Chapter 15

Master Zefa sprang up in a flash, reached Karl's side in a few quick strides, crouched down, and reached out a finger—still breathing.

"Quick! Get Karl to the infirmary, now!"

Master Zefa had no mood right now to question why Binzi had struck so viciously; all he cared about was Karl's physical condition—he was the future light of the Navy!

A few strong, sturdy recruits hurriedly carried a stretcher out of the storage room and escorted Karl to the infirmary.

Thirty minutes later.

Master Zefa, his face anxious, asked the doctor: "How is Karl? Is it serious?"

The doctor pulled off his mask and said with a solemn expression: "Instructor Master Zefa, Mr. Karl's condition is not optimistic—three ribs are broken, the fracture ends are bent inward, the chest wall soft tissue is damaged, the internal chest organs have been injured, and there is a clear chest hematoma."

"Doctor, don't tell me all that—I just want to know if his life is in danger, and whether there'll be any lasting after-effects."

After a moment's thought, the doctor said: "You can rest easy on that—this kind of injury isn't fatal. As for after-effects, it's hard to say for now; we'll need to observe him for a while."

Hearing there was no danger to his life, Master Zefa immediately let out a sigh of relief, though a doubt began to nag at him—Karl's physique was the strongest among this batch of recruits, so how could he not even take a single punch?

"That's good, that's good. By the way, can I go see him now?"

"I'm very sorry, but I'd suggest you wait until his condition improves before visiting, so as not to affect the patient's recovery."

Master Zefa could only sigh helplessly: "Alright then, I'll come back in a while."

Back at the training ground, a furious Master Zefa grabbed Binzi by the collar and hauled him off to a corner, then barked without preamble: "Binzi! What exactly happened today? Tell me the truth, the whole truth!"

Binzi scratched his head aggrievedly—he honestly didn't know either! Just now, Instructor Shuzo, refusing to believe it, had specifically told him to use that move one more time.

The result was that Shuzo had blocked his attack effortlessly without even using Iron Block, and his final assessment was: How could someone with strength like this crap manage to hurt Karl so badly?

But there was nothing for it—faced with the respected Instructor Master Zefa, he honestly told the whole story from beginning to end. After hearing it, Master Zefa still had no clue, and could only let Binzi return to the training ground.

"That kid really is a bit strange! First day it was Ain, now it's Binzi—why do I keep feeling this little rascal is doing it on purpose?"

But if Master Zefa knew what 'scamming by faking injury' meant, he'd surely drop the 'feeling' part with full confidence.

"Ding—cumulative slacking-off time has reached eight hours, daily quest complete. Rewards: Designated Attribute Enhancement Card ×2, Navy Six Powers · Iron Block Skill Card ×1, Happy Fat-House Water ×1."

Hearing the prompt in his mind, Karl jolted awake instantly, but immediately sucked in a sharp breath of cold air—pain, so much pain!

Looking down, his chest was wrapped up tight, with an IV drip hanging beside it. Karl couldn't help sighing—sure enough, he'd ended up in the hospital! Though he'd successfully slacked off, he'd also suffered for it!

"Phew~ can't take it, ow ow ow!"

Karl barely raised his right hand, condensed a ball of Holy Light, and slapped it onto himself. A warm energy began to course through his body, and the pain instantly eased quite a bit.

Relying on the abundant stamina restored by 【Still as a Maiden】, Karl quickly fired off another one, and immediately felt his injuries were already seven or eight parts healed.

"Ah~ much better, this ability really is handy!"

Karl figured one more shot and his injuries would be mostly healed, but he stopped his hand right there! If he actually got better, wouldn't his injury have been for nothing? He had to lie here for at least ten days to half a month first—at the very least, he had to slack off enough to be worthy of his sacrifice.

"Squeak~" the ward door was pushed open, and a nurse with long golden wavy hair walked in. She wore a white nurse's uniform, crystal stud earrings, and carried an iron tray piled with medicines.

Seeing Karl awake, she seemed pleasantly surprised, hurriedly set the tray aside, came to Karl's side, and asked with concern: "Mr. Karl, you're awake! How do you feel?"

A wave of fragrance drifted over, and Karl was a little pleasantly surprised—the infirmary actually had such a pretty nurse; why hadn't he seen her last time he came?

"Mm, I feel alright, it's just that my chest still hurts a bit."

The female nurse's lips curved up slightly into a gentle smile: "Other than your chest, anywhere else feel uncomfortable?"

Karl shook his head—there had been discomfort earlier, but after his self-treatment his body was mostly healed, so what else would be uncomfortable?

"That's good. In a bit I'll need to change your dressing—it might hurt a little, so don't move around, okay!"

GLOSSARY: Karl, Zefa, Binzi, Shuzo, Shuzo Faction, Zefa Faction, Ain, Navy Six Powers · Iron Block, Iron Block, Holy Light, 【Still as a Maiden】