On the Ark.

"Tsk tsk, Miss W, you still can't understand me." Mephistopheles shook his head, looking quite regretful.

“I don’t want to understand someone like you; you’re not one of my people.” W shook his head. “So, what happened?”

“That guy named Walker is dead,” Mephisto said. “The symbol of the Ursus stage play is gone now. I really want to see how those who loved him will react when they hear the news of his death.”

"You really have a twisted sense of humor."

Mephistopheles corrected, “Please call it a ‘pleasant interest’.”

W scoffed: "And what about that guy?"

Which guy?

"That young master, I think his name was Watson?"

Mephistopheles suddenly realized: "Oh, I had forgotten about such a person if you hadn't mentioned it."

"He's the one who hired us, and you've just forgotten about him?"

"The person who hired us? Don't be ridiculous, just a rich kid with a brain full of mush." ​​Mephistopheles shrugged. "I was originally too lazy to hang out with him, but he just paid too much."

"What about the others?"

“He’s probably dead. I told them before I left not to see him again,” Mephistopheles said. “Actually, I hate him, but for the sake of the money, I’ll reluctantly grant him one wish. Let him cut off his enemy’s head with his own hands, and while he’s enjoying the joy of revenge, our men will cut off his head. Isn’t that wonderful? Ah, you don’t need to answer. At least I think it’s wonderful. That’s the best play script.”

"So he got his revenge?"

"Who knows?"

As the two were talking, there was a knock on the door downstairs.

“Our dear employer has arrived,” Mephistopheles said with a smile. “Let me go see him; hopefully he can bring us what we want.”

W remained silent.

Mephistopheles went downstairs alone and saw Kado waiting anxiously at the door.

"Hey sir, good evening." Mephisto walked up to Kado with a smile. "You've come to see us at this hour, so you must have brought us what we wanted, right?"

Kado nodded repeatedly, then took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it, and handed it to Mephisto: "We have confirmed that there are a total of nine Rhodes Island combat specialists accompanying Himer and Ifrit this time."

"Nine? That's quite a generous offer for a pharmaceutical company."

“I’ve said it before, Rhodes Island isn’t an ordinary pharmaceutical company. They take on many missions. This time, it’s just a regular combat team, but they seem quite capable.” He then added uneasily, “Can you handle them?”

"If I say yes, what will you do? If I say no, what will you do?" Mephistopheles chuckled. "At this point, do you think you can find other partners?"

Kado was speechless, his face turning ashen.

“Alright, relax,” Mephisto said. “We always deliver on our promises. We care a lot about our employers’ feelings, and we will serve every employer wholeheartedly. Don’t worry.”

Kado was still a little worried, but his expression had softened somewhat.

“So, is there anyone noteworthy among these nine?” Mephistopheles said, “or someone you consider troublesome.”

Kado nodded: "Yes, I've observed and inquired. The squad leader is called ACE, a burly man with a shield. He should be quite troublesome."

"ACE? I'll remember that. Anything else?"

"There's another one whose name I don't know. He looks quite ordinary, is rather thin, and carries a black sword. He's the only one among them who isn't wearing any protective gear."

"I can't sense anything extraordinary about him from your description."

“What if I said he was the closest person to Ifrit?” Kado said, “Hemer put him with Ifrit.”

"so what?"

“…You still don’t understand Ifrit.” Kado sighed and said, “Ifrit’s physical condition is very unstable, but she also possesses immense power. She went berserk at Rhine Labs and almost destroyed the entire laboratory once. Fortunately, Saria brought her down. Saria is the director of Rhine Labs’ Biological Defense Department and also the strongest person there. Apart from her, no one at Rhine Labs can suppress a berserk Ifrit.”

Mephisto narrowed his eyes: "You mean, this seemingly ordinary young man with a sword was placed next to Ifrit by your colleague because he has the same combat ability as that woman named Saria?"

Kado nodded solemnly: "That's exactly right."

“Saria… I think I’ve actually heard of her before,” Mephisto said softly. “A young person who can rival her is indeed quite remarkable.”

"Yes."

Do you have any good suggestions?

Kado shook his head: "I haven't seen this young man make a move yet, but just to be on the safe side, if you want to capture Ifrit, you must pay attention to this young man. If possible, it's best to do so from the beginning."

Mephisto looked at Cardo.

He said, slowly and deliberately, "Just kill him."

……

"Ah!"

Lin Ye sneezed loudly.

This is really strange. Why have I been sneezing so much these past two days? I don't think I have a cold.

Lin Ye was somewhat puzzled.

The call hadn't connected yet; a minute had already passed since the number was dialed, and it would be automatically disconnected in a dozen seconds. Lin Ye stared at his phone, feeling somewhat disappointed, though he was somewhat prepared. Skadi certainly didn't seem like the type to answer calls in the middle of the night… no, to be precise, Skadi rarely used her phone.

Just as Lin Ye was about to hang up, the call was suddenly connected, and a noisy sound came from the receiver.

Lin Ye was taken aback at first, and it took him two seconds to react before he hurriedly spoke into the microphone, "Hello, Skadi? This is Lin Ye."

There was a moment of silence before Skadi's voice slowly came through.

"Is something wrong?"

Lin Ye was stunned by that one question. Oh, why did he call? What's wrong?

Hmm, thinking about it carefully, there are still some things to consider.

"I have something I want to tell you, it's about Leaping Waves," Lin Ye said.

“Hmm,” Skadi said. “Then you go ahead and tell me.”

The noise from Skadi's side was still very loud. Lin Ye didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt like he could hear someone screaming.

Are you free now?

"available."

"But it's very noisy over there, what are you doing?"

"To kill someone."

Lin Ye: "..."

Chapter 173 From Now On, a Dual-Sword Doctor? (Part 1)

Lin Ye thought he had misheard: "What did you say you were doing?"

Skadi repeated simply and clearly: "Cut people."

"Are you kidding me?"

“A joke?” Skadi said calmly. “No, I never joke.”

As if to echo Skadi's words, a heart-wrenching scream came from the receiver, sending chills down Lin Ye's spine.

"Are you fucking killing someone?" Lin Ye was stunned by Skadi's actions. "You're killing someone and you're still answering my call?!"

"Um, is there something you need?"

Skadi's tone remained calm. If it weren't for the loud screams coming from the other side, Lin Ye would have thought she was joking.

"This isn't about what's going on, is it? What are you doing?"

"I'm stabbing someone."

Lin Ye: "..."

The two fell silent. Just as Lin Ye was wondering whether he should hang up the phone and let Skadi have some fun killing people, Skadi spoke again: "If you're worried that I won't be able to concentrate on talking to you, then you don't need to. My mind is still quite clear."

"Is this the key point?! This isn't the key point at all!" Lin Ye was speechless at Skadi. "Forget it, let's not talk about it now. We can talk about it when you have time. I won't keep you from killing people. Don't get distracted, or you'll get hurt."

After saying that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Skadi's response and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Seriously, she's slashing people with her right hand and making phone calls with her left. Lin Ye has never seen anything like it before. How little does she take her opponents seriously?

Forget it, I'd better not call Skadi late at night anymore. Who knows what she's doing? If she gets hurt because of answering my call, that would be a disaster.

I should just go to sleep.

As Lin Ye was thinking this, he closed his eyes to rest when his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Skadi.

He thought for a moment, then answered the call: "Didn't I already tell you..."

"All done," Skadi replied calmly.

Lin Ye: "..."

“Strictly speaking, my opponents are not humans, but some monsters with relatively low combat power,” Skadi said. “They are quite easy to deal with; one hand is enough.”

Lin Ye was completely at a loss for words when it came to responding to Skadi. He did believe the latter part of Skadi's statement; if it weren't so relaxed, how could Skadi answer his call without batting an eye? But Lin Ye was highly suspicious of the first part. What did she mean by "a monster with relatively low combat power"...? The monster's screams were even transmitted to him through the phone! Was it a human? It must be a human, right? Only a human could make such horrific screams.

Of course, Lin Ye only grumbled these thoughts to himself and wouldn't actually say them out loud. Anyway, Skadi wasn't the one being attacked, so who cared?

"I want to ask you something," Lin Ye decided to get down to business, "about Leaping Waves."

"Okay, go ahead and say it."

Lin Ye briefly recounted the events of the evening to Skadi, and when it came to Leap Strike, he raised his question: "The Leap Strike I used this time had several times the power of the previous times, but the duration was very short, and the backlash was much more severe than before. I want to ask if this is a normal phenomenon?"

Skadi didn't answer Lin Ye's question directly, but instead asked, "Were you attacked?"

"Well, to be precise, Lungmen was attacked, and I just got caught up in it."

"Are you injured?"

"No, thanks to you. If you hadn't taught me the Leaping Wave Strike, I really wouldn't know what to do tonight," Lin Ye said. "So I still want to know more about the Leaping Wave Strike..."

Skadi interrupted Lin Ye again: "Where is everyone else? Didn't they care about you?"

"...I just told you, everyone else isn't here, so you need to listen to me carefully," Lin Ye said somewhat helplessly. "I just wanted to ask..."

"This is normal."

Lin Ye: "..."