Chapter 22: Uncertain Future 

"Fu*k off!" she heard the merman cry when a glowing blade thrumming with might shone on the corner of her right eye.

With a slash of his naginata, a deep furrow bloomed over the monster's throat, tumbling away from the young woman with a wet gurgle, tripping a few allies on his way back.

Kame also slashed another creature in his way before he retreated as well.

Lyshisha couldn't help but utter a litany of curses, as the creature took away a chunk of her creamy flesh, carving a river of blood tracing down her chest and back.

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You are injured! You lost 32% Vitality and 21% Stamina.

Due to your continuous injuries, you started to lose Vitality at a debilitating rate!

Due to your continuous injuries, you started to lose Stamina at a debilitating rate!

Vitality Debilitating Rate: 0.25% every second

Stamina Debilitating Rate: 0.4% every second

Remaining Vitality: 67%—> 34.75% Remaining Stamina: %—> %

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With a battle cry seemingly taking everything she had, she forced herself to dash with her allies to that last door to freedom.

Come on!

A dozen more feet, and they'll make it!

And that neck that fu*king hurts like a goddamn Moèfù spice!

Kame's timely actions gave them a few more seconds to further themselves from their pursuers as they managed to crash the last door away.

They finally found themselves in the sweltering desert once again!

She sighed.

Ohh, how she missed that wonderful heat, the seed at the beginning of everything!

How could she fail to appreciate it before?

How foolish she was!

But no more!

She'll enjoy it on her summons back, but first, she had to gage the distance between her and her foes, so she glanced behind her.

Only to find that these abominations didn't follow them out!

She was startled.

Why?

Her eyes skipped between the hidden lair, the way they avoided the light glare, and the afternoon sun.

Her mouth widened in a sh*t-eating grin.

These mofos can't stand the sun!

Despite her nerves being taut and alert, her body wounded and breathless, she couldn't help but laugh.

"What's going—they can't follow us! Why?" the mermen asked, his face frowned in confusion.

Lishi only pointed upwards for an answer.

Following her dainty finger, his eyes lit up in understanding.

But all of a sudden, Lyshisha fell on her knees.

"Your Royal Highness! Are you okay? Please, you need to look after yourself!" the merman said as he came up to her.

Her pets also came and tried to lick her wounded neck, and she tenderly grazed their fur before she pushed them away.

Her adrenaline-fueled run apparently hit the limit, and it was time to heal herself. "Don't lick the wound, my babies, I don't know what that thing infected me with, and I don't want it to spread it in your bodies as well," she said as she produced a pill out of her bracelet, then popped it in her mouth.

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Due to your healing, your Vitality and Stamina aren't debilitating anymore!

Remaining Vitality: …—> …/100% ¤Recovering 2% Vitality every second¤

Remaining Stamina: …—>… /100% ¤Recovering 2% Stamina every second¤

|__________________________________________________________________________________________|

Her body began to recover while the merman gasped. "You've been infected, Your Royal Highness? By what?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, the Ignorant Server couldn't ID it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised since it came from an illegal guinea pig… Kame, you're injured as well, so heal up, we've still got some work to do," she said as she sat in a meditative pose to hasten the pill progress across her body.

Deep down, she also hoped that this higher-ranked pill would also remove whatever that monster injected in her, but she harbored little confidence in that particular endeavor.

"Then shouldn't we leave this place to have you checked, and furthermore, report what we've seen back there?" she heard him say.

"No, and no," she flatly replied. "I cannot give up on my mission, no matter what, and we don't know where the Empire's involvement extends. Reporting it could bring more troubles than it would solve, and your head would feed the fishes at the very least, while me … well it depends on how badly they're in it and how sure they are to start up a war over my dead black a*s!"

"But…" he started.

"No buts! Heal yourself, we'll be on the move in ten minutes, since we're near the cave," she said in a tone brooking no argument, then tossed him one of her superior healing pills to quicken their pace.

Kamealoha grumbled, but obeyed and sat nearby to heal himself.

He wanted to tell her to move at least away from the place in order to shake any potential cultivators lurking within that hidden lab, but when he thought about her legendary bird, he understood why she chose to stay.

He couldn't help but admire her courage to press on, despite the dangers her infection posed.

A dozen minutes grew by in a blink of an eye when they left the place with the same obvious questions battering their minds.

But hopefully time would have an answer for them, but first, Lyshisha had to prioritize her sister beyond the unknown effect the substance would have on her health…

*

At the hidden lab entrance, the bipedal creatures stood nearly inert—away from the sunlight—, while the two scientists idly strode outside, their eyes peering into the distance where the young queen and her crew fled.

"She's gone, now. How are we going to get her data then?" one of them asked.

"We're simply going to ask some of our independent contractors to keep an eye out for her—from a distance, mind you, to see how the DNA gold split-conversion affects her body. You notice she hasn't shown any outward changes, which showcases a sharp progression from the last tests subjects," the other scientist said while stroking his chin.

"You think it's due to her crippled Sun-Core?"

"Possibly, but we've already had the subjects 49 through 54 in the same case and they didn't have her reaction, so other things are at play. Let's wait for the sequence to progress, and the time is ripe, we'll lure her back into our lab…"

They chuckled as they made their way back into the lab, their creatures behind their calm steps…