Let's rewind a few minutes.
In a particularly spacious room filled with various instruments, over a dozen researchers in white lab coats moved between experiment tables.
Some held high-precision Geiger counters, others rushed with medicine bottles fresh from cold storage, their glass surfaces still beaded with water droplets.
Subtly, these individuals were divided into several small, distinct groups, largely ignoring one another.
At the innermost part of this laboratory, there was an operating room enclosed by bulletproof glass. Inside, a small, blonde Sarkaz girl lay on the operating table.
Her delicate body was only partially covered by clean, off-white fabric, leaving her abdomen and arms exposed, revealing several jagged Originium crystals.
Little Fire Dragon's expression was particularly unhappy; she pouted, seemingly upset.
"So many people again, Silence. What experiment are they going to do to me now?"
Ifrit looked at the brown-haired woman beside her, clearly displeased.
"Of course, it's a new experiment. According to the latest animal experiment results, your oripathy might be curable—Alright, is this tightness suitable?"
Beside Ifrit, Olivia Hermer reached out and gently bound Ifrit's hand to the operating table with a strap specially covered in a soft blanket.
This was a necessary measure. Even when Ifrit had agreed beforehand and local anesthetic was used, she would often singe other researchers' eyebrows and burn their hair.
"Just bear with it for a little while. This experiment is very simple; no surgery, no injections. It's just to test your level of rejection to the new reagent—I've already tried it on myself."
After securing the restraints, Silence sighed and gently patted Ifrit's small head.
"That's fine then... Does it really have to be an experiment? I feel like as long as you're here, Silence, it doesn't matter even if I have these little stones on me."
Her small black Sarkaz tail swished, and Ifrit continued to pout, feeling particularly awkward.
She knew that Silence, Saria, and Ptilopsis genuinely wanted her to get better, unlike those whose gazes seemed to want to dissect her.
"Don't say such things. Every time your oripathy pain flared up and you were rolling in bed, you weren't this resolute."
Silence lightly tapped Ifrit's forehead with her finger, then glared at her with golden eyes from behind her glasses.
Silence cared deeply about Ifrit's safety. She was the only one used as a human experimental subject by Rhine Lab. Under Saria's strict scrutiny, Rhine Lab had never conducted such experiments in the past—at least not to Silence's knowledge.
Originally, Saria was extremely resistant to such actions and intended to halt the Ifrit Project directly, but through Silence's efforts, she reluctantly allowed the project to proceed.
Because... although the research project involved Originium, the two of them were not true oripathy doctors. Even if they occasionally encountered a patient with oripathy, they only spent a very short time with them.
As scholars, they couldn't see the worst side of oripathy patients.
But after meeting Ifrit, the two truly understood the horror and terror of oripathy. Even with only moderate oripathy, Ifrit would still cry out in pain at irregular intervals every day, a pain that even the best painkillers couldn't completely suppress.
oripathy is a terrifying disease. It makes the poor watch their loved ones' lives slowly ebb away, and makes the rich understand that there are things in the world that money cannot buy.
And apart from this disease, Ifrit was active, cheerful, sunny, and full of passion for life and the unknown. Except for the scoundrels who truly treated her as an experiment, no normal person would dislike her.
Silence liked her, and Saria liked her too. Discussing Ifrit became a shared hobby for the two, and people who originally had nothing to do with each other became close friends because of her.
For Silence, Ifrit was no longer just an experimental subject, but a friend more like a younger sister, and also the proof of her career endeavors.
If the experiment succeeded, Ifrit would regain her health, and Silence would confidently take on the position of Director of the Structure Department—although Teacher Parvis was a madman Silence couldn't understand, she had to admit that his research capabilities far surpassed her own.
Therefore, Silence hoped she could help Ifrit, using her knowledge and Rhine Lab's technology. Perhaps she could try to reclaim Ifrit from oripathy.
Even if the essence of this experiment was still to create a potion and weapon that could make people stronger, if it could cure Ifrit, Silence was willing to do it.
Silence knew... what she was about to do would definitely cross the red line Saria had drawn.
"Hmm... I'll listen to you."
Just a slight scolding from Silence, and Little Fire Dragon wilted.
She liked Silence, and she feared Silence; the two points were not contradictory.
Of course, Silence was a good person. When educating Ifrit, she never hit or scolded her and always spoke softly.
However, for Little Fire Dragon, there were even more terrifying things.
Once, because she secretly ate snacks before dinner, Silence seriously pulled her into the office and used dozens of professional PowerPoints to discuss how eating snacks before meals hindered nutrient absorption, affected physical development, and harmed the digestive System.
Then, Little Fire Dragon subconsciously blurted out, "But Silence, your life is so disciplined, why is your chest so much smaller than Saria's?"
Until Saria came to rescue her, Ifrit was forcibly subjected to scientific popularization about the physiological differences between Wyvern and Liberi—classes were simply Hell!
In short, although Silence was always gentle, when she got serious, she was super scary!
"I'm still waiting for Brother Rogue to come... It wouldn't be good for him to see me looking so pathetic."
But soon, Ifrit's face once again showed an expectant smile.
The older brother she had met once and felt particularly close to had indeed become Saria's subordinate.
Hearing about this, Ifrit had pestered Saria every time they met these past few days, finally managing to get him to come over.
"I've never seen you like anyone this much... To be chosen by Saria, he's probably a blockhead too."
Hearing that familiar name from Ifrit's mouth again, Silence sighed. It was the first time she had seen Ifrit so eager for someone to accompany her.
How to put it, neither Silence nor Saria seemed to receive such treatment—a little bit of jealousy.
[And he's a man. Could he be interested in Ifrit—Anyone who can pass Saria's interview can at least be guaranteed to be a gentleman with no ulterior motives.]
Finally, Silence gave up on her wild thoughts, because she saw Ifrit's little face tighten up again.
"Lina."
"I've brought the sample, Silence."
Soon, a female researcher in a white lab coat entered the room from outside, carrying a tightly sealed small box.
Lina, who could barely be considered Silence's Junior Sister, had previously followed Director Parvis to Sargon in the south while Silence stayed here to oversee things.
And according to Lina, her experiences there were things that the lofty scholars and researchers in Columbia would never have a chance to see in their entire lives.
And after seeing the videos, which were temporarily confidential to other departments and only handed over to the Director, Silence agreed with her statement.
Giant Flame Giants, that pale yet awe-inspiring moonlight, immortals who could recover no matter how fatal their injuries, and female warriors powerful enough to contend with Flame Giants—
And the Director also confirmed that over the years, both she and Parvis had been researching the legendary "Gods."
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However, Parvis only wanted to obtain the power of the Gods, and this pursuit ultimately cost him his life.
The Director, on the other hand, was more farsighted. She didn't care about the strength of power; she wanted to understand the essence of gods, much like an ordinary biologist, she was exceptionally curious about a newly discovered species.
All of this shattered Silence's preconceived notions and strengthened her resolve to save Ifrit.
There were so many unknowns in the world, and oripathy was merely an 'incurable disease' within the current scientific understanding. As long as Silence diligently studied, a cure could surely be found, whether for Ifrit or the thousands of others suffering from the ravages of oripathy.
"Ha, honestly, the Director and Teacher Parvis started collecting these dangerous things from the beginning, and then kept it from us. If you ask me, anything excavated from these ruins should be completely destroyed."
Opening the box, Lina took out two sealed solutions, accompanied by a blast of cold air.
One of the two solutions was fiery red and active, like churning flames, while the other was exceptionally quiet, predominantly black-red, faintly shimmering with starlight and the pale moonlight.
The former was the Ifrit Project, which was in the experimental stage and had undergone another innovation. Its raw Materials came from several dried blood samples of unknown origin purchased from Sargon half a year ago.
In previous animal experiments, the hosts rapidly swelled and died a horrific death, but they did indeed unleash powerful Originium Arts.
Even without Saria's intervention, Silence would never have allowed it to be used in human trials.
However, because the Director entrusted the latter to her, Silence finally found a way to stabilize the Ifrit Project and make it harmless.
The reason was the solution that followed.
It had always been kept by the Director. According to Madam Director, this item was obtained from the tomb of a Kazimierz expeditionary knight.
At that time, the sealed bottle of blood was embedded in an astrolabe-shaped instrument.
Half of the bounty hunters who robbed the tomb died due to the mechanisms within, and on the way to Kazimierz to fence the goods, they were reduced to a single survivor due to infighting—likely a typical case of uneven distribution of spoils.
The Director said that after the bounty hunter gave her this bottle of blood in the black market, he completely descended into madness before she even left the shop.
After Parvis's death, the Director handed over various research projects on "gods" to Silence and Lina.
Lina, however, had become like someone bitten by a snake and fearing a well rope for ten years, now dreading such power, similar to Saria in some respects.
Thus, Silence could only conduct research on these special samples independently.
Silence's research also showed that this mysterious ancient blood, shimmering like stars, still retained its activity, possessed a power that could keep people rational, and could even self-replicate.
She named this blood—starry blood.
When this specially treated blood, more potent than a tranquilizer, was simultaneously injected into the improved Ifrit Project, 100% of the animal test subjects survived.
Furthermore, some animals already infected with oripathy even released faint Originium Arts, while simultaneously reducing the crystallinity of Originium within their bodies.
After multiple uses of Spell, an Originium Staff depletes the Originium energy contained within its casting unit. However, infected individuals who forcibly cast Spells instead increase the Originium content within their bodies. The reason for this phenomenon has always been a constantly debated issue in the field of oripathy.
Silence's research indicates that if Originium Arts are released in the correct way, the human body can truly become a Staff, gradually reducing the Originium crystal content within the body.
This is similar yet different from the principle of classical Leithanien sorcerers using infected individuals as fuel for casting spells; the method is gentler and causes less harm to those injected with the potion.
Yesterday, Silence even tried an ultra-low dose on herself to ensure its safety.
Thus, she finally made up her mind to inject this improved reagent into Ifrit.
"Silence, Researcher Goki is here."
Suddenly, Ptilopsis's voice came from the mobile terminal in Silence's chest pocket.
When the Defense Department researchers joined the experiment, the Structure Department was allowed to begin work.
"Oh, by the way, this new researcher from the Defense Department is named Goki, right? Did you go see if he's the hunter you mentioned?"
Placing her hand on the glass stopper of the starry blood, Silence suddenly thought of something and asked Lina, who was beside her.
"And you only told me this person's name, even hiding it from the Director by feigning amnesia—why did you do that?"
Her Junior Sister had only submitted those videos and data to others, remaining tight-lipped about the two powerful and mysterious beings who had even defeated a god, even telling only Silence their names.
"I specifically went to see him. Researcher Goki is quite handsome, but he's far from the appearance I recorded. It might just be a coincidence of names; there are many Yan Country people with that name—and I didn't entirely lie. If it weren't for comparing him to that crocodile-headed person and taking photos specifically, I would have forgotten his appearance and name like everyone else."
Shrugging her shoulders, Researcher Lina, who had been teased by Goki in Sargon, smiled slightly—she knew that those two people should still be the Chieftain in Sargon.
"No matter what, I was saved by them and those Acahuala people. If his identity were exposed, that pure Rainforest would never know peace again—I don't have much conscience to begin with, and occasionally doing a good deed is quickly exhausting it. Silence, would you leak the secret?"
Knowing her Senior Sister's personality, Lina shook the ears on top of her head, looking completely enlightened.
Ever since experiencing a life-and-death trial in Sargon, she, who used to be a bit crazy like her teacher, now felt a sense of profound enlightenment—research? What research?! It's better to eat more delicious food!
"Of course I won't leak the secret, but you need to be careful of others. Ifrit, get ready, I'm going to start mixing the potion and prepare for injection—Ifrit?"
Uncorking the bottle containing the starry blood and walking over to Ifrit, Silence suddenly found that Ifrit was struggling somewhat painfully.
And the surrounding temperature was rapidly rising—the experiment hadn't even begun!
"How could—pause the experiment, coolant, activate the cooling System!"
Although somewhat confused, Silence skillfully walked towards the activation device of the refrigeration System and slammed it down.
But... nothing happened.
The room temperature thermometer nearby, for some reason, still showed a normal room temperature of 25 degrees. To prevent accidental activation, the cooling device was completely locked at this temperature and couldn't be pressed at all.
"Ah, it hurts so much, it hurts—it hurts!"
And accompanied by Ifrit's painful cries, a blazing flame erupted from Ifrit's body!
"Lina, take the others and leave quickly, I'll figure something out!"
Without hesitation, Silence pushed her somewhat stunned Junior Sister out of the isolation room, pulled a Staff from her thigh under her shorts, and, enduring the blazing flames, tried to get closer to Ifrit.
"Silence, Silence, Saria, Ptilopsis—Brother Rogue!"
And Ifrit, who was restrained on the bed, kept repeating the names of those she was close to in her painful wails, but for some reason, the straps were not burned at all, only becoming somewhat charred.
"I'm here—"
Crash—
And the next second, accompanied by a crisp shattering sound, the bulletproof reinforced glass shattered, and a figure rushed to Ifrit's side.
"Ifrit, look into my eyes! Stay calm, these are all illusions!"
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