As the bullet was extracted from Madame Cassan’s abdomen and tossed into a dish, Malin finally let out a sigh of relief. To tell the truth, even with the help of spell formations, Malin had never found the work as strenuous as today. The bullet had shattered several sections of intestines, and Malin had no choice but to simultaneously sustain Madame Cassan’s life with a spell while painstakingly feeling for the bullet at the bottom of the abdominal cavity—if it weren’t for the detection using Spiritual Energy, Malin felt the task would have been impossible.
Fortunately, Madame Cassan was lucky. In this world, there were wonderful things like spell formations and Spiritual Energy to aid doctors.
The boy’s complexion looked rather bad, but he did not shy away. Instead, he watched strongly as Malin sewed the intestines with needle and thread, washed the abdominal cavity with a World Tree fruit concoction, and then treated the sutures with a Healing Spell. By the time the abdominal cavity was closed, the light in Old Ferrero’s eyes was nearly blinding.
"The biggest mistake of my life was not taking you as my Apprentice," lamented the elder elf.
Malin pulled up the blanket over Madame Cassan and asked the boy to fetch the Punisher so that they could carry the lady into the infirmary—the Church had its own small healing facility where patients like her, who no longer needed further treatment, could stay without having to be transferred to the larger hospital of the Benevolent Church.
After taking care of everything, Malin patted the elderly elf on the shoulder: "I think you have a fine new Apprentice, with a temperament like mine."
"But he’s still too green, not like you... But what can I say, I understand that keeping you by my side would have been an underuse of your talents for this world," Old and young cleared the way for the Punishers to come in, watching as they carried Madame Cassan away. Malin removed his surgical gloves, then his temporary surgical gown, and then helped Old Ferrero out of his.
"What’s this boy’s name?" Malin inquired.
"Karl Marlon." With Malin’s help, Old Ferrero took off his surgical gown and smilingly reached out to ruffle little Karl’s head: "Although he’s not quite like you, Malin, this boy is still the one and only Karl, my Apprentice, destined to inherit my mantle."
Malin smiled and patted the boy’s cheek: "Learn well from Mr. Old Ferrero."
Little Karl nodded happily—apprentices at the Carterburg Goddess of Harvest Church these days all grew up listening to stories of Malin, so naturally, the boy recognized him, looking very happy with the encouragement from the Legendary sir.
Speaking of which, why didn’t that young man recognize Malin? Could it be that he was transferred from another diocese? Indeed, it was possible.
With this thought, Malin bid farewell to Old Ferrero and the boy, then tasked two Proxies with disposing of the trash in the side hall, casually rewarding them with two potions as compensation. Amid their words of thanks, Malin left the Church.
Glancing at his pocket watch, Malin made his way back to Clovis’s Mage Tower since it was still early. He also visited Clovis’s research, looking at the records on her blackboard, Malin couldn’t help feeling curious—why hadn’t Faye ever dreamed about this?
Had something happened?
With uncertainty in mind, Malin also saw the line of Naanqi, Clovis had marked with a circle on her research. Out of curiosity, Malin inquired about the child, and from Clovis’s words, he learned of the subsequent tale that befell the child.
"You’re saying she might have died during her adventure in Oslo?" Upon hearing this, Malin became fully alert—though his descendant might be poor and debt-ridden, she was still his descendant. What kinds of devils and demons in Oslo could pose a threat to his offspring in the future?!
Thinking about rebellion?!
"Leave this matter to me. I’ll deal with anything in Oslo that might harm this child once the excess has left my body," Malin reassured Clovis while urging the Bunny Girl to recall the details of her dreams.
Eventually, Clovis sketched a small room, where one side near the outer wall was slightly damaged, through which one could see a vast expanse of ruins and the sea. In a secure corner, there lay a mummified corpse and a sleeping bag.
"Our child took a brief rest here, she said she intended to seek an object from before the Great Destruction Era to activate a massive construction known as the Nest, also from before the Great Destruction Era."
The Nest, wow, Malin was truly not expecting that.
But immediately following, Malin was engulfed by an even greater joy—what had he just heard?
Nanaqi, the progeny of Malin and Clovis, is searching for something that can restart the nest.
This represents at least a bright future for this world!
In a future 1600 years later, humanity has repelled the Tide of the Dead! They are reclaiming the lost territories of the Dark Zone! Combined with what’s written on this blackboard and everything narrated by that child named Mars, Malin is even able to connect the eras his descendants live in.
His progeny never gave up hope; humans on this planet have never abandoned their ambition to re-explore this planet!
There will be no Tide of the Dead in the future! Step by step, humanity is moving towards a bright future; no matter the rugged path, no matter the wars, humans are still the true masters of this planet beneath their feet. How fantastic! Since learning of the bleak and uncertain future, Malin has never felt as happy as today. He lifted Clovis up, spun her around, and then kissed the girl who had yet to grasp what was happening.
After setting her down, Malin voiced his own thoughts and finally comforted the bunny in front of him: "Don’t worry, once I’ve finished my rest, I’ll turn Oslo upside down. I want to see who dares to mess with our progeny."
"It’s a pity it’s so cold there, otherwise I could accompany you." Clovis said with a hint of regret.
Malin didn’t feel any regret about this: "You’re not suited for the North; it’s too cold there."
"But that child can handle it, I think I could as well," said the Bunny Girl.
"She has an ancestor who’s a Frost Giant Half-blood, what about you." Malin smiled and tousled Clovis’s hair, calming the girl’s wild thoughts: "Leave this to me. Once my leave is over, I’ll take care of it. Now, I’ll make you something delicious to eat, let’s go."
Without any further ado, Malin picked up his Bunny Girl, taking her and the child in her womb down the steps.
With a meal composed of carrot soup, vegetable salad, and mashed potatoes conquering Clovis, the Bunny Girl ate heartily, completely abandoning any thoughts of working overtime that evening.
Malin helped Clovis groom her fur, then pulled out a tablet. With Jason’s help, they preliminarily confirmed the surface conditions of Oslo—the gap from which they could see the sea suggested it was a city district not far from the sea. Jason eventually marked three areas on the map and decided to deploy drones for observation.
Moreover, considering the previous situation, it’s very likely that the gap no longer exists today, so the initial search operation would probably take at least three to six months.
For Malin and Clovis, all of this was acceptable. The reason why the future is the future is because, for the present, all of this is malleable. Therefore, what Malin has to do is find that location, and then destroy everything in the vicinity that can move, whether it be Spirits, different kind, or those Chaos Machine Souls.
Anything that could pose a threat to that child, kill them all.
Then Malin can wait for Clovis to dream of that child again, to see what everything will turn into at that point.
If all this can be achieved, then Malin is confident he can make the world’s future better and better.
"So it turns out our descendants really can rebuild civilization, they can re-explore the world, and no longer suffer from the harms of the Tide of the Dead and Chaos... but Malin... I’m so scared..." The Bunny Girl ultimately curled up in Malin’s arms, saying nothing.
But Malin could feel the terror in her heart.
What she fears... must be a future without Malin.
Thinking of this, Malin stretched his hand to caress her head... Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to prevent all this from happening... Trust me.