If Flandre had stayed in that factory building until the next day, she would have recognized that this person was the officer's confidant.
He was also the one who had figured out most of Flandre's background, but because it was too exaggerated, no one was willing to believe it.
He had been tracking the clues at this Logging Camp for nearly half a month. If he hadn't been urgently dispatched to help with the previous incident, he would have already taken control of this place.
"Tie up all those people, be careful not to kill them—dead people can't be sold—and don't maim them either, disabled ones don't sell well!"
He shouted instructions loudly through a megaphone.
By now, Flandre had roughly understood the situation here and began preparing for the rescue operation.
For someone with only combat abilities and no auxiliary or protective skills, how could she most effectively handle the two completely unrelated tasks of "protection" and "rescue"?
It was simple: just kill all the enemies.
As long as there were no enemies left, wouldn't those people be successfully saved?
Having made up her mind, she split into four and descended from the sky like four meteors.
"What's that in the sky?"
Someone spotted Flandre overhead.
But before they could react, she had already rushed to their front.
"Why is there a little girl flying in the sky?"
That was the person's last thought before death.
Then, his "eye" was crushed by Flandre, and his entire body instantly disintegrated into pieces.
The efficient slaughter quickly broke the enemy's morale.
At that moment, the Staff Member stared wide-eyed at the scene before him, suddenly recalling what he had seen earlier in the factory building.
"So that's how it is, I finally understand... My judgment was correct. There really are people in this world who can fly, move quickly, and kill opponents instantly.
But our opponents aren't the Infected,
they're—Blood Demons!"
Before his words could fade, Flandre Scarlet had already flown to his front.
"Is this guy scared out of his wits? What's he muttering about here?"
Puzzled, she passed by him, casually pulling out his heart and stuffing it into her mouth as a dessert.
"Yes, yes, that's it... I was right!"
The man looked joyfully at the large hole in his chest, but his eyes gradually dimmed.
As he fell, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, as if he had achieved a great victory.
In less than ten minutes, everyone in the Mining Camp wearing a military uniform had died at Flandre's hands.
Only the rescued loggers remained, watching with fear and confusion as the Blood Demon girl descended from the sky, her laughter chilling and somewhat maniacal, like silver bells.
Many of them recognized her.
As the main base, this Logging Camp often had people coming and going.
And among them happened to be those who had seen Flandre during the victory celebration.
At the time, they didn't understand why those who had been rescued were so secretive about the process. Now, thinking about it, if it were them, they probably wouldn't dare or want to remember those scenes either.
"What are you all standing around for?
Check if there are any enemies left or if anyone is missing. If everything's fine, quickly contact the main base... As for this Logging Camp, we'll have to abandon it."
In front of everyone, the four Flandres merged into one and spoke to the person in the crowd who was clearly in charge.
Hearing her words, that person finally snapped out of it.
"Right, right, we need to send a message back to the main base immediately!"
He quickly ran toward the Telegraph Machine, as if waiting even a second longer would mean being eaten by Flandre.
Flandre scratched her cheek, looking puzzled at the hastily departing manager.
"Am I really that scary? Everyone says Flandre is a good girl!"
But she didn't know that just moments ago, when she pulled out the Staff Member's heart and casually stuffed it into her mouth as a dessert, the manager had happened to see it.
A Blood Demon who eats hearts staring at you—who wouldn't be scared?
The fact that he didn't wet his pants in fear and could still go send a message showed he had a remarkably strong mind.
Soon, as the assembled Guerrilla Squad was preparing to provide support, they received news from the Logging Camp that they had already been rescued.
"So fast!" Yelena exclaimed in surprise, looking at Talulah.
She knew the other party was quick, but this was a fifty-kilometer journey. Not only had they reached the destination, but they had also wiped out all the enemies.
All of it took less than twenty minutes.
And her side had just finished preparing to head over.
Of course, this wasn't because the Reunion Movement was slow, but because they were too poor.
Many pieces of equipment were shared among several people, and some weapons taken outside had to be retrieved by calling the person back.
"But we still need to go. After all, since the Logging Camp has been discovered, it's no longer safe.
We need to bring everything back from there and quickly open up a new logging area. We must have enough supplies ready before winter comes."
Talulah replied calmly.
"Alright, then I'll arrange for everyone to lighten their load so we can take everything in one trip."
Frostnova immediately began reorganizing.
Originally, after hearing about the attack on the Logging Camp, everyone was panicked.
But then they were suddenly told the danger had been resolved, and now they needed to go to the Logging Camp to bring back the items there.
For a moment, everyone was confused.
Many thought of the scene not long ago when Flandre had left.
Could it be her?
Some considered it but then shook their heads.
That was a fifty-kilometer journey. How long had she been gone?
How could it be possible?
On the other side, Flandre Scarlet asked the workers here about the direction from which the Ursus Patrol had appeared and said she would go check the situation.
For them to suddenly appear at dawn, they must have spent the night nearby.
She needed to see if they had left anyone behind. If someone escaped back, Ursus would react quickly.
In that case, what would likely come next would be Ursus's army.
Hearing her words, the workers, despite their fear, began recalling the direction from which the enemy had appeared.
Although they pointed to several areas, more pointed to the south.
"About ten kilometers south from here, there's a Reservoir, and next to it is a Waterway. If those people wanted to hide, that would be the best choice."
The Logging Camp manager, suppressing his fear, recalled the surrounding environment and said with certainty.
"Alright, then I'll go check the situation."
After saying this, she flew away from the Logging Camp under everyone's watchful eyes.
After she left, everyone felt a sense of relief.
Even though this young girl had saved them,
her methods were too bloody and cruel, making the workers feel immense pressure just standing in front of her.
"Alright, quickly drag these corpses aside and dispose of them, then gather what can be packed. Once support arrives, we'll evacuate."
The manager loudly scolded the people present. Hearing his words, everyone suppressed their inner panic and began to busy themselves.
As if only through this busyness could they forget everything that had just happened and their own fear.
Flandre soon arrived at the Reservoir the manager had mentioned.
She looked over and saw that there were indeed over a dozen people in Ursus military uniforms at the Reservoir.
However, they didn't seem to be in a good mood.
They were gathered together, beating an old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.
Gross was very unhappy. Originally, six squads had come, but because the captain was too stingy and didn't offer tribute to the Staff Member, the other five squads were taken away for the capture operation. His squad, however, was left here under the pretext of needing someone to guard the place and clean it up to make space for detaining the Infected.
Damn it, shouldn't this be the job of ordinary people?
He was here to capture the Infected for money, not to be a janitor.
Thinking this, his gaze toward the old man not far away grew even more vicious. The old man had tried to sneak away last night to warn someone, but fortunately, he was caught and brought back, preventing the operation from being exposed early.
"Your whip lashes are too soft. Can't you see the old thing isn't even screaming anymore?
Let me teach you how to whip someone so they scream loudly."
He snatched the whip from the person beside him and growled in a rough voice.
Seeing his fierce expression, the person whose whip was taken didn't mind and instead clapped and laughed beside him.
Just as he swung the long whip, he felt puzzled.
Why hadn't he heard any screams?
He was an experienced interrogator; with this whip strike, he could not only hit the target but also control the position and force quite accurately.
Had the other person already been whipped to death by the previous guy?
One moment he thought this, the next he saw his hand twisted into a strange shape without knowing when.
"Ah!" The pain finally traveled through his nerves to his brain, making him scream uncontrollably.
The others were still confused. They were supposed to be whipping someone, so why was the whipper screaming while the whipped remained silent?
"Enemy attack!" Finally, someone noticed Gross's clearly abnormal hand.
The next moment, before everyone's eyes, Gross's entire body began to twist and deform, then blood and organs exploded and scattered.
Seeing their former comrade in such a gruesome state, no one could help but feel horrified.
"It's a Caster, take cover quickly!"
With such a covert attack and no trace of the opponent, the experienced group scattered, each seeking cover.
One of them had just taken a step when his foot slipped.
He looked down and saw his legs beginning to twist, the distortion gradually spreading upward from his lower body.
"No, no... Help!" He screamed while trying to crawl with his hands toward a nearby shelter.
But before he could crawl two steps, the distortion completely enveloped him.
"Creak, creak..." After a series of teeth-grating screams, the person exploded on the spot.
Only two lonely hands remained, a testament to how desperately he had tried to survive.
The remaining people were clearly unable to care about this unlucky dead guy.
With two people dying inexplicably in a row, they didn't even know where the opponent was.
At that moment, someone suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky.
Then he discovered that right above them, a girl in red clothes was staring at him with a smile.
The next moment, immense fear enveloped him.
"Do I look good?"
Just then, a girl's puzzled voice sounded in his ear.
"Good... good..."
Before his words could finish, his head exploded.
Flandre reached into his chest, pulled out the still-beating heart, and swallowed it with a happy smile.
"Good is good, not good is not good... Why are you a stutterer?"
By now, the others had also been killed by Flandre.
Only the old man in the center, his breath faint, remained.
Flandre walked over and found that he was still conscious.
His eyes were very bright. Seeing Flandre approach, he suppressed the pain throughout his body and smiled.
"Did you kill all those beasts?"
"Cleanly, not a single one left," Flandre crouched down and said to the old man.
"That's good. Also, there are dozens more of them who went into the forest to capture people..." the old man continued.
"Those people are already dead too. I just came from there," Flandre replied.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Hearing Flandre's words, the old man burst into a fit of coughing.
After coughing, he looked at Flandre.
"I'm done for. My child is an Infected named Romanlov, and he also works at that Logging Camp. Please tell him he must live on.
Also, for these corpses, you can use sacks from the Warehouse, tie them with stones, and throw them into the water..."
The old man mustered his strength to explain to Flandre how to hide the corpses to avoid detection.
The more he spoke, the weaker his breath became. After uttering his last sentence, his body stiffened, and he stopped breathing.
"May you, if there is an afterlife, be born in a peaceful place."
Flandre stood up and looked at the surrounding corpses.
She first dragged the old man's body to a nearby woodpile, then took a stove fire from the house and lit the woodpile.
Next, she twisted all the corpses of the Reconnaissance Squad members together and threw them at the entrance.
She did this on purpose—to let the Ursus people know that if they dared to target the Infected again, death would be their reward.
After finishing all this, she turned and flew back toward the Logging Camp.
Flandre found the person in charge and told him about the Reservoir.
But unexpectedly, after hearing it, the person in charge shed a stream of hot tears.
His entire body seemed to hunch over more.
Under Flandre's gaze, he crouched down, hugged his legs, and began to sob quietly.
"The Romanlov you mentioned is him."
Someone nearby whispered an explanation to Flandre, then turned away with red eyes.
Only then did Flandre understand why he was so familiar with that Reservoir.
A few minutes later, Romanlov approached Flandre with a somewhat weathered expression.
"Thank you for avenging my father."
"You don't blame me for burning your father's body, do you?"
Flandre asked, looking at the busy crowd not far away.
"No, I should thank you.
If the body had been left, those guys might have investigated..."
Though he didn't finish, the meaning in his words was clear.
With such a huge loss and all the Infected evacuated,
the other side might have taken out their anger on the old man's body.
Now that the body had been burned, even if they were angry, they had no target.
About two hours later, Talulah arrived with the members of the Guerrilla Squad.