After the meeting, the two government representatives asked Roland to stay behind and promised that the government would further promote more assistance projects, including the experimental data of the first generation of nuclear weapons.
Of course, it was not just the Martialist Association that made them make such a promise. The magical creations with magical effects were also an important reason why the government was so proactive. In short, just as Defender Rock had said, this meeting was only the beginning.
In just a few days, the Design Bureau of Graycastle had filled in all the gaps left by Neverwinter's development. Hundreds, even thousands of people worked on each project to think about and perfect it. The Battle of Divine Will was no longer the fate of the world. For the first time, Roland deeply felt that the surviving human beings were not fighting alone. They were supported by a force that could not be ignored. Although the two worlds had never come into contact with each other, they were closely connected by fate.
Taking advantage of this round of technological reform, Roland ordered the Administrative Office to increase the recruitment of workers. He also planned to build more than ten new factories to produce various new products, ranging from high-performance composite gunpowder to semi-automatic machine tools. After solving the population and economic constraints, Neverwinter, which was in a period of rapid development, could completely build and develop itself according to Roland's will. At least, this momentum would not stop until the main contradiction of survival was resolved.
Just as the technological reform was carried out vigorously, Roland suddenly received an unexpected and pleasant news.
Joan, who had been missing for nearly a year, had returned.
After receiving the news, he and Nightingale immediately rushed to the First Medical Hospital of Neverwinter. Since last winter, when the government decreed to expand the scale of public education and medical care in King's City, the Administrative Office had built three more hospitals in the south bank of the Redwater River, the central section of Kingdom Avenue, and Longsong Stronghold. These hospitals were responsible for simple diagnosis and epidemic prevention in each district. The West City Hospital, which was the first to be transformed from a noble's mansion and famous for Miss Nana's permanent residence, naturally received the title of "First Medical Hospital".
Walking into the ward, Camilla Dary slightly bowed to him.
Vendy and Tilly had returned to the front line, and Scroll was busy copying the information. The Chief Butler of Sleeping Island naturally took over the task of taking care of everyone. Moreover, she had witnessed Joan's disappearance with her own eyes and had always felt guilty. Now that she had found Joan again, she was more excited than anyone else, which could be seen from the way she took the initiative to bow to Lin Sanjiu.
After all, she had always believed that she was the one who "snatched" Tilly away, which was also the main reason for Ashes's death. If not for the intelligence that the Sky-sea Realm could directly threaten the Fjords and Sleeping Island, she would never have moved to Neverwinter.
Roland didn't care too much about this. He waved his hand and asked softly, "How's her condition?"
"I can only say … it's not a big deal."
"Only?" Roland was puzzled. From his point of view, being able to return safely was already the best outcome.
"She … is back to her old self." Camilla stroked Joan's hair and sighed softly.
It was only after listening to her story that Roland finally understood what she meant.
Joan didn't swim back to the Shallow Port by herself.
The first person who found her was a Neverwinter fisherman. According to the man's report, when he went out to the open sea to fish, he was suddenly awakened by the sound of a heavy object hitting the stern of the ship, followed by the sound of chewing. He thought that he had encountered a Sea Ghost and was about to fight to the death, but he didn't expect to see a "big fish" that looked like a human.
At that time, she was holding the fish that was boiling in the pot and gnawing fiercely, as if she hadn't eaten for several days. Seeing the panic of the fisherman, she didn't attack. Instead, she let out a few strange cries and then curled up in a corner of the deck, as if she had fallen asleep.
Influenced by Neverwinter's long-term propaganda, the fisherman brought her back to the Shallow Port with the mentality of giving it a try — the reward for saving a witch was much higher than a boat of fish. To encounter a witch in the vast sea, if it wasn't a Sea Ghost, it could only be a witch.
And this "big fish" was Joan.
"Lily has already examined her. There are many parasite infections all over her body, and some of the worms can't be eradicated with my ability," Camilla said sadly. "In order to get rid of the hidden danger as soon as possible, I fed her sleeping fern and used a knife to cut out the shelled worms that were embedded in her skin. In theory, these bugs will only appear on old ships and giant whales. "
"In other words, Joan didn't swim back from the Shadow Islands?"
"They wouldn't have been infected at that distance." Camilla shook her head. "And with Joan's speed, it wouldn't take her so long to return from the ruins to Neverwinter. I'm worried that... she experienced something terrible that caused her to return to her old state. "
She didn't have time to clean up the parasites, she was so hungry that she went on the ship to look for food, and she was so tired that she almost fainted. All of these indicated that the journey was full of danger. In the case of long-term excessive stress, witches were likely to suffer irreparable psychological trauma. Maggie was a typical example.
Camilla had the ability to communicate with her mind, so she was not afraid that Joan wouldn't be able to speak. What she really worried about was that Joan would never recover and would have to spend the rest of her life like an animal.
Roland could not help but fall silent.
Indeed, physical health did not mean mental health. Neither Nana's medical bandages nor Lily's purifying water could cure psychological blockages.
Suddenly, a rhythmic knock on the door broke the silence in the room.
Nightingale turned around and opened the door, feeling puzzled. She saw Mystery Moon's head poking out from the crack of the door.
"Um... I heard Joan's back? Wait, hey, don't push me — "
The door was suddenly pushed open, and several people stumbled into the room. Apart from Mystery Moon, Summer, Sharon, and Amy were also there. Lily was the last one to enter the room.
"I can't help it. She found out," Lily said helplessly.
"Ahem! First of all, I only came to visit Joan because I heard she was sick! " Mystery Moon said firmly. "Although she belongs to the Exploration Group, Lightning and Maggie aren't here, so we're the only ones who can accompany her. I'm not trying to pull her into the Detective Group, and I don't — uh —"
Summer had already covered her mouth with her hand.
"It's just her own delusion. It's none of our business," Sharon said with a righteous look.
"Hey, isn't it good to have one more member?" Amy touched the back of her head in surprise.
"Shh!" Lily made a shushing gesture.
Looking at the group of people fighting among themselves, Roland could not help but smile. He looked at Camilla Dary, spread out his hands and shrugged. Camilla was slightly stunned, and then her expression relaxed a lot.
Maybe Joan had indeed encountered something terrible, but with this group of people accompanying her, he believed that she would get back on track sooner or later.
…
"Hey, look at this. What's this?"
"It looks like a piece of silk …"
"Why would there be silk in the hospital? Moreover, I can tell that the material is of high quality. "
"Why don't we ask Aunt Camilla?"
"… Why don't you ask?"
"I don't dare."
"I heard it all." Camilla, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, put her hand to her forehead and said, "That's the cloth Joan used to bandage her wound. Be careful of the germs on it. Didn't His Majesty say not to touch a possible source of infection? "
After Roland and Nightingale left, only Camilla and the members of the Detective Group were left in the ward. The latter busied himself around the hospital bed, and he had helped a lot throughout the day. It was a good thing that Joan had such warm-hearted friends. The only problem was that they talked a little too much.
"There are germs on it? Lily, can you sense it? "
"Take it, away from me, in front of me!"
"Hey, don't tear it. Huh? I can't tear it … Sharon, help me. "
"It seems hard to tear it … Summer, do you want to have a try?"
No, she corrected herself. These guys didn't talk a little too much, they talked too much! Just as Camilla was about to ask them to return to the castle with the excuse of "it's late today, come back tomorrow", Joan's eyelids suddenly twitched.
She hurriedly held her breath.
A few seconds later, the sleeping girl slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah —"
Joan opened her mouth and let out a weak cry.
The room instantly fell silent.
She really couldn't speak …
Camilla suppressed her regret and put her hand on Joan's chest.
In an instant, countless fragments of consciousness flooded into her mind like a tide! The moment she asked a question, she immediately received an answer. This was the resonance of the soul!
She saw herself being stretched infinitely in the dark bottom of the sea, like a distorted illusion.
She saw the sky and the sea turning upside down, and the seawater pouring down from the sky.
She saw black rib monsters all over the sea, forming wave after wave, charging toward the mainland.
She saw layers of stone tablets in the misty water and the woman in white walking toward her.
The last thing that entered his sight was a vast, bottomless, circular hole.
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