Long-term salvation

"!!!"

The sonic boom caused by the punch rushed towards Rhodes with a shockwave. If he hadn't jumped to the side the moment he saw the ship girl's action, he would probably be hanging on the wall of the training ground now... Rhodes climbed up from the ground in a rather awkward manner, glared at her and said angrily:

"Are you going to murder your husband?!"

"Where's my ring?!"

Rhodes: "...Yes, there will be rings, and there will be bread."

"Hehe, that philandering commander really needs a lesson," the shipgirl clenched her fists, sneered, and stepped forward. "Besides, being the Lord of the Rings isn't bad either."

Rhodes: "...Then who will the One Ring be given to?"

Hearing this, the ship girl's expression immediately became dangerous.

A beautiful girl walked towards them, and a steel ship suit was faintly visible behind her, but it soon disappeared in the misty dust.

Unlike the other side, who were struggling to resist the attack of the shipgirls, Price and the other two, who had risen from the rubble, looked at each other in bewilderment. After reaching out to wipe the dust blocking his goggles, Price felt that from the moment he set foot on the land of Arkham Town, he had been in a state of constant fear—even the fear was moving forward in waves!

"Did you see that just now? Was that a sonic boom ring?" Soap picked up his weapon from the dust in a daze. The confidence he had gained from killing those monsters in the other world had long been wiped out. "That's something humans can... No, no, no, that's definitely not human!"

"I think you're more concerned about this than what she calls Mr. Rhodes."

"Shut up! Keep fighting," Price said, halting the conversation. He half-knelt on the ground and tossed the cylindrical intelligence item to Ghost, saying seriously, "Mr. Rhodes is still buying us time—Ghost, you must evacuate the area immediately. Soap, grab your weapons... How many grenades do you have left?"

"There's only one left. Can we really buy enough time?" Soap replied softly. He saw Rhodes being pressed hard by the ship girl not far away. It looked like he would be defeated soon. "I was wondering why there were armor-piercing rockets and the like among the optional weapons. But I'm afraid those things are useless, right?"

"Let's try it first. We can't just stand there and surrender like the French, right?"

After Price, a Brit, had followed his instincts and hacked his way through France, he turned around and started counting the seconds as the ghost began to run:

Noticing the situation, New Jersey stopped fighting with Rhode and charged at him like a hurricane, smashing the concrete bunker to pieces with a single punch! In the rising dust, the shipgirl slightly bent her legs and exerted force with her feet. In just a moment, she appeared before Rhode!

Ignoring the gunfire coming from the side, New Jersey clenched his fists and shouted angrily into Rhode's slightly widened eyes:

"Don't forget your wedding dress!"

"?!"

After punching Rod who had no time to react, New Jersey turned around and rushed straight towards Price and the others - the ship girl broke through the air barrier and all obstacles along the way, like an unstoppable torrent of destruction!

At this moment, the running ghost had already thrown away all his weapons, leaving only a dagger on his chest. As a soldier, he knew the priority of the mission very well... but it was useless.

The whistling sound of wind passed by Ghost's ears, causing him to turn his head subconsciously:

There was only a fist growing bigger, followed by pain, darkness, coldness and shaking.

It was already early morning the next day when the Ghost awoke, as did Price and Soap.

In the Arkham Military Hospital, Rhodes thoughtfully prepared the same ward for Price and the other two. They were lying on the beds, silently staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to mention yesterday's confrontation drill, dream infiltration, and the nightmare during the coma.

Time passed little by little, and when the sun was hanging directly above the earth, Price sighed and said slowly:

"We've been delayed long enough, let's get ready to leave."

"Okay...but," Soap reached out and touched his head, which had been shaved off its Mohawk, "can we buy some mechanical exoskeletons to bring back? Those things are really useful."

"I'd better go back and write the application report, although I feel that the one I'll get is probably a military technology version."

"It's better than nothing!"

Listening to the voices of the ghost and the soap, Price raised his palm to block the overly bright sunlight coming in from the window. Recalling the memories of the past two days, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"The world is crazy."

Chapter 436 Daily Life: A Short Rest in the Study

After sending those three unfortunate fellows away, Rhode finally had some free time. However, as he accompanied the sullen shipgirl back to Hill Manor, he saw Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel exchanging a few words. Red-haired Nikki's eyebrows curved into a malicious, comical look, causing the blushing blonde to utter a shy protest.

Seeing this, Rhodes had no choice but to persuade New Jersey to leave first, and then quietly approached from the side... After jumping out and taking Little Red Riding Hood's punch, he raised his eyebrows and took Nikki, who had a "woe is me!" expression on her face, into his arms.

Rhodes stretched out his hand and pulled up the soft cheek, saying unhappily:

"What unhealthy things are you feeding Rapunzel again?"

"Huh? I'm being unfair. I just gave you some pointers," Little Red Riding Hood said, lightly placing her index finger and thumb together, leaving only a barely visible gap in between. "Don't you agree, long hair?"

Blonde Nikki agreed timidly, and carefully hid her delusions.

Seeing that Little Red Riding Hood stubbornly refused to admit it, Rhode could only find another time to teach her a lesson. After tugging at Nikki's pretty face as a warning, Rhode turned to ask other questions.

"Makoto and Hina didn't start fighting again, did they? I feel like this is almost becoming the new normal at Hill Manor... Applying medicine to Makoto every day is such a hassle."

Hearing this, Little Red Riding Hood's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a ω-shaped smile like New Jersey's, but with a hint of snickering mixed in.

"Although he looks like a fool, he's actually quite scheming."

Rhodes: “?”

Before Rhode could react, Little Red Riding Hood jumped behind Rapunzel and used her as a shield, quickly changing the subject:

"Makoto, Mika and the others are out exorcising demons. They're continuing their collaboration with civilian exorcists... They said they want to see if they can catch a Gehenna's scumbag. But without the commander here, I don't think they'll succeed."

Trash? Rhode recalled the classic Trash from Trinity Academy, the Justice Department, and of course, the "Originator" of the Trash, Nakasho Ichika... This girl looked like a larger Trash, not to mention that she could summon two Trash to fire a sweeping blow when activating her skills in the game.

After pondering for a while, Rhode touched his chin and decided to see if the system could release them in the future, just like the mass-produced Nikki.

"So, Commander, you don't have anything to do with them?"

"That...really not happening. I was just asking. As long as they didn't fight in Hill Manor, that's fine." Rhode waved his hand helplessly. He stepped on the thick, hard carpet and walked past the two Nikkis. "I'll go back and rest now."

Although he said he was taking a break, Rhodes still went upstairs and turned to his study. He remembered that Noah should have compiled a list of important new personnel, but he had not read it since it was delivered.

Back in the now empty study, Rod laid on the sofa, casually kicking off his shoes and letting his mind wander in the North American summer sunshine.

At this moment, the slightly hot sunlight was passing through the gauze curtains and the open window, casting light shadows on the folds of Rod's shirt and weaving a flowing net between the carpet and the high and low furniture.

Although it is close to the forest, thanks to the anomaly of Hill Villa, the annoying chirping of insects and the increasingly numerous mosquitoes and flies cannot enter this lonely and peaceful little world.

As the melodious jazz music played on the record player, Rod reached into the pocket of his shirt draped over the sofa and took out a Red Apple cigarette. He took out a cigarette, thought for a moment, and put it back, then threw the cigarette box onto the coffee table. What he needed to do now was take a nap.

Put work aside for now, rest is the most important thing!

But having said that...

"stare--"

"...I said so."

"stare--"

"Hey," Rhode opened his eyes, raised his hand to push away the tender white fingers that were poking his cheek, and added some pretentious complaints to cover up his guilty conscience.

"Yuuka, I'm getting ready for bed now!"

"Ok?"

The purple-haired girl raised an eyebrow, her hands on her hips, her cute little face full of seriousness and a hint of impatience. After placing the documents she had brought on the desk, Yuuka turned around and saw Rhodes still slumped on the sofa, seemingly not intending to get up.

Seeing this, Yuuka couldn't help but sigh, walked up to Rhodes, bent down, and looked into his eyes.

"You can't slack off any longer, Sensei. Director Hannibal's personnel report has arrived, and it seems he has some minor troubles to deal with recently."

"What?" Rhodes asked lazily, "Has his past experience as a cannibal been discovered?"

"...It seems to be true. A detective noticed the previous case."

Yuka reached out and tapped her chin, but just as she was beginning to recall Director Hannibal's recent troubles, she realized that Rhode had diverted the topic again. This made the girl angry. She squatted beside Rhode and shook the man's head vigorously:

"Hurry up and get up, finish your work and then rest, um... I'll help!"

Rhodes, who was a little annoyed, reached out and grabbed Yuka's wrist, pulling her directly onto himself, then turned over, pulled the petite girl beside him into his arms and pushed her against the back of the sofa.

Rhode lowered his head, feeling the girl's suddenly heavy and warm breathing in his arms, and said with a low laugh:

"You won't need Yuuka's help with work, but I can certainly help out when you're resting."

"Wait, wait a minute..."

After completely shutting up Yuuka's pleas for mercy with a kiss, Rhodes' hands began to move restlessly downwards, causing the originally arrogant girl to completely lose her ability to resist and fall into a trance in the hazy cherry blossoms.

But after only two or three minutes, the sound of someone knocking on the study door rang out again, very crisp and regular.

"It's daytime now, Sensei," the silver-haired girl said with a smile. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze fell on Yuuka, who was completely huddled in Rhodes' arms. "And Yuuka... did you get Sensei's approval?"

"Um, not yet, Noah."

"Then hurry up and review it, Sensei," Noah reached out and pulled Yuuka out of Rod's arms. His tone was calm and without any trembling, so calm that it made people feel a little guilty. "And don't forget to ask anyone who comes into the study to close the door."

“… Let’s work first, work first.”

Rod quickly got up from the sofa and sat behind the desk. Yuxiang, who was standing next to him, reached out to button up her clothes, blushing and avoiding Noah's occasional, vague gaze.

Covering the lower half of his face with the document, Noah began to think seriously about his next sneak peek.

Chapter 437: Director Hannibal's Little Trouble

Putting on his apron, Hannibal Lecter, Director of the Cogito Foundation, began to pursue his hobbies after work:

A frying pan billowed with smoke as a lump of butter swirled and vanished within. Beside it, a fresh steak, ready to be placed, was developing a marbled texture... Now was the time to add the steak, the carefully seasoned steak. A delicious sizzling sound erupted, spreading outward from every corner of the kitchen.

Although there is an uninvited guest today, we still cannot neglect him - this is contrary to Director Hannibal's style of doing things.

"I had no idea you'd come straight here," Director Hannibal said, his voice slightly raised. He kept his eyes on the food in the frying pan, oblivious to the scrutiny from the dining room. "To be honest, this was a bit rude, but I forgive you, Mr. Will Graham."

"...Looks like I arrived just in time."

Will said calmly, his eyes sweeping over the surroundings:

Expensive furniture with exquisite workmanship, artworks of different styles neatly arranged without a speck of dust, plus the thick books seen in the reception room earlier... This place is more like the residence of an aristocrat with friends all over the world than the residence of a forensic doctor and psychiatrist.

Will retracted his gaze from the Brazilian-style statue, picked up the green tea on the table and took a sip. Feeling the bitterness and mellow fragrance slowly spreading in his mouth, he couldn't help but sigh.

"I've enjoyed myself quite a bit. Is this tea from Aurora?"

"Obviously, because I have a lot of friends, Detective Graham."

After hearing Director Hannibal's words that answered his next question in advance, Will pursed his lips. He felt a little tricky - in response to the recent frequent vicious serial murders, the FBI re-hired Will, a former homicide detective, and his profiling ability was particularly relied upon.

By the way, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who is highly acclaimed in the field of psychiatric research, was also hired.

From the FBI's perspective, Dr. Hannibal was quick to solve cases, quickly finding clues to the serial killers. However, he was only a "doctor" after all, lacking the ability to apprehend the killers, allowing them to escape and vanish without a trace... However, the murders never occurred again, as if the serial killers had been devoured by some unknown force.

In fact, Will doesn't really care about the lives of those serial killers, but - he finds that Hannibal seems to be collecting, transferring and destroying FBI internal records on gang bank robberies, while also recruiting and interviewing some strange people.

Reason and a premonition told Will that it would be best not to profile Dr. Hannibal.

It is an abyss that must never be touched, a dark and chaotic evil... All of this is bound in that human body, and because of a certain oath and someone's warning, it continues to exist in an orderly manner and will not cross the line.

But Will is still curious about this - where did those murderers go? Why do they appear so frequently? What did Dr. Hannibal do during this period? Too many questions are weighing on the detective's chest - he needs answers, even if he might be killed by the doctor who exposed his disguise:

Because according to his own deduction and speculation, the Dr. Hannibal in front of him is very likely the "creator" of the serial killers.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Dr. Hannibal," Will said stiffly after coming out of his thoughts. He watched Hannibal come out of the kitchen and place a nearly perfectly cooked steak on the table along with the plate. The same meal was also placed opposite him. "Ah, no need to drink this time."

"In that case, I'll make some myself."

Director Hannibal showed a hint of regret on his face. He poured clear amber wine into his glass, a little at a time, only a quarter of the glass.

"This is a top-quality wine from a French winery. If you choose to refuse it, it will be your loss."

"...After coming here uninvited, I'm already very satisfied to be able to enjoy such a meal."

Will spoke calmly, cutting a piece of meat and stuffing it into his mouth. The aroma of fat and gravy, embellished with the unique aroma of pepper, salt, and rosemary, almost made him sigh with satisfaction, even if he died now. After quickly finishing the meal in silence, the detective wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, leaned back in his chair, and said with a hint of loss and regret:

“I wish I could have such cooking skills.”

"It takes time and effort, Mr. Graham," Hannibal said modestly. He didn't eat much of the meal in front of him, but started to taste his wine halfway through. "No one is born a chef."

"…Just call me 'Will', Doctor."

"My pleasure."