NOVEL NEXT Chapter 520: Memories
Arthur appeared before the room where his enhanced senses had detected the nurse's presence. The door was simple wood construction, currently closed, creating a barrier between him and the information he wanted to find.
As someone who maintained basic human decency despite his growing power, Arthur knocked on the door while announcing his presence with appropriate courtesy.
"Excuse me," Arthur called through the wooden barrier, his voice loud enough to be heard clearly without seeming threatening to someone who might already be in a vulnerable position.
Inside the room, Lisa had never heard that particular voice before, but considering the abrupt way her captor had abandoned her and the screaming she had heard from the main area, this interruption might represent salvation rather than additional torment, especially when he hadn't returned yet.
She quickly responded with nervous politeness. "Just a moment, please."
Lisa began dressing herself with hurried hands, her movements reflecting both relief at having time to prepare and ingrained fear of potential consequences for not being immediately available. The reason she hadn't dressed when the man left earlier was her terror of his controlling behavior—he was incredibly possessive and would physically strike her if she had worn clothes when he wasn't completely 'finished'.
It was a cruel world she found herself trapped within, but submission had become her only survival strategy. Her awakened talent was so pathetically weak as to be worthless for self-defense, and her crime was being beautiful, young, and naturally shy—characteristics that made her a target for those mind twisted guardians of the shelter.
She had initially hoped this group would maintain some basic human decency, but once the mysterious protector had left them to their own devices, they had gone on a rampage of self-indulgence, ruling like petty kings without anyone's permission or oversight.
After approximately a minute of frantic preparation, she called out with resignation mixed with desperate hope.
"Come in."
Arthur entered to find the room in complete disarray—a total mess that spoke to the degraded conditions Lisa had been forced to endure. The space was ravaged, with clothes scattered everywhere across the floor alongside empty bottles, food containers, and various other debris that created an atmosphere of neglect and abuse.
The woman was indeed the nurse Arthur remembered from Charlotte's hospitalization. He recognized her features clearly despite the fact that he hadn't see her for a month or so and without any hospital uniform. However, she didn't show any recognition of him because he was currently disguised through the Mask of Thousand Faces, wearing a completely different face.
"Sorry about the mess, I—" Lisa began with nervous apology for conditions that weren't her responsibility to maintain.
Before she could finish her explanation, her words stopped abruptly and her eyes turned hazy as supernatural influence took hold of her consciousness.
Bloom, nearby, immediately activated his talent skill at Arthur's mental command.
"Bloom, examine only the memories I've specified," Arthur instructed with precise limitations on the scope of mental intrusion. "Don't violate her privacy beyond what's necessary for our investigation."
"Hehe, yes master!" Bloom responded with enthusiasm as his plant-based pollen took over the whole site soon enough.
Even the people that Arthur had spared before were affected by his polen and had the same side effect as Lisa.
The microscopic particles carried psychoactive compounds that allowed Bloom to establish control over Lisa's mental state. He approached her motionless form and placed his leaf appendages against her head, establishing the neural connection necessary for accessing specific memories.
The process required several minutes as Bloom carefully navigated through Lisa's consciousness, searching for the particular recollections Arthur needed while avoiding unnecessary invasion of her personal experiences and private thoughts.
After completing the targeted memory extraction, Bloom withdrew his influence and prepared to report his findings to Arthur.
The investigation had finally reached the moment of truth.
Bloom began narrating Lisa's memories with the precision tapes. Bloom was narrating the events in Lisa's mind without any inconsistencies or potential for tempering.
"Master, the nurse's memories show that Donald first entered the hospital during one of your absences when you were in Armageddon fighting the beast horde," Bloom reported through their mental connection. "She witnessed him making his way directly to Charlotte's room with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where he was going."
Arthur's expression darkened as Bloom continued his narration.
"Donald then proceeded to take Charlotte away with the assistance of several other individuals who were accompanying him, Lisa attempted to intervene and stop the removal, informing the head nurse about the unauthorized patient transfer.
However, Donald presented military identification credentials that provided him legal authority to remove Charlotte from the hospital despite medical objections. The head nurse was forced to comply with official documentation."
Arthur's hands clenched into fists as he recalled his first meeting with Donald.
"Lisa then searched throughout the hospital attempting to locate you for notification about Charlotte's removal, but was unable to find you until much later when you returned from Armageddon and eventually departed with Donald who had initially remained in the facility," Bloom reported with acknowledgment of the timing complications that Arthur didn't know had happened.
"After that initial incident, Donald returned to the hospital on multiple occasions to remove other patients and their family members," Bloom concluded with information that suggested Charlotte's case wasn't isolated but part of a broader collection of awakened individuals.
This piece of information was the nost crucial part. The one that Arthur was investigating and he was right. Arthur's fury built as he realized the hospital had been serving as a hunting ground for military intelligence, which meant that somebody inside the hospital was working for the government as an informer.
Arthur removed Lisa from the equation, clearly she had nothing to do with his case and the others after him. In fact, her emotions towards Donald and his collection of patients made her hate him. Although, he said that the patients would be taken to better hospitals, she felt like his eyes were disingenuous.