My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

Chapter 754 - 664: The Observer of Compassionate Civilization (6)

How could this be?

Bai Youyou couldn’t understand.

She was dead,

and yet she was killed by herself.

The "her" in the memory—was that really her?

In her own memories, her mother had always been gentle, attentive, and patient with her, never once as cold and estranged as in this recollection.

She felt estranged from this memory,

she felt estranged from all of this.

"Restart the memory in observational perspective?"

The icy prompt box surfaced once more.

Bai Youyou chose "Yes."

The memory of the nameless girl and Kolossos replayed, only this time, she was no longer the protagonist of the story, but a third-person observer, overlooking everything below from a god’s-eye view.

With a light flick of her hand, the narrative’s time began to rewind. All things shifted back along the paths they had come: snow flew upward back into the sky, vegetation rustled as it grew back into the earth, the sun rose from behind the mountains. In the little deer’s dark, bright, deep eyes, the Hunter’s gun muzzle drew away, footprints on the snow vanished, and animals ran along the direction where the setting sun rose.

The Power of EVA.

Had that observer always been watching this world from such an angle?

She tried rewinding time to the previous day.

In the dim light of a wooden hut, a girl in a bearskin coat stretched out her hands to warm them at the campfire, while a sturdy man sat beside her.

"Bear, can we leave here tomorrow?"

"You’re always telling me how big the outside world is. I want to see it."

Sparks crackled in the man’s eyes. He blew his nose, and after a long silence, he spoke.

"They’re not coming."

"Not coming? What do you mean?" the girl asked, puzzled.

"I know too much. We’ve already been abandoned." The man said this, looked at the bewildered girl beside him, and a bitter curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"They won’t come. Go to sleep early. In a few days the snow will get heavier; we’ll need to prepare more food."

The girl visibly drooped.

"Are you upset?" the man asked.

"I’m okay, I didn’t really count on other people anyway." The nameless girl fed more firewood into the flames.

"How big can the outside world even be? I haven’t even finished walking this mountain. I’ve lived here my whole life, I’ve got feelings for this place. Even if they drove me away, I wouldn’t go!"

As she spoke, the nameless girl leaned toward the man, resting her head on his shoulder. Under her fluffy hood, her cheeks were flushed red.

"As long as I can be with Bear, I’m happy. Bear is my family."

"Counting on others is worse than counting on family."

The image froze at that moment. Bai Youyou pressed pause. An indescribable feeling rose in her. She could clearly sense the warmth of the two relying on each other in the scene, yet she could no longer resonate with it emotionally.

She rewound the scene again. Spring, summer, autumn, winter; the turning of sun and moon; the revival and withering of all things—the trajectories of the mortal world all fell within her gaze.

Time rolled back to many years ago.

The man had been badly injured while hunting. Severe tetanus left him burning with fever, his consciousness flickering in and out. A little girl lay over his arm, crying.

"Bring that medicine here, let me use it."

"Mm-hm." The little girl cried so hard her tears and snot ran together; she nodded, nose reddened.

"What are you bawling for? With that medicine, I’ll be fine."

"This medicine is bad!" The little girl sobbed as she smeared ointment onto the man’s body.

Just as Bai Youyou had seen in the memory before, the wound where the ointment was applied healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, soon growing new skin.

"Didn’t you say this medicine can cure anything? How is it bad?" The man chuckled and ruffled the little girl’s hair.

"I don’t want Bear to use this medicine. I want Bear to stay with me, the longer the better."

The girl wouldn’t stop crying. Seeing this, the man let out a soft laugh, lay back on his pillow, and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"What if Bear gets hurt again in the future?" The girl wiped her tears even as she cried, unable to stop.

"Papa and Mama both got sick because of this medicine. No matter what they did, they couldn’t be cured. This isn’t some Miracle Medicine! This medicine is bad, really bad!"

"Do you want to go back?" the man asked.

"Go back where?"

"Xiong Family Stronghold."

Realizing something, the little girl’s face began to tremble. She sniffled, choking back her sobs and trying to stifle her cries.

"You’re the only family I have left in this world, Bear. Please don’t send me away, okay?"

"I’m not sending you away. Your people are all there. I’m sure they’re all doing just fine now."

"If one day my body gives out, I’ll send you back. You don’t have to be sad for me. I’ve done a lot of wrong things; this is just Heaven’s retribution."

Her people...

Sick?

Catching on these keywords, Bai Youyou, full of doubt, rewound time further, back to the very beginning of the story, to the day the two first met.

The wind howled with a vicious chill. It was a heavy snow night. Outside, the sky was a murky black; you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Inside, an oil lamp cast a dim yellow glow.

There came a banging at the door. Kolossos, who had been writing research notes, looked up and hurried over to open it. A tall, burly man burst in, panic written all over his face, and without giving him a chance to react, shoved the girl in his arms into Kolossos’s.

"Dr. Kolossos, go, quickly, take Xiao Lan and get out of here!"

"What’s going on?" Kolossos took the girl.

"Everyone’s sick. They’re all sick. There’s no time to explain. Take them and leave. I’ll gather the remaining elders in the stronghold to deal with it. Just don’t come back before then!"

At that moment, lightning flashed. A twisted silhouette appeared outside the window. It was a woman. Her face was overgrown with branches; her skin had shriveled like bark drained of all sap. A pair of branches had pierced through her eye sockets, and with a rustling sound they grew taller and taller.

"This is—!" Kolossos was stunned.

"It’s all because of that damned Medical Immortal. The Miracle Medicine she gave us has a problem. Everyone who used it turned into monsters—they’re all sick!"

The tribe’s chief, Bear, rushed forward, bracing a stick against the deformed woman. Though her limbs were withered to little more than sticks, her Power was shockingly great, and in no time she had Bear forced back against the wall.

"Take Xiao Lan and go, now!"

Kolossos nodded, clutching the girl tightly in his arms as he fled the house in panic. The stronghold was already in utter chaos; the horrific sight nearly made his legs buckle.

The vast majority of the people in the stronghold had become monsters. Some Power had twisted their upper bodies, turning them into spiral, winding branches, while their lower bodies had become oval shapes like culture dishes, all their organs and flesh melted into them. One grotesque face after another fused into the bark along the branches; gaping orifices opened and closed, letting out ceaseless wails as they dragged themselves along with their single remaining arm, crawling toward him.

"Come back... come back..."

"Look at us... Medical Immortal... the Miracle Medicine has shown its spirit... we’re immortal now!"

"Don’t abandon us... Medical Immortal... don’t abandon us..."