Four and a half hours later, I found myself lying in a mobile military medical unit, with only Piniki and a couple of Normie Doctors fretting over me.
The doctors were adamant that I needed to be rushed into surgery, mainly because not one of them fully understood how powerful my regeneration was nor how strong Piniki’s healing could be.
In a sense, we were talking about literal magic, and as men of science and medicine, it was impossible for their minds to wrap around it.
Eventually, they became bystanders who would only check on me once an hour, allowing the pink healer to do what she wished, much to my dismay.
Hell, I’d much rather be cut into by the Frankenstein-esk Military Docs than spend more time with this girl who was acting like we were a married couple.
I had been stable for hours, and with my life out of harm’s way, it wasn’t necessary to take up all the healers we had on hand, especially since 3 of them equaled one Piniki, so they were sent to heal the other heroes.
Then there was my group being brought in for a debriefing with the Commandant, meaning…I found myself…on more than one occasion, completely alone with Piniki.
Calling those moments awkward would be the understatement of the century because, frankly, I wanted nothing to do with her. Sure, she was hot, like REALLY hot, mainly because of her Talent, which allowed her to heal any of her imperfections, but the biggest issue I had with her was the fact that she was a total whore.
Like Sleep your way to the top and get rich level of whore.
And I wanted NOTHING to do with that fuckery. Then again, Xilia was an arguable case, one I made an exception for because she had never been with a man in the Origin Timeline…you know, being a lesbian and all.
Regardless, even if Piniki was pure and clean in the past, that wasn’t nearly enough to get the filth clinging to her soul off in my mind.
So, while I would make small talk, all I wanted was to use her ability to its full extent and drop her on the curb like an abandoned puppy.
Of course, that would be totally unacceptable with Emilia, and well….we all know how I feel about her. Following that train of thought, I got a sudden chill as the potential that I’d be forced into some kind of casual relationship with Piniki was beginning to look like a reality.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Major Nexus, First Lieutenant Piniki, may I enter?" Three knocks at the door tore me from my thoughts, and upon recognizing the voice on the other side of the door, I didn’t wait to respond.
"You may enter Commandant."
Startled by the sudden intrusion on our "Alone Time," Piniki’s face went through a few different expressions before the door opened, and she jumped to her feet to salute the Commandant.
Returning her salute, the man waved it off and spoke.
"At ease, First Lieutenant, so how’s the healing coming along."
"We were able to stabilize him in the field, in which I mean all of his life-threatening injuries have been healed, and right now, I’m working to recover movement in his left arm before moving on to the rest of his limbs." Answering in an almost robotic tone akin to what you’d expect of someone in the military, Piniki gave a brief summary, causing the Commandant to nod before walking over to the foot of my bed and looking me in the eyes with a serious expression.
"How many?" I didn’t have to read the man’s mind to understand something bad had happened; his posture and body language were more than enough for me to understand.
"Three of the gates have broken; the Russian Tower was the first, followed by Africa and Japan. So far, the only one we have gotten any information about is the Japanese Tower. Japanese Evolvers and Players have cleared the Draconic Tower."
"That makes sense; Terunotaku is a beast in his own right. I don’t doubt he could handle things there, and let me guess, there is no word from the Russians?" I asked while struggling to sit upright to the point that a flustered Piniki was enlisted to help me.
"Correct, Russia has been on complete lockdown, and not even StillWater was able to get any info, but for now, we are assuming that they have found a way to handle their Tower, the Tower of Ice. But Africa…" Instead of finishing his statement, the Commandant handed a folder to Piniki, who placed it on my lap and opened it so that I could read it.
Without even reading through the first couple of pages, I already knew things weren’t looking great for Africa. Their Tower, the Tower of Grote Slang, was by far going to be one of the most difficult to beat, mainly because of its primary monster, Serpents.
With a wide variety of species, many of which were venomous, I could only imagine the kind of shit show the Instance Breaks brought on.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
Even so, there was something I couldn’t share with the Commandant, and it was that Africa was bound to fall no matter what the outcome of the tower battles was.
Piniki and I shared a look of acknowledgment that didn’t go unnoticed by the Commandant, but he knew there were certain bits of information we were privy to that he couldn’t learn.
And the topic of Atlantis and the Merfolk was precisely one of those bits of info.
I didn’t doubt that there would be a handful of Merfolk Returners lying in wait within the depths of the sea. Once snakes and serpent races completely overran the continent of Africa, they would make their move to recover the land they had taken back during the Origin Timeline.
"Sigh…there is nothing that can be done…is there?" After a few moments of silence and contemplation, the Commandant spoke with rueful words.
"No…there isn’t. Maybe had we not been put in such a compromising position here, or if it was the only Tower opening up, things would have been different. Still, without a substantial force fighting back the initial break, things would devolve rapidly until the whole of the continent is taken over." Looking at Piniki, who nodded and closed the folder, I turned my attention back to the Commandant.
"As it stands, we need to start building up our forces and prepare for the next Break on US soil; the only advice I can give you is to send aid to building a blockade to cut Africa off from the rest of the world."
"Right, you told us that whenever one of the peaks is ready to activate, it will trigger a mechanic like what happened today. Do you have any idea how long that will be?"
"Years…maybe 6 or 7."