Chapter 169: Dima's Choice

The most striking feature about Thelma was her long, silver hair, which fell smoothly down her back like flowing water.

Trotting over, she wore a coarsely sewn robe with a scarf wrapped around her neck, bundling her entire body tightly.

At the same time, she wore a mask, and a pair of thick-framed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose.

Because of her breath, a layer of mist clouded the lenses, making it impossible to see her eyes.

Near the edge of her mask, faint rune-like lines could be seen drawn across her face.

A-Bang knew that Thelma was not wearing the mask out of fear of contagion; due to her unique constitution, Thelma was the only young person in the village who had not fallen ill.

She wore it to conceal the markings on her face.

From the moment a wilderness child was born, the village elders would use a special potion to draw rune patterns upon their bodies.

These rune patterns would continuously absorb elemental energy from nature and store it within the child's body.

They would remain until the coming-of-age ceremony on their eighteenth birthday, at which point they would be unsealed.

Only on that day would it be known whether one could become an awakened elementalist.

However, the rune patterns on Thelma's body were bizarre; as she grew older, the runes automatically spread year after year.

Now seventeen, the markings covered her entire body, even appearing on her face.

The village elders, including Granny Wanjun, were entirely unaware of the reason behind this.

Feeling like an outcast, Thelma did not want others to see how different she was from the other children, so she used a mask and a scarf to hide them.

As for the glasses on Thelma's nose, it was not as though wilderness people never used items manufactured by the capital cityfolk—otherwise, there would be no black-market trade.

Yet there was one item that could not be found anywhere, even if one searched the entire village.

That was a core-battery.

Taking a cup of water from the village keeper, A-Bang drained it in a single gulp. Only after moistening his throat did he begin to speak.

At that moment, he recounted every single detail without omission.

From waiting for the convoy to the start of the trade, to Badi's sudden aggression, and finally to the arrival of the capital reinforcements.

Upon hearing that Granny Wanjun had exhausted her strength and Old Yu had collapsed with severe injuries, everyone held their breath and clenched their fists.

Yet no one dared to interrupt or urge him on, silently praying for a perfect outcome.

However, when they heard that Granny Wanjun and the others had ultimately been captured, the atmosphere froze once more.

With a crash, the medicine bowl in Thelma's fingernails shattered against the ground.

The girl's body trembled slightly, her lenses still fogged with mist.

The rest of the crowd remained silent, repeating the exact same sentence in their hearts over and over again:

What on earth should be done now? How could they handle this?

The elders were never afraid of hardship; what they feared was having their hope stripped away and the collapse of their spiritual pillar.

Then, they simultaneously cast their gazes toward the slender-figured Thelma, as she was currently the village's temporary leader.

Thelma lowered her head, staring blankly at the shattered bowl by her feet, her fingernails digging deep into her flesh as she lost herself in thought.

After a moment, someone finally could not hold back and took the lead in making a suggestion:

"Wanjun and Old Yu are in danger. We must find a way to rescue them first."

Another person chimed in:

"That's right, we must bring the village chief back. Let's go ask the Great Elder for help!"

At this, Thelma, who had remained silent all this while, finally spoke.

Suppressing the deep anxiety within her heart, she said firmly:

"A-Bang, you will accompany me to the black market once more. We must find a way to purchase this medicine; saving our villagers takes precedence.

"The Great Elder cannot leave the village. Now that Granny is gone, someone must stay behind to hold down the fort.

"In case Badi comes back to retaliate against us..."

A-Bang immediately objected:

"No! Thelma, you aren't an awakened one yet. If anything else happens along the way, how are we going to answer to Granny!"

A-Bang had risked his old life running back indeed to fetch reinforcements, but those reinforcements did not include Thelma.

His goal was to lead the elders charging into the capital to save people, but as it turned out, they could not even get past the leader herself.

"Can't we ask people from other villages for help? It's just a matter of offering a higher reward," A-Bang persisted, unwilling to give up.

Thelma shook her head, her porcelain-white hands clenching tightly together as she looked at A-Bang earnestly.

Her crisp, gentle voice rang out:

"You aren't unaware of the situation in the other villages. They can barely manage themselves, and many are in even worse shape than we are.

"Besides, our trip to the black market is to buy medicine, not to fight. There won't be any danger.

"By the way, A-Bang, I've heard you mention that there's a place in the black market where bounties can be posted. Perhaps some powerful hunters will help us."

Thelma understood what A-Bang was thinking, and she knew the anxiety in his heart, but his approach was impractical.

Because even if the entire village mobilized, there was no guarantee they could snatch Granny Wanjun back.

This was not a problem that could be solved simply by having more people; it was about the fact that they had no idea how to conduct a rescue.

Therefore, wanting to fish Granny and Old Yu out meant they ultimately had to enlist the help of the capital cityfolk.

A gleam of realization lit up everyone's eyes simultaneously, and they felt this method might actually work. A-Bang was also somewhat moved.

Thelma continued:

"If Granny were standing here right now, she would definitely make the exact same choice I have."

The gentle girl spoke these words with unwavering strength.

...

As night fell, the Patrol Bureau's convoy arrived safely in the inner city.

Inside the vehicle, Ye Chen noticed two cargo trucks peel off from the formation and turn down a different direction.

As for the remaining vehicles, they drove uniformly toward the northern district of the inner city.

After the convoy had traveled some distance, Ye Chen caught sight of the dried-up riverbed cutting through the city.

Last time, he had been patrolling the opposite bank, but this time he had come to this side of the riverbank escorting prisoners.

Ye Chen could clearly see that at this hour, most of the factories and workshops in the industrial zone across the river were pitch black.

Soon, at the end of the road, the inner city prison with its towering black walls appeared.

It looked like a monster lying dormant in the dark, cloaked by the night, exuding an aura of decay and death as it waited to devour the incoming prey.

Under the direction and command of their respective squad leaders, the patrol members handed over the suspects from the trucks to the prison guards who marched out in formation from within.

The prison guards wore uniform black attire, tactical helmets, and standard-issue rifles, bearing a striking resemblance to the soldiers of the Defense Bureau.

What caught Ye Chen's attention was that among the suspects being escorted inside in line, two wilderness people were wearing special shackles, with a strangely shaped metal collar around each of their necks.

Because indicator lights were blinking upon them, they stood out particularly sharply in the night.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, Ye Chen accidentally caught a glimpse of a figure in a white lab coat flashing past within the open gates of the prison.

Against the backdrop of pitch-black surroundings, the appearance of this white figure seemed extremely abrupt.

However, the white figure vanished in a flash, and he did not manage to see clearly who it was.

Someone from the Research Bureau?

Ye Chen immediately thought that apart from the Paranormal Bureau dressing in such a manner, only the Research Bureau would wear white lab coats of that sort.

At this thought, he could not help but sigh inwardly... Ah, who knows what kind of experiments the people from the Research Bureau are going to perform on these prisoners this time?!