Poseidon in Arknights

"hey-hey."

Chapter 131: Chernobog's New Beginning

“Anyway, it won’t make a difference if we do this again~” Muels rubbed against Yuuki’s hand. “Even if we have prepared a gift, we can keep it for later.”

"I don't think that'll work." Xi Yue raised her hand and flicked Muerseth on the forehead. "I don't want to get ambushed as soon as I get back."

"Hehe." Muels grabbed Yuuki's hand and shook it back and forth. "Okay? Just this once."

“No.” Xi Yue patted Muerseth’s head. “I don’t want to have to sleep with the door locked because of today.”

"Huh?" Ifrit, standing to the side, tilted her head as she looked at the two people in front of her, then mentally shouted, "Hey, fatso, come out here, do you know what's going on?"

"I don't know, don't worry about it, why would a kid know so much?" the Balrog hiding in Ifrit's mind quickly said. "And don't bother me with such a small thing."

Then he quickly curled up into a ball. He wasn't oblivious; the big shot definitely knew he was there. He figured he should just act as harmless as possible.

"Hey, what's with your attitude?" Ifrit instantly became annoyed, and in her annoyance, she keenly sensed that something was off about this guy's attitude.

"Are you scared?" Ifrit shouted arrogantly in her mind. "Back in Lungmen, you became silent!"

What are you afraid of?

"Alright, alright, just keep your voice down and take it easy." The Flame Demon's voice became extremely helpless. "Don't be so loud, and don't ask me anything anymore."

"Am I that scary?" Yuuki asked suddenly, looking at Ifrit. "I don't think I did anything wrong."

"Huh?" Ifrit looked at Yuuki with a puzzled expression, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Yuuki, who are you talking to?"

Just as Ifrit finished speaking, before Yuuki could reply, a sigh echoed in Ifrit's mind.

Then flames burst forth from Ifrit's arm, and black smoke rose from it, forming a gigantic figure.

"He is speaking to me." The Flame Demon bowed deeply to Xi Yue. "Greetings, Your Highness."

"Fatty, what are you saying?" Ifrit looked at the Balrog that had suddenly appeared beside her with a strange expression, waving his hand to draw out the black smoke. "Go back quickly, don't scare people."

"Alright, alright." The Balrog used a hand made of black smoke to press down on Ifrit's forehead and subdue her. "You wait a minute."

"Sigh, why am I being addressed as 'Your Highness' again?" Xi Yue scratched her head, looking at the Flame Demon before her. "Good afternoon, what should I call you?"

"I don't know. I've forgotten my name. What's here now is just the will that has been awakened by Your Highness's afterglow." The Flame Demon's tone was full of humility. "Your Highness may call me Flame Demon or any other name, or you may call me Fatty like this child."

“Hmm.” Xi Yue nodded, looking at the unusually humble Flame Demon in front of her. “I have a question. You seem very scared. I shouldn’t have done anything to you.”

"..." After organizing his thoughts, the Flame Demon slowly spoke, "Not long ago, I woke up in complete darkness. I could feel a strange warmth, a blessing for life."

"Under such warmth and blessings, I awoke from the darkness, and then I felt the anger emanating from you."

"Hiss..." Yu Yue recalled the day she saw the test report and realized that Ifrit's condition had changed. She roughly understood what was going on.

It's likely that on the day she got angry, she awakened the Balrog for some unknown reason. But at that same moment, the Balrog, upon waking up, also sensed her anger and was terrified.

It's more like being caught in the crossfire or being affected by the aftermath.

“I understand.” Xi Yue looked at the Flame Demon. “I’m sorry, you were affected.”

"Your Highness is too kind." The Flame Demon breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the big boss was in a relatively good mood.

"Oh, so the Balrog can appear in this form?" Muels said curiously, poking at the Balrog's body, which was made of black smoke. "That's quite a novel discovery."

"I do have a body, it's just that I don't have one anymore." The Balrog's body floated backward, dodging Muels's claws that kept reaching for him.

"What's your current situation with Ifrit? Can you leave?" Yuzuki asked curiously, looking at the flames burning in Ifrit's hand. "And what about this situation? Won't it have any impact on Ifrit?"

The Flame Demon shook his head: "No, it's just a necessary measure for me to appear. It won't have a significant impact on her body. The biggest impact might be that her Originium concentration might increase slightly over a short period of time, but it will quickly drop back down."

"As for the current situation," the Flame Demon thought for a moment and then shook his head, "I'm currently deeply connected with this little guy, so there's probably no way for me to leave."

"Okay, I understand." Xi Yue nodded, then turned to look at the door. "Hemer will be back soon, let's leave it at that for now."

As soon as Yuuki finished speaking, the Flame Demon's body, made of black smoke, gradually dissipated, and the flames in Ifrit's hands also gradually went out.

“Alright, I’m leaving too. Just in case Himer comes in and sees I didn’t get tested, and Kal’tsit comes over with the report, it’ll give us away.” Yuuki turned to look at Muerseth, took a box out of her clothes and placed it on Muerseth’s head.

"Hey, aren't you going to give me one?" Muirsey took the box off her head and looked at Yuzuki with a pitiful expression.

Xi Yue pinched Muirsay's cheek: "I'm afraid if I don't leave soon, you'll have to pretend your car broke down."

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

With the year drawing to a close, it was now New Year's Eve. After seeing Muels off, Yuuki had two peaceful days. Although there were still subtle hints, they were much less frequent than when Muels was around.

Perhaps because Muirsey, their most aggressive enemy, was gone, the group relaxed, which allowed Yuuki to have a couple of peaceful days.

"Oh, everything is decorated with lanterns and streamers." Exusiai leaned against the window, looking down at the shops below that were already adorned with various banners and lanterns.

"Instead of worrying about others, let's hurry up and help out." Texas stood on the ladder. "Who was it that said they wanted to hang some lanterns inside the house?"

"Hehe, here they come." Exusiai picked up a string of small lanterns from the table next to her, raised her hand and handed them over, "Be careful."

“I’m not as reckless as you.” Texas rolled her eyes and took the lantern from Exusiai’s hand. “You have two wings, but you can’t do anything right.”

"I'm not Liberi." Exusiai chuckled twice. "Two stickers will do."

"Then why did you buy so many?" Texas tore open a lantern, stuck the tape on the hanging rope to the wall, and after sticking the lanterns on her hands, she jumped down.

"Do you want more? I want to add two more strings, since I bought so many anyway."

"So, you put it that way," Exusiai said, moving the ladder to the restaurant area, "how about two more skewers?"

Texas climbed the ladder: "Anyway, I have nothing to do right now."

"So why didn't you go shopping for New Year's goods with Yuuki?" Exusiai looked at Texas. "Even though Red went with her, I wanted to go too, but you stopped me."

"Why are you following so closely?" Texas jumped down from the ladder. "Besides, Yuuki is probably going to buy a ton of stuff again today."

"Because Mom seemed very happy." Hong kicked open the door and carried in a large box of fireworks and firecrackers. "And she made a whole list of them. Because she bought so many, Mom asked me to bring them back first."

"Wow, what is Yuuki doing? Is she saving it up for next year?" Exusiai looked at the huge box of fireworks in the red hands. "So many, are they all going to be set off in the next couple of days?"

"Mom said she hadn't had any for a long time, so she bought a whole bunch of them with great enthusiasm." Hong put down the box. "They don't smell very good."

"Because this isn't for eating." Texas walked over and patted Red's head, casually wagging her tail near Red's hand. "It's for setting off. There's probably going to be a pretty good fireworks display tonight."

"Oh." Red hugged Texas and rubbed her cheek against its tail. "Fluffy, fluffy."

"Texas, you're becoming more and more popular with Red, aren't you~" Exusiai said with a teasing look as she watched the two of them move. "Looking at you two, you both seem like mothers..."

Exusiai paused abruptly, looking at Texas with a strange expression. This guy had taken a different approach.

"Heh, why did Exusiai stop talking?" Texas patted Red's head beside her.

"I was wondering why Yuuki hasn't come back yet?" Exusiai turned her head away. "Does she need to spend that much time buying New Year's goods?"

"Maybe he went somewhere to wander around." Texas pulled a Pocky stick from her pocket. "Or maybe he went to find some peace and quiet."

"Oh, so that's why you said not to come along?" Exusiai nodded. "It seems like things have been a bit..."

"That's good." Texas patted Red's head. "Did Red ask Yuuki what she likes?"

“Mom said that as long as it’s the thought that counts, that’s enough.” Hong tilted her head. “She didn’t say anything else.”

"That's the part that's difficult." Exusiai threw herself onto the sofa. "Hmm, maybe I should make some desserts instead."

—————Chernobog Central Command Tower—————

"Hoo." Talulah groaned as she half-reclined on the back of her chair. Judging from the pile of books on the table and the emergency light next to her, she seemed to have been studying for a long time.

“Looking at it this way, do you want me to get you a pair of glasses? I can try to get you a pair.” Frostnova walked in from the stairs. “Actually, there’s no need to be so stingy.”

"I'm afraid that by then my nearsightedness will be fine, but my eyes will be frozen." Talulah slowly turned her neck. Although it used to hurt, the situation was okay.

"How's the situation at the grain sheds?" Talulah rubbed the back of her neck and looked at Frostnova beside her. "Has anything gone wrong?"

“Not at the moment.” Froststar shook her head. “With the old man’s help, we managed to clear some space quickly, but you know what we did before, so cleaning it up won’t be an easy task.”

“Ah, that’s true.” Talulah slumped back in her chair again. “I guess he’s already prepared. Even if you discover my problem and refuse to carry out his plan, the Reunion Movement will definitely have to plunder because of the lack of food, and then find another reason to lure us to Yan Country.”

"Are there any special circumstances among the residents who stayed behind?"

"It's still full of distrust towards us, and there's no shortage of insults and refusal to carry out assignments." Frostnova shrugged. She had already been warned by Patriots and knew how difficult this would be.

"They went too far before, and it won't be easy to change public opinion. But at least they've been cooperative in rebuilding food production."

"Because it truly concerns their survival." Patriot also came up at this moment, looking at Talulah, who was half-slumped in the chair, exuding an aura of utter despair.

"If they don't want to leave, they will have to work hard to survive here, even if it's by cooperating with us. That's all we can show them right now that we want peace."

"Ah, I know, I know." Talulah stood up from her chair and gave her legs a quick massage. "I didn't expect it to be resolved so quickly either."

"Oh, by the way," Talulah said, as if remembering something, glancing at Patriot, "Have those recent thieves been caught at the warehouse?"

“Yes.” Patriot nodded. “They’ve already captured them. As for the grain, I’m afraid it’s too late to recover it.”

“I understand.” Talulah nodded. “Give them a simple punishment to teach them not to steal food. Right now, we need enough food to last until the grain sheds can begin the first harvest.”

"I don't think simple punishments can stop their desire for more food." Patriot shook his head. "They want more security, and in the current situation, food is that security."

“That’s true.” Talulah pinched the bridge of her nose, but there was nothing they could do in the current situation. The only food they had was the batch that had come for Wei Yanwu.

Most of the city's food supplies had already been destroyed in the previous, almost insane riots. Even the goods in supermarkets and stores had been destroyed in various ways by the angry infected during the riots, and very little could be salvaged.

More importantly, this city was never designed as a mobile agricultural city for planting, and the few agricultural mining sites still cannot supply the current population of the entire city.

They needed to trade, but they had no assets, so Talulah brought back the broken bones and asked him to find a way to dismantle the vaults of the banks in those cities and get some money from them.

However, progress is slow. The Broken Bones have only managed to open one or two of them with great effort, and it is still unknown how much asset they will ultimately obtain for exchange.

Of course, having money is one thing, but more importantly, which city would allow a group of terrorist organizations to trade with them, and the snake would also be eyeing them covetously.

For now, they can only grit their teeth and persevere. Even if they have to forcefully change the city, they have to turn it into an agricultural city. Otherwise, they have no way to support so many infected people.

Their flames would extinguish themselves as a result, which is absolutely unacceptable.

"Are you troubled?" Yuzuki's voice suddenly came from behind them.

Chapter 132: The Ghost Shark Who Has Lost All Will to Live

"Eh, Miss Yuzuki." Talulah looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yuzuki walking out of the portal. "Good afternoon, Miss Yuzuki."

"Good afternoon." Yuzuki stepped out of the portal. "It seems things aren't going well."

Patriot bowed slightly to Xiyue and then said, "The lack of cooperation from the masses and the imminent food problem are obvious threats, and we have no way to solve them in the short term."

"I see." Xi Yue nodded. "It seems the situation isn't good. Even with Wei Yanwu's help, it's still an urgent matter."

"Was any other treatment taken?"