On the Ark.

Zilan placed a heavy folder on the desk and then said to Lin Ye, "Dr. Lin Ye, after our discussion, we believe that your current salary is somewhat inconsistent with your job duties, so we have decided to adjust it upwards. Simply put, we are giving you a raise."

Lin Ye was shocked.

It really was a pay raise!

He immediately pinched his thigh, and the slight pain from it made Lin Ye realize that this was not a dream, but real.

So, his first instinct was to ask how much the raise would be. However, his good manners made him humbly decline: "Isn't this a bit too fast? I've only been with Rhodes Island for less than six months, and my workload isn't that heavy..."

“Of course we know,” Zilan nodded. “You usually sleep during the day at work.”

Lin Ye: "..."

“That’s the problem, Dr. Lin Ye,” Zilan said. “The salaries of each operator on Rhodes Island are generally different, but apart from interns and full-time employees, they can be roughly divided into two categories. One is combat specialists, and the other is non-combat specialists, which are researchers. The salary calculation methods for combat specialists and researchers are very different. And your position is quite ambiguous. Amiya initially assigned you to the researcher category. You are paid a researcher’s salary, but your daily workload is only one-tenth, or less than one-tenth, of that of a typical researcher.”

Just half an hour ago, Lin Ye was remarking on how easy his daily work was, but half an hour later, his "boss" pointed out his true nature of slacking off, leaving him quite embarrassed: "This..."

“I don’t mean to blame you, Dr. Lin,” Zilan shook her head and said, “We all know the contributions you’ve made to Rhodes Island since you joined, and those contributions are indelible. However, most of the things you’ve done should have been assigned to combat specialist duties, not research. On one hand, you have nothing to do in your job duties, and on the other hand, you’re doing your job diligently outside of your job duties. Therefore, we believe that your responsibilities should be redefined and your salary should be redistributed. This is something we’ve discussed with Amiya.”

Lin Ye was somewhat surprised: "You mean, you're assigning me to the combat specialists?"

“No, of course not. We are well aware that you are not a professional combatant,” Zilan said. “Therefore, we have decided to award your contributions in combat as a bonus, as for your salary from your regular job…”

Lin Ye felt a chill in his heart: "They're going to surrender?"

“No, quite the opposite,” Zilan said calmly. “We’ve decided to raise your salary by another thirty percent.”

This left Lin Ye completely bewildered: "Why? Didn't you just say I was slacking off at my job...?"

“That’s because we really couldn’t offer you any more work in this area before, but things are different now. Amiya has decided to entrust you with an important task.” Zilan pushed the heavy folder that had been on the table toward Lin Ye. “This is not a simple task. Open it and take a look.”

Lin Ye took the folder and opened it.

The first page features the profile of an operator. She is a female operator with silver hair and eyes, a rather heroic appearance, a scar above her left eye, and a pair of white wolf ears hidden in her dazzling silver hair.

Lin Ye looked at her code name—"Lappland".

"Your new job," Zilan said softly, "is to screen dangerous operators to see if they are qualified to stay on Rhodes Island."

Chapter 197 Another Questioning Student?

Lin Ye looked at Zilan with some surprise: "Identifying dangerous operators?"

"Yes."

"What does this mean..."

“Of course, it means exactly what it says.” Zilan raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you even understand that?”

“No.” Lin Ye shook his head. “What I mean is, I didn’t expect Rhodes Island to have this kind of job.”

“Is this kind of work strange? Many companies and enterprises have this kind of performance evaluation,” Zilan said. “It’s just that Rhodes Island is a bit special, after all, Rhodes Island is not an ordinary pharmaceutical company. We have side businesses that most pharmaceutical companies don’t have, and at the same time, we also hire many capable employees who pose a certain degree of danger. The danger here refers to both the physical infection and the psychological one. With Rhodes Island’s current medical technology, we can easily stabilize the physical condition of most infected people, but the psychological one is not as simple as choosing the right drug.”

Zilan's explanation made Lin Ye understand her meaning. It was like when he first arrived at Rhodes Island; apart from Shining, no one on the island believed him. They all thought he was a charlatan trying to scam Shining, and they even drugged him during his onboarding psychological test. Unfortunately, they didn't get anything out of him (at least in their eyes), but in reality, they got everything out of him (at least in Lin Ye's eyes).

While Lin Ye was pondering, Zi Lan obviously thought of the pre-employment test she had given him a few months ago. Thinking of Lin Ye's answer, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, but she didn't say anything.

“I think I understand what you mean,” Lin Ye said, “but there’s still one thing I don’t quite understand.”

"Yes, just say it."

"Why was I chosen?" Lin Ye expressed his confusion. "Logically speaking, this kind of work shouldn't be given to a newcomer like me who has only been with the company for a few months, right? Like the example you gave before, this kind of assessment work should be given to senior management or management in other companies or groups."

Zilan tapped her knuckles lightly on the table, then smiled and said, "I knew you'd ask that. To be honest, this task was originally done by our HR department."

Lin Ye looked at Zilan with great confusion: "Then why give it to me?"

It can't really be because he's too bored.

“The truth is a little hard to say, but it seems we have no choice but to say it.” Zilan’s speech slowed down. “It’s simple, because we no longer have the ability.”

"what?"

“That’s the truth.” Zilan sighed. “Rhodes Island doesn’t employ many psychological specialists. Even I’m just an amateur in this field. You should know that, right? After all, my methods are useless against you.”

No, it's actually very effective...

Lin Ye remained silent.

"Besides, not all operators are as good-tempered as you. Some hot-tempered operators would cause a lot of trouble if they knew we listed them as unstable individuals. After all, Rhodes Island's public image is to recruit like-minded people from all over the world, regardless of background... Do you understand?"

"I basically understand." Lin Ye nodded, then looked at the operator's information in his hand. "For example, this one named Lappland, is she the unstable and dangerous individual you consider?"

"more or less."

The operator's profile included a note from the medical department, which Lin Ye read aloud softly: "Suffering from mild mania, under the influence of Oripathy, she becomes bloodthirsty and irritable during combat, posing a certain degree of danger? Is this true or false? A certain degree of danger... That's what you said about Skadi back then."

“Operator Skadi is not an infected.” Zilan coughed twice. “We admit that we had some misunderstandings about Operator Skadi before. However, Operator Skadi’s aloofness, isolation, and attitude of never taking her teammates seriously are also undeniable facts.”

Lin Ye thought about it and realized he really couldn't refute Zilan on this point, because Skadi did indeed ignore the other operators.

"And this one named Lappland," Lin Ye waved the information card in front of Zilan, "could she be the next Skadi?"

“That depends on you,” Zilan said. “Lappland’s report was submitted by the medical department, and their assessment of her is that she poses a certain degree of danger. And she’s a combat operator, and yet…”

"But what?" Lin Ye hated people who only said half of what they meant.

Zilan was silent for a while before saying, "I have no friends."

"No friends?"

“Yes, Operator Lappland is always alone. Although she seems to have a much better personality than Operator Skadi and can talk to many people, it’s basically just for show. No one can really understand her,” Zilan said softly. “Moreover, we can’t find out anything about her background. We guess she comes from a large family in Syracuse, which is a more dangerous place than the Sarkaz’s homeland. We can’t continue to investigate.”

Alone, coming from a mysterious and dangerous place, isn't that a bit too similar to Skadi?

"So you want me to get close to her?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, just like how you approached Operator Skadi.” Zilan nodded. “The reason we assigned this mission to you is also because of Skadi.”

"why?"

“A few days ago, Skadi provided support to you.” Zilan looked into Lin Ye’s eyes and said, word by word, “This would have been absolutely impossible in the past. Skadi should never have had the concept of ‘teammate’ in her eyes. But you changed her. The fact that she was there already says a lot. Moreover, in our opinion, Operator Skadi is much more dangerous than Operator Lappland, so we hope to entrust the vetting of Operator Lappland to you as well.”

It turns out it really is related to Skadi...

Lin Ye lowered his head and looked at Lappland's photo in the file again, asking, "If I determine that she is not qualified, she can't stay?"

"That's not necessarily true. The final review result will definitely be on Kelsey or Amiya's side, but your judgment will be a very important basis," Zilan said calmly. "So, are you willing to take on this job, Dr. Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Why not? I think it's quite interesting."

"That's good." Zilan nodded. "Operator Lappland will be returning to Rhodes Island in a day. She's currently in her probationary period, and I hope to get your answer on whether she's qualified when her probationary period ends."

Chapter 198 You Believe Me!

When Lin Ye came out of the personnel department, he was already holding information about the "problem operator" Lappland in his arms.

In fact, the "problem operator list" in the folder that Zilan gave Lin Ye contained far more than just Lappland; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so substantial. However, Zilan didn't give Lin Ye the entire list. The reason was simple: she needed to know if Lin Ye was capable of handling the job, so Lappland was a test. You could say Lin Ye was Lappland's "psychological examiner," and Lappland was Rhodes Island's assessment of Lin Ye. Initially, Lin Ye was somewhat dismissive; after all, he had already dealt with several troublesome operators, or rather, "problem operators," so how could he lack experience?

But Zilan told him, "Lappland is different from Nightingale, Ifrit, and Skadi. Nightingale and Ifrit require you to approach them and help them solve their problems, while Skadi's situation is due to her special status. Regardless of whether you approach her or not, she will remain on Rhodes Island. But Lappland is different. We don't need you to solve her problems; we only need to determine whether she is truly as dangerous and uncontrollable as the medical department's analysis suggests. If so, then we will let her leave. In other words, this time your role is that of an inspector, not a doctor."

This puzzled Lin Ye: "Why? If I could help her solve her psychological problems..."

“We believe in your abilities, Lin Ye. After all, you’ve proven yourself countless times since joining the company. But Rhodes Island isn’t a safe haven for problem people and dangerous individuals. Even if you can suppress all of them, it’s still not a solid foundation. What if you’re gone one day? Won’t these problem people and dangerous individuals explode like bombs on Rhodes Island?” Zilan looked at Lin Ye. “Can you guarantee that all the patients you’ve treated will remain normal in the future, especially when you’re not around?”

"Then Nightingale and Ifrit aren't..."

“Nightingale has Shining and Nearl by her side, Ifrit has Himeru and Saria by her side, and Skadi was directly recruited to Rhodes Island by Kal'tsit,” Zilan said. “But this operator named Lappland is different. She is all alone, her background is unknown, and she has been found to have uncontrollable violent and dangerous tendencies. Once the latter is confirmed, it will be impossible for her to stay on Rhodes Island. I hope you understand this, Dr. Lin Ye.”

……

Back in the office, Skadi was gone, her whereabouts unknown. Lin Ye subconsciously took out his phone, wanting to call her, but then felt it was strange. After thinking for a moment, he put his phone away. After all, it was Skadi's freedom to go wherever she wanted; she was definitely still on Rhodes Island.

Sitting in his office chair, Lin Ye took out Lappland's information card again and looked at it carefully.

To be honest, Lappland in the photo is quite handsome, almost like a delicate young man, and her skin is much fairer than average. However, the scar on her eye greatly detracts from the overall beauty of her face. But she doesn't seem to care about her scar, showing a confident smile to the camera.

"You really can't tell from the photo that he's a problem student," Lin Ye muttered to himself, looking down and lightly tapping his thigh with his finger. "The Lupo tribe, the Lupo tribe..."

Looking at Lappland's extremely distinctive ears, Lin Ye remembered that the Lupo tribe seemed to be "werewolfs," which meant that Lappland was a... lone wolf?

Unsociable, cruel in combat, and prone to violence, he is suspected of having his nervous system affected by Oripathy.

This is the "diagnosis" the medical department gave to Lappland, along with some photos, several of which show Lappland in battle.

Lappland wields two silver-white katanas. In the battle, she holds both swords, facing enemies cut to pieces. Her clothes are soaked in blood, but she doesn't care. She gives the camera a cruel smile, and you can even see the flesh and blood at the tips of her teeth.

After looking at several photos, Lin Ye found that most of them depicted similar scenes, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

What made me uncomfortable wasn't the gory scenes themselves, but Lappland smiling amidst them. No, it wasn't even a smile; it was a smile of pure enjoyment. It was completely different from the confident smile on her profile card.

Is she enjoying... the killing?

Lin Ye's brows were tightly furrowed.

This was the first time he'd encountered a personality like this. The three "problem students" he'd met before were Nightingale, a seemingly withdrawn but actually innocent and well-behaved child; Ifrit, who seemed rebellious but was actually just a spoiled brat lacking parental discipline; and Skadi, who seemed… no, was rumored to be terrifying but was actually just excessively aloof. Strictly speaking, all three were just a little odd in personality, but far from being mentally ill.

So, which category does the Lappland in the photo belong to?

Lin Ye pondered for a while and came up with several possibilities, but he felt they were all unreliable. After all, written words are far less convincing than firsthand experience.

So Lin Ye temporarily put away Lappland's information card, thinking he would make a decision after meeting Lappland.

As Lin Ye put the data card into the drawer, he suddenly thought of something.

The Lupo...it seems that the penguin logistics employee named Texas is also a Lupo. Both of them have very distinctive wolf ears, one black and one white, I wonder if they know each other.

He probably doesn't know them, but asking Texas about the Lupo tribe might help him make a judgment about Lappland.

Lin Ye made a decision silently. Then he glanced at the time and realized it was almost time to leave work. Compared to those previous workdays when he slept until evening, today was quite fulfilling.

After sitting in the office for a while and seeing that Skadi had not returned, Lin Ye took out his phone and sent Skadi a text message saying that he had already left work, and then left the office.

Originally, Lin Ye wanted to go to the cafeteria, but there was something else he hadn't done today, so he went back to his dorm first, grabbed some things, and went to dorm 2B to knock on the door.

The door was opened quickly.

Horn Peak looked at Lin Ye, and Lin Ye was also looking at Horn Peak.

It's about to close.

Lin Ye immediately blocked the door, preventing Jiao Feng from closing it: "Mr. Niu, let me explain!"

"Get out of my way!" Horn Peak roared. "I don't know you! And my name is Horn Peak, not Mr. Cow!"