The group returned relatively smoothly to the temporary base located in Tulip Alley, where Luo Lin placed Mei on the large table at the base.
Observing the penetrating wound on Raiden Mei's abdomen, the girl furrowed her brows.
Although Luo Lin had received training in battlefield first aid techniques, she was ultimately just an intelligence officer. At most, she could clean wounds, stop bleeding, suture lacerations, apply medication and bandages, and perform other basic tasks.
Even though Raiden Mei had used Honkai Energy to perform emergency repairs on the wound, it seemed that it was only preventing the injury from worsening. As for what was happening internally, it was completely unknown.
In this condition, it was best to administer some restorative medication.
"Ah, Miracle Kissy Pillow, what's wrong with you?!"
Carole held her gauntlet and noticed that it was pockmarked, with even the engine showing abnormalities. Perhaps due to continuous battles, one of the Miracle Kissy Pillows even emitted smoke within a few minutes of her starting to inspect it.
The silver-haired girl hurriedly turned off the gauntlet's power device, which emitted a ominous creaking sound, fell to the ground, and remained motionless despite Carole's attempts to restart it.
Carole lowered her head. "Oops, it's broken..."
"Carole, can you contact Schicksal now? Captain Mei's condition is not suitable for continuing combat missions. It's best to contact logistics and have her taken back for treatment."
"Uh, I'll try..."
"Hiss..."
Carole manipulated her communicator, but all she heard was static, furrowing her brow. "This shouldn't be happening. After we discovered the electronic interference in St. Fontaine, we switched to using Honkai Energy for communication. Theoretically, we shouldn't be..."
She suddenly stopped, remembering the incident where their Honkai Energy communicator was interfered with at the Arcane Castle, continuing her analysis somewhat awkwardly. "...Perhaps, maybe, we need to contact headquarters from the Saad Station where we sent Mr. Walter earlier?"
"I'll go check it out first." Luo Lin patted Carole's shoulder. "You two are not in good shape right now. It's better to stay in the temporary base... Oh, right, Carole, let me borrow your communicator. I'll take it over to contact Schicksal."
The silver-haired girl sounded puzzled. "Huh? But senior, you don't have..."
Luo Lin took out her personal terminal and showed it to the girl. Just by looking at its appearance, Carole could tell that it was at least a model from ten years ago...
"I only have this thing with me. It's probably not very compatible with Schicksal's current communication system." Luo Lin shrugged helplessly. "My arrival here was quite rushed... or you could say, it was an accident."
Carole's internal doubts grew stronger, but she hesitated to hand over her communicator.
"...Carole, give her the thing."
Raiden Mei, lying on the table, suddenly spoke up, causing the silver-haired girl to turn her head and look at her captain, who turned sideways, staring at the Vermillion Knight with a complex gaze.
Carole hesitated for a moment before placing her communicator, adorned with stickers that were very characteristic of her, into Luo Lin's hand.
"...Thank you," Luo Lin said.
"I believe you also know who I am and should know about my past..." Mei's tone was low, struggling to support her own body, coughing a few times. "Appearing in front of me like this... You better not do anything stupid, otherwise..."
She stared fiercely at Luo Lin, some things didn't need to be explicitly stated.
"Don't worry... Raiden Mei... I won't let her be embarrassed."
Luo Lin replied, turning and leaving the temporary base.
Due to the conversation between the two, Carole's mind was in turmoil. "Captain? Isn't she our reinforcement? Or..."
"...I don't know, Carole, I don't know."
Raiden Mei had herself laid back on the table, feeling the blanket beneath her, falling silent.
As Luo Lin left the base, unaware of Raiden Mei's complex thoughts, she held the St. Fontaine map she had found in the temporary base and headed towards the Saad Station.
Frowning, she noticed that after leaving the temporary base, the frequency of encountering mechanical monsters gradually increased. There were even several times when she watched these mechanical monsters emerge from the ground.
A bad premonition grew stronger...
After dispatching these creatures with some effort, Luo Lin hastened her pace, jogging towards her destination.
"..."
The Saad Station was a much larger building compared to other houses within St. Fontaine. This was not only because it was a supporting structure built for the floating trains, with a large area occupied by energy and maintenance facilities to ensure the normal operation of the trains.
More importantly, the vast majority of tourists arrived in the city through the floating trains, so the municipal government had made great efforts to leave a good first impression on those disembarking.
It had to be said that St. Fontaine was planned quite well as a tourist city. The buildings on the streets had a unified style but displayed imagination in the details:
Wide platforms with charming patterns on the floor, well-designed passenger entrances and reception platforms, floor-to-ceiling glass and skylights that provided a direct view of the scenery, and corridors lined with locally inspired art...
At least Luo Lin believed that before being filled with monsters, the Saad Station could leave a deep impression on people.
Of course, it was not impossible to leave a deep impression now; it was just a negative one.
"So many monsters, what are they doing here?"
At a glance, the station was almost filled with mechanical monsters. They crawled back and forth, claws scraping against the ground, emitting continuous hissing noises, making Luo Lin feel that these monsters were... anxious?
The girl's expression grew solemn. Abandoning the plan to directly investigate, she stood in a secluded corner, observing these unusually behaving monsters.
"Clang! Clang..."
Heavy footsteps approached from a distance, and Luo Lin saw a giant mechanical monster [Emperor], wielding its heavy mechanical sword, hacking towards the stairs leading deeper into the station.
"Buzz!!"
A blue barrier suddenly appeared, blocking [Emperor]'s attack.
In Luo Lin's stunned gaze, a large number of quantum shadows emerged from the barrier, causing the mechanical monsters to shriek in fear.
These quantum shadows emitted strange buzzing sounds, floating and moving freely in the air, wielding their translucent blue bodies like bullets, spraying quantum pillars everywhere, pinning the fleeing mechanical monsters to the ground.
As for the [Emperor] that launched the attack, it was naturally targeted by the quantum monsters as well.
Two round quantum monsters hugged their spherical weapons and, after flashing, smashed down on the mechanical monster's head with the force of Mount Tai, not only staggering [Emperor], but also leaving a shimmering mark on the ground.
"Damn, is the big boss of the sea coming after us...?"
Luo Lin started sweating. She turned and ran at twice her speed towards the station's gate.
Unfortunately, just as the girl reached the gate, about to escape from this dangerous maze, Carole's communicator rang. A familiar, but extremely urgent and fiery voice came from inside.
"Hiss... Carole, I... Hiss... Overseer Theresa... detected your signal... Hiss... Please respond as soon as possible!"
The quantum shadows, which had been drifting aimlessly, stopped their movements one after another, turning their gaze towards the direction of the voice.
Luo Lin swallowed hard.
Even if it was Archbishop Theresa who had detected them, there were still some things that made people feel unreliable!!!