Poseidon in Arknights

"No way." Exusiai walked through the crowd, looking down at the two lying on the mat. "You all talk bad about me when I'm not around."

"It's just a discussion." Texas clapped her hands, brushed the dust off them, took a Pokey from the basket, and popped it into her mouth.

"This is an objective fact. We are just discussing it. After all, the halo and wings on your head look like they might be a bit of a hindrance when swimming."

"There will be a little, but it's far from having any impact." Exusiai walked to the group's side. "Come on, make room for me."

"Why are you squeezing in?" Sora helplessly moved to the side, making room for Exusiai, and watched as Exusiai sat down and started looking for food in the basket next to her.

"Aren't you swimming anymore?"

“Just a quick swim is enough,” Exusiai shrugged. “I don’t have Croissant’s stamina; she’s still swimming happily.”

"Oh, right, and Specter and Skadi are pretty strong too." Exusiai looked at Sora. "I even tried chasing them, but I couldn't catch them at all. They just disappear as soon as they start swimming."

"Speaking of the two of them, didn't they come up? I don't think I saw them down there."

"You want to compete with them in swimming speed?" Sora looked at Exusiai speechlessly. "Specter and Skadi are Agorians. Why not compete with them in swimming speed?"

——————Deep within Siesta Lake——————

This is the deepest part of the lake in Siesta, which is known as the sea. It is a place that no one usually comes to explore because there are few resources here, and there are quite a few ferocious fish.

Furthermore, since Siesta's primary industry is not fishing, they have set up several fishing nets in the safe waters to prevent ferocious fish from harming tourists. After that, no one came here anymore.

Meanwhile, in the deep, dark water, two figures swam like fish. Then, as if they had gotten tired of swimming, they floated on the surface of the water.

Finally, the two looked at each other and placed their hands on each other's throats.

"Hmm, it's been a long time since I've swum this freely." The ghost shark's throat vibrated, a communication technique in the water that only deep-sea hunters like them knew.

Of course, this technique is simply to sense the vibration in the other person's throat, analyze what the other person is probably thinking, and then guess at the end.

If they are in combat, they also use sign language, a more efficient and less easily misunderstood means of communication. Of course, there is another reason why, in the midst of battle, there is no time to put one's hand on the other's throat to understand what the other is trying to say.

“Hmm.” Skadi nodded. “The bathtubs on Rhodes Island are not comfortable at all.”

"Is this your excuse for blocking the door and flooding the room with water last time?" Ghost Shark said with a smile. "I don't know whether to praise you for remembering to block the door or to say you wasted water."

“I apologized,” Skadi said, turning her face away. “I also paid for the items at their original price.”

"So Skadi, you've done things like this before?" Yuuki's voice suddenly rang in their ears, and then Yuuki's figure slowly materialized from the seawater in front of them.

Standing in the water, Yuuki looked at Skadi with a smile: "But I remember Rhodes Island has swimming pools, so why would you do something like this?"

As the two swam over, Yuuki snapped her fingers, and the surrounding seawater instantly receded, creating a hollow: "I think this will make things easier to talk to."

"Hmm." Skadi stepped on the water, which felt like the ground, with curiosity. Then, remembering Xiyue's question, her face turned slightly red.

“Well, that’s because there are a lot of people there too.” Skadi looked at Yuuki with a somewhat embarrassed expression. “Besides, that swimming pool is only open for a few hours a day. When the time is up, they let people out, and there are a lot of people inside.”

"I don't really like it..."

"Is that so?" Yuuki patted Skadi's head. "But speaking of which, how did you guys get here? I remember there were several layers of fishing nets, weren't there?"

"Of course we flipped it over when no one was looking," Ghost Shark waved his hand. "But to avoid attracting attention, we flipped it over from the bottom."

"The way we secure it here is simply by using a heavy object to sink the net to the bottom of the water. It's just a little bit of weight, which is a piece of cake for the two of us."

"I see." Yuuki nodded. "So what are you doing coming all this way? You're not just here to find a bigger swimming pool, are you?"

“I just came here out of curiosity.” Ghost Shark shrugged. “I sensed a bit of the sea, so I came here to take a look, and it’s just a narrow tunnel leading to the sea.”

"Oh." Yuuki nodded and patted Ghost Shark's head. "Do you miss home?"

"No," Ghost Shark shook his head. "I don't have any good memories of that place anymore, why would I think about it?"

"Is that so?" Yuuki patted Ghost Shark's head. "Then let's go back, it's time to eat."

"Okay~" Ghost Shark rubbed against Yuuki's hand, and as Yuuki's figure gradually disappeared, it couldn't help but say, "By the way, Yuuki, didn't you come to find us in your true form?"

“If I were in my dragon form and came down here,” Yuuki shrugged, pointing to a rift leading to the sea below, “those children would do anything to cross it and find me.”

"I finally managed to hang up on them, and I don't want to get back on the phone in a minute."

"Wouldn't that be heartless?" Skadi looked at Yuuki and this thought flashed through her mind for no reason, and then read it aloud.

The phantom of the moon glanced at Skadi. Just moments ago, Skadi's left eye went dark, as if that eye no longer belonged to Skadi at that instant.

"We'll see when they learn not to call me billions of times every second."

——————Siesta Hotel——————

"Mmm~" Exusiai held a burrito in one hand and a piece of grilled meat in the other, enjoying her meal. "As expected, Yuuki's is the best."

"Eat slowly." Yuuki looked helplessly at Exusiai wolfing down her food. "There's no one to eat with you..."

Before Yuuki could finish speaking, Exusiai pointed to Specter and Skadi, who were eating elegantly but were actually quite fast.

"you sure?"

"..." Yuuki glanced at the burritos and grilled meat that had vanished quickly in front of Ghost Shark and the other girl, and waved her hand helplessly, "Sigh, eat more, eat more."

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

"I just want to sleep after eating." Exusiai lay half-reclined on the sofa. "I feel like all the calories I burned swimming today were wasted."

"What if you feel it's all for nothing? Then I'll make something lighter for the next couple of days." Yuuki sat to the side and glanced at Exusiai. "Why are you saying this now that you've finished eating, instead of during the meal?"

"That's what you call getting a good deal and then acting innocent," Kong said with a smile. "Don't you think so?"

“You eat quite a lot too, don’t you?” Exusiai retorted, “You can’t say that about me.”

"Of course I'm comfortable with that." Sora pointed to the dining table. In order to maintain her figure, she had eaten rather restrainedly just now, and Yuuki had specially made her a salad.

Exusiai turned her face away. So it seemed that Sora did have the right to say that to her. She could only squeeze out a "Tch" through gritted teeth.

"Alright, alright, ladies." The Emperor struggled to move a chair over, then jumped onto it, clapped his hands, and said, "I have some news to share."

"Hmm?" Xi Yue raised an eyebrow. She had a rough idea of ​​what the Emperor wanted to say at this moment, but was it really a good idea to say it now?

With a hint of doubt in her eyes, Xi Yue gave the Emperor a meaningful look, asking if he really wanted to say it at this moment.

The Emperor noticed Xiyue's questioning expression, shrugged at her, and tried to convey that since she would find out sooner or later anyway, she might as well say it now.

"Hmm?" Xi Yue tilted her head. She could tell that the Emperor wanted to show that he didn't care, so she shrugged at him, indicating that it was up to him.

"Are you two exchanging secret signals?" Texas leaned against the sofa, a Pocky cookie dangling from her mouth, watching the Emperor and Yuuki exchanging glances.

"It's nothing, let's continue our previous topic." The Emperor waved his hand and cleared his throat. "First of all, because Rhodes Island wants to have in-depth exchanges and cooperation with us, and I have also consulted with Yuuki, Yuuki will go to Rhodes Island as a long-term liaison officer to conduct medical exchanges and learning in the future."

"Ha!" x3

"Ah!"x1

"Really?!" x2

Upon hearing Earth's words, aside from Croissant who hadn't yet reacted, Sora, Exusiai, and Texas immediately wanted to surround him.

Meanwhile, Specter and Skadi, moving even faster than them, protected Emperor.

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​Specter, with a smile on her face, stopped Sora and Exusiai with one hand. "Let's hear what the Emperor has to say first~"

“Mmm, mmm, mmm,” Skadi, who was blocking Texas, chimed in.

"Ahem." The Emperor subtly moved his chair back a little. "Don't get excited yet. You should remember the conditions I set when I let Xiyue join Penguin Logistics, right?"

“Provide medical assistance.” Texas bit off a piece of Pocky in her mouth. “So… is that how it works, under a different banner?”

They also went to other cities with Yuzuki to conduct free clinics, and you discovered those underhanded tactics by the officials and the resistance of the infected people in the slums.

So after the Emperor's reminder, Texas immediately understood why the Emperor would agree; the Emperor was not a man of his word.

If the original conditions cannot be met smoothly, the Emperor will find a way to make them happen. Therefore, under this premise, it seems understandable that the Emperor would agree to Rhodes Island's request for cooperation.

But despite her understanding, Texas's gaze towards the Emperor remained icy: "But it seems the boss didn't consult with us."

"Don't worry, don't worry, we've taken you all into consideration." The Emperor waved his hand. "Your resumes are included here. Of course, the Rhodes Island job is one thing, but we can't ignore Penguin Logistics either, so a maximum of two people can go per month..."

Just as the Emperor was still speaking, Specter and Skadi silently stepped aside, and Sora, Texas, and Exusiai also stepped forward at that moment.

"Huh?" The Emperor glanced at Skadi and Specter. No, you guys gave up way too quickly, didn't you?

"Don't get their carpet dirty," Xi Yue said, picking up Hong and giving her a gentle reminder.

"Good~"

"Sigh." The Emperor looked at his limited edition T-shirt with a pained expression. It seemed he would have to ruin another one today. However, he had prepared for this, as it wasn't a top-tier limited edition, so it wasn't a big problem.

"Go easy on me, there's a concert this afternoon."

The three followed the Emperor into the room: "Yes, sir!"

"New achievement acquired." Xi Yue shook her head; she knew the Emperor would be beaten for the third time today. "Achievement name: Welcoming the sunset 3 times within 24 hours~"

Croissant, who was standing nearby, turned on the TV and put on a noisy war movie, turning the volume up to the maximum: "This achievement feels incredibly sarcastic."

Chapter 150: Welcome Party

"It seems they held back after all." Xi Yue leaned against the doorframe, looking at the Emperor pinned to the wall. "By the way, whose idea was this?"

Although the weapon stuck in the Emperor's chest was Texas's weapon, Texas shouldn't do something so perverse; at most, she would give him a beating.

“Exusiai.” The Emperor stared at Yuuki with dead fish eyes. “She tried to fix me to a cross, but discovered…”

"Oh, boss, you seem to have short legs, so you probably can't make it." Xi Yue stepped forward and carefully pulled out the sword stuck in the emperor's chest. Then she released a stream of water to heal the wound on the emperor's chest.

"That's enough." The Emperor shook his clothes. "I can tell you, but you don't need to spell it out."

"So why did you have to do this, boss?" Xi Yue stood to the side. "Did you have to invite this beating at this time? Didn't you get enough of a beating this morning?"

"It's all going to happen sooner or later anyway." The Emperor waved his hand, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigar from behind his back. "It's good to have them all together."

"I've heard of striking while the iron is hot, but that's for good things." Xi Yue shrugged. "But I've never heard of two beatings being combined."

The Emperor patted himself down, turned around, took out a lighter from a drawer, lit his cigar, and asked, "Do you think your boss is a normal person?"

"..." Xi Yue squinted at the Emperor, "Boss is awesome."

"Huh huh huh~"

“Sigh…” Xi Yue shook her head. “Oh, right, by the way, boss, your concert has only half an hour left before it starts.”

"...What the heck?" The Emperor, who was still trying to look cool, froze when he heard Xi Yu's words. "Only half an hour left?"

"Yes, that's right." Xiyue nodded. "Oh, by the way, if you're driving from the hotel to the amusement park, oh wait, with the traffic jam like this right now, it seems like you can't move at all."

"In short, I think you're out of luck, boss."