Never mind what everyone at Cocolia's Orphanage was thinking, now that they knew Bronya had joined the most dangerous front-line squad just three days into her mission. Let's return our focus to ARC City.
At the Fire Moth ARC City Base Headquarters, Otto emerged from a medical room on the third basement level, removing his surgical mask.
A simple debridement and amputation didn't actually require his personal attention. Heliopolis Life Sciences had no shortage of automated surgical machines.
But this was a symbolic gesture. The soldiers on the front lines were worthy of Otto's personal care, and it was also a way to win people's loyalty.
As it turned out, the method was highly effective. After treating the first wounded soldier, Otto soon found himself with two more.
It had the desired effect, and morale on the front lines had indeed soared, but they didn't need to be this reckless.
Especially when both of them, lying on their hospital beds, muttered the same thing in their anesthesia-induced haze.
"Lord Shu... I didn't bring shame to your signature..."
Well, damn... That tells you just how much influence Shu really has... In the past three months, Otto's relentless propaganda campaign had elevated Shu to the status of a living god, an object of mass worship.
If Shu were to suddenly make a surprise return, would he be overwhelmed by all this [Hope]?
Otto thought it would be an interesting experiment, but unfortunately, Shu seemed to have no intention of turning back.
It was the third day since their departure. By his estimation, they should be approaching Shangjing City soon...
To be honest, Otto hoped Shangjing City didn't have too many survivors. A small group would be fine, but a large survivor settlement would inevitably give rise to a powerful leader.
The kind of leader that emerged from a political center like that tended to be one of two extremes.
Either a great scourge who brings chaos or an ultimate SSR-tier administrator.
Otto wasn't keen on taking that gamble. With a little effort, he could cultivate an SSR-tier administrator himself.
"Grandpa, how is he?" The SSR at the door... no, Theresa, seeing Otto walk out of the operating room looking relaxed, asked anxiously.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious." Otto smiled and nodded at Theresa. "Theresa, you don't need to blame yourself too much. Everyone thinks he's a hero, including himself. No one will blame you."
Theresa finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing he was okay, but her spirits were still low.
"But, he could have been fine. I just... I didn't get there in time..."
Otto chuckled and patted Theresa's shoulder.
"Alright, now we should think about who's going to fill his spot. Do you have any ideas, Theresa? The personnel on the front line are practically clawing their way up for this opening."
"After all, who wouldn't want a chance to become a hero?" Otto added after a moment's thought, "And a chance to get Shu's signature..."
The mention of Shu's signature made Theresa grimace.
She never should have let those rookies get whatever they wanted signed by Shu. That one line—**[A true hero acts before they even have time to think]**—had already caused two members of her squad to get seriously injured!
Frustrated, Theresa scratched her head. She honestly had no idea who to pick to fill the two open spots on her team.
Unlike Natasha's information-gathering squad, Kallen's frontal assault unit, or Himeko's Titan mecha combat team, the primary mission of the squad led by Theresa was deep-dive search and rescue.
Aside from Natasha's scout team, Theresa's squad was the first to enter an offensive zone. Their main objective was to extract survivors to prevent them from being caught in the friendly fire of the follow-up forces.
This meant they were constantly in the most dangerous situation, surrounded, which was why their casualty rate was the highest.
Logically, everyone should have avoided a team with such a high casualty rate, but it was everyone's first choice for a promotion...
There was no helping it. Only on Theresa's team did Shu write an entire sentence on their battlesuits. Even the Titan squad only got nicknames.
"Since you can't decide, I have an idea." Seeing Theresa's troubled expression, Otto's eyes narrowed slightly into a smile.
Theresa looked up, a bad feeling suddenly washing over her.
"Grandpa, what are you planning?" Out of her trust in Otto, Theresa decided to properly interrogate him about whatever whimsical idea he'd just cooked up.
"Grandpa has two excellent candidates he'd like to introduce to you." Otto gently stroked his chin. "And they're on the Talent Acquisition List, you know~"
Theresa's head shot up. She had heard of this Talent Acquisition List before and had some guesses about the people on it.
Someone who could join her squad... someone on that list... Hmmm...
Sifting through the possibilities, a few names had already formed in Theresa's mind.
Just as Theresa was about to ask who they were, Otto raised a finger to his lips with a gentle "shush."
"You have to let me maintain a little mystery..." Otto said with mock pity, giving Theresa a wink.
A chill ran down Theresa's spine. She absolutely detested it when Otto deliberately tried to act cute like this. He was a grown man, for crying out loud, still playing these games with her.
She was perfectly suited for acting cute and she never did it!
The ever-oblivious Theresa, who had no idea she was constantly acting cute herself, puffed up her cheeks and followed Otto down to the eighth basement level.
Inside the elevator, Theresa couldn't help but ask.
"Did they arrive with that group of people from the nearby cities not long ago?" Since she couldn't ask who, she might as well ask how they got here.
"Nope. They came here all by themselves. I heard they traveled for three months from a very distant place to get here," Otto answered with a smile.
Three months? How far could they have walked?
Theresa did a quick calculation and suddenly realized it probably wasn't that far.
Shu's team was projected to take three months just to reach the Mediterranean. Traveling on foot for three months, they could have, at most, started from the border of Shenzhou [China], right?
Still, who could they be? It was so hard to guess...
With a deadpan expression, Theresa followed the mystery-loving Otto out of the elevator and through the doors of the eighth-floor suite.
As soon as they entered, a maid bowed respectfully to Otto and Theresa.
"Good morning, Lord Bish....Overseer It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Theresa. I am Rita, Rita Rossweisse. You may just call me Rita..."
"Wow... Hi, Rita." Theresa's "wow" was more than a little perfunctory. She thought it might be the maid's master, or perhaps the owner of a certain refrigerator... She didn't expect it to be Rita...
So who was the other one?
"Ah, Lord Bishop." A blonde girl in training gear, wiping sweat from her brow, jogged over to the three of them and greeted them, panting slightly.
"Hello, Lady Theresa. My name is Bianka."