difference between us.” Warfarin chuckled twice. “Then, can I now assume that you truly are the one who came from the place we should be returning to?”

“If my understanding is correct, then I can say—yes.” The doctor nodded.

"Good, good, good."

Warfarin said "good" three times in a row.

Every time she uttered a word, her right hand, which was holding the toolbox, would tremble involuntarily.

"So, why?"

After a pause, she spoke again.

Her upturned face slowly lowered, gazing at the toes of the two figures on the ground.

White strands of hair flowed down her forehead and sides, obscuring her face.

"what?"

"I asked, 'Then why did you come here, to this besieged city that we all want to leave, that we all want to escape from?'" She kept her head down and spoke through her throat.

“Because the Rhodes Island of the past no longer exists.” The Doctor gazed at her face, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

"So, you come from the past, and we... are all a group of people who want to go back to the past, right?" Warfarin asked softly.

The doctor did not answer.

He didn't want to just draw a conclusion about Warfarin and Exusiai's mission like that.

This is unfair to their efforts.

"Then... Little Ai, Exia must be the same as me, right? And the other anomalies who share the same mission as us, like Little Hibiscus and the others, are they the same too?" Warfarin pressed.

“It’s the same.” The Doctor nodded. “All the anomalies I’ve encountered that I can communicate with, including all of you, are the same… they are all my past companions.”

"Partner, partner."

Warfarin chewed on the word, over and over again, like a piece of chewing gum that could never be chewed up.

"Then, what happened to us, our companions? What became of us in the past?" Warfarin paused for a moment after saying the first word, and then, as if she had mustered up some courage, she spoke the rest of the sentence.

She seemed very eager to know the answer and the outcome.

But the doctor could sense from her tone that she was trying to escape the truth.

This is true for most humans.

On one hand, she didn't want to hear those sad and cruel things, but on the other hand, she was forced by her own curiosity to step by step embark on the road to the abyss.

So, the doctor spoke up.