Léon: The Cat Killer

PS: Waaaaaah, kitty

PS2: The temporary version has been added, sob sob sob...

PS3: This chapter is 7,000 words long. If the word count is incorrect, please refresh... Readers who subscribed in advance don't need to worry about being charged extra... You've already paid...

PS++: Damn... I didn't cover up that chapter, so I've temporarily started a new one? Can I just strangle myself?

PSSSS: Okay, I'm an idiot... my brain's completely fried.

The Mystery of Medic 2: 057 Don't Worry

After the heavy load was removed, the vehicle with its mottled outer armor moved forward with obvious ease.

As the massive wheels rolled over the gullies filled with Originium, the girl's song soothed the restless souls inside the vehicle.

Continuing onward, even though communication with Huang had long been cut off, Nana still repeatedly sang the song that Cole had taught her... Unlike the others who simply 'listened', Nana was healing her soul.

Sometime later, the sound of debris hitting the armor plates above stopped, and sunlight appeared along the horizon... As Vanilla and Katie, exhausted and drowsy, unconsciously fell asleep to the singing, Nana opened the armored car window slightly...

Dark clouds loomed overhead, thunder still rumbled, but distant rays of light illuminated the path ahead. The desolate desert, filled with black crystals, was a chilling sight.

"...Has the natural disaster stopped?"

Compared to the two who still have a relatively youthful mindset and can be lulled to sleep by lullabies even in the midst of a natural disaster, Jessica felt that her fatigue had exceeded her threshold. Although her body and mind were telling her what exhaustion meant, she was not sleepy at all.

After all, there's a natural disaster outside. If I fall asleep... I might fall asleep forever.

"No, it's just that a large amount of Originium dust is falling from the sky. The energy burst and radiation have affected the condensation conditions. Because the concentration of Originium dust has decreased, Originium rain will not form in the high sky for the time being... But the storm will continue... About a month later, as the internal energy of the active Originium gradually balances with the outside world, the environment will cool down drastically, and the storm cyclone that created the natural disaster cloud will truly dissipate."

The assassin girl sighed, realizing she'd talked a lot along the way—probably more than she'd said in all her missions over the past few years combined… Even a super agent would be exhausted after a day and a night of this.

"The good news is that the Originium rain has stopped, which will significantly increase the visibility range of flares... but the thick crystalline dust on the ground is undoubtedly extremely dangerous for us..."

At this point, Nana recalled the few cases of severe Oripathy she had seen in the past, where more than a third of the person's body was crystallized, accompanied by an environment with excessive Originium dust...

Because the vehicle was abandoned, the exploration vehicle can no longer measure the concentration of Originium dust in real time. But in this disaster-stricken surface filled with 'dense fog,' Nana has no doubt that a person would die instantly just by standing in that fog and taking a breath.

“The next coordinate point must be located at a high altitude… Since this dense fog seems to be able to reach above the front bumper, then this fog must extend at least fifteen meters upwards from the ground…”

As she spoke, Nana looked at Jessica:

"With the height of the high ground and the vehicle itself, if we stand on the roof, we should be able to control the distance of about fifty kilometers... Unless the next Originium Rain just happens to break out, we might not really need to split into a fourth group."

Upon hearing Nana's "good news," Jessica gave a slightly shy smile, but then she fidgeted with her fingers for a while... After glancing at the sleeping Vanilla and Katie's faces, she was quietly told "Please wait a moment" by the manager's "best stand-in candidate," and then went to the dark room in the back seat...

There should have been bunk beds there, but because food and water were piled up there as much as possible, it was now a 'storage room'... Nana watched as she pulled out a Lateran gun from inside.

That was the weapon originally intended to be used to kill through the Black Steel, but Nana has obviously been cultivating her mind and body recently, so it hasn't been used.

Even for Jessica, the large Lateran gun capable of rapid fire was far too valuable... More importantly, carrying it around outside might attract the attention of the Lateran Notary Office. So after the 'Captain' revealed the contents of her package and exposed her identity, Jessica had been looking for an opportunity to return the item to her.

"This... is returned to you..."

"...Can I say this isn't mine?"

After all, I didn't deliberately hide anything, so being found out was to be expected... But being suspected is being suspected, and admitting it is admitting it...

Nana wouldn't be certain that 'Rhodes Island's Medic' and 'Security Bureau Senior Agent' are the same person... At most, she could say that Rhodes Island and the Security Bureau have some connection... After all, Kal'tsit's relationship with her manager seems closer than her relationship with her manager, and that's not a lie.

"Really, this isn't mine... Just leave it there for now. You use a gun too, don't you..."

Seeing that Jessica was still hesitant, Nana added with a smile:

"Anyway, that person doesn't need it now. He said he hoped you could help take it to Rhodes Island, but in reality, he meant he wanted to give it to you before returning to Rhodes Island... After all, you've already seen the rioting infected creatures on the way..."

But what other dangers await us?

"...Ugh, ugh?!"

Just as Jessica was thinking about how to refuse, the car suddenly jerked up like a ladle, almost throwing Jessica out of the window... The empty rear frame of the car suddenly lifted up and then slammed down heavily.

"W-wh-what happened?!"

The other two people who were asleep in the driver's seat were in rather unseemly positions, but they managed to sleep soundly the whole way, thanks to the fact that the seatbelts of Katie and Vanilla did their job... Jessica, who was thrown around, managed to grab Nana's outstretched hand and land safely thanks to her innate flexibility and sense of balance.

Seeing that Jessica was safe and sound, Nana then looked at the radar warning device again:

"It looks like we ran over something... but the radar didn't sound an alarm..."

"Did it hit another car?"

With her hands on the steering wheel, Nana's killer instinct actually leaned more towards simply accelerating and running them over... but while Assassin 77 could do that, Rhodes Island's Medic couldn't...

Nana then turned on the warning lights and microphone. Amidst the shouts and cries of men outside, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Is it a human?"

"Refugees?"

"..."

Just as the girls were trying to figure out what was going on, a human-shaped shadow suddenly appeared outside the armored window that was open... At that moment, Nana made eye contact with the shadow through the gap in the armor.

Through the cloudy conjunctiva, the other person's pupils could only see the storage compartment car door that Jessica hadn't closed earlier. It was hard to tell whether those eyes, red and bloodshot from the Originium dust environment, contained expectation or pleading.

Nana could only imagine that the Originium crystals around the other person's eyes must be in a lot of pain.

Thanks to the ICA for considering the use of the weapon while wearing heavy tactical gloves, Nana, wearing power armor, pulled out the pistol and checked its condition with one hand by opening the chamber.

At this moment, she didn't care that Jessica might see the connection between the ICA pistol and the repeating Lateran gun on the stamp... Nana was fully immersed in her role; she wanted to do what she had to do as a doctor and a rescue worker.

However, the cat-killer aspect has never been eliminated.

"Everyone, check your weapons. Vanilla stays to protect Katie; she hasn't had any combat training yet... Jessica, you have ammo in your gun; we might need it later. You come down with me."

As she spoke, she took out her medical bag from under her seat, made sure that the contents were not damaged by the minor car accident, and then led Jessica to the rear hatch... which was the door that connected to the pressurized airlock.

"Open the door, I'll go out first. If there are any problems, your task is to close and lock the door... This vehicle has been reinforced by the TDD crew, it's quite difficult to break in from the outside... Are you ready?"

Seeing the person who was a little bigger than her in height, weight, and bust, but whose temperament was more like her younger sister, nodding nervously with her nose almost touching the helmet visor, Nana could only smile wryly... Perhaps only now did she truly understand why her manager said that even if she discovered she had become a disguise material, it would be easy to fool her.

As an operative, Jessica might be a little too weak...

But this isn't a big problem. Nana thinks she'll have plenty of time to fix Jessica's problem when she's on Rhodes Island.

"It's about to happen."

Sheathed the gun to her chest, confirmed the cockpit door was locked, and pulled the airlock, the door hissing open... Stepping out of the car, amidst the noise outside, Nana felt as if she had crossed two worlds.

Wailing, crying, tension, and continuous questioning... Just by opening the door, Nana seemed to see countless hands rushing towards her.

As the girl's body tensed, the power armor's output, which was controlled by feedback, increased significantly... Nana activated the power armor's outward-facing megaphone:

"Stop right there! Put your hands where I can see them! No pushing or shoving, one at a time!! Who are you people?!"

The black pistol was raised dramatically by the one-eyed girl, accompanied by a loud roar emanating from her power armor. The crowd, who had been excitedly scrambling up the frame and wheels to reach the empty cargo bed, froze in shock.

Although some of the armed men clearly noticed the girl's wary gaze, they showed no intention of lowering their clubs, steel pipes, or machetes.

Unsettling whispers rippled through the crowd, until finally a figure stepped forward, dressed in somewhat eerie armor and wearing a barrel helmet, speaking in a muffled voice.

“We are refugees from Tikkarendo… Please don’t be so wary. We’ve all suffered a lot on the journey, and because we lack equipment like masks, we are indeed a bit excited when we hear vehicles… but… your vehicle…”

Looking at the rear of the vehicle, now just pipes and a skeleton, the bewilderment of the strange man was palpable.

As for the other refugees, although they were now holding hands and sitting on the vehicle frame to enjoy this moment of fresh air, Nana's first reaction was still 'Oh no' when she saw people emerging from the 'mist' below, looking covered in dust and grime.

With only four people remaining, she simply couldn't possibly accommodate the hundreds of refugees.

"This is the car heading to Tikkarendo..."

Glancing at the countdown with just over forty hours remaining, Nana decided to hand them over to the subsequent land-based ships for placement... if the land-based ships really did arrive on time.

“We are the vanguard of the rescue team from Ticalendo… responsible for guiding the landships behind.” Hiss

"A land-based warship? In the storm of natural disaster?" Wu

Seeing the incredulous looks in the eyes of the people in front of her, Nana didn't explain, but simply said impatiently:

"It was roughly based on predicting a route that would be sufficient for land-based ships to pass within three days using meteorological data related to natural disasters, and then leaving beacons and manual navigation along the way..."

Just as the barrel-helmeted man was deep in thought, the Ursus ancestor behind him, carrying several bags on his back, exclaimed: "Four..."

"To dare to do this... is somewhat suicidal."

"Landships don't possess the same resistance to natural disasters as mobile cities; they truly risked their lives to cross the storm."

"I'm talking about you... leading a land-based warship through a natural disaster. Even if you succeed, you're guaranteed to be hated. Since the introduction of mobile cities, the Crisis Contract has been applied for every year, but every year it's rejected... Whenever a natural disaster strikes, people want to get out, not lead a team charging into it." Ba

Nana glanced coldly at the Ursus ancestor, then silently surveyed her surroundings, assessing the injuries of the crowd...

"What you should be doing now is using this dismantled flatbed truck to get these people out of the disaster zone... Regular official rescue efforts depend on the distance to surrounding cities, and it usually takes at least three months to half a year to get a response... If you were ordered by your superiors to go on a disaster relief mission... then I can only say you've been tricked... Putting everything else aside, just this one truck... Huh? How much medicine did you bring? How many people are there? How are you going to save them? Hurry up and hold on until the Oripathy patients in the group explode, and get as many people out as you can..."

Seeing that the bear was about to say something, the barrel-helmeted man in front of him quickly elbowed him to shut him up.

And it seemed that his mention of 'Orisite disease' had triggered someone, because suddenly someone in the crowd started crying and screaming:

"Ah! Ahh, I don't want to die... It hurts so much... Cough, cough cough cough—!"

"It's an acute attack of Oripathy! Get out of the way!"

Even without Nana saying it, people would have made way, and the surrounding crowd cleared space as if fleeing a disaster... But although the frame was wide, it was already the limit to accommodate hundreds of people standing densely on it.

Seeing that some people felt they were too close to this 'bomb man,' the same guy who was crying and screaming trembled and even made a gesture as if he wanted to push the other person and throw him off the car.

Of course, this action stopped when Nana, the armed man, arrived, but they started shouting:

"Throw him down! He's going to explode!!"

Of course, although it was acute Oripathy caused by inhaling excessive Originium dust in a short period of time, it was clearly still a bit short of the final reaction of an explosion... Even though these refugees didn't have masks, they were all covering their mouths and noses with shirts or some kind of cloth strips, so it was obvious that they were led by experienced people...

"You're still far from the explosion, don't worry, you won't die!"

Even so, Nana, despite wearing power armor, still couldn't treat a patient writhing in pain without injuring them...

Just as Nana was about to punch him with her power armor, two figures ran over.

One was Jessica, who had been monitoring the scene from the rooftop with an assault rifle, ready to fire at any moment. The other was... the Ursus native who had just adopted a defeatist strategist's attitude.

With one holding his hand and the other his foot, and thanks to the power armor and the powerful force of the ancients, the patient, though still writhing, immediately calmed down... Nana was able to rummage through her bag for some strong painkillers... In short, she wanted to keep him from dying of pain.

But Nana hesitated about how to treat it afterwards... after all, all the Oripathy inhibitors had been installed in the power armor's auto-injection module...

The needle of the auto-injector has been removed, which means that even if it is removed, Nana can only manually determine the amount of medicine to use little by little, which is an extremely inefficient treatment.

What should I do?

While Nana was still thinking, her body had already taken action and pulled out her blocker.

"Medic...Captain?"

"don’t worry……"

Not quite sure who she was saying that to, Nana just looked at the person who had stopped struggling and felt a sense of satisfaction she had never felt before.

"Don't worry, it's okay."

The Mystery of Medic 2: Episode 058 - The Chance Encounter with Kannot

After the injection of the preventative medication, the man's previously ferocious expression immediately softened. Looking at the remaining medication, Nana's gaze swept over the refugees again…

Given their critical condition and the remaining weight of the medication, the medication was selectively injected into several children who appeared to be in relatively good condition, as well as some able-bodied men and women. The blocking medication would ensure their condition and maintain their mobility for at least 24 hours in the current high Originium dust environment.

This clearly selective arrangement sparked strong discontent among several people when Nana closed the MOD box on her chest. Her frantic, desperate roar startled Jessica, who was clinging to Nana's exoskeleton and practically had the word "weak" written on her helmet.

Seeing that Nana ignored them, the man initially rolled up his sleeves in a fit of rage, but upon seeing that Nana was holding a gun in her left hand as she turned around, he immediately stopped and shouted to those around him:

"There are so many people with Oripathy here?! Why are only those people given the medicine?!"

"Because these are all the medicines I have."

"Liar! You have so many loose boxes on you, and that handbag too—!!"

"There really aren't any left. I only chose treatments for more serious cases."

"Who would believe what you're saying?! You said you specifically went to Tikarendo, surely they'd have plenty of Oripathy medicine up there?! You've only cured a few people! You definitely have more medicine!!"

Just as Nana fell silent, seeing that the girl was no longer arguing, and the other person in the equipment didn't seem like the type to argue either, the others besides that person also began to stir:

"Yes...you must still have medicine. Even if you don't, that armor can definitely keep you moving on the ground...with that, we can keep going out!"

"Take it off! Take it off..."

Before the jeering group could continue, the Ursus natives who had been opposing Nana but helping with her treatment stepped forward, followed by several armed thugs who were deliberately scratching the vehicle frame with their steel pipes and knives, making a grating sound...

Honestly, those unreasonable guys didn't make Nana angry... but these guys who helped her made Nana's blood pressure soar.