Who hid My Corpse!

Yuri gazed at the campsite far away gradually being swallowed by the white mist through his binoculars, his expression complex.

After a short while, the adjutant approached with a somber tone, "Captain, the count is complete."

Yuri put down the binoculars and looked at the adjutant but didn't speak immediately. Instead, he paused before letting out a sigh, "Just tell me, how many did we lose?"

"Nine." The adjutant's tone was poor, and even through the thick mask, Yuri could guess his expression right now, "They were all... in an instant by the emergency device..."

The adjutant couldn't continue.

Yuri reached out, patted his shoulder, and then said with much self-reproach, "My fault."

"No, you have no fault at all," the adjutant shook his head and said, "You are the only one who broke free from the contamination. If not for you, all of us would have died there—not a single one would have survived. Even if you had been a bit slower, we would have suffered even greater losses. Compared to total annihilation, the losses we have now are already acceptable. You saved everyone."

Yuri didn't speak, only gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

The adjutant asked, "But how did you come to be clear of the contamination?"

Faced with the adjutant's question, Yuri remained silent for a long while before finally speaking slowly, "The Night Star Knight told me."

The adjutant was astonished, "What did you say?"

Yuri told the adjutant everything about his conversation with the Night Star Knight.

After listening, the adjutant didn't speak for a long time, his chest heaved and the sound of his breathing from the mask revealing his current state of mind.

"This is... truly astonishing," stammered the adjutant. "But we didn't hear anything, we didn't see anything. To us, it was nothing more than a rotting corpse."

Yuri said softly, "I encountered it while contaminated."

"So, you mean, while you were contaminated, you encountered the Night Star Knight from ten years ago, and it was his warning that allowed you to break free from the contamination and return to reality?" The adjutant shook his head sharply, "Forgive my bluntness, Captain, but such a claim is very hard for me to believe. And you also mentioned he talked about 'the source being the contamination'—what does that mean?"

"I don't know," Yuri shook his head and looked out into the distance again, "Not just you, even I doubt whether everything I encountered was real. But according to what you guys said, when you were contaminated, you have no memory of it, only in the blink of an eye, you heard me screaming."

"Indeed, it was like that," the adjutant said, "What you encountered was indeed unusual."

As he spoke, the adjutant paused, seemingly hesitating about something. After a moment's hesitation, he still spoke to Yuri.

"Captain, it would be best not to make what you saw public. If someone asks, just say you broke free from the contamination on your own, and you do not know the specific reason."

"Why?"

"Because the atmosphere within the squad is very poor," the adjutant said, "The squad members all think that the body brought them misfortune and contamination; they believe it was you who saved them. And if you now come forward and say it wasn't you, but that corpse who saved them... it might cause morale to collapse."

Yuri turned back, looking behind him.

The Devil Knights sat in twos and threes, not speaking to each other, but the despair and repression that permeated the air around them were palpable.

After all, they had seen with their own eyes how their comrades at their sides were killed by that neck emergency device, and they were only a step away from death themselves.

"Although the emergency device has not been activated for the first time," the adjutant said softly, "Most of the time, only one or two squad members were contaminated, and then died outside after the emergency device activated, their bodies later retrieved by us. But like today, to activate in full view of everyone, there has only been..."

Before he could finish, one of the knights suddenly stood up and started frantically, recklessly taking off their mask.

"Carlos! What are you doing?!"

"You'll die if you take off your mask in this level of contamination!"

Two knights rushed up to hold him down.

Carlos roared through his mask, "To hell with it, I'd rather die than have this thing kill me!"

"Damn it, hold him down!"

After a struggle, the knight named Carlos was subdued.

Silence once again returned to the temporary camp.

But everyone could hear the "click-click" of the emergency device in their ears.

"It is just like what you have seen," said the adjutant in a low voice, "And before the reserve arrives to do contamination checks on us, we cannot take off our masks or retreat backward... So, Captain, we can't bring any more uncontrollable factors into the squad."

Yuri silently watched his comrades in front of him, knowing the adjutant was right.

They were all contaminated.

Before confirming the extent, they could not retreat to avoid contaminating others nor could they take off their masks. They could only wait here for the reserve's support, the images from before replaying in their minds, the countdown of the emergency device echoing in their ears...

Indeed, his team could not handle any more shocks.

"I understand," Yuri nodded, "But I will prepare a formal report and send it to the higher-ups for the Bishops to decide."

"Of course, that's what you should do." After the adjutant spoke, seeing Yuri did not respond and looked again towards the distant camp, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you still thinking about 'the source is the contamination'? Forgive my candor, but that may just be your imagination after being contaminated; you shouldn't take it too seriously."

"So that's why I'm thinking about something else."

"What?"

"What if I were a step later, if only I had survived and returned to the rear—what would happen?"

The adjutant didn't respond right away, "What would happen?"

Yuri turned to glance at the adjutant and said softly, "In that case, do you think I would be the next Gerard? Would people think that I caused the death of my subordinates?"

The adjutant was taken aback. He instinctively wanted to object but didn't know what to say.

Yuri reached out again, patting the adjutant's shoulder.

"After the inspection is over, immediately send someone to find Ina," Yuri said, "Tell her everything that happened today, and then..."

Yuri seemed hesitant but quickly firmed up again.

"Ask her to go find Lyra."

...

Gerard had effortlessly infiltrated the processing factory.

With only a few symbolic security personnel within the factory, dodging their line of sight was incredibly simple for Gerard.

After entering the factory, Gerard hid in a corner, frowning slightly as he looked at several paths ahead before speaking slowly, "Should I go looking for the original inspection report? But I have no idea where it might be."

"Why look for the inspection report?" Bai Wei said lazily, "Who wants to see that thing?"

"Then where to?"

"Simple." Bai Wei said with a smile, "Just go wherever there's a lot of Source Oil samples… Hmm, that big room across looks good."

A big room?

Gerard raised his head and looked at the big room Bai Wei had mentioned, then his expression changed.

Because it was a processing workshop.

Inside, indeed, there were large quantities of Source Oil, but there were also hundreds of workers working away.

"Enter there?"

"What's wrong?" Bai Wei asked, "You dare to enter the Polluted Land, but not here?"

Gerard did not respond to Bai Wei's teasing, but he did not refuse Bai Wei either because he knew Bai Wei wouldn't ask him to do something meaningless.

So after looking around, he found a uniform hanging on the wall, which he draped over himself.

Then he entered the workshop.

The workshop was very noisy, with all kinds of machinery characteristic of Lyra roaring away, and hundreds of workers were busy on their own production lines, either processing or refining. No one even glanced up, and naturally, no one noticed Gerard as he walked in.

As if they too were just cogs in the machinery of the workshop.

"What should I do now?" Seeing that no one had noticed him, Gerard asked Bai Wei in his mind.

Bai Wei replied, "Just grab a barrel of Source Oil and that'll do."

Although Gerard didn't know what Bai Wei was planning, he still followed the instruction.

Barrels filled with Source Oil were piled up everywhere, as were various batches of Source Oil that had already begun to be refined; there was no shortage to be found.

However, just to be safe, Gerard still went to the very corner and found a barrel that hadn't been opened yet, clearly just transported from the Polluted Land.

"Open it," Bai Wei said succinctly.

Without saying much, Gerard promptly lifted the lid of the Source Oil.

Soon, a barrel of rich, thick, dark yellow liquid appeared before them, accompanied by a stench that was unbearable to others.

But that was only for others, Gerard had long been accustomed to it, and Bai Wei… he couldn't smell it.

Yet that didn't stop Bai Wei from clicking his tongue, "You actually call this thing Source Oil… This is nothing but Corpse Oil, isn't it?"

"The Source Oil itself is made from the bodies of Pollutants," Gerard said, "What's wrong with that?"

"In your context, indeed, there is nothing wrong," Bai Wei replied indifferently, "So, in your view, this is unpolluted? The squeezed juice of Pollutants, is it truly dead?"

Gerard lowered his head, scrutinizing the barrel of Source Oil.

Dark yellow, viscous, foul-smelling.

But beyond that, he couldn't feel anything else. If it were actually a Pollutant standing before him, he wouldn't have been able to miss it.

So he shook his head, "I can't feel anything."

"I see…" Bai Wei suddenly sighed deeply, "Then there's only one thing to do… Dip my finger into it."

Gerard was taken aback, "What?"

"I said, dip my finger in," Bai Wei's words were full of disgust, "Don't make me repeat myself, or I might regret it."

Although Gerard didn't understand what Bai Wei had in mind, he still raised his left hand and extended his middle finger.

"Just a touch will do," Bai Wei said, "Don't put the whole thing in."

Gerard followed Bai Wei's instruction, stirring his finger quickly into the Source Oil. Even though he retracted it swiftly, he still felt Bai Wei's disgust in his mind.

"Truly a hellish experience," Bai Wei grumbled.

Gerard wiped the Source Oil from his finger as he watched the barrel, "There will be a change next…"

He had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he suddenly froze.

The previously calm Source Oil was now starting to churn slightly.

Then, under Gerard's watchful eyes, slowly, a... eerie face began to emerge.

"…It's looking at me," Gerard said softly.

"No," Bai Wei spoke flatly, "It's 'they'."

Bai Wei stood his middle finger upright, signaling Gerard to look up.

So Gerard raised his head.

Then he saw hundreds of workers in the factory, all stopping their work.

Staring straight at Gerard.

Their expressions were exactly like the face on the Source Oil.