Chapter 455: The People Who Came Here
Chapter 455: Chapter 455: The People Who Came Here
She must have been feeling utterly helpless. Even though Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner were strangers, she still told them quite a lot.
"Were you friends before?" Nina Jacobs asked.
’It sounds like the person lying in there is Holly Morgan.’
Nina wasn’t sure if this was the same Holly Morgan that Harlan had mentioned, so she asked tentatively.
The woman shook her head.
"She would often show up covered in wounds, and I healed her every day. She was the only one who would listen to me. I thought of her as a friend,
but she probably doesn’t even know who I am."
The woman in the pink clothes was named Irwing, and she was a Healing Element Superpower User.
It turned out she had also been at Lornwood Base. Because her Healing Element Superpower was quite exceptional and her profession was nursing, General Hughes had brought her here.
She had no one to depend on, and with her tendency to just go with the flow, she had settled down here.
In all that time, Holly Morgan was the one who had spent the most time with her.
"Do Protective Puppets really not have consciousness of their own?"
Nina asked after hearing her story.
Irwing shook her head. It was as if she’d only just realized that this was the first time she had ever met Nina.
But right now, she was desperate to confide in someone. After learning that Nina had also been brought from Lornwood Base by General Hughes, she felt an even greater sense of kinship.
Irwing said in a low voice,
"I’m not sure either. Back home, the elders used to say that a fright could scare your soul right out of your body. I think it must be something like that.
She must have experienced something terrifying. I tried using my Healing Element Superpower on her, but it had no effect. That’s why I think they must be under some form of mental control..."
Just then, the door they had seen earlier was pushed open, and a man emerged, pushing a flatbed cart.
The cart was less than a meter long, yet a person was thrown carelessly on top of it.
Irwing immediately stood up and walked over.
"She’s still breathing," Irwing said.
"Not for long," the man said with a shrug.
"You can’t just push her out here and abandon her, can you?"
Irwing seemed furious.
"We’re not abandoning her. We’re just moving her to that other ward. Someone else needs treatment in here."
The man simply handed the cart over to Irwing.
’Besides, it’s Irwing’s recovery period. She shouldn’t have much of her Superpower left right now.’
"..."
Irwing knew there was nothing she could do, but she took the battered wooden cart anyway.
Three of the wooden cart’s wheels were broken, making it a struggle to push.
"We’ll take it."
Nina had found Han Lewis by then—or more accurately, he had simply appeared behind them.
"Thank you."
Irwing handed the cart to Wayne Warner, a touch of gratitude appearing on her pale face.
She had just exhausted her Superpower on the last treatment and was now completely drained.
But then she saw Han Lewis.
"Han Lewis, you... Aren’t you..."
She couldn’t shake the feeling that the Han Lewis standing before her was different from the vacant, mindless person he used to be.
Han Lewis was clearly looking right at her, as if he were looking at a friend!
Nina observed both of their reactions.
Just moments ago, Han Lewis had been putting on that same mindless act in front of the others, but now, before Irwing, he had grown much quieter.
"Ir... wing..."
His voice was raspy, and though he opened his mouth, he couldn’t produce much sound. He spoke her two-syllable name with extreme difficulty, like a toddler learning to talk.
But Irwing could tell he was saying her name.
Irwing covered her mouth in astonishment. After making sure no one was around, she led the group into an empty room.
It looked like a patient’s room, and there was no one else inside.
After Irwing shut the door, Nina waved her hand, conjuring a layer of Diamond Sand that sealed off the entire room.
"What is this...?"
Irwing didn’t understand what Nina was doing.
"These wooden cabins have terrible soundproofing. With this, you can speak freely."
’I also want to see if Han Lewis has truly recovered.’
"This is wonderful, Han Lewis! You remember me, don’t you?
You’ve recovered a little, haven’t you?"
Irwing asked, grabbing onto Han Lewis.
Han Lewis’s mouth moved. He looked at Irwing and said,
"You’re... Irwing. You... helped me..."
Irwing nodded repeatedly, her face filled with joyous surprise.
"You helped me back at the base, too. When we first arrived here, you even stole their supplies for me. Do you remember?"
Tears welled up in Han Lewis’s eyes.
"This is wonderful! You finally remember!"
Irwing was overjoyed at first, but her joy quickly turned to helpless worry.
"But whether you’ve recovered or not, Ambrose White is dead. They’re going to kill you for sure!"
Irwing said.
While the two were distracted, Nina had already taken the opportunity to give a bottle of Healing Potion to Holly Morgan, whom Wayne Warner had placed on the hospital bed.
Hearing Irwing’s words, Nina looked at her and said probingly,
"You seem to know quite a lot."
Irwing’s expression changed at her words.
She bit her lip and said with some resentment, "Because every day, I have to go condition that old bastard’s body...
He talks to me sometimes, and when others come to speak with him, they don’t bother to make me leave."
’Old bastard?’
"Are you talking about Lincoln White?" Nina asked.
Irwing nodded. "You know a fair bit yourself, for someone who’s only been here two days."
’Lincoln White isn’t someone just anyone can meet.’
"I was eavesdropping."
After Nina spoke, Irwing stared blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing.
But her laughter soon turned to tears.
"It’s Umbrath out there, but this place is just another kind of Umbrath.
Once you come here, you’re fated to be at their mercy. Knowing more doesn’t change anything."
At her core, Irwing was a pessimist.
But it was also this tendency to resign herself to her fate that had allowed her to survive for so long.
Seeing Irwing’s vacant expression, Nina asked,
"Do you want to get out of here?"
"Get out? It’s impossible. You have no idea how thorough their defensive measures are.
I heard that Flynn White forcibly turned Holly Morgan into a Protective Puppet precisely because she resisted too fiercely.
Flynn White uses her as a human shield every time. Sometimes I think it’s better that she’s in a puppet state,
at least then she doesn’t know what’s happening to her."
Irwing said.
Nina didn’t argue.
Having seen the puppet defenses surrounding Whittaker Town, she understood where Irwing was coming from.
Whittaker Town was now a veritable fortress.
’I could probably destroy Whittaker Town outright, but I’m worried I’d never find the supplies then.’
’Han Lewis seems to have recovered a little. This is most likely the effect of the Healing Potion.’
’What if I were to destroy their puppet defenses?’
"Holly Morgan?"
Suddenly, Irwing, who was standing to the side, noticed that Holly Morgan had at some point opened her eyes.
The discovery made Irwing look as though she had seen a ghost.
Based on her medical knowledge, it should have been impossible for Holly Morgan to wake up now.
Holly Morgan’s eyes were fixed on the ceiling above.
"Are you feeling all right?"
Irwing waved a hand in front of Holly Morgan’s eyes, but it didn’t break her unblinking stare.
Irwing thought for a moment, then asked,
"Flynn White told you to find him once you recovered. Are you still going to go?"
In the past, Holly Morgan would have certainly answered, "Yes."
But now, upon hearing his name, Holly Morgan’s expression twisted into a snarl as she spoke.
"Kill them all."
’Kill them all?’
Irwing glanced at Nina, not understanding what Holly Morgan meant. "Who are you going to kill?"
"Everyone here... kill them all."
Holly Morgan said.