Poseidon in Arknights

However, with Rhodes Island's meticulous care and the help of Oripathy inhibitors, Lappland's physical condition did indeed improve.

"Well," Lappland shrugged, "it's nothing special, just that I can live a few more days."

“What you’re saying…” Xi Yue shook her head helplessly, “I really don’t know how to respond.”

"If you don't take good care of your body, I'll find a time to drag you into the treatment room." That was all Xiyue could say in the end, looking at Lappland.

After all, Lappland's situation is quite complicated. The scars on her body are secondary; the bigger problem is that Lappland herself doesn't seem to care much about her condition.

For doctors, there is no more difficult patient than someone like Lappland.

Even if you tell the other person to rest and recuperate properly and devise a series of conditioning methods for them, they may still carelessly follow them without paying any attention.

“But then again,” Yuuki said, looking at Lappland and then at Texas, “Texas, why did you bring Lappland along?”

“She happened to be there when you were on the phone.” Texas had a Pocky cookie in her mouth, her face full of disdain for Lappland.

"As for what happened next," Texas glanced at Lappland and continued, "she found it interesting, so she came along too, and nothing we said could change her mind."

"Hmph~" Lappland seemed quite satisfied with the impatient expression on Texas's face, and then looked at Yuuki, "How can one person give the most objective evaluation? So I came to join in the fun."

"I think Miss Yuzuki, you wouldn't mind having one more person, would you?"

“I don’t mind at all,” Yuzuki shrugged. “I think Hong will be even happier tonight to have another tail to rub.”

"So I don't have any other opinions. If you want to come, you can come and join in the fun."

"Hmph." Lappland made a provocative sound, glancing at Texas beside her. "See, I already told you, Yuuki will agree."

"Ugh……"

"Ah, come here, let me pat your head, don't be angry~" Yuuki reached out to pat Texas's head, but Texas took a step back and dodged, so Yuuki awkwardly withdrew her hand after failing to touch Texas's head.

"Ahem." Xi Yue coughed awkwardly twice before walking into the room. "Alright, don't stand in the hallway. It won't look good if someone sees you."

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"Mmm~" Lappland lay on the sofa, suppressing the sound of comfort she wanted to make. "I didn't expect Miss Red to have such skills. Did Miss Yuzuki teach you?"

“I didn’t teach her that.” Xi Yue sat to the side, sipping her coffee and watching everything that was happening. “She learned it by touching her own tail.”

"Oh~" Lappland drawled, looking at Texas beside her, "So, Texas, you're already used to it?"

“No.” Texas immediately shook his head, refusing to admit it. Although he had indeed sold his tail in order to build a good relationship with Red these past few days, he would never admit it to Lappland.

"Really?" Lappland smiled, clearly not believing it. "Well, if it's this kind of skill, I think Miss Red could easily open a beauty salon."

“If there’s any shortcoming, it’s that…” Lappland turned to look at Red, who was rubbing her tail, “Miss Red seems to have a lot of little tricks up her sleeve.”

“After all,” Yuzuki said, looking at Kurenai while holding her coffee cup, “Kurenai’s original purpose in wanting to open a tail care shop was to find a legal and legitimate opportunity to touch other people’s tails.”

"Oh, so that's your purpose?" Lappland smiled and wagged her tail. "But it shouldn't be a big problem. Few people would care about such a small detail."

"Mmm." Red nodded happily. She had already won one person's consent. Now all that was left was Texas. And Red already knew exactly how Texas would help her rub her tail.

"Is it my turn next?" Texas looked over with a reddened gaze. Lappland, who seemed satisfied after taking a look, stood up and walked over.

"Do you want to continue, Lappland?" Texas asked, looking at Lappland who still seemed reluctant to get up. "Looks like you're not quite done yet?"

“There is indeed a little bit,” Lappland said, turning over and standing up. “But since we’ve already made our assessment, that’s enough.”

"Oh, right." Lappland stood up, stretched, and looked at Yuzuki beside her. "Miss Yuzuki, could I have a cup of coffee?"

“Okay.” Xi Yue nodded, took a cup from the side and poured coffee for Lappland, then handed the cup to Wo.

"Oh, this looks interesting~" Exusiai, who seemed to have finally finished her work in the kitchen, came out and said, "Yuzuki, give me a cup of coffee too."

"Okay." Yuuki poured Exusiai a cup of coffee as well. "How's it going? Is your apple pie finished?"

"That's half a failure, I guess." Exusiai shook her head helplessly. "The taste is weird. Hmm, maybe the proportions weren't right."

"However, I've already used up all the materials, so there's nothing I can do about it."

"Didn't you find out the exact proportions?" Yuuki looked at Exusiai with some curiosity. "Logically speaking, if you follow the recipe for desserts, they shouldn't taste bad, right?"

"Hey!" Exusiai waved her hand. "You can't say that for sure. Maybe I made a mistake somewhere. I'll ask again tomorrow."

"Hmm..." Xi Yue stroked her chin and guessed, "You didn't just ask about the recipe, did you? Didn't you ask about how to make it?"

"Sigh, I really can't hide anything from you." Exusiai scratched her head, a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I only asked for the recipe, I didn't ask for the specific steps."

"After all, I consider myself capable of making apple pie well. Well, it seems like it requires a special method, otherwise it tastes weird."

“After all, you’re always like this.” Texas, whose tail was being rubbed by Red, rolled her eyes at Exusiai. “For something, you always start when you think you’ve learned it and stop when you think you have a great advantage.”

"Ahem." Exusiai turned her head away. "No, I'm really good at making apple pie, it's just that I messed up a little today."

"Heh." Texas rolled her eyes again. As her best friend of many years, how could she not know this girl? "Don't you usually make these kinds of mistakes all the time?"

Chapter 176: The Ocean's "Answer"

——————The Rhodes Island Doctor's Office——————

"Hmm..." The Doctor yawned, her slightly dark circles under her eyes indicating that she had stayed up a long night last night. "Sigh, I should have known better than to play with Shuiyue and the others for so long last night."

"Amiya..." The Doctor wanted to ask Amiya to make him a cup of coffee, as he usually did, but then remembered that it wasn't Amiya's shift today, and the person on duty wouldn't be here anytime soon.

"Amiya hasn't even gotten up yet." The Doctor shook his head, feeling a little guilty for being so punctual for work.

The Doctor then picked up the schedule beside him: "Today's appointment is... Across?!"

"Hmm, let's not count on it then?" The Doctor stood up. If Kroos hadn't arrived by now, she was probably slacking off somewhere or had forgotten about it.

I shouldn't count on it anymore; it'll be faster for me to make myself a cup of coffee.

“I remember…” The Doctor walked to the counter and began to search. If she remembered correctly, Amiya usually took out her coffee cans from here.

"Got it!" The professor found the coffee canister in the first drawer, opened it, and looked at the thin layer of coffee powder left inside. "Ah, is that all there is?"

The doctor then looked into the drawer and found that this seemed to be the last can. It seemed that drinking coffee for so long had finally run out.

"Looks like I'll have to find some time to see if I can get two more cans from Yuuki." The professor scraped off the last bit of coffee grounds with a spoon and tapped the bottom of the can.

"Poor me, I can only use this little bit now~" The doctor hummed an unknown tune as he stood next to the coffee machine, waiting.

As for why she didn't continue with her official duties, well, the doctor could only say that she wanted to take a break.

Just as the doctor was standing by the coffee machine waiting, there was a knock on the door. The doctor turned around, looked at the door, and casually called out, "Come in!"

"Good morning, Doctor." Yuuki walked in, leading Hong, and looked at the Doctor standing by the coffee machine. "Doctor, you're making coffee yourself today. Isn't Amiya here?"

"He's not here." The doctor shook his head, glanced at the coffee which seemed to be ready, picked up the cup and took a sip. "The assistants are on a shift system now."

"Oh, so Amiya isn't on duty today, right?" Yuzuki nodded.

"You haven't come to see me in ages~" The Doctor walked back to his desk with his coffee cup, his tone slightly resentful. "You promised to come and be my assistant back in Siesta."

"If the Doctor needs it, you can put me on the schedule now." Yuuki shrugged, indicating that it was an unavoidable factor, "After all, I'm already on Rhodes Island."

"If you want to make arrangements, it depends on when you decide to do so."

"Then let me think about it now, is that possible?" The doctor's eyes immediately lit up. "Anyway, Klose hasn't arrived yet. If she does come, she'll definitely be happy to hear that someone is taking her place."

"I'm afraid it won't work today," Yuzuki shook her head. "I have to go to work at the medical department later."

"Oh." Upon hearing Yuuki's reply, the Doctor instantly lost interest and then looked at Red beside him. "Did you come to me with some problem?"

"After all, if they didn't come here to be my assistant, then they must have come specifically to see me."

Yuzuki nodded: "There is indeed something I need to ask the Doctor for help with."

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"Oh, so Red wants to open a tail care shop." The professor nodded, quickly understanding what Yuuki meant. "But she didn't know who to talk to, or who to ask for the paperwork, so she ended up coming to me?"

"Yes." Yuuki nodded. "That's right, Doctor, can you help me?"

"Hehe~" The professor took light steps and walked up to Yuuki, a mischievous smile on his face. "Of course, but Miss Yuuki has to show some sincerity~"

"Miss Yuzuki wouldn't want Miss Hong to be unable to open her shop, would she?"

"..." Yu Yue smiled helplessly and tapped the Doctor on the head. "Who taught you to talk nonsense?"

"Ugh~" The professor rubbed his head. "I just wanted to ask Yuuzuki for some coffee powder~"

"Just say you want it." Yu Yue gently flicked the professor's forehead. "Do you still want the previous variety, or are you planning to change it?"

"Hmm." The Doctor began to recall the last time Yuzuki introduced the types of coffee she had. "Hmm, the same as before, and then add an energizer."

“Okay.” Xi Yue nodded, then started taking out coffee powder from a bottle. Anyway, she had plenty of this stuff, and she couldn’t finish it all by herself. It was good to have a good friend who was willing to drink with her.

——————Rhodes Island Medical Department, Ward 4——————

"Hmph~" With a face full of excitement and eyes sparkling with excitement, Hong had been humming a little tune ever since she came out of the doctor's office.

"Alright, stop humming." Yu Yue patted Hong, who had been very happy ever since they came out of the professor's office. "Remember what you promised me."

"Mmm." Hong nodded. There was no need for Xiyue to tell her this; Hong had thought it through very clearly. If she didn't take good care of herself, it would affect her touch later.

“Don’t worry, Mom.” Hong looked at Xiyue with extremely serious eyes. “I will do my best to take care of my future guests.”

"Okay~" Yu Yue patted Hong's head. She was just reminding her, and she knew that Hong's ability should not be a problem.

"Then let's see how the doctor coordinates things?" Yu Yue patted Hong's head. "Alright, put aside your confidence in opening a shop for now."

Xi Yue patted Hong's head: "Now our work for today is about to begin."

Hong nodded: "Hong, I understand."

——————Iberian Wilderness——————

“Not here either.” A Deepsea Cultist in a white coat climbed out of the secret passage and shook his head at his companion. “There’s no trace of them inside.”

"Really? That's a real shame, another disappointment." The cultist on the ground looked regretfully at his companion, who was crawling out covered in dust. "According to the list, was anything missing?"

“According to the list, five sets of experimental equipment and their corresponding consumables are missing.” The cultist immediately spoke up, then handed his notebook to his companion. “I suspect those heretics are trying to get back to what we used to do.”

“Hmph!” Another believer shook his head. “Those who turn their backs on the will of the sea and continue to do those things that harm life will surely be betrayed by life itself.”

"Our sins have not yet been repaid." A believer beside him also closed his eyes in prayer. "Unable to repay them, we cannot return to the embrace of the sea."

Just as the two believers prayed, the Deep Sea Church knew the mistake it had made in the past when it did not follow the ocean, and that it was not brainwashed by the power of the Sea Heir.

They sought to follow the will of the ocean with their own will, and for this reason, the Deep Sea Church was acutely aware of what they had done in the past, and how those actions had violated the will of the ocean.

Everything they are doing now is for atonement, to save more lives in order to slightly cleanse themselves of the sins they have committed.

After closing their eyes and waiting for a while, the two believers opened them. One of them glanced at the map in his hand and said, "Let's go, we still have several places to see."