Poseidon in Arknights

"It's been a wasted trip." Yuuki looked at the mille-feuille pastry Texas was carrying. "Sorry, it seems it's not the right time yet."

“It’s alright.” Texas shook her head. “This is already considered good.”

"is it?"

"Looking back, it's already a good thing we didn't end up fighting." Texas glanced at the mille-feuille in her hand. "Let's go, at least this time we didn't come for nothing."

“Well, although I was just thinking of dragging Lappland straight into the operating room,” Yuuki glanced up at Lappland’s room, “I think it probably wouldn’t make any sense for Lappland.”

"why?"

“Because Oripathy is easy to contract and easy to worsen.” Yuuki’s eyes held a hint of helplessness. “Even if I cure Lappland, do you think she will accept the result of being cured?”

"..." Texas did not answer, but simply walked forward in silence.

Why? Because Texas understands that Lappland will not accept the fact that her Oripathy has been cured. Even if Yuuki heals her once, she can still come into contact with Originium and worsen her infection.

Yu Yue withdrew her gaze. As for Lappland, Yu Yue couldn't do anything about her now. She was just a doctor. She could save people, but she couldn't stop people from courting death.

For Lappland at this moment, Yuuki's casual intervention to save her is of no help whatsoever. In fact, it might even encourage Lappland to take more aggressive steps toward Originium, which would only lead to her life ending prematurely.

It would be a better choice to send Lappland to Rhodes Island for care instead of having Yuuki treat her.

"Let's go." Xi Yue sighed helplessly. "It's getting late."

----------

"We're back." Xi Yue pushed open the door, and as soon as she opened it, she smelled a spicy hot pot aroma. "Have you started cooking already?"

"Since everyone's here, there's no need to wait until tonight." Exusiai, holding a bag, vigorously added meatballs to the pot. "Look at you guys, you didn't bring anyone back?"

"I guess we didn't reach an agreement." Yuzuki shook her head. "Exusiai, you put too much meatball in this dumpling."

Texas walked into the room, placed the mille-feuille that Lappland had given her on the table, lifted the lid, picked up a piece, and put it in her mouth.

'The taste... doesn't seem too bad.'

"Hmm?" Exusiai looked at the mille-feuille on the table. "Where did you get this? Did Lappland give it to you?"

"Hmm." Texas nodded. "Want to try some?"

"No, it was given to you by someone else~" Exusiai shook her finger. "If I want to eat it, I'll just ask Yuuki. You should keep this box for yourself."

"Um……"

Chapter 118: The Gift Battle

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"How much longer?" Sitting at the table, Exusiai occasionally poked the floating dumpling with her chopsticks. "They're all floating now, isn't it about time?"

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer." Yuzuki used her chopsticks to push away the chopsticks that Exusiai was moving around in the pot. "It's possible that only the outside is cooked and the inside isn't hot yet."

"These are all meatballs from the refrigerator. They were still covered in ice when it snowed, so don't be in such a hurry."

"Okay~" Exusiai sat down properly and put down her chopsticks. "Speaking of which, who is this Lappland?"

"Oh, you can just ask Texas." Yuuki glanced at Texas, who was walking out of the room. "If she's willing to tell me."

"Oh, then I won't ask." Exusiai glanced at Texas, who walked out of the room with a calm expression. It was obviously a private matter, and there might even be some love and hate involved.

Exusiai said it was better for her not to get involved.

Muirsey took a picture of the table with her phone, then gently pulled out the chair next to Yuuki and sat down first.

Then, Muirsey glanced around and saw that the attention of the people around her didn't seem to be on her. She quickly moved closer to Yuuyue, raised her phone, and took a selfie of the two of them.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Yu Yue looked at Muerses with some confusion.

"Just making a note of this~" Muirsay opened his forum and showed it to Yuzuki.

Xi Yue glanced at the number of followers on Muerses' account. "Is this your personal account? It seems like it's all about your personal life?"

“Mmm.” Muirsey nodded. “I always want to share the little joys in life.”

Xi Yue nodded: "But this is the Trimont Intercity Communication Platform, right? Will it be able to connect to the internet?"

"It's true that I can't connect, so I'm updating it here. The platform might not be updated until I get back to Colombia."

"Is that so?" Yuzuki nodded, and then stopped paying attention to this matter.

Muirsey glanced at Xiyue, who wasn't paying attention to her anymore, and secretly opened her drafts on the platform. There were several drafts in the drafts.

These records were not published; they were simply the result of Muirsay recording the disappointments he had experienced.

[I've arrived in the snowy plains of Sami! It's so cold here, I feel like my water is going to freeze.] A selfie of Muirsey against the backdrop of the snowy scenery. (JPG)

[But the environment here is so pristine, there's almost no Originium. It's just a bit too cold. I hope I can find what I'm looking for here.]

After a long and arduous journey, I found them, but they weren't...

Every record is like this: Muirseth went there with hope, hoping to find his people and his home.

But each arduous search only brought disappointment.

For Muirsey, every trip was a challenge to her life, but fate had never smiled upon her in the past.

Every journey she took brought her only disappointment, even when she found tree spirits who were very similar to her race on the snowy plains of Sami.

At the time, Muirseth thought she had found her home and her people, but as they spent more time together, she realized that she was not a tree spirit after all, that she was an outsider there, and that she still hadn't found her home. All she took away was disappointment and loneliness.

This cold, snowy plain is not my home.

But this time...

Muirsey's fingers danced across the screen, and characters slowly appeared.

[This is Longmen in Yan Kingdom. Today is hot pot day!] (Image: Hot pot photo - JPG)

[Although it hasn't been cooked yet, I'm super excited! My gut feeling tells me it'll taste amazing.] Image: Muirsey's smiling face (JPG).

After editing, Muirsey clicked share. Of course, these were just her personal matters, so she only made them visible to people she followed closely.

As for the No. 8 Middle School that she had set to pay special attention to, it seemed that she could only see it the moment she returned to Columbia, unless Magellan suddenly came back. It seemed that only Christensen would come.

'But it seems like Christen has never seen it.' Muirsey suddenly remembered that although she sent it every time, and even Magellan would check it as soon as he got online after returning, Christen was the only one who never replied.

'Hmph, I'll definitely tease her a bit when we get back.' Muirsey's fingers continued typing on the screen, pondering how to give Christen a little surprise.

"Alright, stop playing on your phone." Yu Yue's voice suddenly rang out. "We can eat now. If we don't eat now, they'll start fighting over it."

"Oh, okay." Muirsey quickly put down her phone. Before the screen went completely dark, it was clear that Muirsey had finished editing what she wanted to record.

[I've found it. This time I've found my home. I'm no longer alone.] [Image: Xiyue and Muerses's incredibly bright smiles, still caught off guard.]

Muels looked up at the battlefield. Even though Xiyue had specially prepared a big hot pot today, the battle was still raging fiercely.

It's not uncommon to see two pairs of chopsticks fighting over a single meatball, and it's not uncommon for three or four pairs of chopsticks to compete for the same meatball.

"Exusiai, what are you doing getting involved in this mess?" Croissant glared at Exusiai, who had just stolen the second dumpling. "Does she want to steal everyone's dumpling?"

"That just proves we have the same taste~" Exusiai waved her hand, a slightly sly smile on her face. No need to guess, this girl was just here to cause trouble.

Ghost Shark, who was not very skilled at using chopsticks, picked up meatballs from the pot. Fortunately, the others noticed that Ghost Shark was not good at using chopsticks, so they did not try to take them from him.

"Hmm, these tumor-shaped meatballs are quite chewy today." Exusiai also defiantly put the meatball she had just snatched from Croissant's chopsticks into her mouth and took two bites.

"It tastes really good." Croissant nodded, and finally picked up a whole roll of meatballs with her chopsticks.

"You eat so fast." Xi Yue watched as the various meatballs and other hot pot ingredients rapidly disappeared from the pot, then lowered her head and got off the table. Aside from the other hot pot ingredients that had been prepared and placed there beforehand.

"Be careful eating like this, you won't be able to eat tonight."

------------

After finishing their meal, everyone went back to the sofa to watch TV, while Xiyue took her bowl and chopsticks and went into the kitchen.

Muirsey glanced up. Yuuki, washing dishes in the kitchen, looked down at her phone again, completely ignoring the content on TV.

[Apple Pie: So, really no one knows Yuuki's preferences?]

A message popped up on the phone screen. It was a group chat they had created while washing dishes after finishing their hot pot meal. The group's name was quite straightforward: "New Year's Gift-Giving Battle."

Yes, it was Exusiai who suggested it. As for the reason, it's quite simple: Yuuki has prepared gifts for everyone, so everyone should give Yuuki gifts too.

Then the question arose. After Exusiai raised this question, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Yes, what does Yuuki like?

So Exusiai created this group to pool everyone's wisdom. Regardless of whether everyone wanted to send a gift in their own private capacity or send a gift together, the gift first needed to have a direction.

[Bread: Okay, I don't think I know. Wait, who changed my name?]

[Apple Pie: Don't worry about the details, so does anyone have any clues?]

[Sora: It seems that besides knowing that Yuuki likes blue, I don't know anything else.]

[Texas: Healthcare might be a good gift, but that's not the kind of thing you'd give as a present.]

[Apple Pie: That seems true. By the way, do you have any clues about Miss Muirsey and Miss Specter?]

[Flowing Water Reflecting the Moon: I'm sorry, Miss Exusiai. I know less about Yuuki than you do.]

[Shark: Hmm, black tea or coffee?]

[Sora: Yuzuki must have countless cups of coffee and black tea by now, right?]

As soon as the empty message was sent, the entire group seemed to fall into a deathly silence. Everyone was at a loss. They did know that Xiyue liked black tea and coffee.

But the problem is, don't Yuuki have enough of these two things? Besides, they said that it's unlikely they could buy anything better than what Yuuki has.

Aside from those two things, Yuuki doesn't seem to have shown any other preferences in front of them. Medical care? That's not really suitable as a gift.

[Bread: Why don't you ask Red, Texas? Red and Yuuki have spent so much time together, she should know something.]

Texas glanced at the message, then looked at Red, who was stroking her tail beside her, and first glanced at Yuuki, who was still busy in the kitchen.

Because of the hot pot meal, everyone's bowls are very greasy today, and with so many people, it will take a lot of effort to clean them thoroughly.

Then, Texas pressed a button on the remote control to turn the TV volume up to the maximum before looking at Red beside her and asking in a low voice, "Red, do you know if Yuuki has any preferences?"

"Hmm?" Red tilted her head and looked at Texas. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this, Texas?"

"We want to give Yuuki a present," Exusiai whispered, leaning closer. "We want to surprise Yuuki, so does Red know?"

"Yes, that's what Mom said." Hong thought for a moment, then counted on her fingers and lowered her voice, "She likes black tea, coffee, baking desserts, and medicine?"

"That's the same as what we discussed." Exusiai nodded helplessly. It seemed that she wouldn't get any clues from Red. She gave Red a final instruction: don't tell Yuuki, and give her a surprise.

Exusiai actually had an idea: to give Yuuki a gun. Of course, Exusiai only dared to think about this idea in her own mind, even though it was very attractive and romantic to the Sarkaz.