Poseidon in Arknights

“Indeed, it’s been a long time, my daughter.” The black snake turned to look at Talulah. “It seems you have a lot to say, but I told you about our bet a long time ago, and you lost.”

"..." Talulah gritted her teeth and lowered her head. Just as Black Serpent said, she had lost. So the Reunion Movement, which she had worked so hard to establish, had become the terrorist organization it is today.

Her body was possessed by the black snake, but that doesn't mean she was completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world, or perhaps she was the one who did all those things.

"Alright, Black Snake, with your diode theory, you might be able to fool Talulah, but I have to say your psychology is quite impressive." Yuuki squinted at Black Snake.

“If someone excessively idolizes another person, then that person can use that idolization to control him.” Xi Yue shook the iron chain on her hand. “Of course, Talulah doesn’t idolize you; rather, she loathes you. And you’ve taken advantage of her loathing.”

"Huh? You're using my dislike for him?" Talulah looked up at Yuuki.

"You really didn't notice anything at all?" Yuuki looked into Talulah's clear eyes and shook her head. "How am I supposed to explain this to you?"

"Hmm, why do I feel like you think I'm stupid?" Talulah said as she watched Yuuki scratch her head.

“I think it’s probably not my imagination.” Frostnova looked at Talulah, seemingly relieved after confirming that she was alright, and felt like cracking a joke.

Watching the interaction between the two, Yu Yue smiled and said, "Let's put it this way: if this guy told you that his policies could protect the residents of a region, what would you think?"

As soon as Yuuki finished speaking, Talulah immediately replied without hesitation: "Of course there's something wrong with his policies. He couldn't possibly do something like that."

“That’s right, but that’s also what he would want you to do. Your aversion makes you naturally reject everything he says.” Yuuzuki nodded at Talulah. “Because he knows that the choices you make will go against his teachings, he knows everything you will do.”

“He knows you want to protect the infected, but the infected in Ursus are extremely xenophobic. They don’t trust the protection and kindness of non-infected people. You don’t want to accept his teachings and hate the infected with him. You want to protect them. So you only have one choice.”

Even Talulah understood what Yuuki meant at this point. She stared blankly down at her hands: "The only way is for me to become one of them..."

"Become another infected." The black snake's voice rang out, and it turned its head while hanging on the chain, looking at Talulah with a mocking gaze.

"That's quite an unexpected way to do it, isn't it, Talulah?"

“You, you…” Talulah looked at the mockery in the black snake’s eyes. The words the black snake had just said were the words Koschei had said when she said she had become an infected person and all of Koschei’s schemes against her had failed.

At the time, Talulah naively believed that she had ruined all of Coschick's schemes against her, and that sentence was a helpless expression of frustration at Coschick's unexpected actions.

But now it seems that she herself was the insect that had already fallen into the spider web without even realizing it.

"There's nothing more to say about what happened after that. I'm not a schemer, nor a military strategist. There's only one thing I can tell you."

"A conspiracy can be accomplished because someone wants it to be accomplished; similarly, the Reunion Movement exists because it needs to exist."

“...They want a war,” the Patriot standing behind Yuuki said.

"Well, you guys figure this out yourselves. I'm not a strategist, I'm just a doctor," Yuuki casually replied to the Patriot behind her.

"Why?" Talulah murmured at that moment.

"what?"

"Why are you helping me?" Talulah looked up at Yuuki. "I don't understand."

“There are two reasons. First, I can’t stand it anymore. Unprovoked hatred has been ignited wantonly.” Yuuyue looked at Talulah and held up two fingers. “This hatred has spread to many innocent people. This hatred will spread to even more places, and more innocent people will be dragged into this unprovoked hatred.”

"You want to stop this from happening?"

In response to Talulah's question, Yuuzuki nodded: "I am a doctor, and of course I don't want to see this happen. The second reason is that I also want to save the infected, even if it's just unfounded hatred. But the Reunion Movement is still the first flame to be lit."

"But I failed, I didn't accomplish anything." Talulah became dejected again when talking about this.

At that moment, a dull metallic clang rang out, and everyone looked in the direction of the sound, pointing to Patriot slamming the end of his spear heavily onto the ground.

"Talulah, stand up. Come here, in such a disheveled state." Patriot looked at the dejected Talulah before him, and even in his stiff tone, one could detect a hint of kindness.

"If others see you, how can you lead an integrated movement?"

"Huh?!" Talulah looked at Patriot in surprise. "But I've let so many people down. Ino and Sasha became like that because of me."

"This... um!" Just as the black snake was about to make a sarcastic remark, Xi Yue flicked her wrist, and the iron chain wrapped around his neck, tightly gripping his neck.

"Shut up, I haven't told you to speak yet."

"I once recognized you on the snowy plains, and I still do now." The Patriot's gaze, hidden beneath his mask, fell upon the dejected Talulah.

“Your path wasn’t wrong, it’s just that your methods were a bit extreme,” Xi Yue said with a smile. “You just lacked a certain guiding principle, and later, under this guy’s leadership, you went astray.”

As Xi Yue spoke, she tugged at the iron chain in her hand, and the black snake, whose neck was constricted by the chain, let out a painful groan.

At that moment, the black snake, its neck being grabbed, was still emitting mocking laughter: "Hehehe, Talulah, my daughter, do you still think you can succeed? You can't do anything. This twisted land will only produce twisted flowers."

"You can't do anything. No one on this land who is infected even dares to hope for salvation." The black snake seemed to be spewing out countless malices from the throat it was being choked. "Your self-righteous salvation is nothing but the same kind of enslavement as mine. No one will expect your salvation."

"The Reunion Movement is destined to be achieved through violence. Your justice can only be pushed to its climax by violence!"

“But there will be people who care.” Talulah stood up and looked at the black snake in front of her. “I accept all your teachings. I admit that people in this world are not inherently good.”

"Perhaps the infected people on this land did not expect to be saved, but not because they refused to be saved, but because no one had ever tried to save them before."

As Talulah continued speaking, the light in her eyes shone even brighter: "I want to be that first fire, whether or not I succeed."

"The flames have been lit. There will be people who yearn to be saved, and there will be people who stand up, raise their torches, and together illuminate this dark land."

"..." The black snake's mocking face froze, his stunned eyes staring straight at Talulah in front of him.

“Kosichrie, those of us standing here are proof.” Tarola’s face stiffened even more as she looked at the black snake, her eyes flashing with a light that seemed to burn with flames.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Yuuki looked at Talulah in front of her, then at the black snake whose face was frozen to the side.

“Black Serpent, it seems your consequentialist sophistry about the inherent evil of human nature has been overturned by another consequentialist theory.” Yu Yue’s eyes were full of satisfied smiles. “I can endure darkness only because I have never seen light.”

"As long as one person ignites a spark of light, even if this land is indeed shrouded in darkness, as long as that light is seen, he will be remembered."

"..." The once arrogant black snake now seemed to have its throat choked by iron chains, and it no longer made a sound.

"In that case, come and catch." Yuuki smiled at the silent black snake, untied the iron chains binding her hands, and threw them to Talulah.

“You’ve given me a satisfactory answer, even better than I expected.” Yu Yue smiled as she looked at Talulah, who was taking the chains. “This land truly deserves our efforts to save, both the land itself and the people living here.”

“You’ve given me an answer I never wanted to hear: your consultation is over, Miss Talulah.”

“Thank you.” Talulah looked at the chains in her hands and the still silent black snake. “Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

"..." The silent black serpent looked at Talulah, who seemed to be glowing against the setting sun, and said, "I will wait. I will wait for your unrealistic wishes to be shattered once again. The black serpent's curse will always be with you."

"Well, that's settled then." Talulah slowly pulled the iron chain in her hand, and with a soft snapping sound, the last connection between the black snake and Talulah broke at that moment.

'The flame of new life has been rekindled! This house call has brought an unexpected surprise.'

Chapter 80: Welcome Back to Rhodes Island

"I look forward to the moment your dream is shattered once again." The black snake, chained and gradually dissipating, looked at Talulah, whose back was to the setting sun.

"You will become me again, the curse of the black serpent will continue in you, and your dreams are unrealistic." The black serpent looked at Talulah, and even as its body gradually dissipated, the words of curse never stopped.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the black serpent's figure gradually disappeared. Talulah watched the vanishing serpent and sighed deeply.

Frostnova looked at Talulah from behind and slapped her hard.

The biting cold penetrated Talulah's thin clothes, causing her to shiver violently.

"What are you doing? It's cold."

"I don't like you..." Frostnova rolled her eyes at Talulah, "You never say anything."

"Thank you for your selfless help." Patriot looked at Xiyue, who had been smiling since the beginning, and bowed. "If it weren't for your help, the integration movement would have been completely destroyed by deception. Once again, I sincerely thank you for your selfless help."

“Hmm.” Xi Yue nodded at Patriot. “To be honest, I originally thought I’d have to use some inspirational quotes or something to heal him today, but…”

Yuuki looked at Talulah: "She gave me a new answer, an answer that surprised me."

“Your vision is brilliant. Although Reunion is still a fledgling organization, I believe that under your leadership, Reunion will truly become the first ray of light illuminating the dark world of the Infected.”

"I look forward to your dream taking root, sprouting, and growing on this land in the future." Yuzuki looked at Talulah with a smile. "I sincerely wish your dream will come true."

"And for you who surprised me, I will also give you the reward I can." Yuuki took out a pendant chain from inside her clothes.

Yuuki's hand gripped where the item should have been hanging, a flash of blue light appeared in her hand, and then she walked to Talulah and Frostnova's side and handed over the item.

"What is this?" Talulah took the pendant from Yuuki and looked at the blue gem hanging from it.

“A chance to ask for help.” Yuuki smiled at Talulah. “No matter what it is, just crush that piece of ice on top and I will definitely come to help, no matter where or what it is.”

“I will help you all, and I think you can also regard it as a kind of protection. It is a special entity that shouldn’t make things too difficult for you.”

The Patriot looked at the blue gem on the pendant in Talulah's hand. In his perception, the gem was constantly emanating an aura as deep as an abyss.

Faint, yet incredibly conspicuous.

"...Thank you for your gift."

“It’s a small matter. Now it’s just the two of you.” Xi Yue smiled. “You don’t think that as a doctor, I would watch two critically ill patients drag their ailing bodies around, do you?”

"Remember what I told you? Be a good girl and don't make me pull your antlers and—" Yuuki's gaze fell on Frostnova, who looked like she was about to get into trouble, "...pull your ears?"

Seeing Yuuki's amused expression, Froststar unconsciously touched the rabbit ears on her head.

"Cough cough cough." Patriot looked at Yuuki and couldn't help but imagine the scene of him being forcibly dragged into the medical room by Yuuki's antlers if he didn't cooperate with the treatment. He couldn't help but cough a few times awkwardly.

"We will cooperate with the treatment."

“I’m glad you’re cooperating.” Yuuki nodded. “In that case, I’ll go ask Kal’tsit to borrow the operating room. At least we need to stabilize your condition.”

"As for when I'll be ready? I'll call you and let you know." Yu Yue took out her phone from inside her clothes and waved it, but then suddenly remembered something, "Uh, I think you guys should have phones, right?"

"No, our combat environment doesn't allow for the use of such delicate equipment, but the Originium Communication Terminal should be usable."

"Oh, that works too."

Yuuki and Talulah exchanged communication codes and tried to confirm that they could indeed communicate.

"Then I'll be going. As for how to get to Rhodes Island, you'll have to figure that out yourselves. It would be best if all three of you came. Although I know that your race is Drak and you have a special constitution, you still need to receive treatment."

“I understand.” Talulah nodded.

"Okay, bye-bye then." Xi Yue waved to them, and then abruptly disappeared from their sight.

"He's gone? He's truly elusive." Froststar looked at the spot where Sunset Moon had been standing. "Old fogey, was he really a god?"

“No, there’s no mistake. No one but them can possess that kind of ability.” Patriot picked up his spear and pointed outside. “I even suspect that He belongs to the strongest level among the gods.”

"The strongest floor? You old fogey, are you serious?" Frostnova turned her head and looked outside in the direction Patriot's spear was pointing. "There's nothing there. Isn't this just a city?"

“You have already seen it, but you ignored it.” Patriot walked to Frostnova’s side, a faint light emanating from his hand, then patted Frostnova’s head. “Focus your attention, look at that building over there, tell me what color it is? What is it made of? Is it normal?”

"What kind of weird question is that?" Frostnova rolled her eyes at Patriot, but then turned to look at the building that was within reach. "It's blue, and made of water. Isn't that... normal?"

Patriot looked at Frostnova, whose face was frozen, and nodded: "He did not forcibly reverse his perception. This reversal is more like we ourselves have ignored the changes in this world. Therefore, my spell can help you recognize the problems."

Listening to Patriot's words, Frostnova refocused her gaze on the city made of water: "Is this a god? Does such an outrageous thing exist on this land?"