The fighting had all concluded.
Ge Lin had been defeated by Qing Feng and was about to be killed, but he was intercepted by Katerina, who had rushed to the scene.
She wished to extract more information from Ge Lin, thus she temporarily spared his life.
However, Katerina had promised Qing Feng that once Ge Lin was no longer of use, he could do with him as he pleased.
Meanwhile, Xu Ruina had infected all the biological soldiers and energy bodies, turning them into bio-zombies, and the army of infected had grown once more.
Zhang Chen was the first to arrive at the camp. He immediately summoned his manor and placed it between the Russian camp and Royd.
Royd, having traveled day and night, truly needed some proper rest.
Zhang Chen brought Katerina and Xu Linna into the manor and assigned them rooms.
Katerina's room was adjacent to Zhang Chen's, while Xu Linna's was at the end of the same corridor.
"Dad, who is this woman? She looks so much like a good friend!"
Xiao Bai blinked her large eyes and stared intently at Xu Linna's retreating back as she asked Zhang Chen.
"This... it's a long story. Call Xu Ruina over. She's also a senior researcher and should know Xu Linna!"
Zhang Chen said.
"Okay, Dad!"
Xiao Bai and Mo Ran held hands and skipped away.
Although theoretically, Xiao Bai was older than Mo Ran and should be the older sister, Mo Ran's appearance and figure had undergone tremendous changes after her recent transformations.
Now, as the two girls walked together, Mo Ran appeared more like the older sister, and Xiao Bai like the younger. However, their mindsets were comparable, with no significant difference.
A moment later, Xu Ruina arrived.
"You're looking for me?"
Xu Ruina asked in surprise.
She had been focusing on her virus research recently, keeping her distance from everyone around her. Zhang Chen knew this and hadn't actively sought her out for quite some time. His sudden approach today struck her as a bit odd.
"Mhm, have you heard the name Xu Linna?"
Zhang Chen inquired.
"Yes, I've heard of her. She's a genius researcher at Raven Studio and a student of Tang Houde,"
Xu Ruina replied calmly.
"I've captured her. She's in the room at the end of the corridor. You're both students of Tang Houde, would you like to go and see her with me?"
Zhang Chen asked.
"You don't trust her and need me to discern the truthfulness of her words, don't you?"
Xu Ruina, being very clever, immediately understood Zhang Chen's purpose in finding her.
"Precisely. Her words are logically coherent and self-consistent, without any flaws!"
"But my understanding of the Progressives is limited, so even if she lies to me, I wouldn't be able to detect it."
"If she says something half-true and half-false, she can easily fool me. But you're different. You're also a senior researcher at Raven Studio and a student of Tang Houde."
"Therefore, her words, especially those involving technology, will definitely not deceive you!"
Zhang Chen stated frankly.
"Alright, no problem!"
Xu Ruina readily agreed.
She had already begun to consider herself a member of Zhang Chen's team and had long since lost any sense of belonging to the Progressives or Raven Laboratory.
The two knocked on the door and entered Xu Linna's room.
"You're so polite, knocking before entering a room! Much better than those Progressive fellows!"
Xu Linna was in the process of changing, wearing only her undergarments.
When she saw Xu Ruina, her expression suddenly stiffened. She stopped dressing and ran over to Xu Ruina, giving her a big hug.
"Sister, I never expected you to still be alive! That's wonderful!"
Xu Linna hugged Xu Ruina tightly, as if afraid she might disappear.
Zhang Chen looked at Xu Ruina, bewildered, and saw that Xu Ruina was equally perplexed.
"Wait, Xu Linna, haven't you been monitoring my every move? You even know about Little Soft's existence, so how could you not know Xu Ruina is still alive?"
Zhang Chen asked.
"We monitor your every move through the energy fluctuations of the rings. Gromos circulated your energy within its body, so we naturally detected its existence. As for others around you, if they didn't have a ring and had no energy interaction with you, we naturally couldn't detect them!"
Xu Linna explained casually.
She gently held Xu Ruina's arms with her hands, looking at her claws, and said with heartache,
"You must have suffered a great deal these past few years!"
Xu Ruina frowned, withdrew her hands, and slowly moved closer to Zhang Chen, asking warily,
"Who is your sister? Why do I have no memory of you at all?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Linna's eyes suddenly reddened. She sobbed slightly, then turned her face away. After a while, she calmed herself and said softly,
"I told you back then that the advanced physical enhancement potion was still in the experimental stage. As a senior researcher, you shouldn't risk your own body. But I didn't expect you to ultimately disregard my warning... You've always been like this since you were little..."
"It must be this potion that caused your memory loss. Even if we aren't sisters, we are both students of Tang Houde. If your memory were intact, how could you not recognize me?"
Xu Ruina frowned, trying to recall something, but found that this part of her memory was a complete blank.
She only remembered being Tang Houde's student and knew that Xu Linna was also Tang Houde's student, but she had no recollection of them ever interacting.
"Also... it's been a full nine years since you drank the potion. Do you remember anything about what you've been through these past nine years?"
Xu Linna continued to press.
"This..."
Xu Ruina looked at Zhang Chen with horror. She truly had no memory.
It felt as if only a few months had passed from drinking the potion to meeting Zhang Chen.
Nine years had passed in reality? So long?
"It's possible that you were in a semi-infected state. When the virus acted up, your consciousness might lose its sense of time. It's possible!"
Zhang Chen explained from the side.
Xu Ruina turned and looked in the mirror. Her skin inside was as delicate and smooth as before, only a little pale. She looked like a girl in her early twenties.
How could it have been nine years?
"It doesn't matter, sister. Now that I've found you, I will use all my knowledge to restore your hands!"
Xu Linna gently stroked Xu Ruina's claws, saying with determination.
"Really?"
Xu Ruina's eyes lit up. She first looked at Zhang Chen, then at Xu Linna, her eyes filled with longing.