"Hahahaha…!!"
From above the power furnace came a hollow, ethereal laugh.
A golden-red mask slowly materialized in the air, looking extremely amused as it mercilessly mocked downward:
"Yo yo yo, isn't this Nanook? What happened? How'd you get hurt like this? Hahahaha! Quick, quick—let me treat you!"
He transformed into a masked man, landing steadily. He ran excitedly to the side of Nanook, who was being firmly pinned down by Zeig, and said with concern:
"Oh my god, how did you end up beaten this badly? Who did this?! That's too much! This cannot be tolerated!"
Aha looked at Zeig, who was still pressing Nanook's head down hard, and asked anxiously:
"Did you see who it was?"
"Nope." Zeig waved his hand, looking completely innocent. His other hand gripped Nanook's skull, frantically grinding it against the rapidly spinning gears.
"Zzzzt zzzzt—zzzt zzzzt!!" Another burst of intense sparks.
"That's strange then. Who was bold enough to lay a hand on our mighty Lord Nanook?"
While turning his head to look into the distance in puzzlement, Aha placed his hand on Nanook's forehead and pushed him deeper into the gears.
"Zzzzt zzzzt—zzzt zzzzt!!" Sparks flew everywhere.
At this moment, Zeig's eyes suddenly lit up. He suggested: "I think now's not the time to investigate this. Our classmate Nanook is seriously injured—he needs immediate treatment."
As he spoke, he got excited and once again forcefully pressed Nanook's face deeper into the meat-grinder-like gears.
"Zzzzt zzzzt—zzzt zzzzt!!" Countless sparks shot out wildly.
"That makes sense. But I'm the worst at medicine—what are we gonna do?" Aha frowned, looking very troubled as he pressed Nanook's head down once more.
"Zzzzt zzzzt—zzzt zzzzt!!" The sparks flew even farther.
Zeig thought for a moment and offered a plan:
"I think treating the external wounds should come first. We can't just let Mr. Nanook keep all that blood and grime on him, right?"
"Hey, you're a damn genius!"
The next moment, Nanook felt himself being grabbed by the hair and lifted up, flying rapidly through the fierce winds.
Far away from the power furnace, far away from the Hyperion.
"Plop—!!"
He felt himself thrown into water. But the pool wasn't deep—clear springs gurgled around him. It looked like a fountain pool.
Nanook tried to climb up from the bottom, only to feel a hand press his head again.
He inwardly cried out in alarm. The next moment, his head was shoved back into the water.
Zeig crouched by the pool's edge, pressing Nanook's head and frantically dunking him up and down, forcing water down his throat and splashing everywhere.
"Splash—splash—!!"
"Hey, look—doesn't classmate Nanook look much more refreshed now?" Zeig said in delight.
"That won't do." Aha shook his head and picked up a brick from the ground.
He suddenly leaped high, raising the brick with murderous intent in his eyes, about to smash it down on the back of Nanook's head!
Zeig quickly pulled his hand back to avoid getting hit by mistake.
"Thud—splash!!"
The blow was heavy and powerful. The entire fountain's water erupted outward like a depth charge.
Nanook only felt a massive impact on the back of his head, followed by a ringing in his ears.
His whole body floated up from the fountain pool like a dead dog, motionless.
"What kind of treatment method is this? It's my first time seeing it in all my years," Zeig asked in astonishment.
A sly curve appeared at the corner of Aha's mouth as he explained confidently:
"This is called the Forced Shutdown Treatment Plan. Think about it—when your computer has a problem, doesn't shutting it down and restarting fix 90% of issues?"
Zeig nodded: "Yeah, but what does that have to do with this?"
Aha said with full confidence:
"Of course it does. Look—I'm helping him shut down!"
At this moment, Nanook floated motionless in the pool, drifting gently with the current.
"Impressive, impressive." Zeig gave a big thumbs-up. "But he still hasn't woken up—what do we do?"
Aha frowned, looking at the motionless Nanook in the pool as he pondered:
"That shouldn't be. A normal machine would be fine after this. This means he's not normal."
"That makes sense." Zeig's eyes gleamed. "The abnormal one is him. Our treatment plan is absolutely flawless."
Aha revealed a gratified smile and patted Zeig's shoulder:
"Naturally. I could tell at a glance you've got potential. Which institute are you from?"
"This one—St. Freya Academy."
"Oh, no wonder. Look—classmate Nanook is so excited seeing your alma mater he's speechless and just floating in the water."
"Yeah, he's even more excited than me."
As he spoke, Zeig walked to the pool's edge.
He gave Nanook a big slap across the face with a "smack," then frantically shook his shoulders, saying worriedly:
"Classmate Nanook, what's wrong? Are you okay? Don't scare me like this!"
Seeing Nanook still unconscious and muttering sounds that didn't seem very friendly, Zeig anxiously looked at Aha: "This is bad—he seems to be drowning. Who could be so cruel?!"
Aha frowned and roared in fury:
"Damn it—who had the guts?! Let me check!"
Then he walked over to Nanook, raised his arm, and delivered two hard slaps across his face. "Smack smack!"
"This is bad—he's really badly hurt. Even my wake-up method didn't work. Could someone have ambushed our mighty classmate Nanook while we weren't looking?!"
Hearing this, Zeig immediately panicked:
"Then—what do we do? If we stay any longer, we might be in danger too!"
"Sigh!" Aha let out a long sigh, grabbed Nanook by the back of the neck, and lifted him like a chick.
Nanook: "…"
"We can't stay here long—let's go!" Aha tossed Nanook to the ground and said seriously.
Zeig hurried over, grabbed one of Nanook's legs, and said nervously:
"I know a good place—it's definitely safe there!"
"Good, let's go!"
The two wasted no time.
Zeig walked ahead, dragging Nanook by one leg across the ground like a dead dog. Aha followed close behind, brows furrowed.
The two hurriedly left St. Freya Academy and arrived at the peak of a towering mountain.
"Look—this Mount Taixu is so lofty, shrouded in clouds and mist. It'll definitely speed up classmate Nanook's recovery!" Zeig said in delight.
Aha nodded, fanning himself with a fan as he praised: "Yes, we're safe here now. Quickly set him down so he can rest and heal."
Zeig nodded: "You're right."
Then.
A figure was thrown from the summit of Mount Taixu.
Falling freely.
Cutting through the clouds, startling birds into flight.
Plummeting like a meteor toward the ground below.
In the fierce airflow, Nanook groaned in pain.
…Tortured ten thousand miles by these two lunatics.
This humiliating memory would be forever etched in his mind, impossible to erase.
With his last breath, he painfully opened his eyes.
As if using his final strength.
…
"…I will not let you go."
…