Racing against the clock, Morrison lifted the huge concrete slab that was trapping the cub with one hand and scooped up the cub with the other, bringing the cub into his embrace.
There were other extremely faint breaths among the rubble. Morrison spotted a woman lying in a pool of blood. The latter exerted strength to turn towards him and moved her eyes to the cub in his arms, feebly uttering what would be her last words, "....Laili."
It was the cub's name.
The faint breaths stopped. Her voice still in his ear, Morrison hugged the cub he had rescued from under the rubble and fled in the direction of the set coordinates.
Originally, the time should have been adequate. By the time those chasing him caught up, Morrison would have already reached the teleportation circle.
But in the middle of his escape he had chosen to go save the cub. Now, still a few hundred meters away from the teleportation circle, Morrison's path was cut off by the enemy chasing him.
Even more rushed forth from behind, effectively blocking his path and turning it into a dead end.
He paid no mind to those standing in his way. Morrison kept going. Using his ability, the gravity affecting the enemy all at once increased by several times, immediately making it hard for them to move.
Adjustment of gravity, this variant ability had a limited range and couldn't be used on a wider scale. However, when used properly like this, it could display a surprising efficacy.
The last 100 meters.
He was getting closer and closer, but before he had successfully escaped, Morrison didn't dare lower his guard the slightest.
Still one minute left until the teleportation circle closed— Sufficient.
Calculating the time in his head, Morrison increased his speed to make the final sprint.
He could see the dim light of the teleportation circle hidden in the grass. It was only a few steps away, Morrison would be able to immediately run into it.
But the second he laid his eyes on it, a particle light beam, it's speed making it hard to evade, surged past his side and created a deep hole in the ground. At the same time, a figure closed in, the strange weapon in their hand aimed at the latter.
That angle— He was at first going to evade. However, when facing the approaching enemy who had their weapon raised, Morrison suddenly realized he couldn't dodge the attack.
From this angle, to evade all possible attacks, there was only one way for him to evade, and if he did, the cub in his arms would be hit.
Searing pain. Enduring the attack, Morrison seized the moment and fell down, rolling into the teleportation circle in the grass. Even though the enemy tried to interfere with the circle the moment they discovered it, Morrison was successfully teleported.
However, the enemy's tampering did not have no effect at all. The instant the teleportation was completed he opened his eyes and was met with an unfamiliar scene.
Morrison knew something must have gone wrong with the teleportation, but he had no energy left to think it over. He didn't know if it was the effect of the enemy's special weapon, but Morrison felt his consciousness fade. The next second, he fell into darkness.
He was not sure how long he had been out. When he started to regain consciousness, the first thing Morrison felt was something sharp lightly pecking his face.
It didn't actually hurt, it was more as if to wake him up.
As soon as Morrison opened his eyes, he saw a fluffy laili cub. The cub could not be more than a few months old. When that pair of small flippers hung along the sides of his body, the cub looked particularly round.
"Gu-Ji."
Lifting his flippers, the laili cub called out to the adult who had awakened with a tender sound.
Morrison sat up and first took the cub back into his arms, he then began to take in his surroundings.
It seemed like a cave, it was by the sea.
After waking up, he felt severe pain radiating from the place he was hit on his left arm. Enduring the pain, Morrison stood up with the cub in his arms and walked out of the cave.
Their current location was, naturally, still on Kesou. He had lost his communication device in the battle earlier, Morrison couldn't contact the troops right now.
He should have been unconscious for about a day at most. He didn't know how the war was going. Morrison could only start by taking the cub to the nearest city.
Once arriving at the city, he unexpectedly received good news. The war had ended. The day after the enemy leader was assassinated, the enemy who were thrown into complete disarray, like a sheet of loose sand [1], was soon thoroughly wiped out by the Star Alliance Army with the power of a tiger biting down on its prey.
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[1] - Like a sheet of loose sand" is an idiom and means to be unable to cooperate.
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Translator's note:
This is a very serious and tragic chapter, my brain —>
"Lifting his flippers, the laili cub called out to the adult who had awakened with a tender sound."