Poseidon in Arknights

"Alright, Hong, stop fooling around." Xi Yue's helpless voice came from the direction of the kitchen. "I've already given you the tail, Mom is cooking."

Muirsey gently stopped and rubbed her face to wake up her sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, Xiyue." Muelsys smiled and walked lightly into the hall. "Are you starting to prepare breakfast so early?"

Finally, Muirse looked at Yuuki with surprise, who had dragon horns on her head and a dragon tail hanging behind her. She was about to ask a question, but then she felt that it seemed normal. Her manifold could also change its shape, so why couldn't Yuuki?

"Ah, Muelseth." Yuzuki turned to look at Muelseth, who had a bright smile on her face. "You got up early. Wait a little longer, breakfast will be ready soon."

Then Yuuki looked at the red hanging on her tail and thought for a moment before looking at Muerses: "Also, if possible, could you please take care of the red for me?"

"Okay." Muels nodded immediately, stepped forward and looked at Red, who was clinging tightly to Xiyue's tail, her eyes not even opening for a moment, probably still asleep. "Miss Red, what's this?"

"It's nothing." The child is probably still half asleep. Xi Yue glanced back at Hong, who was hugging her tail. "She sneaked over last night and has been holding me ever since. Even with all this movement, she won't let go."

"That's because Hong trusts you a lot, right?" Muels stepped forward and tried to gently lift Hong down. He thought it would be difficult, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

However, as soon as Red left Yuu-tsuki's tail, she broke free from Muirse's grasp.

Then, Hong rubbed her eyes and greeted everyone in a soft, sleepy voice, "Good morning~"

Yuzuki gently patted Hong's head with her tail: "Good morning, go sit down first, breakfast will be ready soon, or you can go and wake up the others for me."

"Mmm." Red nodded, turned around, looked at Muirsey and greeted her, "Good morning."

Before Muirsey could respond, Red dashed into the passageway and went to call out to everyone.

"Red really moves fast." Watching Red's departing figure, Muirsay felt a little helpless; she hadn't even said goodbye yet.

“That’s just how red is, let’s get to know each other slowly.” Yu Yue smiled and patted Muels’ head with her tail as well. “Go sit at the dining table or on the sofa for a while, it’ll be quick.”

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After breakfast, Xiyue split into two water clones to clean up the dishes on the table. Then she flicked her tail, enticing Hong, who kept trying to grab her tail, behind her.

Of course, it wasn't fast. If Red wanted to catch it, she could easily catch it with just one reach, but Red just enjoyed being teased like this.

Exusiai, watching Red's actions, suddenly looked at Yuuki with curiosity: "Why are you in such a good mood to revert to your original form today?"

"Hmm, you mean this?" Xiyue glanced at Hong, who was still trying to grab his tail behind her. "Last night, Hong suddenly ran over and said he wanted to sleep with his tail, and that he hadn't done it in a long time. He didn't let him hug him when he turned back last time."

"Since everyone here already knows, it doesn't matter. We'll deal with it when someone comes or when we leave."

"And then you just let her hold it all night?" Exusiai glanced at Red. "With such a big tail, it's hard to sleep with someone holding it, isn't it?"

"It's actually not too bad, just sleeping on my side for one night." Xi Yue shrugged. "However, it's not very convenient, but it's fine once or twice."

"Ah, I really envy those races that don't have extra components that affect their sleep," Exusiai said, touching the halo above her head. "And then there are those like you, Yuuki, who can change their race."

"That's real talent!" Yuuki wagged her tail and walked onto the sofa. "If you want to learn, there's nothing I can do about it!"

“Exusiai, if you want to get a good night’s sleep, I have something good to offer.” Croissant suddenly leaned in, “For example, a completely opaque eye mask, I can give you one.”

"Get lost." Exusiai thought Croissant would give her something, "It's the same as me not getting anything."

Chapter 116: The Past, Obsession

“If you’re worried about this, for the New Year…” Yuuki patted Exusiai’s head, “I can give you a little gift that can solve the problem.”

"Really? It's not another eye patch, is it?" Exusiai looked at Yuuki with a hint of suspicion. "I already have quite a few eye patches."

As they were talking, Exusiai's eyes swept over the others. It was obvious that these eye patches on Exusiai were sent by Texas and the others. As for the reason...

Penguin Logistics has a tradition of exchanging gifts during holidays. Generally speaking, it doesn't matter if it's empty; sending some desserts is fine. Croissants are usually just a small gift, or you can buy a croissant that hasn't sold out at a stall.

Texas usually gives Pocky as a gift, but for Exusiai, if you don't know what to give her besides apple pie or other desserts, just give her an eye mask. Over time, Exusiai will have more and more eye masks.

"Of course not." Xi Yue smiled. How could she possibly give away something like that? "Others will receive something too. As for what it is, we'll talk about that when the time comes."

"Oh, great!" Croissant was the first to raise her hand and cheer compared to the others. Putting everything else aside, just for Exusiai's birthday, Yuuki dared to give Exusiai a pistol, so the New Year's gift she gave should be pretty good too.

Of course, Croissant didn't have any ulterior motives; she was simply a money-grubber.

"Okay, thanks." Texas bit off the Pocky in her mouth, her anticipation for the New Year's gift growing stronger. It was just a pity that this gift wasn't for her alone, and her birthday was still a while away.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Yuuki," Sora readily agreed. "But, could I ask Yuuki to sing us a song then?"

"Well," Yuuki smiled at Sora, "if you'd like to hear it."

"Oh, right." Yuuki turned her head and looked at Muerseth and Specter again, "Will Specter and Muerseth stay until then?"

“Of course.” Specter nodded. At this moment, there was absolutely no way anyone could pull her away from Yuuki, not even Skadi.

And of course, whether Skadi will pull her away or "go along with her" is obvious.

Muirsey silently calculated her leave time. She still had a month left for the Chinese New Year, but it wouldn't be enough if she included the time to get back. It wasn't that she couldn't extend her vacation herself; after all, Christensen wouldn't say anything to her.

The main problem is that Muirsey is more worried about her plants. She is not worried about the researchers there, as everyone there works out of love for plants and their professionalism is beyond question.

The main reason is that in about a month, some plants will be in bloom, and at the same time, a batch of plants will be officially removed from the environmental simulation room in a month to prepare for migration to the real external environment.

Muirsey did not want to miss out on this process.

“Well,” Muirsay’s tone was full of disappointment, “I may not be able to stay until then. Soon, another batch of new plants will be removed from the botanical garden and moved to environments selected for them to try relocation.”

"I don't want to miss the moment when they might grow on this land."

"Is that so?" Xiyue patted Muerses' head. "Well then, when you leave, I'll give you a little gift. Remember to open it then."

"And remember, don't peek on the way!"

"Mmm~" Muels nuzzled Yuuki's hand, smiled at Yuuki who was pretending to be mysterious, and said, "I will definitely open the gift you gave me during the New Year with great anticipation."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Yuzuki looked at Sora and Croissant, "You two didn't buy any groceries while you were in Lungmen, did you? There's almost nothing in the fridge."

"Huh?" Sora immediately turned his gaze to Croissant, because he had actually been practicing singing at the company for the past few days. Croissant was the one here. However, since the company hadn't assigned Sora any tasks recently, he came back after practicing for a while.

"I brought back the noodles and stuff, but the vegetables..." Croissant turned her head to the side, "Anyway, I didn't get any more."

"Wait a minute." Croissant looked at Yuzuki as if she had suddenly remembered something. "Didn't we bring back a whole bunch when we made barbecue last time? Did we eat it all?"

"Do you think you guys have small appetites?" Yuzuki squinted at Croissant. "Yesterday I even used the leftover minced meat to make dumplings for you guys."

“But those dumplings should have lasted a few more days, but…” Yuzuki glanced at Ghost Shark, who had already turned his head away, “someone unexpected came, so we finished them last night.”

"Alright, I didn't mean to blame you." Yu Yue smiled at Ghost Shark, who had turned his face away. "It's impossible to just eat dumplings all the time anyway."

"But it's true that we're out of vegetables." Yuuki retracted her clone that had left the kitchen. "So I'm planning to go buy some now. Anyone want to come along?"

"You just want someone to help you carry your things, right?" Croissant rolled her eyes at Yuuki. "If you go out alone, you'll only buy things for a few days at most, but if you drag someone along, Yuuki, you'll end up buying a whole bunch of stuff."

"Last time I went out with you, I came back carrying two bags of stuff." Croissant looked at the refrigerator again. "Now the refrigerator is empty again. Are you planning to fill it up completely this time?"

“Because I’m lazy too~” Yuzuki smiled. “If the fridge is full, it can last for at least two weeks if you guys don’t need to have late-night snacks. I won’t need to go grocery shopping for two weeks.”

"Then you can stuff it inside your clothes, right?" Croissant glanced at Yuuki's clothes. "Your clothes can't even fit two bags, can they?"

"Think about how much coffee and black tea I have in there?" Xi Yue straightened her trench coat. "Besides, when I go shopping for groceries, I always feel like something's missing if I don't carry something with me."

"Say what you will." Croissant slumped onto the sofa, "I don't want to move anyway."

"plus one."

"Take me one."

Because of the cold weather, Sora and Exusiai, both suffering from laziness, lay on the sofa, completely unwilling to move.

"..." Texas ate her Pocky and thought for a while. She was willing to go out with Yuuki, but she didn't really want to when Yuuki mentioned grabbing someone while grocery shopping.

Because at this time of year, Yuzuki really does buy a lot of things, at least four large bags, and today, in order to fill the refrigerator, the quantity will probably increase even more.

However, Texas glanced at Exusiai beside her, thinking, "If you give up, don't blame me."

"Me and you..."

"Can Yuuki bring it along..."

Texas's and Muirsey's voices rang out simultaneously, their stories intersecting in an instant.

Muirses looked at Texas naturally: "Ah, Miss Texas, would you like to go too?"

“…Hmm.” Texas nodded. She bit down hard on the Pocky stick in her mouth. How did this troublemaker come along?

"Then why don't we go together?" Muirseth smiled, looking at Texas. She wasn't in a hurry; she had plenty of time to build a good relationship with Yuuki.

Right now, her relationship with Xiyue isn't at a point where she needs to do anything special. She should take it slow and let things happen naturally. Once their relationship improves, then it's time to truly begin.

Muirsey doesn't care where she ranks next. She's waited so long, she doesn't care about such things anymore, at least not now.

So she doesn't mind whether Texas comes with her when she goes shopping later. It doesn't matter if she comes or not; they can just get along normally. Of course, it would be best if she didn't come.

Texas looked at Muirses with a natural smile, paused for a moment, then got up and walked towards the room: "Wait a moment, I'm going to change my clothes."

Watching Texas's departing figure, Muirse felt another gaze upon her. Looking down, she confirmed it was Specter's gaze.

When Ghost Shark saw Muirsey looking at him, he winked at her, his eyes seeming to ask why he wasn't brought along.

Muirsey put on an innocent expression, pointed to Yuuzuki beside her, and indicated that Ghost Shark was a step too late, and it wasn't too late to follow now.

"I'm ready." Texas moved swiftly, took her clothes from the hanger after returning to her room, put them on, and came out.

Looking at the group who were already prepared, Xi Yue nodded and put her phone away: "Then let's go."

-----------

"Here, boss, that's all."

Xi Yue handed the meat she had already selected to the shopkeeper.

"Okay." The shopkeeper took the meat and placed it on the scale. "I'll give you a lower price, 42, is that alright?"

"Boss, can I skip the two yuan and just pay 40 yuan?"

"I've already given you a little less than usual." The shopkeeper packed the meat and handed it to Xiyue. "I can't go any less."

"Alright, alright." Xi Yue took out some change from her wallet and handed it to the shopkeeper, then picked up the meat the shopkeeper handed her, turned around and walked out of the meat stall.

Then, Xiyue lowered her head and lightly tapped the things in her hand, looking at the bright red plastic bag filled to the brim with various items. She nodded.

Later, Yuuki walked to the intersection with her things, feeling quite satisfied. She looked at Muirsey and Texas, who were squatting by the roadside with large plastic bags in their hands, and felt a sense of "the simple things are the best".

"That's all for today." Xiyue held up the bag in her hand to the two of them. "I bought some meatballs. We're having hot pot tonight."

"Hot pot? It's true, in this cold winter, we should eat something hot." Muels smiled at Xiyue. She picked up the bag next to her with some effort. "But Xiyue, did you buy the ingredients for the clear broth? I can't handle spicy food very well."

"Don't worry, of course there is." Xi Yue smiled at Muersais, then showed her a bone in the bag. "I'm going to make bone broth. Look at this big bone."

"Isn't it a bit late to make bone broth now?" Muirsey glanced at the bones in the bag. "Weren't we supposed to cook it tonight?"