Poseidon in Arknights

"..." Kelsey took a sip of her red tea, but did not give up asking, "So, Miss Yuzuki did indeed provide assistance to the Sea Sirens in this matter?"

“Sigh…” Yuuki looked at Kal’tsit and sighed helplessly again, “Although this trip was not for tourism, please don’t be so sensitive.”

"However, from a certain perspective, you are right. This time, their landing was indeed due to me, but not entirely."

“First of all, it’s true that I can hear the children, but it’s actually quite annoying.” Yuzuki shrugged. “Their mental network is filled with the sound of ocean, ocean, ocean all the time.”

"It's really annoying and noisy."

Kal'tsit looked at Yuuki, who had a helpless expression on her face: "And then what? Miss Yuuki tried to communicate with them and got them to change their original approach?"

“Yes.” Xiyue nodded. “Well, there was a little hiccup in the middle. It was during this process that they learned to speak, and more and more of the sea creatures were authorized to evolve into the appearance of ordinary people.”

"And the matter of going to the mainland to carry out normal exchanges has been put on the agenda. As for what happens next, you'll know."

“A little incident…” Kal’tsit looked at Yuuki, “Miss Yuuki, don’t you think that using such words to gloss over the relevant process makes me even more suspicious?”

"Well~" Yuuki smiled as she looked at Kal'tsit, a mischievous thought suddenly popping into her head. "Miss Kal'tsit has become quite bold at times like this, so eager to know the truth?"

“Miss Yuzuki, there’s no need to pretend to be a bad guy.” Kal’tsit took a sip of red tea. “The expression on your face completely betrays you.”

"Is it that obvious?" Yuzuki stroked her chin. "But I guess there's nothing I can't say, since it's something I'll have to say sooner or later anyway."

"So there really is more to this story than meets the eye?" Kal'tsit looked at Yuuki. After observing her for so long, she had already figured out some aspects of Yuuki's personality.

Kal'tsit's concern for Yuuki stems more from Yuuki's identity than from her personality or the possibility of others doing things that might affect her attitude.

Therefore, Kal'tsit can now ask questions boldly about certain things, because Yuuki is unlikely to get angry.

"Well." Yuuki patted Skadi, who was still holding the cards, and said, "Skadi, bring Isamara out so Isamara can talk to Kal'tsit."

"Wait! Who!"

Chapter 180: First Contact

"Wait! Who?!" Kal'tsit exclaimed in surprise when she heard the name Yuuki called out, and then turned her gaze to Skadi, who had just put down her cards.

“I had no idea.” Specter stroked his chin, looking at Skadi. “It seems my Miss Yuzuki and the adorable little orca are hiding quite a few things.”

“Yuzuki didn’t let me say it.” Skadi immediately shifted the blame to Yuzuki, though it probably wasn’t intentional. Then, Skadi closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were lifeless.

Isamara raised her hand in a friendly greeting as she looked at the group: "Nice to meet you, I am Isamara."

"..." Kal'tsit looked at Isamara, who was greeting them in a friendly manner, took a deep breath, picked up the coffee next to her and drank it down, and finally took another deep breath and looked at Isamara in front of her.

To be honest, Kal'tsit had imagined countless possible conversations and meetings with Hai Si, but Isamara was definitely not one of them now.

While Isamara was still within the bounds of conversation and could still engage in dialogue, after some of Agor's baffling actions, Isamara's, or rather, Haizi's, fighting instincts have been fully activated.

Therefore, Kal'tsit never considered Isamara as a potential conversationalist from the beginning, but now that Isamara was in front of her, she had to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible.

“Hello…” Kal’tsit looked at Isamara and tried hard to think of the right words to say next, “Miss Isamara…”

“You seem very nervous, Miss Kal'tsit.” Isamara looked at Kal'tsit, her tone concerned. “I can give you some time to take a deep breath. Our conversation isn’t urgent, or do you need any other assistance?”

"You know me?" Kal'tsit adjusted her breathing slightly. "Did you find out from Yuuki, or from Skadi?"

“Skadi,” Isamara explained to Kal'tsit, “I share a certain degree of perception with Skadi, and in most cases before, I knew what Skadi knew as well.”

“And now, unless Skadi is willing, I can’t know anything about her, but I already know your name in the previous process.”

"..." Kal'tsit watched Isamara fall silent, and suddenly felt that the so-called wording she had just thought of became worthless at this moment.

Isamara was not as ignorant of the land as she had just imagined. On the contrary, Skadi, as a bounty hunter, had already given Isamara a sufficient understanding of this land, a fact that her original wording had not taken into account.

"Hello, Miss Isamara." Specter, seeing that Kal'tsit seemed to be at a loss for words, immediately spoke up to attract Isamara's attention.

"What is it, Miss Specter?" Isamara could tell that Kal'tsit needed some time to think things over, so she cooperated with Specter and changed the subject.

“So you do recognize me.” Ghost Shark stroked his chin. “I’d like to ask Miss Isamara, how did you get inside our adorable little orca?”

“According to Skadi’s memory, you attempted to kill me in a raid to delay the Sea King’s attack,” Isamara said slowly, looking at Specter. “But that raid was actually tacitly approved by me.”

Hearing Isamara's words, Specter raised an eyebrow: "Tacit consent? So you agree to your own death? Or does Miss Isamara intend to do something through that death?"

Kal'tsit, who was still pondering her words, paused for a moment and cast a disapproving glance at Specter. Although she also wanted to know the details about this part, it was not a good time to ask the question.

Fortunately, Isamara didn't seem to mind Ghost Shark's question. It wasn't something Isamara particularly needed to hide, so she readily gave her answer.

“Because I thought you needed to be fed so that your flesh could separate from your skin.” Isamara shrugged as she looked at the ghost shark. “Although it turned out that I was wrong and you didn’t need to be freed, I just wanted to feed you at the time.”

"As for the current situation, I didn't actually expect my consciousness to be able to be reconstructed in Skadi's body at the time. It was just a coincidence, but it suited my needs perfectly."

"Of course, my reorganization of consciousness was inevitable in a sense, because at that time only Skadi rushed in front of me, and my feeding was limited to Skadi herself."

“…” Ghost Shark pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked at Isamara in front of him, then looked at Yuzuki who had moved a chair aside and was drinking coffee. “Miss Yuzuki seems to be acting like it’s none of my business.”

"Shouldn't you come over and explain things to Miss Isamara?"

"I don't know much either," Yuuki shrugged. "Or do you want to hear what I have to say?"

“Of course there are,” Specter said, looking at Yuuki. “For example, why did you tell Skadi not to tell us about this, and why didn’t Yuuki try to separate Skadi and Miss Isamara?”

"The first point is why I didn't mention this matter. It's mainly because it's a little sensitive." Yuuki raised her hand and made a gesture of a galaxy at her fingertips. "So I didn't let Skadi tell you."

"Of course, it turns out that Skadi and Isamara weren't much better at hiding, it's just that you didn't expect it."

“…” Ghost Shark rolled his eyes at Yuuki, “Miss Yuuki, you’re making yourself sound so absolved. Isn’t this just because Miss Yuuki herself doesn’t want us to know?”

"I didn't mean to distance myself from this," Yuzuki shrugged. "It's just the way it is. How about you two relax a bit now?"

"After all, prolonged muscle tension is not beneficial."

"Really." Ghost Shark looked at Xiyue and shook her head helplessly. She had to admit that Xiyue was right. No matter when they found out about this, they would never be able to accept it immediately without feeling nervous.

The current announcement is simply a matter of the topic having been brought up at this point.

“Sigh, this is such a hassle.” Specter shook her head. “Then, could we separate Skadi and Isamara?”

“I can’t.” Xi Yue shook her head, explaining her reason simply, “I don’t know how to do mental separation or anything like that, maybe I will later.”

"I must first say that Skadi and Isamara are not simply twin souls, but are closer to a state of split personality, which makes the situation extremely difficult."

"Is that so?" Specter looked at Isamara, then sighed helplessly. "Alright then, just remember to keep a close eye on things, Yuuki~"

“Miss Specter, you don’t need to worry.” Isamara stared at Specter, her tone firm and unwavering. “We will always serve the ocean and never betray it. The will of the ocean is our will.”

“Fine…” Ghost Shark smirked. “Sigh, a bunch of fanatics.”

Meanwhile, Kal'tsit finally gathered the information she needed, but she also discovered that the wording she had prepared was completely meaningless.

Hai Si doesn't need this kind of thing; he can just talk to Xi Yue about it when the time comes.

Perhaps we can now consider whether there are ways to create more opportunities for friendly exchanges between Iberia and Haizi.

Kal'tsit glanced at her luggage, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "May I ask, when you caused the Great Tranquility, did the Iberian Golden Fleet that once sailed the seas still exist?"

"A fleet?" Isamara closed her eyes for a moment after hearing Skadi's question before opening them and replying, "If you mean those huge ships, there is indeed one still adrift on the sea."

"Is that so?" Kal'tsit nodded, tapping her thigh lightly with her fingers. She needed to think about how to make this matter more effective.

'If we could get Haisi to return the ship to Iberia, it might rekindle relations, but the attitude of the Iberian court's higher-ups towards Haisi is still unclear.'

“Oh, let me add some information.” Isamara suddenly spoke up, seemingly having received a report from Haizi over there, “There seem to be people still alive up there, and Haizi is constantly feeding them.”

"Wait, you mean there are still people alive on board?" Kal'tsit stroked her chin. "Then this ship is worth much more than an empty one."

"No, we have to go and take a look..."

Kal'tsit turned to look at Yuuki, "Miss Yuuki, I hope you will allow me to act alone after we arrive in Iberia."

“That’s your freedom, Dr. Kal’tsit.” Yuuki shrugged, then looked at Skadi as if she suddenly had an idea. “Oh, right.”

The water clone beside her immediately took action, walked to Kal'tsit's side, shrunk into a blue gem, and floated in the air, seemingly gesturing for Kal'tsit to catch it.

"..." Kal'tsit caught the blue gem floating in the air, then looked at Yuuki, "Miss Yuuki, what does this mean?"

“An extra bargaining chip.” Yuuki took a sip of coffee. “If Kal'tsit only needs to resolve the issue, then just crush it.”

"As for what's inside after you crush it, do you need me to explain that?"

“…No, it’s not necessary, Miss Yuzuki.” Kal’tsit shook her head. “Thank you for your help. I will use this chip properly at the appropriate time.”

“I believe Miss Kal'tsit knows what she's doing,” Yuuki smiled. “Alright, shall we continue playing cards? Miss Kal'tsit, how about a couple of rounds?”

"Anyway, I'm bored?"

——————Iberian Sea Fool——————

Inside the Fool's cabin, in a medical room that seemed to have just been opened and was already covered in dust, only recently cleaned, two people were having their wounds bandaged.

"Hoo..." Alfonso shook his left hand, feeling a little uncomfortable. Looking at his arm covered in scales, he tried to suppress the urge to pick up the longsword next to him and cut it off.

A person, also covered in scales, gently bandaged a scabbed wound, skillfully tying a knot before making a vibration in their throat as if trying to communicate with Alfonso.

“Oh, Garcia.” Alfonso’s ears twitched and he turned to look at Garcia. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that I can suddenly understand what you’re saying?”

Garcia's activity continued to emit sound waves that were inaudible to ordinary people, but Alfonso nodded, seemingly understanding Garcia's words at that moment.

“You’re right, Garcia. Whether this is good or bad, I will not give up my Iberia.”

Alfonso suddenly rubbed his temples, and then, in a fit of irritation, raised a pistol and swung it at the medicine cabinet in front of him.

"Foolish Seachildren." Alfonso calmed his thoughts, banishing the auditory hallucinations from his mind. He wouldn't listen to the whispers of those foolish Seachildren, except for Garcia's.

"Garcia, what's for dinner tonight?" Alfonso sheathed his longsword and looked at Garcia beside him. "Scaled fish or grilled tarantula?"

"........."

“Scaled fish.” Alfonso nodded. “Not bad, it’s been a long time since I’ve tasted your cooking.”

"..." Garcia looked at Alfonso, then suddenly seemed to become somewhat intense, "..."

"..." Alfonso looked at Garcia and subconsciously tightened his grip on the long knife in his hand. "No, you're still here. Alright, go make something for your captain to eat."

"..." Garcia looked at Alfonso for a while before turning and leaving the infirmary.

Alfonso watched Garcia leave and sighed deeply. Sometimes change doesn't necessarily mean something is good, especially on the Fool's Ship these days.

Alfonso and Garcia are the last two crew members on this ship. In order to preserve their lives and fight against the Sea King, Alfonso had been using the Sea King's flesh and blood for a long time.

In order to allow himself to fight the Sea King for longer, Alfonso did not want his Iberia to sink in this sea.

However, consuming Hai Si's flesh and blood came at a price. My body began to gradually become like Hai Si's, and not only him, but also his soldiers and his first mate were undergoing the same change.

Gradually, only he and his first mate remained on the ship, and his first mate... although he didn't want to admit it, logically speaking, he should have given up long ago, just like the other crew members before him.

The other party had long since lost its human form and had long since lost the ability to speak. If it weren't for Garcia still fighting alongside him against the Sea Siege, Alfonso wouldn't have known that his first mate was still alive.