The atmosphere in the spacious truck compartment was a little strange.
"Damn it, this is really unlucky. Why were you guys acting so much like them... If you weren't those Columbians, you should have said so earlier."
A woman with long green hair and wearing a black-green combat suit stood in the middle of the room, pulling out a staff inlaid with green Originium from behind her back.
Gavial felt a bit of a headache.
She was just an ordinary wandering mercenary, who had left her home in the Rainforest about a year ago and started her career in the desert.
This was originally just a simple mercenary mission; a Nona was kidnapped, and her parents entrusted their mercenary squad to ransom her. It was that simple.
With the help of a snakehead, Gavial followed her mercenary group into the closed Iberian border to intercept professional mercenaries heading to Columbia.
The risk of fighting professional mercenaries was high, but the money given by the child's parents was simply too much—people die for wealth, birds die for food. That was all. To leave Sargon, Gavial also needed to save some money.
And in this crowded snakehead camp, Gavial found her target: the Columbia convoy.
They naturally couldn't just grab the child and run; their broken car couldn't outrun these well-equipped vehicles.
A small unit would scout, while the main force would wait within the Sargon border for the enemy to fall into their trap, winning by numerical advantage and terrain—not just to rescue the child, but the top-tier Columbia equipment was also good loot.
Of course, the first and most important thing was to confirm if the mission target was there.
Although Gavial was a medic among the mercenaries, she also happened to be the strongest fighter; as long as they weren't Sarkaz or Wyvern, then three to five ordinary people couldn't get close to her.
This kind of reconnaissance work was always done by Gavial alone.
"Nona, I was hired by your parents to save you. I originally just wanted to scout, who knew I'd run into this group of people—I don't remember the employer hiring another group of mercenaries. Which mercenary group are you from?"
Gavial grinned at the girl in the cage while waving the somewhat crude staff in her hand, casting a green glow over the man lying on the ground, unconscious.
"You're lucky, I happen to know a bit of medicine. I really don't know how you clumsy... careless people became bounty hunters."
While using emergency Originium Arts to save the bounty hunter, who had been knocked out by her comrades, Gavial turned her head to look at the white-haired Nona, intending to glare at her.
But looking at the fragments of the practical mace at her feet, made of two ferroalloy pipes and many iron wires and nails, with a tetanus-enchantment attribute... Gavial still swallowed her vulgar words.
Just moments ago, Gavial successfully figured out the patrol routine of these Columbia mercenaries and successfully snuck into the compartment where the hostage was held.
As soon as she entered, she saw a mercenary eating instant noodles, so she decisively picked up her beloved mace, intending to hit him with it.
Although the opponent reacted and successfully blocked Gavial's attack with a... probably a cane? Gavial's strength was still superior, and she was ready to make the opponent sleep soundly.
Then, Gavial felt a gust of wind and a booming sound from behind her. Being exceptionally skilled in combat, she instinctively sensed the approach of death.
Subsequently, she saw this white-haired, red-eyed Aegir easily crushing her spiky mace into dust, as if it were a biscuit.
What kind of monstrous strength was this? Even Gavial herself could only twist steel pipes into pretzels! Crushing it into slag was too much!
However, just as the other, more lethal punch was about to strike Gavial's head, giving her a severe concussion at best, the "Columbia mercenary" from before suddenly rushed over, hugged her, and took the blow for her.
"It's a good thing you held back, otherwise he would have been finished too. But you guys are really strange, it's my first time seeing a bounty hunter save someone—hey, where are you looking? Your comrade is injured, aren't you worried?"
Seeing the white-haired Nona behind her, for some reason, staring fixedly at her butt, Gavial couldn't help but retract her light green, scaly long tail.
"He saved my life, and I will do my best to cure him, but I can't guarantee there won't be sequelae; he'll probably have a concussion."
Stopping the blood on the man's head, Gavial took out a roll of sealed sterile gauze from her small pouch.
In this terrible environment, even alcohol was hard to come by, so this roll of sterile bandage was a rare item Gavial made herself.
However, Skadi on the side was unimpressed.
"I just haven't seen this kind of tail... It's okay, Goki's body has strong regenerative abilities—I'll heal him."
From the beginning, Skadi's red eyes had not left the mercenary's tail.
Although this guy had just tried to attack Goki, since Goki said she was one of them, Skadi thought it was fine.
Moreover, ever since Skadi and Goki became Bloodline-connected, they could directly sense each other's current condition.
Although Goki was currently down, Skadi could still feel his vibrant life force; he was still alive and well!
"Your healing method is too slow, watch me."
Watching Gavial's slow and careful bandaging, Skadi sighed, knelt beside her, extended a pale finger, and waved it twice at Gavial.
"Your method won't work."
Then, she rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a dirty, dark red blood vial—this was Goki's blood collection vial given to Skadi, which, although useless to Skadi herself, could be used for emergencies.
"Wait, what the hell are you doing—AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Immediately after, under Gavial's furious roar, Skadi poured the plasma into the hole in Goki's head.
"My healing method works!"
After emptying the blood, Skadi proudly gave a thumbs-up to the long-tailed girl.
"You idiot, what the hell did you pour on him, you're killing him—you *Aegir expletive*!"
Seeing the blood, full of bacteria, completely unsterilized, and with a faint smell of decay, being poured onto the patient's wound, Gavial, who had always taken it upon herself to cure the sick and save lives, instantly had several veins pop on her forehead.
She immediately turned around, grabbed the collar of the harmful bounty hunter, and lifted, lifted, lifted her—
She couldn't lift her.
"You—"
"Ha, for heaven's sake."
Just as Gavial was about to continue scolding, the man who had just lost consciousness suddenly woke up.
During this process, his cracked skull automatically reassembled, and his torn skin gradually recovered. Under Gavial's stunned gaze, Goki stood up.
"..."
Gavial's golden eyes widened. After a long silence, two words popped out of her mouth.
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"Holy crap!"
— — — —
"So, little sister, don't worry. There aren't many of us here, so we can't save you now. We have to wait until we cross the border. Our main force is in Sargon—fighting here would easily attract the Guardians."
"Mhm, mhm."
"Soon the vehicle will start to bump, so make sure to hold onto the bed tightly, wrap yourself in soft things, and especially protect the back of your head, understand?"
"Mhm, mhm."
Standing before the cage, Gavial earnestly instructed her rescue target, while little Angela nodded continuously.
Not far away, Goki, whose head had been repaired, kept an eye on the situation outside the car while looking at these two familiar yet unfamiliar Operators.
Goki hadn't expected to meet Gavial, the Warboss who was still a mercenary in her youth, at this time.
This crocodile girl from the Sargon Rainforest was once the biggest, most waaaagh, most awesome, and most formidable, both cunning and violent member of her tribe, even winning the final chieftain selection ceremony.
However, perhaps it was fate, Gavial was instead more skilled in using healing Originium Arts, which also prompted her to leave the tribe, becoming a mercenary who, after many twists and turns, arrived at Rhodes Island, becoming the Operator most skilled in physical anesthesia.
"So she was the one who rescued Angela. What a small world."
And watching Gavial earnestly instruct Angela, Goki knew that this mercenary Nona indeed had a compassionate heart of a healer.
"Her tail is so big..."
Meanwhile, Skadi's gaze remained fixed on Gavial's large tail, swaying left and right with its movements. At present, she was most curious about the various races she encountered for the first time.
"Don't look at it like that. There will be even bigger ones later."
Patting Skadi's small hand, Goki thought of Gavial's companions with even larger tails and couldn't help but chuckle.
Before long, Angela obediently lay back on the operating table, waving gratefully at the three people who had come to rescue her.
Gavial turned around, leaning on her pale green, thick-headed staff, and looked at the two bounty hunters behind her with a complex expression.
"Hey, you, bounty hunter, I owe you for this time. That punch to my head, I might not have survived—anyway, thank you."
Walking up to Goki, she stood on tiptoe, looked up at this strange fellow who could miraculously heal by pouring a bottle of blood on himself, and Gavial reached out and patted his shoulder, expressing her gratitude cheerfully.
"But that doesn't mean I'll give you our mercenary work. We're both here to save people, each relying on our own abilities—good luck to you."
As she spoke, Gavial tried her best to make what she thought was a fierce expression at Goki, even baring her sharp little fangs at him, with a tuft of hair on top of her head bouncing back and forth.
Both cute and cool.
"Don't worry, we have no intention of stealing your work. The two of us are just trying to leave Iberia—but you, Nona mercenary, you look like a Sargon native. If we meet again later, would you be willing to be our guide to understand Sargon?"
Smiling appropriately at Gavial, Goki was also very fond of this good doctor.
After all, she was also old... no, this older sister is too cool, not enough 'wife' material!
"My name is Goki, and her name is Skadi. We will be traveling in Sargon in the future. May I ask your name?"
Seeing Goki's friendly demeanor, completely unlike a rude mercenary and showing no desire to compete, Gavial couldn't help but shake her pointed ears on both sides of her head, feeling a bit foolish for her earlier assumptions.
"Ha, I guess I judged a gentleman by my own petty standards. My name is Gavial. If I can survive this mission, I don't mind buying you a drink—let's go!"
Sticking out her tongue at the two strange bounty hunters, Gavial didn't linger. Timing her exit with the next patrol shift, she slipped out of the compartment.
"See, I told you someone would save him. Let's go—bye-bye, hope to see you again. Maybe then, we can tell you what Abyssal Hunters are."
"Mhm, goodbye. See you next time."
Goki and Skadi exchanged a smile, nodded, and after fabricating a scene where the unfortunate mercenary was knocked out by a statue on a bookshelf, they bid farewell to Angela and melted back into the night.
Meeting Gavial and Angela made this trip exceptionally happy for Goki.
The two certainly weren't worried about the mercenary getting up and proving he wasn't knocked out by a statue—he'd likely be sleeping for a very, very, very long time.
— — — — — —
"You took a bit long."
In a corner of the camp, Kal'tsit looked at the returning Skadi and Goki, her expression still calm.
"Just ran into a small acquaintance, that's all. You certainly have more acquaintances than I do..."
Sitting beside Kal'tsit, Goki looked at the nearly hundred people of various identities in the camp and saw Gavial and her mercenary squad in another corner.
"When are we crossing the border, or rather, when are we starting the fight?"
Looking around, Goki could already tell that, apart from Gavial and the somewhat unlucky Columbia mercenaries, everyone else seemed to have ill intentions.
"Heh... you don't need to get involved—we'll return to the car in half an hour."
With her arms crossed, Kal'tsit maintained her calm expression, seemingly not feeling herself to be in danger.
"What are you talking about? Haven't all the people on this land already been entangled together?"
Goki chuckled, pulled out a compressed biscuit from his pocket, broke it in half, and sat shoulder-to-shoulder with Skadi, silently gnawing on it.
Looking at the Operators who were once familiar but now strangers, Goki couldn't help but feel a certain anticipation for the future.
Rhodes Island wouldn't appear for a few more years.
Leaving the closed and decaying, yet civilized Iberia, the travelers pursuing the power of the gods would directly face the most real and savage side of the Terra continent.
Two hours later, Goki's group's vehicle, following the roaring convoy, drove across the Iberian border.
And on the coast of Aegir, another group of new beings climbed ashore, pursuing their footsteps.
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