Arknights: Sea Goddesses of Terra

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Chapter 5: Moving City Columbia

"Woof"

Several hunting dogs stared at the setting moon in front of them. They hadn't encountered any suitable prey for an entire day.

Their saliva dripped onto the soil, and their eyes were fixed on Reinette.

As Reinette walked between the two mounds, several hunting dogs that had been hiding behind them rushed out instantly.

"Woof!"

Listening to the barking beside her ears, Reinette remained calm. She had encountered such attacks many times before.

From the initial panic and embarrassing escapes, she had now reached a state of composure.

"Water sublimates, mist and clouds."

A thick mist of water suddenly expanded around Reinette, spreading outward with the help of the airflow generated by the Lan Kai windbreaker she wore when she activated Lan Kai.

The hounds pounced into the mist, biting and clawing wildly at the place where they last saw Reinette, but they only caught mouthfuls of fog.

"Woof?"

The hounds were momentarily confused and tried sniffing the air to locate their prey, but the dense mist obscured the scent. The noses they were so proud of were rendered useless.

As the hounds stood on alert, staring into the thick mist, an almost transparent arrow suddenly shot out. The force of the impact sent a hound flying before pinning it to the ground.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" The injured hound struggled and whimpered.

Another hound immediately leaped toward the direction from which the arrow came.

But another arrow, as if it had foreseen the future, emerged from the thick fog and struck the airborne hound, piercing its chest.

The last remaining hound finally became frightened. It let out a low growl and backed away cautiously.

On the other side of the thick fog, however, Reinette remained completely unaffected, watching everything unfold.

After all, just as she used her mental power to perceive and control water before, she could still detect movements within the mist. Although the mist lacked the carrying capacity to grasp objects directly, it posed no problem for her perception.

She drew her bow again, aiming at the retreating hound.

Sensing impending danger, the hound whimpered, turned around, and disappeared into the mist.

Once the hunting dogs retreated, Reinette lowered her bow, slung it back onto her backpack, and casually discarded the water arrow she had formed.

The water arrows dissipated, and the ones embedded in the hounds transformed into puddles.

Reinette stepped out of the mist and snapped her fingers lightly.

"Mist condenses, frost blooms."

The thick cloud of mist behind her halted instantly. Every floating droplet condensed, transforming into snowflakes that fell to the ground, covering the barren land with a rare layer of silver.

"It seems to be quite effective. The three-state change… After all, whether it's mist, ice, or snowflakes, they are all different forms of water."

Reinette turned her head, observing the freshly blanketed landscape.

"New skills acquired. This is a victory for science."

After admiring her own masterpiece, she turned around and continued walking.

---

As dusk set in, the fading sun painted the land in new hues.

"No matter how you look at it, the scenery around here is all the same." Reinette looked into the distance with a hint of frustration.

"Maybe I should really consider changing direction."

"Hmm?" Just as she began to regret not altering her course earlier, she noticed something different in the distance.

"It's arranged too neatly. It's definitely not a natural formation. There seems to be a pattern."

Reinette quickened her pace toward the anomaly, hopeful that she wouldn't have to sleep under the open sky tonight.

After a while, before the sun had completely set, she arrived at the structure she had spotted earlier—it seemed to be a village.

The buildings in the village were made of earthen walls, but unfortunately, it appeared deserted.

As for the reason, Reinette observed the holes in the walls and the scattered rubble on the ground. It seemed the villagers had been forced to evacuate due to the previous storm.

"A pity… But if I stay here for a while, the people might return, right?"

Reinette found a house that looked relatively intact and stepped inside.

She used flint to light a fire in the pit on the ground. The temperature here dropped sharply at night. While she no longer feared the cold, a bit of warmth was always more comfortable.

"Hurry up! Find a house to stay in!"

"Shut up, Paulie! Don't you know how much John weighs?"

"Of course I do! I carried him on my back for quite a while."

Just as the fire was lit, Reinette heard voices from outside.

"Judging from their conversation, they don't seem to be from the village…"

Reinette quietly retrieved her compound bow from her backpack and carefully climbed out of the window.

Peering from behind an earthen wall, she saw two people carrying a bandaged man into the village.

"They don't seem hostile."

Chris panted heavily, exhausted from carrying the injured man. "I think this house is still intact. Let's take it."

Too tired to continue searching, he walked into the courtyard before Paulie could respond.

But before Chris could take in his surroundings, he felt something cold press against his forehead.

"Gentlemen, isn't it rude to rob a lady's house?" Reinette smirked, drawing her bow with a cold arrow aimed at Chris's head.

"Wait, wait! Miss, we mean no harm!" Paulie quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Explain."

"We're from the Columbia pioneer team. One of our companions is seriously injured, and we've run out of supplies, so we had no choice but to enter the village."

"Columbia?" Reinette raised an eyebrow. She finally knew where she was.

"Yes, the Columbia Pioneers."

Paulie hurriedly pulled out his identification. Although few people in the wilderness would recognize it, there was always a chance.

A sphere of water enveloped the ID, suspending it in the air as it turned for Reinette's inspection.

After a moment, she put away her bow and smiled. "Come in, gentlemen. Your companion looks like he needs help."

The two men exchanged glances, relieved. It seemed they hadn't run into the Rusty Hammer gang.

Inside, Paulie noticed a fire burning, with a backpack and a medical box beside it.

Paulie's eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly, "Um, miss… Are you a doctor?"

Reinette paused, glancing at the medical kit beside her backpack.

"Yes. Put your companion on the bed—I'll take a look."

Chris leaned toward Paulie and whispered, "No problem, are we really this lucky?"

"You talk as if we'd have a choice if there were a problem. Besides, who carries such a big medical kit in the wilderness unless they're a doctor?"

"…That's true."

Chris nodded and carefully laid John on the bed. Reinette picked up the medical box and walked over.

She took out a pair of scissors, cutting away the man's clothing to examine his injuries.

The head wound had already scabbed over. It wasn't serious unless there was internal bleeding.

However, if he had suffered a brain hemorrhage, even the gods wouldn't be able to save him after so long.

"He's been injured for a while, and… Never mind. I assume you don't have a stretcher? Several of his fractures are dislocated."

"We know, Miss Doctor. But as you can see, Columbia doesn't care about our lives. To them, we're just tools."

Paulie sighed. "The only medical supplies they give us are a few rolls of bandages. No splints, no stretchers."

Reinette nodded. If the injuries had been recent, treatment would be easier, but the man's condition had worsened after a day of rough travel.

"Help me get my bow."

Chris handed it to her. The bow glowed, emitting a beam of light that enveloped the area.

[Forbidden Land]

[Type: Skill]

[Effect: Creates a sterile sphere, forcing most airborne pollutants with physical forms to leave.]

[Description: An essential tool for wilderness medicine, preventing infection during treatment.]

[Price: 300 Medical Points]

[Available for E+ medical rating]

Once Reinette confirmed the skill had taken effect, eliminating bacteria in the area, she began the operation.

...

[Surgical treatment completed: Statistics compiled.]

[Injured: Multiple fractures across the body, several bone dislocations. Treatment completed.]

[The fractures have been set with splints, and the dislocated bones have been returned to their proper positions.]

[Overall score: C]

[Evaluation: The surgery was reasonably conducted, but during the procedure, the injured individual experienced excessive bleeding while the bones were being reset, which posed a considerable risk.]

[Reward: 100 medical points. Medical rating increased to D level.]

"Huh..." Reinette summoned a ball of water to wash away some of the blood that had splashed onto her body.

"Alright, your companion is fine, but he needs rest. He's not a Vaifan—his bones won't heal that quickly."

"I see. Thank you, Doctor."

Chris shrugged. "Paulie, looks like we'll have to cover John's shifts for the next few months."

"Yeah, Chris, but those guys up there won't care about a scavenging team. How many people go out every day? John has led us for so long—let's help him out."

Reinette waved her hand, interrupting their conversation. "Medical treatment isn't free, but since you're part of a pioneer team, I know you don't have much money. So how about this—do you know where the nearest Columbia mobile city is?"

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Doctor. We don't know the exact location. We need to return to the pioneer camp and ask around."

Bao Li thought for a moment and added, "But even if we don't go, it shouldn't be an issue. There haven't been any natural disasters recently, so the mobile city should still be in place."

Mobile cities don't move constantly. Relocating an entire city consumes an enormous amount of energy and makes trade highly inconvenient.

Even with a super-large Originium industrial engine, keeping the city in motion while simultaneously supplying energy to its industries is difficult.

Unless there is a need to avoid a natural disaster, mobile cities typically remain stationed in one area to facilitate trade and resource collection.

When a natural disaster approaches, the mobile city receives alerts either from disaster messengers or its own disaster early warning systems, typically two to eight weeks in advance.

At that point, most industrial facilities begin shutting down. Apart from essential civilian infrastructure, other industries halt operations to reduce energy consumption.

Simultaneously, the city's urban sectors disassemble and disperse, reducing weight, increasing mobility, and improving the survival rate of each sector. After all, predicting the precise scope of a disaster before it fully occurs is challenging.

Once the city exits the danger zone, the urban sectors recombine, and the city slowly migrates toward a stable climate, where it re-establishes itself.

Through city broadcasts, its new location is relayed to nearby settlements and mobile cities. These broadcasts are transmitted from city to city, ultimately forming an updated map of mobile city locations across the land.

"Alright, consider this medical service as me hiring you. Your payment will be guiding me to that city. Sound good?"

"It would be an honor to be of service to you, beautiful lady."