Chapter 84 - Reactor

As soon as Viktor finished taking care of all the ghouls in the room, the girl continued to look for the necessary parts without leaving any corner unsearched.

The place was a mess, with numerous burned-out machines in place. Moreover, the basement level was already flooded with a pool of green liquid.

Although Viktor was not very knowledgeable when it came to nuclear reactors, he still knew a little about nuclear reactors. After all, not only did the country depend on it, but the Romanov family also had their chips on these businesses as well. Thanks to that, he could understand a thing or two about the situation.

Jessie was looking around the place meticulously, but Viktor could still see that the girl was somewhat nervous. In the end, even after searching the place twice, she still could not find the parts she was looking for.

The girl stopped. She then turned to look at him for a brief moment before finally speaking.

"You wouldn't leave a girl alone in a place like this, would you?"

But before Viktor could say a word of response, Jessie swiftly took off her jacket and trousers, showing out her smooth, flawless skin.

Although it was only for a moment, Viktor was stunned. But to his surprise, in just her underwear, the girl suddenly jumped into the green liquid that flooded the basement.

"You crazy…!" Viktor reflexively blurted out.

However, no one was there to listen to Viktor curse. The girl's sudden actions really took him aback. Even an idiot would know not to jump into a pool of questionable liquid, especially a radioactive one!

Viktor silently stared at the green pool waiting for the crazy girl to come back up, but it did not seem as if Jessie was going to return anytime soon.

While waiting, his enhanced sight fell to one of the stage three ghouls on the ground. There, Viktor saw a small glimmering object. It was similar to the spirit stones he knew, but instead of being green or yellow, it was green in color.

He quickly walked toward the body and picked it up. Viktor was a little expectant as he knew what spirit stones could do.

Even so, Viktor decided to keep it for the time being and check it later.

'I should probably give her a few more minutes,' he thought to himself. He still wanted his own micro reactor, after all.

And, although he did not really want to admit it, he was also a little worried about her.

Two minutes turned to three, but there was still no sign of the girl coming back up. Instead Viktor could hear the fight outside getting fiercer.

All of a sudden, Bugs and Wade barged into the building. The two looked around a bit.

"Where's Jessie!?" Bugs hurriedly asked when he saw that only Viktor was in the room.

Without a word, Viktor pointed at the radioactive pool he was sitting in front of causing the two to pale.

"Oh my god… why did she do that!?"

"Why didn't you stop her!?"

Bugs and Wade asked one right after the other.

"Can you two stop her?" Viktor asked back, emphasizing them. Although he knew that Wade asked out of worry, he still felt somewhat unhappy at how there was a hint of blame in the man's tone.

Not long after, Roman came into the room, panting out of breath. It was obvious that the guy just went through a tough battle.

"Jessie's down there!! She's out of her mind!" Wade panickedly pointed at the pool of green liquid when he saw Roman.

Roman also became surprised. As a veteran, he knew the severity of the matter.

The man quickly decided on their next plan.

"You two, come with me, we will bait all the creatures away. You, stay here in case Jessie needs help!" Roman said to the two then to Viktor.

The two nodded in agreement and went away with Roman before Viktor could say anything about it.

At this point, several minutes had passed since Jessie first entered the pool.

Viktor was still anxiously waiting when all of a sudden, he felt his head spin a little. At the same time, a notification came into his mind

[You have been toxicated.]

[Your battle power will receive a temporary penalty.]

"What the f**k!?" he cursed under his breath. It was already bad enough that his head was hurting like this, but he still had to be penalized!?

[Viktor Romanov]

[Strength - 30 (27)]

[Agility - 60 (54)]

[Endurance - 35 (32)]

[Battle power - 42 (38)]

It was a 10% decrease, but Viktor knew that it was only the beginning. He could feel the pain building up inside.

Although Viktor felt irritated due to the pain and penalty, he still tried to compose himself.

If he, who was just in front of the basement, was affected this much, how radioactive is the pool itself?

This made him wonder about Jessie's condition. The girl had been in the radioactive pool for more than 10 minutes now!

"She's dead, isn't she?" Viktor muttered to himself.

However, the Djinn told him otherwise.

Viktor was this close to leaving her when without warning, the girl emerged from the surface of the pool and threw a few tubes over.

She painstakingly tried to climb up. Despite looking like she could pass out anytime soon, the girl still tried her best to smile when their gazes met.

"Viktor… you waited for me…"

As soon as she said those words, the girl lost her step and fell back into the pool. Luckily, Viktor dashed in fast enough and caught the girl's wrist just in time. Without hesitation, he quickly pulled her out of the pool and into his arms.

The girl shortly shrieked in pain. The skin of her entire body felt like it was burning.

"You saved my life… again…" Jessie weakly said.

Even in such a severe condition, the girl still spoke in a teasing manner before she passed out.

Viktor turned to look at the tubes Jessie previously threw. Immediately, he understood that the black tubes were the fuel rods Jessie was looking for, so he swiftly put them all into his alien ring. He then covered Jessie with her jacket, picked up the rest of her clothes, and carried her into his arms before dashing out of the building.

As soon as they got out, Viktor heard a ruckus from the side. The three members were currently fighting while being chased by a horde of abyss creatures.

With his current condition, he decided to depend on the Djinn's sensor to get away. After finding the safest path, Viktor ran as fast as he could with the girl in his arms.

After he was a few miles away from the facility, when he was sure that no creatures were chasing them, he looked around and quickly found an abandoned house. Without delay, he decided to hide inside.

Fortunately, most of the things in the house were still fully intact. Viktor hurriedly put Jessie on the first bed he found. A moment after, the girl's body shook a little.

Jessie opened her eyes. However, instead of saying a word to him, she took out a radio from her alien ring. Under his gaze, the girl told the others to retreat while they stayed the night in hiding.

After a while, the girl's body started to cool down. However, following it was a fever.

Viktor could not help but worry when he noticed this, but in contrast, the girl warmly smiled at him even with a little chuckle despite her weak strength.

"Ah... you should see the look on your face… Don't you worry, I just need some rest. I'll be all right in the morning."

Afterward, Jessie closed her eyes and fell asleep.